Five Tips for an Effective PowerPoint Presentation

First, it’s important to determine the type of operating system you will be using for your presentation. Ideally, you will want to use a font that is Windows standard. Some of the most popular Windows standard fonts for PowerPoint include: Garamond, Palatino, Book Antiqua, Verdana, and Franklin Gothic. Why is this important? If you use a custom font that is not Windows standard and then present or send your PowerPoint to a computer that does not have your font, your presentation will translate into mismatched elements and misaligned default fonts.

The font you use may be dependent on how you are using the font. General wisdom says that serif fonts—fonts that have little wings or ticks at the end of their lines—are better for print and body text. Alternatively, sans serif fonts that have no marks on the end are often used for titles, as they are sleek and clean. This is not a rule set in stone; the most important thing is that the font matches the intended voice of your presentation.

The size of your font also has an impact on your presentation. It is important to size the text appropriately so that your audience can read the text on the projector screen. Anything smaller than a size 24 font is generally considered too small. If you use a font that is too small, your audience may lose key details. Font sizes that range from 28 to 32 for the body are generally considered standard. For titles, sizes 36 to 44 size are considered standard. The exception to the font size rule is when adding captions, citations, or explanatory text to a graph or a diagram. Here, the font size may be smaller. If possible, experiment with zooming in on a particular area of your slide. This will allow you to zoom in on the small text for the moments when you are discussing it.

The name of the game in using color effectively in PowerPoint is to ensure you are using contrast. If your background is light, use a contrasting dark color in the font, and vice versa. If you are presenting via your company, it’s possible you may already have a PowerPoint color template to use; if you do not, use colors within your corporate logo or structure. Colors carry with them emotions (yellow is typically seen as bright and happy, for example), so be aware of that when selecting colors for the background slides. In a professional context, a more neutral color scheme with colorful visuals or graphs is typically appropriate. And be wary of certain color combinations, which can be off-putting to an audience and can be difficult to read. These combinations include: orange and blue, red and blue, and red and green.

Using special effects, when appropriate, can enhance your presentation. One special effect to avoid: moving text. If you want your audience to read the text, moving it across the screen can be a distraction. However, some special effects can add sizzle to your presentation. These include slide transitions, sounds, built-in animation, and custom animation. For example, if you are presenting a newly engineered part, including a 3D model in the presentation can be very effective. Or, you may want to add an effect to specific words within your presentation after you have already presented that particular topic that can act as callback points.