Lesson 5.

2: Design Tips and Standards

There are many different aspects one has to take into account when creating
a presentation. Some of these are listed as follows:

7X7 Rule

Creating PowerPoint slides that summarize the essentials of your presentation

is a key to effective communication.
It’s best to stick to one concept per slide, if possible. Focus on key words and
phrases. It also pays to edit for brevity (try to use only nouns and verbs and to
eliminate unnecessary verbiage.) Also, do not forget that people can read much
faster than you can speak. This means that no-one will pay attention to your
talk if everyone is just reading the content of your slides.
As a result, many presentation experts argue for the Rule of 7X7: no more 7
lines of text per slide and no more than 7 words per line. (Others argue for a
6X6 or 8X8 rule.) Do not use bullets, except when you present an enumeration.
Whatever combination suits you best, the general goal is to reduce wordiness
and make it easy for your audience to comprehend the meaning of your
message in that 5-7 second period of initial exposure to a slide.
The idea is to make it easier for your audience to see and comprehend your
key message. These rules shouldn't be adhered to blindly. They are a way to
bring some discipline to your presentation slides. Depending on the font you
select, you may be able to use more words per line without losing effectiveness.

Font Sizes and Styles

There are two different types of font styles in western countries: serif and sans-
serif.
The former was created first and is the best choice for printed media. Due to
the small hooks (the serifs) at the edges of every letter, words are more
coherent and thus it is much easier for the human brain to conceive the
meaning of it.
The latter is used on screens and street signs and was created to provide a
high readability for short content (few words) like headlines, warnings,
information, etc.
Since a presentation focuses on few things (meaning one aspect) per slide and
is usually shown in large scale using a presenter in front of an audience, you
should use a sans-serif font. The size should be big enough so that the people
in the last row should be able to read your slide without the usage of a binocular.
This means that headlines should be font size 42-48 points and content 28-36
points. Not smaller.
Do not forget that a presentation is not a documentation! If you need a
smaller font size than the recommended ones, this means that you probably
have too much content on your slide. In this case you should think about:
• splitting it into multiple slides,
 • shorten your sentences without losing their meaning (e.g. using only
the headlines on your slide), or
• using an image instead to explain the content since it seems to be
too complicated if it cannot be explained in less words.
Do not change your font style and font sizes on a single slide. It gives the
impression that you are not firm in the presented topic. And don't forget that
when you have to present elsewhere where you not use your own computer
that non-standard fonts may not be supported by the company's/facility's
computer setup. As a result, their default font may change your layout with
disastrous consequences!

Images

An image says more than 1000 words… in most cases. If you want to support
your argumentation on a slide with an image, please consider the following tips:
Use an image to provide additional value to your message. Do not use it
to just fill a blank space or because some word on your slide is related to a cool
image you found on the internet.
Do not use cliparts. Most of them look very cheap or old-fashioned. Plus, the
often do not provide added value.
Do not stretch small images to fit to the slide. They will become very
pixelated. Use images with a higher resolution instead. This does not only look
more professional but also helps the audience to realize what exactly is shown
on it.
Do not skew images. Either crop them or if the image is too large then, put it
on its own slide.
Adjust the background color to your slides background. It does not leave
a good impression on the audience when the border between a graphic and
the normal slide background is clearly visible.
Use images as a replacement for your background so that they fill the whole
slide.

Slide Numbers

One important small thing that was often missed in presentations is the
numbering of slides.
During a presentation people try to listen to the talk of the presenter (given
he/she is engaging enough). But because we usually–at least in university–
have to give monologues, disruptions are uncommon and questions are done
at the end of a talk.
Let’s imagine that some minor detail at a slide in the first half of the talk was
not understandable. If there are no slide numbers, the audience now will have
to describe somehow the design/content of the respective slide to give the
presenter an idea about what the audience is talking about. So, the audience
do not only need to keep their actual question in mind (or on a paper) but also
have to remember (or sketch) the corresponding slide.
In contrast if there are numbers (Figure 1), the audience could just scribble the
digits besides their notes and when it is finally time for questions, the speaker
does not figure out where the slide was. Instead, the speaker can directly jump
to the slide (in PowerPoint this is done with <number>+ENTER) and they can
concentrate on discussing the topic of the given question.

Figure 1. Slide numbers can help with navigating the presentation.

Sources

Always reference your sources when adding images, citations or texts that are
not initially created by yourself.
You do not have to provide the link to a used image on the slide where it is
shown but can also make an additional slide at the end of your presentation
where you list all image sources. That page does not have to be shown in your
presentation but is good when giving away the file later. Most of the time, it
does not create any added value for the audience to listen to you while you
read all URLs out loud at the end of an otherwise good talk.

Templates

Templates are a good starting point for representations. They guide you in the
sense that they provide consistent font styles and sizes that users are able to
read.
While being helpful at first, they can also be a bad thing:
• Most of them recommend using bullet points.
• Most of them mislead the user into putting a lot of text on the slide and
not to focus on major aspects/one aspect per slide.
• Most of them mislead the user into using colorful/fancy backgrounds
which as a result leads to unreadable slides.
• Templates where the background is animated make the presentation
interesting at first, but the movement distracts the audience from your
talk. Thus, you are adding something to your slides that makes your
own presentation worse.
Some companies tend to place their logo and sometimes even more on every
slide. That reduces the space for your own content.
It is much better to use images to spread the message and give a handout to
your audience if you want to provide more detailed information. This helps them
to understand your objective without having to present every minor detail.

Videos

Use a slide for a video and play it full screen. Since you want to emphasize it,
you should not have it as a small gimmick in a corner of your slide. In the other
case (you do not want to focus on the content of the video), it is only distracting
for the audience and does not provide any added value to your presentation.
In those cases, it is preferable to not include the video.
Always use a resolution that is appropriate. If you know that you will use a
presenter that has a screen size of 1024x768 pixels, then you should not
include a video that is only 100x100 pixels in size. It will look very pixelated. In
addition, it is not only hard to realize different objects in the video when it is
shown in such a quality but also difficult for the audience’s eyes. No one will be
able to watch it over a longer time span.
Videos are in general not a good content for presentations. The reason for
that fact is that in most cases the presenter just stands idly at one side of the
stage when a video is shown. Especially when the video has its own audio. But
the audience is expecting a presenter speaking when they go to a talk.
Nevertheless, sometimes the usage of a short video clip can be much more
impressive than the same content just spoken by a presenter.