Making Presentations

Oh god, your boss asked you to make a presentation! And you have absolutely no idea how to make a slide presentation! Well, dont worry. Take a deep breath and read on.

The goal of a presentation is communication and even persuasion, to some extent. So, it is important for your presentation to follow a generic outline. What you present should be clearly understood by the audience.

For this, begin your presentation with a preview and then, elaborate on it. The best way is to start with a title slide, which includes your name. The body of your presentation must discuss the topic in detail. Then, conclude your speech with a recap of what you have discussed previously.

Make an outline slide that tells your audience about what you are going to present. This would create a framework to your presentation. This is a very important step if you want your listeners to understand what you are saying. This will help when you go into the details of a subject.

Following are some other tips that will help you design slide presentations.

Keep your transparencies and slides simple and short. They should only include relevant and important key words. These pointers will help remind you what you want to and are going to discuss. This would also limit the amount of information you put on your slides.

Putting too much information on your slides will make your audience lose interest. In fact, giving detailed hand-outs to your audience will be a better option.

Always use the correct size and font. The font and its size should be such that it is readable and comprehendible. Arial and Times New Roman are the examples of an easy to read font.

The font size should be such that it is visible even from a distance. To be on the safer side, use size eighteen for font. Also, make it a point not to use too many different types of fonts. Just keep your text clear and simple.

Be careful while choosing the color combinations. Before you make use of any color, make sure the text does not blend with the background. This will make the text unreadable for your audience and you as well.

Colors like yellow are difficult to see. Try to contrast your foreground color and background color. This will make the text stand out and visible. The text color should be soft and clear and in comparison to the background color.

Last but not the least, the slide would look good and give a feeling of completeness if you make a border around it. An outline shows that nothing is missing off the screens' edge.

Hopefully, now you know how to make a slide presentation. Now go on and dont waste time. After all, you have a presentation to make!