1	Effective Text for PowerPoint Presentations Myra Shulman Georgetown University March 30, 2005 TESOL EV 2005
2	Preview Meaningful Titles Types of Visual Design Consistency Parallelism Readability Simplicity
3	Meaningful Titles Avoid “topic titles.” Have no meaning Example: Titles Use message titles. Provide context and meaning Example: Meaningful Titles
4	Types of Visual Design Data-driven charts (how much?) Pie and bar charts Concept charts (how?) Organization and matrix charts Text visuals (what and why?) Bullet lists
5	Benefits of Data-Driven and Concept Charts Show quantitative and qualitative data Appeal to visual learners Add variety to presentation Enhance audience understanding Effective message titles Clear labeling inside sections Font larger than 18 point
6	Data-Driven Chart Paragon Corporation Quarterly Earnings 2004
7	Concept Chart Paragon Corporation Organization Chart: 2005
8	Effective Text Visuals Avoid centering titles and text. Decreases readability Use left justification for titles and text. Increases readability Indent bullet lines equally. Emphasizes bullets
9	Consistency in Format Create master template. Choose one pattern for layout. Use landscape page setup. Apply “sentence case” capitalization. Select simple animation function.
10	Consistency in Structure Ensure structural consistency. Begin with preview (overview) slide. Use preview wording in titles. Return to preview slide. Highlight section being discussed.
11	Consistency in Parallelism Use grammatical parallelism. Similar ideas in the same grammatical form Use conceptual parallelism. Similar ideas at the same level Consistency Readability Simplicity
12	Types of Parallelism Grammatical Use verb phrases. Use noun phrases. Use short sentences. Conceptual Place major points together. Place minor points together. Create equal hierarchical levels.
13	Readability in Text Visuals Six-by-six guideline Six lines per slide Six words per line Information broken into parts Main points Supporting points
14	Readability: Fonts Font Type Serif: traditional Sans serif: modern Highlighting Bold Italics Color Font Size Titles: 32 point or larger Text: 24 point or larger Visuals: 18 point or larger
15	Readability: Color Limit to black and two other colors. Be consistent. Apply color in moderation. Create strong contrast. White background with blue or black text Blue background with white or yellow text
16	Simplicity Aim for easy comprehension. Avoid using too many visuals. Keep charts simple and clear. Limit text on slides. Use grammatical and conceptual parallelism.
17	Works Cited Guide to Presentations Mary Munter and Lynn Russell Prentice Hall Series in Advanced Business Communications, 2002
18	Thank you for your attention. shulmanm@georgetown.edu