3 Tips for Mastering Your PowerPoint Presentation
Powerpoint presentations are the ultimate test in marketability. They test your ability to make a coherent, convincing case for your cause. In any case, a successful powerpoint depends on three factors: your ability to use the design tools, the presentation process itself, and consistent style. Here are three tips to help you to master each of those factors.
1) You don’t have to use everything.
Powerpoint includes many tools to help users create unique presentations. They’re there for you to customize your experience. Look for these key things when deciding what to use:
Make sure that preset PPT themes complement your needs before you adopt them.
Try to use fonts other than Microsoft’s default Calibri and Cambria. They can make a presentation lackluster.
It’s generally unprofessional to use PowerPoint’s action sounds.
Though PowerPoint creates bullets automatically, ask yourself if bullets will best serve your presentation’s purpose.
A recent PowerPoint update creates a shadow on all shapes by default. If you don’t need the shadow, just remove it. Also, use shape colors other than the default blue.
2) Customize slide sizes.
The default slide size suffices for most slide presentations , but you might want to change it for larger presentations or uniquely-sized displays. If ever you need to customize the background size:
On the menu bar, go to “File.”
Select “Page Setup.”
Type the background height and width that you want. Click “OK.”
Click “OK” again when you see the dialogue box.
That’s it!
Tip: Resize your slides first, and then create your presentation. Otherwise the dimensions of any objects that you add later will be skewed.
3) Customize the template design.
You can do more to customize your presentation than just choose from PowerPoint slide designs. You can also customize the template design to meet your needs. Usually it’s easier to edit your chosen PowerPoint template before you start, so that you’re not stuck having edit each design by hand. To do this:
On the menu bar, select “File.”
On the far right, click “Edit Master,” then “Slide Master.”
Make the changes you want, then click “Close Master.” Your current and future slides will feature your changes.
Customizing Your PowerPoint presentation gives you more control over your presentation, and also enables you to make a greater impact on your audience.