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Presenting Presentations

Written by: Paul Cruse

Article Overview: So, You want presentations to look good? And what's wrong with blue backgrounds anyway?...

Presenting Presentations

History
We have been producing
presentations for the best part
of 17 years now - dating back to
the days of Lotus Freelance on a
PC and Aldus Persuasion
version 2.1. The only ways to
show presentations in those
days was not on-screen but to
get 35mm slides made or print
out OHP’s (overhead projector
transparencies).
Well now you can “do it all
yourself” - on your desktop PC or
laptop, take it with you and plug it
in. Everyone can huddle round your
machine or you can ‘simply’ plug it
into a projector and show it to a
300 strong audience.
But if, despite all this, Stuart's
article made some of you squirm -
here’s a few hints to help you out in
the future.
Bad Design
We weren’t all born renaissance
artists now were we? Solution: Get
a template designed for your
company and then get taught how
to use it (or nominate someone to
learn). To try and keep some kind
of corporate identity, it might even
be an idea to take some ideas from
your own web site, use the
typeface and even some of the
graphics and the colour scheme.
This helps keep a ‘theme” to your
companies screen-based
presentations.
You could also take a few hints
from this article and apply them
yourself. Then learn how to present
with it.
Which fonts shall I use?
Keep the number of different
typefaces to a minimum. Try using
a Sans* Serif (block style font such
as Arial, Helvetica, Futura) for the
main body of the text, and bold
and italic versions for emphasis.
Arial is excellent for cross-platform
use as the font is virtually identical
on both Macs and PC’s.
Serif fonts such as Times and
Palatino (serif means with the little
‘coved edges’) are not as easy to
read on a screen - but can be used
with discretion. Palatino is a good
alternative to Times and is easier to
read.
Try to keep the font size at least
16pt and above on bullet points -
but not more than 28pt (on a
standard 24cm x 18cm screen
presentation), and do not type too
much copy. 5 bullets per slide is
ample - this makes them easier to
read. Your speech itself should be
the main source of the audiences
information.
Bitmapped pictures
Training on how to create pictures
in the correct file format, size and
pixel depth would be the best
answer. Here goes...
• preferably convert all files to 256*
colours - this will ensure that no
matter which monitor it is shown
on it will be able to display all
the colours you have chosen
• if the presentation is to be
shown on a PC - get the images
saved in a PC format
• the best file formats are jpeg and
tiff as the majority of packages
can accept these - but do check
(before the person supplying the
images goes home) that they do
actually work
• 72 dots per inch is all that is
required for the size of the image
file - as this is all the screen will
display anyway. This will cut
down on the size of your files
and increase the speed at which
your presentation will run. If your
image needs to fill the whole
slide - make sure that it is only
supplied in exactly the right size;
too small and it will look
pixelated*, too big, and it will
make your presentation slow
What’s happened to the colours!
If you checked your presentation in
the office and it looked great, then
you see it projected on the big
screen and the colours have gone
haywire - it was probably created in
32,000 colours or even 16million
colours, and now the monitor you
are using can only cope with 256
colours. For safety - create them in
256 colours to start with.

Blue backgrounds - yellow text
No real problem here - at least they are
smart, but any colour can be used
providing it has design integrity and
plenty of contrasts - useful tip - don’t
get too inventive with the wizards*.
Clip art or not to clip art?
Don’t get too clever with clip-art,
blends, transitions, shadows etc - it just
looks awful - and your machine is more
likely to crash in the midst of a whizzing
rabbit or a roaring lion - an anti-climax.
Launching Internet pages
If you wanted to fire off into your internet
or intranet site during the presentation -
try and use a downloaded version of the
site (with links adjusted to work on your
machine), or screenshots - it will work
much quicker than dialling up live over a
telephone line and is far less likely to
crash. Make sure that all the applications
for any other files you want to launch are
loaded onto the machine too.
Plug and play?
If you are not taking your own computer
with you, make sure that the place
where you are doing your presentation
has the software that you have, (and the
fonts). If you are using your own
computer - always take a back-up kit
and paper copies in case both fail. If the
site does not have your software - get
them to purchase a copy or provide a
copy yourself.... a “borrowed” version is
not good enough.
How to operate a presentation
Usually a down arrow or a mouse click
is sufficient - if the software has to be
told what method to use, get the
presentation designer to make the
buttons work in a very simple way, and
practice before the big day.
Handouts
Many presenters request that their
whole presentation be printed - one
slide per A4 page - in colour - for the
audience to write notes on. It is much
better for the audience to be supplied
with a small image at the top of each A4
portrait page and plenty of space for
notes underneath.
Time to prepare
And finally, as you can see there are
solutions to all the problems mentioned
by Stuart. It’s about knowing your
parameters and planning a bit more. A
willingness on the part of the presenter
to get a bit more involved in the creation
of their own presentation is very useful -
but if you really don’t want to fail - learn
about the ‘techie’ stuff too - or call
in a professional - after all, it is your
company’s PR that’s at stake if you don’t.

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Article Tags: 17 years, 35mm slides, aldus persuasion, block style, bullet points, colour scheme, corporate identity, cross platform, desktop pc, huddle, italic versions, lotus freelance, ohp, overhead projector, palatino, renaissance artists, sans serif, screen presentation, typeface, typefaces



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