PowerPoint Tips 1. PowerPoint is for pictures. If you have a lot of text, consider distributing an outline as a handout instead 22. Avoid pre-made “themes” and other canned or banal graphic elements. 3. Avoid patterned backgrounds. Meaningless graphic elements create cognitive load, distract attention from your story and can make text harder to read. 4. Instead, use meaningful images where appropriate, as in the next title slide. Achaemenid Persian Empire 5. A black background makes pictures “pop.” White creates glare and detracts from pictures. 6. Text on a glaring white backround is also hard on the eyes. Which is easier on the eyes? Which is easier on the eyes? 7. If you must use a colored ground, crank up the contrast. Low contrast High contrast 8. When using text over an image, enhance contrast with a tinted textbox fill or a full-size tinted screen. Make these by inserting a textbox or a rectangular “shape.” “Fill” with black, then adjust the transparency for good contrast. Picasso in His Studio Picasso in His Studio Picasso in His Studio 9. Use color sparingly, for emphasis. (Three colors are probably too many). Try out different colors and see where your eye goes and how legible the color is from a distance. Which color is most effective? Which one “reads” at the back of the room? Red is an angry, hostile color 10. Use a large-size typeface – at least 28-point or greater This is 44-point type What seems just right (or even too big) on your computer screen is too small in most rooms. 11. Prefer a sans-serif typeface (Arial, Calibri, Trebuchet MS…) Not a serif typeface (Century, Palatino Linotype, Times New Roman) Avoid fancy fonts 12. Less text on screen is better. Three points is plenty per slide _______________ _______________ _______________ 13. Use PowerPoint’s Shapes and Fill to make transparent colored shapes – handy over diagrams and maps. “Pilgrimage” style plan “Pilgrimage” style plan Nave “Pilgrimage” style plan Transept (with aisles) “Pilgrimage” style plan Choir (screened off) “Pilgrimage” style plan Ambulatory “Pilgrimage” style plan Radiating chapels Monks’ choir (green) Reliquary statue Altar 14. Pictures pack an emotional punch that drives a message home. But visuals are more impactful when the emotional arousal level varies across the presentation. Provide “resting” places – no pictures, or calm pictures. Still from a video disseminated by Isis, documenting the destruction of Assurnasirpal II’s palace in Nimrud, Iraq (March-April 2015.) (BBC) Isis militants dynamiting Assurnasirpal II’s palace Reliefs from Assurnasirpal II’s palace in the British Museum 15. Avoid creating cognitive overload. Every slide needs ONE main focus, or a comparison between two things. A viewer cannot read + listen or read + examine a complex image + listen, all at the same time. Use 1 channel at a time. Not good: 3 images, too much text, competing information, type size too small Better: 1 comparison, two images, less text Papyrus stalks are peeled, then cut into thin slices, soaked in water and rolled with a rolling pin to flatten them. After flattening, strips are arranged in two layers , one at right angles to the other. Making papyrus sheets The strips are put into a press. Under pressure, the natural gums in the papyrus make the slices stick together. Once pressed and dried, the sheet is polished with a stone to make a smooth writing surface. Sheets are glued together to make longer scrolls. .