What Constitutes A Good Powerpoint Presentation?

Whether we realize it or not, a good powerpoint presentation plays a big role in enhancing, or even degrading our presentation (Exforsys.com 2008). Hence, I will be using my group's Powerpoint Presentation 1 as a sample to provide some insights on how to avoid certain mistakes that we always do in creating a powerpoint presentation.

For layout wise, Reep (2006) mentioned that we should always balance the white space and the black space of a document. Hence, in the case of powerpoint presentations, we should keep the text within a slide short and simple so that the slide will not look too crowded (Marquez n.d.). Adding on,  Russell (n.d.) also mentioned that we should not include more than 3 bullet points per slide.

Figure 1. Slide 14

As you can see, Slide 14 from my group's presentation slides seem to be too crowded for the audiences' eyes. Hence, for improvement wise, texts should be presented with key words only, rather than full sentences. 

Figure 2. Slide 4

Moreover, Ameen (2011) stated that besides using typefaces to distinguish the title of a slide from its texts, we should also use the elements of colors. Referring to the Figure 2 above, it would be better if we have used colors for the title of the slide so that it will help the audience to read our slide even better. 

Furthermore, Iasted.org (n.d.) proposed that we should provide an outline of the presentation as a part of our layout. However, for my group's presentation, we did not include an outline. So, for improvement wise, we should have included an outline for this presentation.

For writing wise, Putnis and Petelin (1996) stated that common errors such as grammatical, spelling, punctuations and problems in structuring sentences should be avoided in writing. However, for our slides wise, there were no such writing errors being detected.  

References

Ameen, S n.d., How To Make Attractive and Effective Powerpoint Presentation, viewed 3rd April 2011, <http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-Attractive-and-Effective-PowerPoint-Presentations&id=57598>.

Exforsys.com 2008, Improve Your Presentation Through Powerpoints, viewed 3rd April 2011, <http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/business-communication/improve-your-presentations-through-powerpoint/1.html>.

Iasted.org n.d., Making Powerpoint Slides, viewed 3rd April 2011, <www.iasted.org/conferences/formatting/Presentations-Tips.ppt>.

Marquez,  ZL n.d., How To Make A Good Powerpoint Presentation, viewed 3rd April 2011, <http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178>.

Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Writing to Communicate, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Reep, DC 2006, Technical Writing, 6th edn, Pearson, New York.

Rusell, W n.d., 10 Tips for Creating Successful Business Presentation, viewed 3rd April 2011, <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>.