Slide Presentation Tips

Here’s a brief summary of highly recommended practices to get you started:

• Keep it simple, but not simplistic.
• Avoid the distractions of animation, transitions, sound effects and clipart.
• Use sans serif fonts and larger font sizes to make slides easy to read.
• Apply themes and colors intentionally and consistently.
• Use your slides to complement and enhance your oral remarks.
• Know and respect your audience.
• Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

Sites with quick, informative lists of tips for presentations in academic environments:

Subject/Course Guides: Presentation Tools, Tips and Techniques: Best Practices (Wilmington University)

LibGuides: PowerPoint Presentation Best Practices: Tips & Resources (Hillsborough Community College)

Making Better PowerPoint Presentations | Center for Teaching | Vanderbilt University

BEST PRACTICES: PowerPoint Presentations (MIT)

Sites geared toward presentations for broader audiences:

https://virtualspeech.com/blog/designing-presentation-slides
Good summary of best practices, slide design and use of color

https://blog.ted.com/10-tips-for-better-slide-decks/
Ideas for making presentations that captivate viewers

https://www.presentationblogger.com/10-slide-design-best-practices-for-a-knockout-presentation-number-9-is-impossible/
Starts with a thought experiment: Think about bad presentations you’ve seen. What made them bad?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adriandearnell/2018/06/13/the-key-to-successful-presentations-k-i-s-s-keep-it-short-and-simple/?sh=2b030af05177
Emphasis on Keep It Short and Simple (KISS principle)

https://juliehansen.live/applying-kiss-principle-presentation/
Great demo on how the KISS principle can solve common presentation shortcomings