LESSON 5

Advanced PowerPoint Tips and Tools for

Effective Slide Presentation
1 Top Ten Slide
Tips
2 SmartAr
t
TOP TEN SLIDE TIPS
• KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Complex slide designs tend to distract your audience from
your talk and keep them from understanding your
message. White space in the slide helps the audience
focus on what you want to talk about. Remember that in a
presentation, the people in front of you came to listen and
to be informed, so the less clutter in the screen, the better.
2. LIMIT BULLET POINTS AND TEXTS.
Which is better between the two following examples?
It is not good practice to bombard your audience with
lots of text because it would strain the eyes of the
viewers and bores your audience. Remember, the
slides are just there to support your talk, not to be
your script. Focus on the star of your talk, which is
your audience.
3. LIMIT TRANSITIONS AND BUILDS
(animations).
Keep it professional. Use appropriate animations for
text especially for bullet points; Swipe Left/Right is
enough for bullet points. Use transitions sparingly,
preferably not in every slide, and avoid grand
animations because these could tire your audience
out.
 4. USE HIGH HIGH-QUALITY GRAPHICS.
This includes using high resolution photographs instead of
clip art images. The photographs may be taken by using
high quality cameras, purchased stock images, or taken
from online sources (be sure they are free from copyright
issues). Avoid stretching low-resolution images, as doing so
will degrade the resolution even more. Be sparing when
using clip art images, as these usually make the presenter
appear less professional. Refer to the following slides that
follow.
Which one is more interesting?
5. HAVE A VISUAL THEME, BUT AVOID USING
POWERPOINT TEMPLATES.

It is essential that you create a theme to give your

presentation a sense of unity and consistency.
PowerPoint has several built-in themes and templates
but, according to Reynolds, PowerPoint templates make
an audience feel that the presentation is prepackaged
and isn't that professional.
6. USE APPROPRIATE CHARTS.

There are many different kinds of charts

available in MS Office, so keep from dumping too
much information in your charts and tables.
7. USE COLOR WELL.

Colors suggest feelings and emotions. The correct

use of color in the right place and the right time
increases audience interest and develops better
understanding and retention of the topic you are
discussing.
 Take note of the following:
•Dark venue, use slides with a dark background
and a light foreground.
•Well-lit venue, use slides with a light background
and a dark foreground.
•In a venue with good ambient lighting, use a light
background as well as light images, and a dark
foreground as well as dark text.
8. CHOOSE YOUR FONTS WELL.
Fonts can deliver subtle messages, which is why picking
which to use is important. Do not use more than two font
faces, and choose complimentary fonts which would look
great together.
San-serif fonts are usually better for slide presentations
because they appear friendlier to the audience.
9. USE VIDEO OR AUDIO.
Video and audio help increase the audience's
interest in your topic and they also help you make
your point better. You can play multimedia files
within the presentation itself, but as much as
possible, avoid the built-in sound effects of
PowerPoint, as these could distract your audience.
 10. SPEND TIME IN THE SLIDE SORTER.
PowerPoint Presentation Enhancement
• Breaks large information into smaller chunks for better
understanding.
• Slide Sorter view helps visualize presentation logical flow.
• Identifies slide need for multiple breaks for improved
clarity.
• Helps identify parts of presentation for clarity
improvement.
 SmartArt

SmartArt is used in PowerPoint for presenting

information graphically. This consists of preset
layouts that enable you to easily create graphics
which can effectively communicate information.
 Inserting a SmartArt graphic

1. Select the slide where you want to display a

SmartArt graphic.

2. From the INSERT tab, select the SmartArt

command.
 3. A dialog box will then appear. Select a category on
the left, choose the SmartArt graphic you want to
display, then click OK.

4. The SmartArt graphic will then appear on the current

slide.
As a shortcut, you may also click the Insert a SmartArt
Graphic command in a placeholder to add SmartArt.
 Adding Text to SmartArt Graphics

1. Select the SmartArt graphic. A SmartArt task

pane will then be displayed on the left.

2. Type out text next to each bullet in the task pane.

The text will then appear in the graphic and will
automatically resize to fit.
3. Press Enter to add a new shape. A new bullet will appear in
the task pane, and a new shape will appear in the graphic. To
remove any bullets you don't need, you can delete these in
the task pane.
Another way to add text is by clicking in the desired shape in
the image display and then typing inside it. This, however,
only works well if you only need to add text to a few shapes.
Working in the task pane is often faster for more complex
SmartArt graphics.
 Converting Existing Text to SmartArt

If you already have bulleted text in a slide, you can

automatically convert this into an eye-catching
SmartArt graphic, as explained by following the
illustrative example that follows.
1. Highlight, then right-click the list or
paragraph you want to convert to SmartArt.

2. Point the mouse over Convert to

SmartArt and then select the desired
SmartArt graphic.
 3. The text will then appear as a SmartArt
graphic.
If you want to convert SmartArt back to text, you
may do so by going to the Design tab on the
right side of the Ribbon, clicking the Convert
command, then selecting Convert to Text.
 Modifying a SmartArt
Adding a Shape:
1. Select the SmartArt graphic, then click the Design tab,
which is located on the right side of the ribbon.
2. Select the shape where you want the new shape to
appear.
3. In the Graphics group, click the Add Shape command.
The drop-down menu should then appear.
4. Decide whether to select Add Shape Before or Add
Shape After, relative to the same level as the shape you
selected.
If you want to add a shape above the shape selected,
click Add Shape Above, and if you want to add a shape
below the selected shape, click on Add Shape Below.

5. A new shape will then appear.

 Promoting and Demoting Shapes:

1. Select the SmartArt graphic you want to work on, then

click on the Desig tab.

2. Select the shape which you want to promote or

demote.
3. Click the Promote command in the Create
Graphic group if you want to move the shape to a
higher level. Otherwise, click Demote to move it to
a lower level.
4. The shape should have moved one level higher
or lower, depending on whether you promoted or
demoted the shape.
 Rearranging Shape:

1. After selecting the SmartArt graphic, click the Design

tab.
2. Click the shape which you want to move.
3. Click either Move Up or Move Down in the Create
Graphic group.
4. The shape should now have moved to a new location
on the same level, and any shape connected below it
should also have moved along with it.
 Customizing the Look and Feel SmartArt:

To select one of the many color scheme used by SmartArt,

click the Change Colors command to change the color and
from the drop-down menu, choose the color you desire.

•Color schemes are actually based on the theme colors;

these will thus vary, depending on which theme you will use.
•You can quickly modify the look and feel of
your SmartArt presentation by selecting any
one of the SmartArt styles available. Simply
select the desired style from the SmartArt
Styles group if you want to change the style.
•Add shape effects to your SmartArt, such as Shadow,
Reflection, Glow, Bevel and 3D Rotation. Select the
entire SmartArt graphic by clicking the border, clicking
on the Format tab then choosing the desired effect
under Shape Effects. If you want to customize shapes
separately, you need to click on individual shapes
instead.
 Changing the SmartArt layout:

In case you don't like the way information is organized

within a SmartArt graphic, you can always change its
layout to better fit your content.

1. Select the SmartArt graphic, then select the Design

tab.
 2. In the Layouts group, click the drop-down
arrow.

3. Select a desired layout or click More Layouts to

see even more SmartArt options.

4. The selected layout will then appear.

Thank You!