• The following tips help make visuals more effective
- test your presentation for size and look - are they easy to read, can they be followed, do they convey the information
- If you plan to refer to an earlier slide, make a second copy of it - don’t flip back
- Use titles to make the purpose of visuals obvious
- use bullet points - long sentences crowd the screen and are hard to read.
- do not use more than 20 words per slide, do not try to write full sentences on slides, use it as a summary
- use upper/lower case only to draw attention to words, do this sparingly
- use a large enough font so that it can be read with ease
- use white space to make the screen more readable - if the slide is too full it will overwhelm the reader
- avoid multiple fonts - these look sloppy
- avoid italics, bold and upper case for emphasis - this makes it too busy
- when doing point form punctuation can be distracting
- do not use too many lines on graphs - more than 3 will be hard to follow
- use figures or graphs when possible to reduce the number of words
- use graphs or charts for numbers - avoid large table
- Use line drawings instead of scanned images or photographs, they are easier to make out
- avoid equations when possible
- if possible have something to pass around - don’t just talk about it or show a picture
- avoid excessive colors - use a couple to pull graphics together. Three or more is too much.
- don’t use numbered steps unless identifying importance or sequence