Studio & Art History SIPs—PowerPoint Tips

Kalamazoo College

Art Department

Some Tips for Better PowerPoint Presentations

Design

Use few words—work with images and a few important words.

Don’t put up long paragraphs of text—people can look at supporting images or graphics while you read any lengthy quotes or paragraphs.

Go easy with templates and fancy transitions—sometimes it looks strange when you put images on top of the template, and transitions can easily become cheesy.

As far as design goes, I think it’s a good idea to use this simple approach: when using black & white images, use a color background—when using color images, use a grayscale background.

Technical

Don’t distort your images—remember to hold down the shift key as you enlarge or reduce the image—this will constrain the proportions as you alter the size.

Don’t enlarge images too much, however, so that the image becomes pixilated. You can ask Google to provide only medium or large images, so that you get high quality ones. If need be, go to the library and look up a nice book so you can make scans that will look good.

With large computers screens currently being marketed I like my images to be around seven inches high by nine inches wide (at 150 dpi).

The Talk Itself

Practice your presentation; know your images—so you don’t have to look at your notes any more than necessary.

When you give your presentation, you have to check all equipment being used ahead of time—especially if you’re including clips of video, sound, and the like.

Have enough images so that you can keep moving…if you get bogged down on a single slide, your audience can fall asleep (especially if you’re speaking in a monotone).

About that monotone—remember to build in some drama, some suspense…or some redemption. You want to make an emotional (and educational) connection with your audience.

Another good rule: start strong and end strong—with a great image and a bold statement that sums up your feelings and enthusiasm about your subject.

I would like to thank Charles Stull for help in the creation of this document.