Visuals can be one of the key factors in determining the success
or failure of a videoconferencing session. Good visuals can help hold the interest
of participants and deliver pertinent information. Bad visuals can distract
participants and deliver information in a manner that is confusing. This tutorial
is designed to provide some good tips for developing visuals that will be used
in a videoconferencing session.
Through our training in the area of videoconferencing, we
have found that the most commonly used software for creating visuals is Microsoft®
PowerPoint®. This tutorial has been developed to offer assistance to those
who are using Microsoft® PowerPoint® for those visuals. The version
that we are using for this tutorial is Microsoft® PowerPoint® 2002.
Instructions for this tutorial may not be exactly the same for other versions
of Microsoft® PowerPoint®.
| The first thing to do is to
open PowerPoint®. Once you have it open, start a new presentation. Choose
a blank presentation. Avoid using the Design Templates provided in PowerPoint®.
Many of them do not transfer well to the videoconferencing medium. If you
wish to have a template, it is probably best to make your own, a simple
matter. The rule is that simplicity is best. |
|
Once you have a new presentation open, first
go to the Master Slide. Do this by choosing View from the menu bar. Under
View, choose Master and then Slide Master. Doing your formatting on the
Slide Master will ensure that all your slides will have a uniform look.
|
|
| You will want to decide on colors for your
background and text. You can use either light text on a dark background
or dark text on a light background. |
|
| To set the background color for your slides,
make sure that you are in the Master slide. Choose Format from the menu
bar and under that, choose Background. |
|
| When the Background window opens, you can
choose a new color by clicking on the color bar. When you click on the color
bar, you will see a set of standard colors. If none of these is a color
you want to use for your background, choose More Colors. |
|
When you choose More Colors, the Colors window
will open. In this area, you can choose from many different color selections
by simply clicking on them. When you find a color you like, click on the
OK button. After you click on the OK button, you will return to the Background
window. In this window, click on the Apply button. Since you are working
on the Master slide, all of your slides will now have the same background
color. Depending on your needs, you may change the color of certain individual
slides as you work on your presentation.
• Bright reds can have a stroboscopic effect. Avoid them! |
|
| To change the font color in the master slide,
first highlight the text that you want to change. This could be the title,
the body or all of the text on the Master slide. When you have highlighted
the text you want to change, choose Format from the Menu bar and choose
Font. |
|
| After you choose Font, the font
window will open. In this window, you can change the font face, style, size
and color of the font. Click on the Color bar. Choose More Colors if none
of the standard colors appeal to you. When you choose More Colors, you will
be able to pick a new color the same way you did for the background. You
can also use this method to change the font size, color and style for other
text on your slides. |
|
- In the videoconferencing medium, sans-serif fonts, such as Helvetica
and Arial are easiest to read.
- You should avoid serif fonts like Times, Palatino and Courier.
- Titles should be at least 40-point sized.
- Subheadings should be at least 32-point sized.
- You should not use more than 2 different font typefaces on
your slides.
- As with the background, avoid red, whenever possible.
- Scripts and other specialized typefaces
can be especially hard to read. Avoid them!
- Double-check your Master slide after you have formatted your background
and text. Make sure that everything is the way you want it.
|
|
| Once you have the Master slide formatted,
you can change back to the Normal view. In the Normal view, you will be
able to add text and graphics to individual slides and insert new slides
into your presentation. |
|
| To avoid a cluttered look, try to limit slides
to the title line and six lines per slide and a maximum of six words per
line. If your main idea or theme requires more than this, add an additional
slide (or two or three) rather than trying to fit all the necessary text
onto one slide. Keep your text from running all the way to the edges, top
or bottom. If clipping by the monitor occurs, text that is too close to
the edges, top or bottom may be lost. A good rule of thumb is to leave 10-15%
around all edges of the slide free of text and graphics. |
|
Use key words or phrases when making titles
and sub-headings on your slides. This way, your attendees will have a good
idea of what’s in store, but will still rely on you for information
on each topic. If you fill the slides with all the information you plan
to cover, your attendees will not pay attention to what you have to say.
If you have a large amount of information that needs to be typed out for
some reason, this should be put into a document and distributed to your
attendees.
• “When people read, they don’t listen” |
|
| When adding graphics to slides,
make sure that they are appropriate and clear and convey the information
in the way you intended them to. Use graphics that are in the horizontal
format. Vertical format graphics will not work as well because they will
have to be shrunk to fit on the slides or may have important details clipped
off if they are left full size |
|
| In some cases. you may need to simplify graphics
by removing elements that are not essential to your presentation. Simplifying
graphics by removing non-essential elements will help your attendees focus
on the important part of the graphics and not get distracted by other elements. |
|
| When using graphs and charts, use bar graphs
and pie charts to convey information. For the shading of sections, use fill-in
shading. |
|
| Fills with lined patterns or dots can have
a stoboscopic effect when seen on a monitor. They should be avoided whenever
possible. |
|
| It’s a good idea to make a preview slide
to let your audience know what’s in store for the session. You should
also make a review slide to be used at the end of the session so that you
can recap the important points in your presentation and take any questions
that have not yet been asked. For meetings, you may also want to make a
slide detailing the relevance of your presentation to the audience, the
objectives you hope to accomplish, and the structure of the meeting. |
|
| You may also want to add some transitions
to your slide show. Transitions are “effects” that show when slide
changes to another. To set slide transitions, first go to Slide Show on
the menu bar and then choose Slide Transition. |
|
| The Slide Transition window will open. Use
this area to test out the different transition types. When you click on
one of the transition types, the transition effect will show on your slide.
There are many different transitions. Try to pick one that is appropriate
for your presentation. You can also choose to have no transition of you
wish to. |
|
| You also have the options of changing the
speed of the transition and adding a sound. Once you choose an appropriate
transition and a sound (if you want one), you should click on the Apply
to All Slides button. You should not choose a different transition
and sound for each slide. If you do so, you will most likely distract your
audience from the message you are trying to present. You may, however, use
a different transition for a dramatic effect. Again, the rule is that simplicity
is best. |
|
| You can also add animations to your text.
To work on adding animations to your text, choose Slide Show on the menu
bar and then pick Animation Schemes. |
|
| When the Slide Design window
opens, you will have your choice of several different animation styles to
use. As with the slide transitions, clicking on one of the different styles
will show you how the animation effect will look on your slides. |
|
| Just as you did with the transitions, you
will want to click the Apply to All Slides button. This will make your text
animations uniform throughout your presentation. Keeping your slide transitions,
animations and sounds uniform throughout your presentation will help ensure
that your audience stays focused on your message. You can use transitions,
animations and sounds that are different from the ones in the rest of your
presentation as attention-getters or for dramatic effect. |
|
Testing is one of the most important parts of making a successful
presentation, and, often one of the things that is overlooked.
You should test your slide show to make sure that everything is just the way
you want it.
Screen shots reprinted by permission from Microsoft
Corporation.
