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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.

20 questions to keep in mind:

• Do I know the size and type of monitor my attendees will be using?
• Have I tried showing my presentation on a similar monitor?
• Is information missing on some slides because of “clipping” by the monitors?
• Are all my slide transitions the same?
• Are all my text animations the same?
• Are all my sounds the same?
• Are my transitions, animations and sounds appropriate in regard to my audience?
• Have I gotten a trusted colleague to give me an honest opinion about my presentation?
• Have I made a hard copy of my presentation to use on the document camera in case of technical difficulties?
• Is the hard copy printed on pastel paper to reduce glare?
• Have I allotted enough time in my presentation to allow for questions and anwers?
• If my presentation is more than 90 minutes long, have I alloted time for a break?
• Is my presentation too long or too short for the time allotted?
• Do I know if I can use my latop, or will I have to bring my presentation on disk or CD?
• Do I know if the computer I will use can accept the storage medium(floppy, CD, etc.) I have chosen to use?
• Is the computer I will use the same operating platform (Mac, PC, etc.) as the one I made my presentation on?
• Have I practiced my presentation enough to move through it with ease?
• Do I know how and where to get help quickly in case of technical difficulties?
• If I’ve used copyrighted graphics, do I have permission to use them?
• If this is a presentation I’ve used in the past, have I updated the information contained in it?

 

Screen shots reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation.

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© Copyright 2006 Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin
Last updated May, 2006