Dr. Swanson’s Golden Rules for PPT

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Some Basic Design Ideas

• Start with a Title Slide (including names!)
• Text must be at least size 28, 32 is preferable, use a simple background
• Use rounded fonts like Arial, Helvetica, and Comic Sans, don’t use Times, or Palatino! (thin lines are hard to see)
• Make sure there’s plenty of contrast between your text and background, not contrast

Working with Your Content

• Slide Titles = Main Topics, think about the right way to group your info
• Don’t put anything on the screen (vocab, events, concepts) that you don’t understand
• One of the biggest mistakes students make is thinking they can copy something off of the internet, put it in their presentation and read it off the screen - this practice serves no educational purpose and is intellectually offensive.  You will receive a zero on your presentation if I find any text in your PPT that has been copied directly from a book or the internet.
  
• Animate your images in…
• And out…

Giving a Presentation

• Don’t read the screen!  Break your text down into key bullet points, then explain things to us, give us examples, etc.
• Use PPT to help guide your presentation & increase the understanding of the audience
• The use of outlines/note cards etc. is encouraged -  and these should also be in your own words, as you understand the material!  Do not get up in front of the class and read somebody else's words!