POWERPOINT TEACHING & PREACHING - HOW TO

BEST TIPS FOR PREPARING YOUR PRESENTATION: (CONTINUED)

6. USE MOVING TRANSITIONS SPARINGLY:

PowerPoint and other electronic slide show software allow you to use special transitions that make your slides look like they are fading, sliding, spiraling, etc. Movement always helps garner attention to the digital image. I recommend that you almost always use some kind of transition as you CHANGE slides. It is also often a good idea to use motion transitions as you BUILD slide points.

     -  The fact that you are projecting an image means that you want people to see it. By adding motion to the introduction of a slide or bullet you cause the audiences attention to go to the slide. At this point, it is generally a good idea to read or paraphrase what is said on the slide in your own words. Once you resume elaborating your comments on the point illustrated on the slide then all motion on the slide should STOP. After the audience has absorbed the information shown on the slide then you want the attention to go back to the speaker and you don’t want anything to distract from what you are saying. Most people will hear little of what you are saying when they are reading the slide so keep the slide text short.

     -  "Transitions" are what occur when you change slides. "Builds" are what occur when you add bullet points to your slides. In general, you should pick one slide transition motion and one slide build motion for the entire show. Don’t make the beginners mistake of picking "random" transitions on your slides. This is cute to watch but the problem is that after a while, the audience starts watching for the cool animations and quits listening to what you have to say. If you make a major change in topic or want to put special emphasis on a point during a presentation then it is OK to change transition types, but do this sparingly or else it is no longer a special effect and it looses its effectiveness. Changing visual transitions is a way of reinforcing the idea that changes in thought are being made.

     -  You should also be careful not to use animations that take a LONG time to show. One example is the "swivel" transition in PowerPoint. I think that the "swivel" transition is really great - the problem is that it is really long. If the transition takes too long then people forget the point. While the transition is going on, people watch it instead of listening to the speaker.

     -  PowerPoint allows you to assign special effect sounds to transitions. In general, you should use sounds effects with your bullet and slide transitions sparingly. After a while, sound transitions tend to become irritating to most audiences. Save the sounds for making special points. That way, when you do use a transition sound, you know you have everyone’s attention.

7. LEAVE PLENTY OF BLANK SPACE AROUND THE PERIMETER OF YOUR SLIDE:

Another common mistake of beginners is to run the text on their screen all the way to the edge. This is usually caused by the previously mentioned beginner mistake of trying to put too much information on the screen at one time. A well designed slide leaves some blank space around the edge. Just as a good frame or mat enhances a picture so leaving empty space around your text enhances your slides. Generally, you should try to leave about 5% to 15% of blank space around the outside of your slide.

     -   If you are having problems leaving enough blank "framing" space at the top and bottom of your slide then one fix that most beginners don’t know about is the ability within PowerPoint to change the spacing between lines. In PowerPoint, pick FORMAT from the menu then pick LINE SPACING. You should be able to change your line spacing to 90% or perhaps even 85% without causing problems in most slides.

8. DON’T USE ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME:

One common mistake of beginners is to type all their text in all capital letters. Most studies show that although capital letters are larger than small case letters that it is generally easier for people to read text in small case letters. The reason for this is that many people recognize most common words by shape rather than by reading each individual letter. Most people don’t stop to examine each individual letter of a word unless the word is new to them. Take the word "the" for an example. In this word the letter "e" is short and round. The letter "h" is tall and the letter "t" is midsized. Most people recognize the word "the" by its shape rather than by reading each individual letter. When you put the word "the" in all capitals then the word has an entirely different shape and every letter is the same height. The end result is that for most people the word "the" is more easily read than the word "THE".

     -  The one thing that capitals can do is to provide emphasis. To many people, putting a word or sentence in all capitals is like shouting. The bottom line is to use all caps sparingly. DON’T PUT ALL THE TEXT ON YOUR SLIDES IN ALL CAPS. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE SHOUTING AND IT IS HARDER TO READ. You can use all caps for your titles and your main points but try not to use them all the time. Not using all capital letters all the time also allows you to use them when you want to emphasize something.

9. USING BACKGROUND PHOTOS AND IMAGES:

Do you have a neat photo or other image that you would like to use as a background for a slide? Usually, the biggest problem with finding an image that is suitable as a slide background is getting one that is either all dark colors or one that is all light colors. The reason that backgrounds are usually preferred as all dark or all light is so that your text will show up on the screen.

     -   There are a couple of ways to improve your chances of achieving the "all light" or "all dark" effect. First, insert a graphic and then right click on the image. In the box that pops up select "format image" or "format object". In this menu, select the "picture" tab. On the picture tab you can either select "color" and then "watercolor" for automatically washing the photo to a light color. You can experiment with various combinations of the contrast and brightness settings. An alternate method is to simply select "Format" from the top of the screen, then "background" then the down tab under the background fill. Select "Fill Effects" then picture to make your image the default background for you slide show. This alternate method doesn’t allow you to brighten or darken the image. You have to do that in a separate image editing software program.

     -   One caution - what you see on a computer monitor may not look the same when displayed with a projector. An image that you have lightened and looks nice on your monitor may be totally washed out when projected. Make sure you check your work with the equipment you plan to use in the place you plan to use it, otherwise you may be disappointed with the results.

10. AVOID EYE CANDY:

Every image used in your presentation should have a reason to be presented. Don’t just fill the big screen and your congregation’s minds with useless "eye candy". Eye candy is an image that looks nice but has no function. Using irrelevant images just lessens the impact of the important messages that you will want to convey later.

     -   Although we want our classes to be heartfelt and enjoyable, avoid getting trapped in simply entertaining the viewers. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to use images frequently. I try to put one image on nearly every slide! The difficulty is finding images that are relevant.

     -   It is generally a good idea to repeat images or shapes throughout your slide show. Often, I will pick a theme image and use it in various ways throughout my lessons. Properly used, images can help convey more information than text alone. Repeating images when on a common theme and changing images when the subject changes helps emphasize the change being made in your text.

     -   Presenters should be careful to not deceive or improperly use images that bias audience reaction. Images can carry emotional messages that do not fit the context of our spoken message and we should make sure that the image we use fits the information being presented. Let's say a speaker is contrasting his view with an opposing view. Surrounding his points with pictures of children, flowers and Bibles and surrounding the opposing view with pictures of snakes, spiders and skulls creates emotional bias that may not be suitable. If a picture is worth a thousand words then is a deceitful picture worth a thousand lies? Be careful about what you say with images.

11. HAVE A BACKUP PLAN:

Equipment has a habit of failing at the worst time. Always have a backup plan for what you will do if your technology fails. If you don’t do this while preparing then some day you will find out that you prepared for failure. Your backup plan may be transparencies and an overhead projector, it may be being able to rely on your paper handouts or an alternate lesson plan. It may not happen this week or this month but someday you will need your backup plan. Be prepared!

12. THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP:

The most important tip is simply a reiteration of something that has been alluded to in several of the tips above. There is no substitute for checking your presentation in the place you plan to show it with the equipment that you plan to use. The difference between the way a presentation looks on your computer monitor and the way that it looks when projected or used with a PC to TV projector can be very, very significant. Colors may vary, brightness and contrast will be different on different equipment. Try your material and equipment out in a practice run before the real thing. If you don't learn this tip the easy way then you will learn it the hard way!
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I hope these tips help you avoid many of the pitfalls of beginners. There are a lot of advantages in using electronic projectors in sermons and Sunday School. Work hard to practice the things mentioned above at the beginning and they will become habits that will help your presentations be more effective. After all, the reason you are speaking and presenting is to get your message out!