1. I've actually heard it as the 5 x 5 rule, and it comes (surprise!) from television. No, you can't be slavish about it. But the discipline of keeping the slides concise is well worth instilling. As others have intimated, there are few, if any, faster ways to kill a presentation than to cram the PPT slides with lots of words and small typefaces.
2. Play to PowerPoint's strengths, but where PowerPoint is not strong, tap the strength of other tools in the Office suite. For example, you have much more ease and flexibility developing a chart in Excel, a table in Word, and (at least, I suspect) a flow chart in Visio. Do the work in those applications and then import/link/embed into PPT. You can get some impressive results. Jim, who's catching up on his reading -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Hamilton Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 6:58 PM To: Jones, Donna; TCP List Subject: Re: [TCP] Care to share a PowerPoint tip? Along these lines I have heard advisors recommend a "6x6" approach...no more than 6 lines of text per page and no more than 6 words per line. I admit I don't always follow this myself, but I keep it in the back of my mind while editing to whittle the slide text to the bare minimum that gets my point across. The other big tip that I find myself using all the time to test the legibility of my slides is to print out the entire presentation as one slide per page and then lay them out on the floor. If you can't read the slide while standing over it, then your audience probably won't be able to read it when it is projected. Mike Hamilton V.P. Product Management MadCap Software http://www.madcapsoftware.com > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Jones, Donna > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 11:25 AM > To: TCP List > Subject: Re: [TCP] Care to share a PowerPoint tip? > > Don't cram too much on each slide. Besides the fact that small text is > hard to read from a distance, you want people listening to you, not > ignoring you and reading the slide. > > If you have the opportunity, sit at the farthest point away from the > screen where your PowerPoint presentation will be projected. Design your > slides to be read easily from that spot, and everyone else will be able > to read everything, too. > > Donna > > - CONFIDENTIAL- > This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, and may > also be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you > may not review, use, copy, or distribute this message. If you receive this > email in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and > then delete this email. > > ______________________________________________ > > Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. > New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help > technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. > > > DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE > > April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour > 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com > _______________________________________________ > > Technical Communication Professionals > > Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: > http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com > Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
