Lesson 5.

1: Slide Design and Elements, and Animation

and Media
Lesson Summary

Presentation graphics software enables the user to present plain textual and numerical data
in a creative manner which can help in conveying the message. The lesson introduces the
common features a presentation software can have to create visually attractive
presentations.

Learning Outcomes

Familiarize the elements and features of a presentation graphics software.

Motivation Question

What can I do with slides in a presentation graphics software?

Discussion

Presentation graphics software is intended primarily for the business user, for creating
slideshow presentations, overhead transparencies, reports, portfolios, and training
materials. Presentation graphics software uses graphics, animation, sound, and data or
information to make visual presentations. Presentation graphics are much fancier and more
complicated than are analytical graphics. Pages in presentation software are often referred
to as slides, and visual presentations are commonly called slide shows. They can consist,
however, not only of 35-mm slides but also of paper copies, overhead transparencies,
video, animation, and sound. Completed presentations are frequently published in multiple
formats, which may include print, the web, and electronic files.

Most often, presentation projects are used in live sessions. They are commonly projected
onto large screens or printed on overhead transparencies. The slides may be distributed in
printed form as handouts to accompany the live presentation. Slides are generally intended
to be followed in an ordered sequence, although some presentations may utilize interactive
forms of navigation. More and more of this software now has the ability to export to HTML
for posting presentations on the web.

You may already be accustomed to seeing presentation graphics because many college
instructors now use such software to accompany their lectures. Well-known presentation
graphics packages include Microsoft PowerPoint, Corel Presentations, OpenOffice Impress,
Apple Keynote, Google Slides, Prezi, and SlideShare.

Presentation graphics packages often come with slide sorters, which group together a
dozen or so slides in miniature (Figure 18). The person making the presentation can use a
mouse or a keyboard to bring the slides up for viewing or even start a self-running electronic
slide show. You can also use a projection system from the computer itself.
                                        

                                    

                                  
                  
Figure 18. Microsoft PowerPoint helps you prepare and make visual presentations.

PowerPoint provides three types of movements: Entrance, emphasis, and exit of elements
on a slide itself are controlled by what PowerPoint calls Custom Animations. Transitions are
movements between slides. These can be animated in a variety of ways. Custom animation
can be used to create small story boards by animating pictures to enter, exit, or
move. Speech bubbles with edited text can be set on and off to create speech.

                                                      

                                          Figure 19. Animations and Transitions can be done in Microsoft

PowerPoint by going to their respective tabs.

Just as word processing programs offer templates for faxes, business letters, and the like,
presentation graphics programs offer templates to help you organize your presentation,
whether it’s for a roomful of people or over the internet. Templates are of two types: design
and content.

 Design templates: These offer formats, layouts, background patterns, and color schemes that
can apply to general forms of content material.
 Content templates: These offer formats for specific subjects. For instance, PowerPoint
offers templates for “Selling Your Ideas,” “Facilitating a Meeting,” and “Motivating a
Team.”

                                

Figure 20. Microsoft PowerPoint offers slide designs and templates.

Dressing Up Your Presentation

Presentation software makes it easy to dress up each visual page (“slide”) with artwork by
pulling in (“dragging and dropping”) clip art from other sources. Although presentations may
make use of some basic analytical graphics–bar, line, and pie charts–they generally use
much more sophisticated elements. For instance, they may display different textures
(speckled, solid, cross-hatched), color, and three-dimensionality. In addition, you can add
sound clips, special visual effects (such as blinking text), animation, and video clips. (You
can, in fact, drag and drop art and other enhancements into desktop-publishing, word
processing or other standard PC applications.)
Lesson 5.2: Design Tips and Standards
Lesson Summary

Presentation graphics software are flexible enough that can give a user the freedom to
place whatever information and apply animations and designs to their slides. However, this
can work against the user since too much of the slide elements can be overwhelming to the
audience and may distract them from the message the user is trying to convey. The lesson
discusses some presentation design tips and standards that should be followed when
creating effective presentations.

Learning Outcomes

Create visually attractive yet informative presentations.

Motivation Question

How can I create effective presentations?

Discussion

There are many different aspects one has to take into account when creating a
presentation. Some of these are listed as follows:

serifX7 Rule

Creating PowerPoint slides that summarize the essentials of your presentation is key to
effective communication.

It’s best to stick to one concept per slide, if possible. Focus on keywords and phrases. It
also pays to edit for brevity (try to use only nouns and verbs and to eliminate unnecessary
verbiage.) Also, do not forget that people can read much faster than you can speak. This
means that no-one will pay attention to your talk if everyone is just reading the content of
your slides.

As a result, many presentation experts argue for the Rule of 7X7: no more than 7 lines of
text per slide and no more than 7 words per line. (Others argue for a 6X6 or 8X8 rule.) Do
not use bullets, except when you present an enumeration.

Whatever combination suits you best, the general goal is to reduce wordiness and make it
easy for your audience to comprehend the meaning of your message in that 5-7 second
period of initial exposure to a slide.

The idea is to make it easier for your audience to see and comprehend your key message.
These rules shouldn't be adhered to blindly. They are a way to bring some discipline to your
presentation slides. Depending on the font you select, you may be able to use more words
per line without losing effectiveness.
Font Sizes and Styles

There are two different types of font styles in western countries: serif and sans-serif.

The former was created first and is the best choice for printed media. Due to the small
hooks (the serifs) at the edges of every letter, words are more coherent and thus it is much
easier for the human brain to conceive the meaning of it.

The latter is used on screens and street signs and was created to provide high readability
for short content (few words) like headlines, warnings, information, etc.

Since a presentation focuses on a few things (meaning one aspect) per slide and is usually
shown on a large scale using a presenter in front of an audience, you should use a sans-
serif font. The size should be big enough so that the people in the last row should be able
to read your slide without the usage of a binocular. This means that headlines should be
font size 42-48 points and content 28-36 points. Not smaller.

Do not forget that a presentation is not documentation! If you need a smaller font size
than the recommended ones, this means that you probably have too much content on your
slide. In this case, you should think about:

·         splitting it into multiple slides,

·         shorten your sentences without losing their meaning (e.g. using only the headlines on
your slide), or

·         using an image instead to explain the content since it seems to be too complicated if
it cannot be explained in fewer words.

Do not change your font style and font sizes on a single slide. It gives the impression that
you are not firm in the presented topic. And don't forget that when you have to present
elsewhere where you not use your own computer that non-standard fonts may not be
supported by the company's/facility's computer setup. As a result, their default font may
change your layout with disastrous consequences!

Images

An image says more than 1000 words… in most cases. If you want to support your
argumentation on a slide with an image, please consider the following tips:

Use an image to provide additional value to your message. Do not use it to just fill blank
space or because some word on your slide is related to a cool image you found on the
internet.

Do not use shorart. Most of them look very cheap or old-fashioned. Plus, they often do not
provide added value.
Do not stretch small images to fit the slide. They will become very pixelated. Use images
with a higher resolution instead. This does not only look more professional but also helps
the audience to realize what exactly is shown on it.

Do not skew images. Either crop them or if the image is too large then, put it on its own
slide.

Adjust the background-color to the background of your slides. It does not leave a good
impression on the audience when the border between a graphic and the normal slide
background is clearly visible.

Use images as a replacement for your background so that they fill the whole slide.

Slide Numbers

One important small thing that was often missed in presentations is the numbering of slides.

During a presentation people try to listen to the talk of the presenter (given he/she is
engaging enough). But because we usually–at least in university–have to give monologues,
disruptions are uncommon and questions are done at the end of a talk.

Let’s imagine that some minor detail at a slide in the first half of the talk was not
understandable. If there are no slide numbers, the audience now will have to describe
somehow the design/content of the respective slide to give the presenter an idea about
what the audience is talking about. So, the audience do not only need to keep their actual
question in mind (or on a paper) but also have to remember (or sketch) the corresponding
slide.

In contrast if there are numbers (Figure 21), the audience could just scribble the digits
besides their notes and when it is finally time for questions, the speaker does not figure out
where the slide was. Instead, the speaker can directly jump to the slide (in PowerPoint this
is done with <number>+ENTER) and they can concentrate on discussing the topic of the
given question.

1. Slides
2. Animation
3. Transitions 
4. Design Templates
5. Content Templates
6. Rule of 7X7
7. serif and sans-serif
8. Clipart
9. <number>+ ENTER

                               

Figure 21. Slide numbers can help with navigating the presentation.

Sources

Always reference your sources when adding images, citations, or texts that are not initially
created by yourself.

You do not have to provide the link to a used image on the slide where it is shown but can
also make an additional slide at the end of your presentation where you list all image
sources. That page does not have to be shown in your presentation but is good when giving
away the file later. Most of the time, it does not create any added value for the audience to
listen to you while you read all URLs out loud at the end of an otherwise good talk.

Templates

Templates are a good starting point for representations. They guide you in the sense that
they provide consistent font styles and sizes that users are able to read.

While being helpful at first, they can also be a bad thing:

·         Most of them recommend using bullet points.

·         Most of them mislead the user into putting a lot of text on the slide and not to focus
on major aspects/one aspect per slide.
·         Most of them mislead the user into using colorful/fancy backgrounds which as a result
leads to unreadable slides.

·         Templates, where the background is animated, make the presentation interesting at

first, but the movement distracts the audience from your talk. Thus, you are adding
something to your slides that make your own presentation worse.

Some companies tend to place their logo and sometimes even more on every slide. That
reduces the space for your own content.

It is much better to use images to spread the message and give a handout to your audience
if you want to provide more detailed information. This helps them to understand your
objective without having to present every minor detail.

Videos

Use a slide for a video and play it full screen. Since you want to emphasize it, you should
not have it as a small gimmick in a corner of your slide. In the other case (you do not want
to focus on the content of the video), it is only distracting for the audience and does not
provide any added value to your presentation. In those cases, it is preferable to not include
the video.

Always use a resolution that is appropriate. If you know that you will use a presenter that
has a screen size of 1024x768 pixels, then you should not include a video that is only
100x100 pixels in size. It will look very pixelated. In addition, it is not only hard to realize
different objects in the video when it is shown in such quality but also difficult for the
audience’s eyes. No one will be able to watch it over a longer time span.

Videos are in general not good content for presentations. The reason for that fact is
that in most cases the presenter just stands idly at one side of the stage when a video is
shown. Especially when the video has its own audio. But the audience is expecting a
presenter speaking when they go to a talk. Nevertheless, sometimes the usage of a short
video clip can be much more impressive than the same content just spoken by a presenter.