A Successful Online PowerPoint Presentation Requires Practice

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

The level of success and the efficacy of message penetration will largely depend on how comfortable and familiar you are with your own material. Practice makes perfect. Go through your online presentation multiple times to make sure you are clear on every issue you bring up, and be ready for any questions you may be asked. You will quickly lose the confidence and attention of your audience if you seem unfamiliar, or unsure about the material your are presenting.

While you may be confidence and well-versed in using the Microsoft PowerPoint application, all bets are off when you are presenting online through a web conferencing provider. Most web conference companies convert your PowerPoint presentation into a format compatible with their technology. The interface for presenting is usually a bit, if not very different than navigating through the original PowerPoint presentation. Practicing with your online presentation through your web conferencing service provider is a necessity. Make sure you are familiar with how to upload the presentation, navigate through your slides (both forward, backward, and skipping ahead or forward to a specific slide), and how to use the video and audio systems so that you can make adjustments as necessary. Make sure you have a phone number to contact your web conferencing company immediately if you run into any problems, or have any questions prior to your event.

Practicing can only help so much. Even the most well-practiced and prepared presentation can go awry. Having a contingency plan, particularly if you are presenting to important clients or partners can be useful when presenting online. If your web conferencing service fails during your presentation and you are unable to get your service provider to rectify the problem, you may want to have the phone numbers and email addresses of your audience so that you can then email them the PowerPoint presentation, and get them on an audio-only conference call to continue the presentation and let them move through the slides themselves.

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Online PowerPoint Font and Color Recommendations

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Fonts and Colors are often overlooked aspects of a well designed and effective online PowerPoint presentation. Easy-to-read fonts and solid, well-contrasted colors allow your audience to quickly read your presentation, and focus on your message, rather than your online PowerPoint presentation’s design.

Online PowerPoint Presentation Colors

  • Limit the number of colors on a single screen to a minimum.
  • Bright colors make small objects and thin lines stand out.  However, some vibrant colors are difficult to read when projected, particularly when contrasted against a similarly colored background.
  • Use no more than four colors on any single chart.
  • Check the colors of your online PowerPoint presentation on variety of screens. Your online presentation may look drastically different on various monitors, so you need to make sure your design works for the majority of them.

Online PowerPoint Presentation Fonts

  • Use sans-serif fonts such as Arial or Helvetica.  Avoid serif fonts such as Times New Roman or Palatino as they are sometimes more difficult to read.
  • Use no font size smaller than 24 point. Your online PowerPoint presentation will be viewed on monitors of different sizes. You need to make sure that your text is legible for the majority of them.
  • Use clear headlines.  Use a larger font (35-45 points) or different color for the headline.
  • Use a single sans-serif font throughout the online presentation.  Use different colors, sizes and styles (bold, underline) only for impact.
  • Try to avoid italics as they may be difficult to read.
  • Do not use all caps except for titles.

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