http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/what-are-the-appropriate-colors-for-powerpoint-slides.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/what-are-the-appropriate-colors-for-powerpoint-slides.html Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600 It is quite impossible to believe that the original versions of PowerPoint presentations could not display any colors other than black and white! Just imagine how boring those PowerPoint presentations may have been! Colors are very helpful in adding spice to a boring section of text. And it is because of this that people like to use color in all PowerPoint presentations!

Colors need not only be used in the animation of the PowerPoint presentation. It can also be used to highlight key phrases through which the audience’s attention is diverted to important concepts of the presentation. It also helps in the assimilation of information, and thus should not be overlooked when creating PowerPoint presentations!

However, when using colors, one has to careful about the color combination being used. Colors exhibit the different moods of the presenter; green is used to describe relaxing, red and yellow are urgent colors and are used for immediate action situations and blue seems to be sad or relaxing, depending on the circumstances. It is important to know how to use colors in presentations to get the best results from the presentations. The color wheel, or the chromatic wheel, is a useful tool used in graphic design while preparing preparing PowerPoint presentations. Here, the colors are aligned in a circle, depending on the order of visible colors in the electromagnetic spectrum, from red to blue. The primary colors, blue, red and yellow can be combined to give a large number of new colors that can look both well, and horrid together! The worst color combinations that could be made in a PowerPoint presentation is one where the two colors are placed in the same region, opposite to each other in the color wheel.

When making the PowerPoint presentation, it is better to avoid using color combinations of colors that are found on the opposite sides of the color wheel. For example, while red text on a green background is okay for Christmas, one should avoid this combination at all costs! Similarly, one should not make a PowerPoint presentation with a blue text on a yellow background. These colors seem to clash with each other and only hampers the effect of the combination. The color wheel also has to be considered when creating colorful PowerPoint presentations. It is the hue and saturation of colors that also determines the color choice in the PowerPoint presentation. Usually, dark text that is placed on a light background gives a more pronounced look, and it is also easier to read, than using light text on a dark background.

In PowerPoint presentations, to access the color palette or color scheme, one has to use the draw toolbar which defines the eight colors used for background, text and lines, titles, shadows and for filling the image. When beginning to design a presentation, it is vital to modify the first four colors in your color palette; i.e. background, shadows, title text and text and lines. In this way, you are sure that the chosen text color and background color are not the same. Remember, it is always better to use a dark background with light colored text, or vice versa. If you intend on using shadow effects on an object on the presentation, then select a color that is a shade darker than the background image because a lighter color does not look realistic as a shadow.

When using colors for your PowerPoint presentation, it is important to preview your PowerPoint presentation in the room scheduled for the speech . This is because, the quality of the image on the PowerPoint slide is affected by the amount of sunlight that is streaming into the room. The type of overhead lights used for your presentations also affects the quality of the image. Keeping all these points in mind when choosing the right colors for your color combination in the PowerPoint presentation is very important. Only then will one be able to create an effective PowerPoint presentation with the help of colors!


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About Author: Thomson Chemmanoor is an powerpoint expert offering powerpoint templates at his website http://www.powerpointguys.com.For listing please visit http:www.powerpointguys.com/ for a perfect PowerPoint presentation.There you will find different types of PowerPoint Template to according to your needs.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/tips-on-facing-your-audience-in-a-powerpoint-presentation-.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/tips-on-facing-your-audience-in-a-powerpoint-presentation-.html Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
An important way of getting the audience involved in the presentation is by focusing on two to five key points of the PowerPoint presentation, and then emphasizing on these points. All points of the presentation should be focused on facilitating the learner’s achievement of the objectives of the PowerPoint presentation. To achieve this, it is important that you rehearse the PowerPoint presentation so that you not only memorize whatever you want to say, but also be able to interact with the audience while portraying a relaxed, professional and confident demeanor. In a way, rehearsal also alleviates stage fright. So the one best method of controlling nervousness is by visualizing success!

When using video clippings it is important to orient the audience through adequate description of the video clippings and the PowerPoint presentation. It is vital to point out the relevant findings and at the same time, allow the audience to assimilate the information before moving on. All this can be made more easily and effectively using a laser pointer, cursor or by using builds and transitioning. The main thing to remember when giving is that it should be designed to include as much audience participation as possible, no matter the size of the audience. Some of the techniques that may be employed to encourage audience participation are through questioning, small-group activities, case-based examples, and brainstorming and directed listening. The best way of motivating and gaining attention of the audience is through appropriate use of humor, anecdotes and quotations in the PowerPoint presentations. In the process, it is important to give importance to your body posture, body movement, eye contact, and of course, your voice! The voice is very important as when speaking, the impact it gives the audience has an impact on the audience’s acceptance for you.

The most important thing that makes your presentation easier on you, and more influential to the audience, is the mastery of the subject you are giving the PowerPoint presentation on. Make sure that while rehearsing, you rehearse till you know your PowerPoint presentation inside out without having to refer to slides or notes. Most of the time, speakers make the mistake of making presentations while talking about their project, their ideas, and what interests them the most. They think that what they find interesting may also interest the audience. On the contrary, while making a presentation, it is important that you tell the audience what the speech is about, and on how listening to it is going to benefit the audience. Only in this way will the audience be interested in listening to the presentation!

When making a presentation, it is important for you to speak in the language, style and point of view of the audience. It is of no use if you speak in your own language as this way, you will never reach the audience. To be effective, it is very important that you reach the style, the way of looking at things and the level of comprehension of the audience. When speaking, it is very important that you don’t look into outer space. Instead, you must look at the audience one at a time. Make it a point to spend a few seconds looking in the eyes of each person in front of you, to slowly move on to the next person. The main objective of speaking this way is so that each person feels that he or she has been personally spoken to.

However technical your presentation may be, it is important that you make the presentation as human as possible. Becoming personal in the presentation by talking about personal experiences can do this. Be vulnerable, authentic, nature. funny without jokes and above all, be human! Remember that being natural and authentic need not mean that you have to stand there whispering in your normal voice. You are presenting on stage, and so you must perform. You have to raise your voice, move around and waive your hands during the presentation. Remember that you are the center of attraction, and that you are the focal point of the audience, so make them stay awake, and not sleep in their seats. Keep your movements, voice and body language dynamic enough to keep them awake and interested in your presentation! Remembering all these points is sure to make you confident enough of yourself to face your audience in future PowerPoint presentations!


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About Author: Thomson Chemmanoor is an powerpoint expert offering powerpoint templates at his website http://www.powerpointguys.com.For listing please visit http:www.powerpointguys.com/ to know every thing about PowerPoint presentations.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/how-to-make-a-winning-powerpoint-presentation.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/how-to-make-a-winning-powerpoint-presentation.html Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
First and foremost, it is always better to keep your PowerPoint slides as simple as possible. To do this, make it a point to aim for concise and summarized text and graphics in the slides. This is because they are easier for your audience to digest, and also for you to present. This way, you can be sure that your presentation is more memorable to the audience! If you do have to use clipart in your PowerPoint presentation, remember to manipulate and/or recolor it to suite the template you are using. By doing this, you give your clipart a new lease of life by keeping it with the look and feel of your presentation. For better effects, and dimension, you might also consider adding a shadow to the clipart.

The font that is best suited for PowerPoint presentations are a heading of point sizes 40-44 points while maintaining a body text to lie between 20-36 points too. This facilitates better visibility and thus understanding, to the audience. If you intend in using bullets in the PowerPoint slide, limit the size of your bullet list to 6-8 items. If you do find that you need more bullets for your presentation, then it is better to split the bullets to two slides to make the slides look more orderly and disciplined. Adding animations to your PowerPoint presentation gives a better effect to the slide. However, do remember to use animation only if it is vital and has any effect in your presentation. This is because if there is unnecessary animation in the presentation, it may detract you from the important content of the presentation.

Use fonts for your presentation wisely that are easy to read and suited for your subject matter. If you do have a corporate font, you might as well use it! It is always better to aim for sans serif fonts like Arial, Verdant and Tahoma for your PowerPoint presentation as these fonts are easier to read in the presentation. Using serif fonts like Times New Roman is not actually advised as these fonts are not designed for screen legibility and proves to be difficult to read on a computer monitor or projection screen. When using colors for your PowerPoint presentation, use colors that add credibility and legibility to your presentation. Choose your colors wisely so that it suits your subject matter; if you are talking about traffic statistics, it is better to avoid bright reds and greens as in such cases, blacks, grays and yellows are more appropriate. Similarly, dark blue, gray and white are fine colors for a financial presentation, but not suited for a national florist chain!

It is always better if you use high-contrast colors in your PowerPoint presentation as this makes the reading of the text on the slide much easier. High-contrasting colors prevent the losing of slide text into the background. However, while having white backgrounds is beneficial in printing, in a PowerPoint presentation, it tends to give a headache when projected onto a large screen! When making presentations for viewing by the audience, use a light text on a dark background. This is because this combination is a lot easier on the eye, and your audience is sure to thank you for this! It is always better to minimize the number of colors you use in your PowerPoint presentation as though many colors are suitable for a kid’s birthday party, it is of no use on a business PowerPoint presentation! It is always better to stick to your corporate color scheme that may include a maximum of 4-5 colors. If you don’t have a corporate identity, you can use the colors in your logo, with additional one or two complimentary colors!

Nowadays, the level of patience in people is quite low. So keeping this in mind, it is better to speed up your PowerPoint presentation with only having an outline view in it. There are some people who spend hours going through content in their PowerPoint presentation by navigating between full screens and clicking in cumbersome text boxes. This proves to be tiring. So use your PowerPoint presentation only as an outline for your presentation while concentrating on text, without worrying much about graphics, transitions, charts and animations. Using all these tips are sure to make your PowerPoint presentation a winning one, so implement them in your next presentation!


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About Author: Thomson Chemmanoor is an powerpoint expert offering powerpoint templates at his website http://www.powerpointguys.com. For listing please visit http:www.powerpointguys.com/ for a perfect PowerPoint presentation .A place where you can find different types of PowerPoint Presentation according to your needs.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/how-to-use-audio-and-video-on-powerpoint-presentations.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/how-to-use-audio-and-video-on-powerpoint-presentations.html Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600 The process of inserting graphics, sounds and animated sequences in PowerPoint slides is quite an easy and popular practice. However, it is the process of insertion of videos into PowerPoint that requires some knowledge.

The first step for adding video to a PowerPoint presentation would be to find or create the video! This can be done be using existing footage from archives, personal collections or videotape libraries. If you intend on using existing footage, clear copyright issues and if not, you can always create new footage with a camcorder. It is always better to integrate shorter video clips in a slide presentation as the video clip is only meant to support your presentation. Longer clips distract the viewer to settle into a TV watching mode. A typical video clip lasts for 10 to 20 seconds. Of course, there are other video clips like product-demo shots, location or establishing shots of a place or building that need more time for their video clips.

If you intend in shooting for video, make sure that the lighting is proper to get a good picture in the video. However, remember that audio is as important as video as a bad audio can ruin a good video. It is always expected that audio and video be correct and collaborating with each other. If one is missing or substandard, the audience is sure to notice it and act harshly! Make sure to get the camera’s build in microphone as close to a speaker as possible. If not, you could also use an external microphone like a lapel connected to the camcorder. Always do a sound check before starting shooting.

Once the footage has been captured in video, the video has to move from the camcorder into the computer for editing. This can be done using either a computer’s IEEE 1394 port for DV camcorders or an analog-video capture card for analog camcorders. Whichever method is employed, you need software like Adobe Premier, MGI software and Video Wave to instruct your computer to transfer the video into the hard drive. Once the video is captured in the computer, the editing has to be done. The video clips are trimmed to remove unnecessary frames before and after the required footage. This can be done with the help of any editing software. In addition to trimming, you can also add simple fade-in and fade-out to a clip.

Once the editing of the video has been done, the video clips have to be exported into an appropriate desktop video format like MPEG-1 or Windows Media. Make sure to check the frame size and rate in the process. Reduce full-frame videos of say 720 x 480 pixel resolution to 320 x 240 pixel resolution and maybe frame rates of 30 frames per second to 15 frames per second. These changes make it easier for a computer to process and play the clips smoothly in PowerPoint. Now the video file has finally been created!

Next comes the part of playing video during a PowerPoint presentation using one of three basic methods. One of the ways is to embed the entire video clip into a slide where PowerPoint places the first frame of the video clip in the current like as a picture icon. There may be a delay while PowerPoint imports the file, but you can reposition or resize the chip after that. The second option is to embed a Windows Media Player object in the slide. This version is helpful if the clip is longer as it allows you to pause to make a point or to answer a question. The third version is just to use the Windows alt and tab key combinations to switch applications. Although embedded video clips give a more polished look, this version is an important option for presentations to know as it lets you move around your computer to photos, charts, documents and other files.

Now that the preparation of the video is done, it is up to you to weave the video into your PowerPoint presentation Although video clips adds life to a static presentation, it is up to you to introduce them and explain them as necessary, to keep the focus on you as the presenter and to make your message on target!


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About Author: Thomson Chemmanoor is an powerpoint expert offering powerpoint templates at his website http://www.powerpointguys.com. For listing please visit http:www.powerpointguys.com/ for a perfect PowerPoint presentation .A place where you can find different types of PowerPoint Presentation according to your needs.


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