Microsoft Powerpoint is an example of presentation s/w that can be used for a number of different purposes.

In the old days, we used an overhead projector and either printed acetate sheets (professional) or freehand felt pen on acetate. Really professional presentations used 35mm photo slides in a slide a projector and sometimes two to get slide transitions. (Anecdote about hiding naughty pictures in a slide show). Late 80's used PC graphics packages such as Harvard Graphics, to create the presentation and then photograph each slide to a 35mm slide (Biology still has one of these ...)

Nowadays, presenting is done straight from the computer - more flexible and powerful. Often take a portable to a conference and use that. Can still get beaucoup de problems when projector cannot handle screen resolution of PC or there is not the correct cables to link a Mac portable to the projector, etc etc. Or if using a local machine, the software you are using is different or an older version to the s/w available on the projected computer.

Ways of disseminating information:

• The Web - pages viewed on a computer monitor
• Presentation - slides designed to be viewed live (usually projected) with a talking presenter and printed handouts for the audience.

• Presentation made up of series of slides (universal terminology - not just Powerpoint).
• Printed audience handouts, outlines and speaker's notes.
• Create a consistent uniform style for all slides with the Slide Master
• Entire presentation in a single file - easy to keep track of.
• Import graphics, movies, clip art and spreadsheets
• Link to external URLs on the web
• Link to internal anchors for non-linear presentation

1. Beginning slide
   • The title slide shows the audience what the presentation is about (and who created it).
2. Ending slide
   • Conclusion
   • Summary of whole presentation
3. Text style
   • Newspaper headlines
   • Little text per bullet
   • Readable fonts
   • Complementary colours
   • Use SLIDE MASTER for uniformity
4. Visual Clarity
   • Titles : 36 point font
   • # fonts – max 2
   • Body text : 24 point
   • Use Sans Serif fonts
5. Legibility
   • # bullets per slide - max 6
   • # words per bullet - max 6
   • # lines in title – max 2
   • # lines per bullet – max 2
6. Titles & Footers
   • Title equivalent to <h1> on a web page
   • Footer / slide
     • Subject reminder
7. Animate
   • Slide transitions uniform
     • Use slide master
   • Bullet animation helps presentation
   • Graphics and clipart meaningful
8. Speaker Notes
   • Guide to the presenter
   • Helpful when printed
   • Often neglected

• Here's a presentation I made - Logos Report
• Here's a jolly example of a real bad presentation