Better presentations using index cards

Here is a quick idea to help you create better PowerPoint presentation to support your sermons or Bible classes - start with index cards. Too often people start straight into a blank PowerPoint file without a plan. They go point by point through their sermon outline and type in the bullet points and stop occasionally to search Google images for a small rectangular image they can place on the slide. This approach just doesn't work well. The result is often a static "sermon outline" on screen rather than an attempt to communicate their message visually.

But there is hope. Those 3x5 index cards you can buy at any office supply store are roughly the same shape as the slides you project for your presentation. Armed with your sermon outline and a stack of index cards begin to plan how best to visually present your material BEFORE you ever even open PowerPoint on your computer. As you pour through your outline look for elements you want to emphasize visually and go through the process here:

• Take a blank card and draw (yes, you can!) what words and images you want on the slide. You don't have to be a Van Gogh here, even simple stick figures can say a great deal about what you are trying to visualize for your audience. (The book The Back of a Napkin by Dan Roam is a great example of what can be communicated with simple stick figures and diagrams.) You just want to get a sense of what kind of image you need to search for later - two people shaking hands, a image of the cross, an empty tomb, etc...
  
• Be specific. Write the exact words or phrases you want to put on the slide on the index card. If you have to write too small for the words to fit easily they will probably be too small and crowded on your final slide to be effective. If you aren't sure about readability, set the card 8 to 10 feet away and see if you can read it easily. If not, your audience will struggle when it is projected on the walls. Reduce the number of words to as few as possible.
  
• Lay the cards out in order and look at the flow from slide to slide. Does it make sense? Is it connected? Are the major sections well defined? At this point you can rearrange and reorder the cards any way you want. Create a stack and flip through them one card at a time to see how the ideas will play out on screen. Note that any changes in order may need to be reflected in your sermon outline as well.
  
• Once you are satisfied with the flow, open PowerPoint and lay out your slides one at a time based on what you put on each card. Google search (or visit a stock photo site like iStockphoto) for the images you ALREADY determined you wanted to make your point visually. You know what you are looking for - the problem will be finding it. THIS IS THE KEY! Often times people start looking for images before they really know what they want. They have an abstract idea and begin the search and far too quickly settle for what they find. Determine before you ever go to Google exactly what you want. You may not find it exactly, but you will be much closer to your mark.
  

This approach will help you be more intentional about the flow of your presentation and the images you choose to put on the screen. It will help keep you focused. Try it - you may be surprised at how much it helps.

Update: 1100 views on Slideshare in 5 months

About 5 months ago I wrote about Slideshare. This website allows you to post PowerPoint files to be viewed over the internet. As a test I posted the file below from a sermon I did using images from the Hubble Telescope interspersed with Bible verses. Well, without doing much promoting to drive traffic to it, it has been viewed 1100 times. In internet terms 1100 isn't reaching the millions of views that some viral YouTube videos get, but I got a Bible based message on creation to about 220 people each month for the last 5 months(avg). I'll take it. Think of what we could do if we tried to get the word out and promote these presentations. In addition to the online views, it has also been downloaded almost 500 times. Who knows where it has gone from there.

We need to look at new tools like Slideshare as opportunities to reach people. Each day, there are people seeking through these electronic tools. Will they find the Lord's church spreading the message of God?The Beauty of the Universe

Make it big enough to be read easily!

Often times I am asked, “What is the best size font to use for my PowerPoint?” The answer is simple - one that is readable! That may seem a bit flippant, but it is the correct answer. You presentation should not be a eye test!! Bottom line is no matter how profound your lesson may be if they can’t read it from where they are sitting, it will detract from your message. Different auditoriums are different. What works in a small building may not work in a larger one. The size of the building, the size of the projected image, the colors being used on the slide, the font chosen, and even the brightness of the projectors all factor into how big your font should be. In other words, there is no universal answer to the question. TEST IT! Get into your auditorium, project your presentation, GO TO THE BACK OF THE ROOM and cycle through your slides. Are they readable? If they are - you found the right size font. If they are not, make them bigger. It is not really rocket science, it just takes some extra time.

Follow the “10-20-50” rule (actually it is more like a set of guidelines…)
There are some that suggest the “10-20-30” formula for your presentations. TEN slides, TWENTY minutes, THIRTY point font. While this may work is a small boardroom type presentation I can assure you that it won’t work in many larger auditorium settings. Thirty point font is too small in many situations and so I suggest a change to “10-20-50”. While again this concept should not be seen as a universal antidote to unreadable presentations, it can provide a starting guide from which to work.

10 SLIDES - Your presentation should not have more than a total of TEN slides to present your message. The idea here is that too many screen changes and transitions can become a distraction. Also, limiting yourself to ten total slides forces you to focus and simplify your message to its core elements. There certainly isn’t much room for rabbit chasing here.

20 MINUTES - Keep you presentation to twenty minutes when possible. Some suggest that after twenty minutes most people’s attention spans start to wane and they start tuning out. I have to say however that I have sat through presentation where I was tuning out far sooner than twenty minutes because the speaker didn’t seem interested or excited about his material. I have also sat in presentation that lasted well over and hour where I was riveted to the speaker because he was passionate and enthusiastic. Again, this should be seen as a guide, not a hard and fast rule.

50 POINT FONT - Keep your font size about 50 points at all times. This is where I personally think the “10-20-30” rule falls apart. Thirty point lettering seen from a distance is very hard to read. It also encourages the presenter to put too much text on each slide. Strive to limit the number of words you use on the slide (don’t just read full sentences off your slides) and make them as big as you functionally can. Now I know, I can hear you already - “there is no way I can fit everything I need to say on the slide using 50 point font.” My response is direct and to the point - you probably have too much text on your slide - but that is a topic for another post. In the mean time, simplify, simplify, simplify.

The 66% rule
There is another technique that I think can be very helpful in helping you select a more readable font size without leaving the comfort of your computer screen. (I actually like this better than to “10-20-50” rule.) After you have created your slides (or at least a few of them), switch to Slide Sorter View (in Keynote it is called Light Table). This view defaults to 66%. Scan through the slide in this mode and this size. If anything is difficult to read - it is too small!

Try these tips in your next presentation. Readability is a common problem and one the is curable with a little extra time and though. Remember, just because it looks good on your computer screen doesn’t mean much. You are sitting 24 inches away!! Test your presentation when you can in the environment where it is going to be viewed and make it readable. Remember, if they cannot read it it only serves as a distraction to your message.

Improve your presentations by eliminating rectangles

One of the most common mistakes I see in creating PowerPoint (or Keynote) presentations deals with how images are presented in the slide. Sadly, the templates and wizards that come with these presentation programs often reinforce bad layouts. Many of these templates ask for a line to text for a title which sits above a rectangular image that has been inserted (see image 1). You’ve seen it before. Probably more times than you can count. So what’s wrong with it? The answer lies in how our eyes move through an image.

The slide area itself presents a rectangle on the screen or wall. The edges of this rectangle “contain” the images and text you use to communicate your message. When you place another image inside this “container” its edges create barriers that our eyes run into. Rather than allowing the eye to move smoothly through the slide area, these hard edged rectangular images actually block eye movement. Hard vertical edges form lines that our eyes just don’t want to cross. We will certainly cross them, but not smoothly and easily.

The second problem this layout creates is that often times images are presented too small to really help communicate. Because they are relegated to a small rectangle in the bottom portion of the slide they often lack punch and emotion. They seem more like afterthoughts than deliberate choices to communicate your message. In addition, in a larger auditorium this smaller image can be much harder to see clearly from the back of the room.

Remove rectangles to allow smoother eye movement
So what do we do about it? The best approach to take in laying out your slides is to remove as many rectangles and hard vertical edges as possible. Often this can be done simply by making your image fill the entire slide. This allows the eye to move through the image itself, not just bump up against its edges. Your eye moves unobstructed through the image to the text you want them to focus on. This allows the image to help reinforce your message. Large images not only aide eye movement, they can convey more emotion and impact. As you can see from these two examples, the slides with the images full screen create more impact and tend to communicate a stronger message.

You cannot always avoid adding rectangular images and boxes into your slides, but the fewer the better. Look for ways to eliminate these barriers and your slides will be more effective and easier on the eyes.

Create better slides using "The Rule of Thirds"

One of the biggest issues I see with PowerPoint presentations is that many of the slides are crowded and out of balance. Often times images are even distorted to try to make enough room for the title and the five, full sentence bullet points that need to be squeezed onto the screen. The first improvement to be made is to reduce the amount of material on each slide. The second improvement to make is to learn to use "The Rule of Thirds" to balance the visuals (text and graphics) an the slide.

"The Rule of Thirds" and how to use it.

Graphic designers and photographers use "the rule of thirds" to create balance and focus attention. Basically, you divide the space (in this case your slide) into equal thirds horizontally and vertically. It's really like drawing a tic-tac-toe board on your slide. Then place the main elements of your image along the lines of the grid. 

Obviously you don't leave the grid on your slide it is just a visual reference, but the viewer's eye will naturally go to the area of the image where the lines intersect. These "hotspots" become the perfect place to place text or focus attention. Note the example of the family walking on the beach. Placing the main elements (the family) along the line on the right give the image a 

natural balance and creates interest. 

You have to be careful not to clutter up the open space with text, but you can strategically place text at a "hotspot" to give it attention but maintain balance in the slide. Note the placement of the text in the lightbulb image and well as where the lit bulb falls. The slide is balanced, easy to read and tells a story. That's what we are after.

Balancing text and images

There are times when you need enough space for more text. By the way...you never need enough space for five, full sentence bullets, but you may have a passage of Scripture that you want to include on the slide for clarity sake. You can still use the rule of thirds to help. Note the slide with the image of Christ and the quote from Romans 5. It stays balanced because the image and the text are placed evenly on the grid set up by the rule of thirds.

Final thoughts

Using the rule of thirds can make an immediate improvement on your slides. If you strive to create balance and remove clutter and your slides will have more impact and communicate more clearly. Give the rule of thirds a try...once you do there is no going back.

Slideshare: Passion for Growth

I have recently discovered a website called SlideShare (www.slideshare.net). It allows you to post presentations created in PowerPoint (or Keynote) online for a larger community to see. The potential here seems great to me.  You can even link recorded audio from a podcast to the presentation and edit it so that it matches your slide changes. I have posted this test here and also on my Facebook profile as a test. 

This test was a lesson I presented in Chapel back in November.

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Passion for Growth

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: hard-work passion)

Presentation site has some excellent information...

I have just run across a website by Garr Reynolds that you really must visit. Garr has a website and blog (Presentation Zen) that deals with issues related to creating and giving presentations using PowerPoint (and Keynote if you are a MAC person). His information goes far beyond the basics of how to set up a good slide (although that is included). His information is about visual communication using these tool. He has posted an article on his website entitled, "Top Ten Slide Tips" that should be a MUST READ for everyone using these tools. If you will simply follow his suggestions your PowerPoint presentations will improve and be far more effective.

Garr makes a very strong point on his website that should be a reminder to everyone making these types of presentations:

"Your presentation is for the benefit of the audience. But boring an audience with bullet point after bullet point is of little benefit to them. Which brings us to the issue of text. The best slides may have no text at all. This may sound insane given the dependency of text slides today, but the best PowerPoint slides will be virtually meaningless with out the narration (that is you). Remember, the slides are meant to support the narration of the speaker, not make the speaker superfluous." - Garr Reynolds

Let that sink in for a minute - he slides are there to SUPPORT what you are saying! Without the benefit of what your narration and speaking, the information on the slide will probably not make sense to anyone.

Visit his website and blog....take his suggestions seriously and your sermon and class presentations will definitely improve, your audience will learn more, and maybe, just maybe they may stay awake more!