Friday, June 20, 2008

Day 5: Using Fonts, Clip Art and Photographs in Multimedia Presentations

The most important thing to remember when creating a multimedia presentation is to "keep it simple". Here are some basic tips that I learned from the articles:
  • Use fonts effectively- Use fonts that are easy to read and use the 24 karat rule. If you need to use a smaller font do not go lower than 18.
    Preview your presentation- Go to the room where you will be presenting. Make sure your text is readable. If possible ask someone else to preview your presentation.
  • Keep running text to a minimum. No more than 6 to 8 words per line.
  • Use graphics, animation or sound whenever they provide an effective accent.
  • Your content is the most important.
  • Use landscape instead of portrait layout.
I think the hardest rule about creating a presentation is to keep it simple. I know that whenever I have made a presentation I try and put a lot of information. I definitely use more than 6 to 8 words per line and I don't think I have ever used the 24 for karat rule. This article had great information and was very useful.

5 comments:

EDT546 Blog said...

Hi Geraldine,
I can relate to learning the keep it simple rule. That made an impact on me too. Whenever I do a presentation I always think everything is so important that I do not want to leave out anything. I make it too long. Now I need to remember to keep it simple.
When teaching kindergartners you always have to keep it simple so that rule should easily stick in my brain!

Andrea said...

Thank you for a succinct (and simplified) summary. I got a lot out of these articles as well. I have to admit, I've been guilty of making some of these very mistakes, too.

ann-marie said...

Wow!!! Great Summary! I have made all of these point on to a paper that I have at my computer. So when, I make a presentation, I simply pull this sheet out remind me about all of these friendly guidelines. I have a bad habit of making things too cute, but I am getting better by asking something to look over my presentation. This helps a lot. What you think looks great, may look different so someone else. He or she may help you fix one or two key points.

Kierra said...

Great summary! I agree that I had not really used the 24 rule, but I think it obviously makes a lot of sense, especially when teaching, as some students may have learning or visual disabilities that make reading much more difficult for them. Also, if we only place the most important items on the board, students won't get distracted by unimportant details.

shadley said...

I agree with you on the article, it gives great information that should be common sense. It only makes sense to have someone preview your presentation and to use a font size that people can see in the back of the room, but do we think about these things?