Three Things That I learned from Blogs Written by Garr Reynolds and David Epstein

A very important tip that I received from these two blogs is to keep the PowerPoint presentation simple. The old adage of “Simplicity if Golden” is to be used. I also learned that it takes more effort of thought on the author’s part to get his or her ideas across for the audience to digest with ease. One of the most effective tools is to use story-telling techniques in making presentations.

The second important that I learned regarding making a PowerPoint presentation is to begin with the end in mind. What is it that I want my audience to know? What is the focal point or climax of the presentation? This important tip came from Garr Reynolds. For the presentation to be effective, it must be focused. Both authors recommends starting the slides last, Always start writing down with pencil/pen and paper to get the ideas that you want to come across before starting with the PowerPoint software. Both authors believes that the less text the better. The reasoning’s are for audience interest on the subject being presented and that it brings more focus on the presenter.

The third tip that I learned from Garr Reynolds is to use the San-Serif font (Helvetica or Arial) rather than the Serif font (e.g. Times New Roman). The Serif fonts are easier to read at small point sizes like documents, articles, and books filled with lots of text; but, get lost on screens due the relatively low resolution of projectors. Garr Reynolds recommends using the Gill San-Serif font because he believes that it is “somewhere in between a serif and a sans-serif font and is professional yet friendly and conversational”.