T-SQL Tuesday #84: Building Your Slidedeck

Welcome to another edition of T-SQL Tuesday. I am this month’s host, and the topic is Growing New Speakers. My contribution to this month’s T-SQL Tuesday was inspired via a tweet by Jonathan Cox (b|t).

When I gave my very first presentation, I had next to no experience with PowerPoint. In fact, I found it a bit intimidating. Where to start? How should I make it look? Do I have to pick a color scheme?

Not to worry! When you first open PowerPoint, there are numerous basic templates already loaded! My advice is to select a template that is simple. Don’t select one that has a background with very cluttered graphics. Visual noise is distracting and is the last thing you want to worry about.

For your first presentation slidedeck, there’s no need to get fancy. Keep things simple like the templates below.

Readability is very important. What may look fantastic on your 1920×1200 laptop screen that’s 2 feet from you, will look drastically different when it’s been downsized by a projector to 1024×768 and is projected to an entire room.

Font size is the first key factor in Readability. Karen Lopez (b|t) tweeted an excellent tip, that I used when I was working on my PASS Summit slidedeck.

I readjusted a handful of my slides to pass this test (thanks Karen!).

Color contrast is important. Different rooms have different lighting conditions, so be sure to use a simple, high-contrast color combination so everyone in your room can read your slides. A lightly colored or white background with dark or black text works best. Stick with the basics – they work.

When it comes to amount of content, don’t write huge walls of text on slides. Put only your main talking points. Your speaking will fill in the corresponding details.  And if you do have a lot of slide content, don’t hesitate to split it into two slides.

Images and clip art. Some like art, I generally shy away from it – it’s all personal preference. If you do use an image from somewhere, you must give credit. Generally a footnote is acceptable. I prefer to rely on Creative Commons 0 images. Makes life hassle free. Check out Kendra Little’s (b|t) blog post all about Easy Free-Use Images.

I hope this collection of tips helps you on your way to building your first slidedeck!  And if you still find yourself a little stumped, Google/Bing is your friend!  There are many out there, who have written numerous articles & blogs on how to build effective slidedecks.  Leverage their collective knowledge.

Happy Powerpointing!