February 17, 2001

The previous article in this series explained the basic concept of computer presentations.

Click here for the previous article in this series, which explained how to prepare computer presentations. This link will be available soon.

Presentations should feel like slide shows. Each slide should have the same or a related background - unless you want to draw attention to the slide itself rather than to its content. The slide text and graphics should create a smooth and logical flow from one concept to another.

This flow is promoted in most presentation graphics packages, which offer a uniform background for the entire duration of the slide show. In certain other cases, the first page is somewhat different, but it logically fits in with the other pages. This uniformity throughout the presentation helps the audience focus on the important information that you want to portray, rather than on any fancy and gaudy additions.

That flow should not be interrupted by too much text on the screen. As a good rule of thumb, no slide should have more than six short lines of text, and slides with much less than six lines are certainly preferred. Less is best.

After all, if the audience is going to read all of your information from a screen, then they really don't need you! That screen is supposed to supplement your own dazzling performance, not to compete with it.

Of course, you can get around this requirement by creating an excessive and dizzying number of slides, in which each slide has a minimal amount of text. However, your audience is unlikely to forgive you for that little trick. You can force them to be busy reading an endless stream of slides, but you'll lose the effect of your fine lecture.

Click here for an article about presentation slide backgrounds. This link will be ready soon.

Click here for the first article in this series about presentation graphics.