Performing Remarkable Feats with Presentation Graphics Packages

by Leticia Ekhaml

T o produce a dazzling, high-impact, professional- quality computer slide show, one does not need to have a graphic arts degree or artistic talent. Using

the right tools is one of the secrets. There are many easy-to-use, easy-to-learn, dedicated presentation graph- ics packages that give you dynamic special effects and persuasive power.

On-screen slide shows--slide presentations shown directly from the computer--are used in business as training, marketing, and information tools. Banks, hotels, and museums use them to introduce customer ser- vices. In education, they can be used by teachers, admin- istrators, researchers, and scientists to explain complex concepts, illustrate processes, analyze research data, and teach management techniques.

Electronic slide presentations are often used with large screen display devices such as a liquid crystal dis- play (LCD) panel and cathode ray tube (CRT) and light valv e projectors. Most presentation graphics software such as Asymetrix's Compel, Software Publishing's Har- vard Graphics for Windows, Microsoft's PowerPoint, Lotus' Freelance Graphics for Windows, and Aldus' Per- suasion have outliners which allow you to plan the pre- sentation and type the text of the presentation in outline form, which is then automatically transformed into slides.

Leticia Ekhaml is an Associate Professor of Media Education and teaches computer graphics production at West Georgia College, School of Education, in Carrollton, Georgia.

Presentation graphics packages also allow you to generate slides from slide masters which you create, or from ready-made presentation templates provided by the software. A slide master is a model that contains the ele- ments you desire repeated on all slides. A template is a predesigned master slide that lets you fill in the titles, graphics, and charts. Both master slides and templates make use of a common design, a consistent graphic background, and uniform color scheme.

An extensive library of clip art usually accompan- ies presentation graphics packages. The capability of inserting into your presentation multimedia objects such as clip art and movie clips created in other application programs is an important feature of high-end presenta- tion graphics packages. Chart, graph, and table tools are also found in high-end packages to allow you to do such things as display specific dates (tables), show how items rank and compare (bar charts), display how items change over time (line charts), and show the percentage composition of one whole (pie charts). Some packages provide a gallery of ready-made graphing styles includ- ing 3-D graphs with rotation and perspective control. Some packages include automatic build which creates charts automatically from your tables.

Many of the recent presentation graphics packages such as Asymetrix's Compel, Microsoft's PowerPoint, and Macromedia's Action! now include animation and sound. A few of the high-end packages such as Action!, Compel, and Freelance Graphics for Windows incorpo- rate hypermedia and hypertext technology. You can click on hypertext hotwords and buttons anywhere on the slide and be presented instantly with an associated idea. For example, clicking on a product name can bring up a full-motion video demonstration of that product.

Presentation graphics packages allow you to sort or rearrange slides. This feature is called a "slide sorter" or "light table." Miniature or thumbnail versions of all your slides are displayed on one screen--much like a commercial light table for viewing slides. The programs allow you to assign a duration (in minutes or seconds) for displaying each slide on-screen. The packages also support a whole gamut of special effects (curtains, wipes, blinds, dissolves, and the like), which can be used for transition from one slide to the next.

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The ability to create speaker notes or audience handouts is another common feature found in presenta- tion graphics packages. Speaker notes consist of a sheet of paper, containing a slide miniature, slide title, text, and graphics, that you can refer to during presentation. The handout feature contains miniature versions of your slides, which can be made available to the audience.

Some packages, including PowerPoint and Aldus Persuasion, provide cross-platform support. For exam- ple, you can open a PowerPoint Macintosh file on a PC, or a PowerPointfor Windows file on a Macintosh without a special translator.

One essential feature found in high-end presenta- tion graphics packages is the capability to create layers or "slide builds," in which each point in a topic is revealed on a slide line-by-line. In transparency produc-

tion terminology, this is called progressive disclosure or revelation. Another plus is the ability to send the output to just about any dot matrix or laser printer, film recorder, plotter, and slide bureau. Spell checkers that check spelling mistakes in an entire presentation instead of just single slides are bonus features found in both Macintosh and Windows presentation graphics programs.

Practices of Software Companies To select the right presentation graphics software,

there is no substitute for taking a test run on the soft- ware. Reading reviews, talking with vendors and users, and watching live on-the-convention-floor comparisons at trade shows are not sufficient approaches.

The tutorial provided with the software is usually the best starting point. Some software companies pro-

To produce successful, professional- quality computer slide shows, consider the following tips:

�9 Always plan your presentation on paper. Analyzing your audience, and specifying objectives and content should be included in the planning process.

�9 Give an attractive, forceful title for your presentation.

�9 Summarize your points. Use phrases. Avoid the use of complete sentences. Presentations include oral explanations, so don't copy your oral text on the slides. The same transparency rules apply: no more than five or six lines per frame; no more than six words per line.

�9 The simplicity rules for charts and graphs also apply. Avoid using too many elements, lines, segments, colors, and textures. Show trends rather than detailed data. Reserve detailed data for audience handouts or articles for publication.

Don't include more than one graph or chart in each slide. If you need to "explode" a pie chart beside another one, limit it to one in each slide.

Dazzling Yet Effective: �9 Avoid using all caps for large �9

blocks of type as they are hard to read. Use upper and lower case instead. It is acceptable to set �9 headlines or major headings in all caps.

�9 Type size should reflect the importance of the various ideas in a slide. Headlines should be larger than body copy. �9

�9 Limit typefaces, type sizes, and weights to one or two and retain �9 these throughout the presentation.

�9 Use simple, block typefaces and sans serif typefaces. Sans serif �9 typefaces are those with same thickness at all points. Helvetica is an ideal font. Fancy or ornate types �9 should be avoided.

�9 Avoid hyphenation. Hyphenated �9 lines interrupt the continuity of the thought.

�9 Check spelling and numbers. Avoid �9 grammatical errors.

�9 Use bullets and numbers to organize ideas in list format. Bullets are the dots, check markS, or other �9 shapes that delineate topics or introduce items in a list. Use them to give list items equal importance. Use numbers to list items if the order of importance or chronological order is important.

Do not use dashes or asterisks as bullets.

Have the phrases in bullet lists written in parallel grammatical construction. For instance, use the same verb tenses, same voice for verbs, same cases, and same number (singular or plural).

Avoid superimposing words over graphics as this impairs readability

Use boldface or italic type instead of underlining. Avoid excessive underlining.

Start each heading in the same place on each slide.

Make line lengths in a text frame approximately equal to one anoth~

Use (but don't overuse) repetitive patterns in subdued shades to give the impression of texture.

Develop a logo or an institutional identification segment for use in your presentations and include thi in your opening frame.

Use builds, or reveals, or progressive disclosure slides to gi\ visual variety and to help the audience absorb the information one step at a time. Make the last item in the list brighter or of a different color than the others.

30 TECH TRENDS SEPTEMBER 1994

vide a working model of the program on a disk that allows you to do everything except output and save. You can sometimes get help by calling a toll-free num- ber, although many software companies have a policy of serving registered users only, for a fee.

Some companies allow you to purchase the soft- ware with a 30-day guarantee. You can return it if it does not fit your needs. A few companies provide a training video, but normally this is not free.

As a final note, always remember that the most important element in your presentation is to inform and not merely to impress the audience.

Bibliography Hoffman, Kenneth E. and Teeple, Jon. Computer

Graphics Applications. CA: Wadsworth, Inc., 1990.

Labriola, Don. "Lights, Camera Windows!" Pre- sentation Products Magazine, vol. 7, no. 8, August, 1993, pp. 130-136.

Mar, Jerry. Mac Graphics for Business. Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Co., 1986, pp. 21-48.

Meilach, Dona Z. Dynamics of Presentation Graph- ics. Illinois: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1990.

Meilach, Dona Z. "Using Color Constructively." Presentation Products Magazine, vol. 7, no. 7, July 1993, pp. 24-26.

Victor, Tim. "It's All in the Mix: A Guide to Mul- timedia Presentation Software," CD-ROM Today, vol. 1, no. 2, Fall 1993, pp. 71-75.

White, Jan. Using Charts and Graphs. New York: R.R. Bowker and Co., 1984. �9

Presentation Graphics Tips Grab viewers' attention with drop shadows but use them sparingly. Drop shadows can be colors other than black or gray. The deeper the shadow, the closer to the audience the object appears to be. The general rule is to make the shadow a darker shade than the original.

Use color sparingly. Limit colors to two or three on a contrasting background.

�9 Use distinctive color contrasts between the text and background. For example, use blues or blacks for backgrounds and whites or yellows for letters, bullets, and numerals. Superimposing dark-colored typeface on a dark background or a white-colored typeface on a pale background reduces the legibility of the letters. A simple guideline is to use bright colors for foreground and dark colors for background.

Use bright colors for the most dominant message. Similarly, use brighter colors for the message and not for the accompanying graphics. Remember the lighter or brighter colors (colors high in saturation and luminance) tend to accentuate or emphasize.

�9 Plan the color scheme for the whole presentation before choosing colors for individual elements.

�9 Consider the type of output when selecting colors. Colors displayed on the monitor may not necessarily look the same when seen on the large screen projection display, a film recorder, video recorder, plotter, or color printer. What you see on the screen is not what you see on the other output devices.

�9 When creating printed handouts for your slides using the same presentation graphics software, use dark type on a white background.

�9 Use heavier, darker colors at the bottom of the frame when including ramps or gradation effects (grading of color from black to solid color or through shades of a color).

�9 Use adequate margins for each frame. One guideline is to leave equal margins at the top and sides and a slightly larger margin at the bottom.

�9 Be aware of the positive and negative connotations of colors and the emotional response that may be envoked by certain colors.

For example, it is widely accepted that red connotes deficits and financial failure.

�9 Avoid placing red and green next to each other. The combination may cause eyestrain.

�9 Color should be used discrim- inately in graphs and charts as it can affect interpretation of the data, even if correctly presented. For example, darker colored bars make them appear more important than those in lighter colors.

�9 Use brighter colors to highlight the most important element in a chart.

�9 Place labels of graphs and charts horizontally rather than vertically to relieve the audience from tilting their heads while reading.

�9 Place footnotes in graphs and charts in the lower left corner using the smallest legible font size. Do not use bright colors in a footnote or secondary data as they will make the footnote appear to overpower the primary foreground information.

�9 End your presentation gracefully with one or two closing titles.

�9 Start and end your presentation with a black frame.

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