Did you know that around 1 million PowerPoint presentations are given every single day? Unfortunately, many of these feature classic readability errors such as using bullet points with white text on a dark background, text that’s far too small to read and other errors! What do we mean by readability? We’re talking about presentations which are attractive, simple to follow and easy on the eye. So how can you make sure your own audience is sitting on the edge of its seat – not falling asleep?

Keep colours simple

A dark background provides a much more relaxing background for your audience – and helps them focus on the content. If you do choose a lighter colour, don’t go for white. It’s far too bright and can even become painful to look at.

Go for a font colour that strongly contrasts with the background colour. Don’t rely on the way the text looks on your computer screen. Instead project the image to check your audience will be able to see it.

Another tip is not to use red text on a green background or vice versa as these combinations don’t work for people with colour blindness.

Audience-friendly fonts

Don’t get too fancy with your fonts. Keep them simple and straightforward. For starters, your font size should be big enough so that it can read by people at the back of the room. Are you giving your presentation in an office, a hall or lecture theatre?  Keep the presentation space in mind when planning your talk. In general you should use 38 to 48 point type for titles and 24 to 32 point type for bullet points.

Put formatting first

Make your slides consistent with the same size style and font, and with text positioned in the same place on all your slides. This means you’ll get more of a ‘wow’ factor when you do change the font type, size or position for a particular slide.

You’re not obliged to fill every inch of each slide! If you do have so much text on your slide that you need to use small text, try to use a serif font like Times New Roman. Those clever little serifs (the bits that stick out on each letter) will help your audience to read and understand small text.

Don’t let your text come into the slide from the left. It’s distracting for Western audiences who are used to reading from left to right. Bringing your text in from the right or fading in words from the left will make your presentation much easier to follow.

Keep it consistent

Be kind to your audience – use the same font style and size throughout your presentations. Try to avoid using italicized type and lines in all capital letters, as they’re difficult to read.

So now you know some of the secrets behind giving great PowerPoint presentations. Interested in learning more? Find out how a short PowerPoint or Effective Presentations training courses could help you get even more out of electronic presentations.