To prepare a good power point presentation, one must first understand the concept of document design. As defined by Reep (2006), document design refers to the exterior or the physical appearance of a document. It is important to remember that a document not only consist of words and text, but also includes visuals such as pictures, diagrams, tables, and so forth. Thus, both the written text and visuals in a document ought to support each other to reach its audience and grasp their attention effectively (Reep, 2006). Marquez (2010) also cites speaking clearly and interactivity with the audience (which I think my group could improve on) to avoid uninteresting and mundane presentations.
First, we will look at layout. According to Putnis and Petelin (1996), a good document design must highlight the most crucial points and assist the reader to read the content efficiently. Some of the vital fundamentals in designing a document are a smooth flow of information, balancing positive/negative space and visual/text weight, consistency, sequence, and so on. Reep (2006) also suggests format elements to guide a reader through a document and retain key information. These would comprise of written cues (i.e. headings, headers and footers etc.), managing the white space (i.e. margins, columns, indentations etc.), color, style, and typography. In terms of typography, Russell (n.d.) advises to steer clear of fancy fonts, capital letters, and messy punctuations. In our first slide as seen below, we made a mistake of using fancy fonts for the title and difficult-to-read fonts for the group members' names.
Next up, writing. Putnis and Petelin (1996) argues that there is no right and wrong in writing; instead it is in the given circumstances and readership that constitutes an effective writing piece. For instance, lengthy elaborations in an academic essay may be useful to gain additional marks, but may fail to reach an audience in a presentation which requires straight-to-the-point information. In another slide below, it shows a clear mistake of having too much texts and explanations. The point was not straightforward and hence, failed to reach the audience.
Moreover, Rothman (2005) states that a good piece of writing must communicate specific information directly and literally. The slide above obviously fell short of this. Hence, one must not only consider the situation and audience in writing, but must also be able to communicate precise points rhetorically in order to deliver the main message to the readers.
References:
Marquez ZL 2010, How to make a good powerpoint presentation, Ezinearticles, viewed 27 August 2010,
<http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178>
Putnis P & Petelin R 1996, ‘Writing to communicate’, in Professional communication, Prentice Hall, Sydney.
Reep D 2006, ‘Principles of document design’, in Technical writing, 6th edn, Pearson Edu, Inc., New York.
Rothman S 2005, What makes good scientific and technical writing?, Associated content, viewed 27 August 2010,
<http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/error>
Russell W n.d., 10 Tips for creating successful business presentations, about.com, viewed 27 August 2010,
<http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>
