Document Design

To produce a good powerpoint presentation, there are two important things to look into; the content (writing) and the overall layout design of the document.

For further discussion on effective powerpoint presentation, let's take a look at two powerpoint slides taken from my tutorial group presentation on Diana Reep's Creating Graphic Aids.

Slide #1

In terms of layout, Marguez (2010) suggests designers to use slides effectively by keeping it to minimum number. Although Rothman (2005) stated that technical writing should be written clearly, specific and straightforward, the sort of arrangement shown in Slide #1 is not encouraged. The slide displays a very little use of space with only one point presented, and this will result to too many slides in the presentation. This needs to be avoided as too many slides can distract audience’s attention and make the presentation appear to be long-winded (Russell, n.d.)

Slide #2

According to Putnis and Petelin (1996), it is essential to ensure that the document design is arranged according to readers’ interest and context. The use of bar graph for the presentation as seen in Slide #2 is aligned with Reep (2006), who stated that graphic aids (tables and figures) are commonly used in documents and presentations to help readers understand the information as they provide quick summary of document’s content for readers. However, the presentation of slide #2 still can be improved by putting up the caption 'Example:' to address the illustration as an example of the earlier slide as well as providing brief description or 'footnote' of the bar graph (E.g. A bar graph of snowing dates from December - March)

From my brief evaluation on the two slides, I hope it helps you- readers to improve in preparing an effective powerpoint presentation. Thank you.

References:
Marguez, ZL 2010, How to Make a Good Powerpoint Presentation, Ezine @rticles, viewed 4th April 2011, <

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPointPresentation&id=4313178&gt;

Putnis, P and Petelin, R 1996, ‘Writing to Communicate’, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, pg.223-263.

Reep, DC 2006, ‘Document design’, Technical writing, Pearson/Longman, New York, 6th edn, pg.133-172.

Rothman, S 2005, What Makes Good Technical Writing?, associated content from Yahoo, viewed 4th April 2011,<http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/what_makes_good_scientific_and_technical.html

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Russell, W n.d., 10 Tips for Creating Successful Business Presentation, About.com, viewed 4th April 2011, <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>