By Dolf Els

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Newsroom Trainers Conference, Poynter Institute
Slides in the Newsroom
PowerPoint as an aid in newsroom training
By Dolf Els Manager Editorial Development,
Media24
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Todays Agenda
In a nutshell session outline

• Why PowerPoint as a training aid?
• Five things to do (or to avoid)
• Examples of newsroom training slides
• How to build a basic design template
• Q A
• Create a new presentation / critique an
  existing presentation

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Introduction
Why PowerPoint as a training aid?

• Show and Tell more effective
• Makes it easy to highlight points
• More professional, organized, credible
• Quick and easy to update your material

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Dos and Donts
Five things to do (or to avoid)

• Dont dump loads of information
• Take care in choosing display fonts
• Dont let the background steal (kill) the show
• Beware of all the bells and whistles
• Use visuals wisely

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Dos and Donts
Five things to do (or to avoid) 1

• Dont dump loads of information
• (Annoyance factor 47.8)

It can be information overload on oneslide
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Dos and Donts
Five things to do (or to avoid) 1

• Dont dump loads of information (Annoyance
  factor 47.8)
• Tips
• Break major points into separate slides not
  more than 3 to 6 points per slide
• Use headlines rather than headings like a
  series of newspaper stories where only 3 things
  matter headline, picture caption
• Numbers are powerful devices to make lists
  memorable
• Comparisons help prove the point and illustrate
  what not to do
• Optimize display fonts (Annoyance factor 50.1)
• Tips
• Use large lettering on your slides Avoid using
  text smaller than 24 pt because it is difficult
  to read from across the room
• Dont decrease point size in order to fit all the
  text onto one slide
• Use a sans-serif screen display font like Verdana
  or Arial they project more clearly than serif
  styles.

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Dos and Donts
Five things to do (or to avoid) 1

• Dont dump loads of information
• (Annoyance factor 47.8)

or it can be a complex chart with lots of
information
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Dos and Donts
University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Dos and Donts

• Dont dump loads of information
• Tips

• Major points go onto separate slides
• Headlines are better than headings
• Numbers make lists memorable
• Comparisons help prove the point

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Dos and Donts
Five things to do (or to avoid) 2

• Take care in choosing display fonts
• (Annoyance factor 50.1)

Tips

• Use a sans-serif screen display font like Verdana
  or Arial
• Use the largest type sizes possible
• Dont decrease point size to fit all the text on
  one slide

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Dos and Donts
Take care in choosing display fonts
Sans Serif (36pt) Verdana Bold Arial Black Arial
Bold Avoid Arial Narrow
Serif Fonts (36 pt) Times Roman Bold Garamond
Bold Century Bold AvoidCourier
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Dos and Donts
Take care in choosing display fonts
San Serif (16 pt) Arial Bold Use large
lettering. Remember, people across the training
room should be able to read the text with ease.
Use the largest type sizes possible.
Serif Fonts (16 pt) Times New Roman Bold Use
large lettering. Remember, people across the
training room should be able to read the text
with ease. Use the largest type sizes possible.
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Dos and Donts
Five things to do (or to avoid) 3
Backgrounds should not steal (kill) the
show(Annoyance factor 37)

• Use one of two color schemes
• light text on a dark background, or
• dark text on a light background

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Dos and Donts
Dark text on a light background
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Dos and Donts
Never use light colors on a light background