PowerPoint Presentation Design Guidelines for Videoconference Presentations

Video transmission of PowerPoint slides compromises the image quality of slides more dramatically than LCD projection. It is therefore necessary to follow special guidelines when creating slides.

Slide Orientation

• Create slides in landscape (horizontal) rather than portrait (vertical) format.

Margins

• Leave a 1-inch text-free boundary around each slide. Otherwise, text near the edges may be cut off or skewed.

Color Scheme

• Use white or bright yellow text against a dark blue background for contrast.
  
  
• Use solid-color rather than shaded backgrounds.
  
  
• Avoid using red; it broadcasts poorly.
  
  
• Avoid using black text against a white background.
  
  
• Use no more than three colors per slide.

Fonts (Typeface)

• Use sans serif fonts, such as Helvetica and Arial.
  
  
• Apply boldface to fonts.
  
  
• Font size should be no smaller than 28 points, or it may not be legible. Ideally, title text should be between 48 and 60 points; rest of text should be between 36 and 40 points.
  
  
• Use upper and lower-case letters; text in all caps is difficult to read.
  
  
• Avoid underlining text.

How much text per slide?

• No more than 5 words per line, or no more than 30 characters per line (including spaces).
  
  
• No more than 5 lines per slide.
  
  
• Use bulleted lists and express your thoughts in phrases rather than in complete sentences.

Graphs and tables

• Use thick lines in your graphs and tables. Thin lines may flicker, or may not appear on-screen when broadcast.

Graphics

• Avoid using animation; the signal delay in the broadcast will cause the animation to look choppy.
  
  
• Avoid using clip-art or complex diagrams; they lose clarity in the video translation and may “shimmer.”