APPENDIX D - Presentation Templates

This appendix contains a few presentation templates set up in PowerPoint.  As we’ve done with other support documents, they’ve been provided in two versions – PowerPoint 98-2002 and PowerPoint 2007.  There are some very solid improvements to the 2007 version, so if you’ve got the chance, acquire that version and use those templates.

Download the Initial Management Presentation PPT PPTX
Download the Full Project Presentation PPT PPTX

These templates were constructed with a simple, appealing color scheme.  The font or typeface used in these template is an effective, impactful font that is provided in the Presentation Templates folder.  You can move them to your desktop and install them as you normally would.  You’ll notice “placeholder” images in these templates.  Replace images with your own that would support the relevant topic being discussed. 

Download this Appendix in a printable format here PDF

PowerPoint Tips & Tricks

It’s worth stating at this stage that it’s recommended that you get assistance from an office assistant or someone familiar with PowerPoint, etc… to help you build your presentation.  There is nothing more aggravating than for a maintenance professional to be absorbed into hours of computer work.  You should focus on the content and get help with putting the content in place.  If this kind of assistance is unavailable, then stay patient and set small blocks of time aside throughout the week to build these presentations.

Image Management – Most people do little to management image size in their presentations.  When we mention image size here, we’re not talking about how big the image is on the slide, but the pixel dimension of the image itself.

When using digital cameras, each camera has its own designed resolution (megapixels).  Since PowerPoint presentations are shown on a computer screen or projector, keep in mind the most common size of screens is either 1280x1024 pixels or 1600x1200 pixels, or 1.3 and 1.9 megapixels, respectively.

So when you’re using a 6 or 8 megapixel camera, you’d be wasting pixels on screen.  The reason this is mentioned, is that if your presentation includes lots of pictures, carrying so many “over-budgeted” pictures within a presentation makes PowerPoint run slow and can even cause system crashes.

To management image size, you can use very simple image editing programs, either as one of your computer operating system components or as a separate program like Photoshop Elements, for example.  You’ll want to experiment a little with image size and your specific presentation.

Image Crop & Resize Tool – This is probably the most important tool within PowerPoint.  As you construct each slide, you’ll want to balance image placement and words.  The crop/resize tool makes it very easy to manage these efforts, right from within the program.  Instead of going back and forth from program to program, this tool saves a lot of time.  Make sure to learn about this tool in the program help area if you’re unfamiliar.

Slide Transitions & Animation – Just because you can add crazy transitions doesn’t mean you should.  Keep your slide and bullet point effects to clean, consistent effects.  Don’t mix transitions. 

It’s a good idea to select a single slide transition and a single bullet point transition (not necessarily the same) for your presentation.  Most of the transitions have preset speeds that are acceptable.  Look in the help screens if you want to tinker with transitions.  NOTE:  You shouldn’t get too involved with transitions.  It’s the content that matters most.

Slide Content – It’s always better to have less content on a slide and add more slides.  Nothing puts a crowd to sleep faster than a slide filled with too many words and too many small images in the same slide.
As you construct your slides, keep your content to a single headline statement and around 4 bullet points.  Avoid using too many words to capture your thoughts.  You want people to listen to YOU and not be reading the slides.  Make your points quick and compact.  If you need to continue a concept, add another slide before trying to cram it on a single slide.

Slide Sequencing – Balance slide content from slide to slide.  Avoid having too many slides in a row with either just images or just words.  Try and block a few slides with words and follow them up with images that translate to what was just reviewed.

Tables – Keep your tables simple.  Placing a 6 column 8 row table into a slide is too much content.  Especially when you get to cost estimating information and line items, try and breaking content up ito multiple tables and drop them onto separate slides.