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I. STUDENT PowerPoint
PRESENTATIONS:
The use
of PowerPoint requires time and effort to master the full
range of its functions, so do not wait until the last minute to begin developing
your presentation. Outline your presentation slides before you
input them into the program. Block out each slide on a separate 3" x 5" card.
This will make it easier to organize each slide. The key to a good presentation
is knowing what key points should be emphasized and how visual images can help
you emphasize them effectively.
II. INSTRUCTIONS:
Remember -- Do NOT fill PowerPoint slides
with text, then read the text during your presentation. This is the equivalent
of reading from a prepared text and is not an acceptable or effective
presentation method. Do NOT turn your back to the audience and read or point
to a PowerPoint slide. Use the curser as a pointer and keep your eyes on the
audience. Some of the following information may become outdated when newer
versions of PowerPoint are published!
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Getting Started (on a PC).
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Begin by
powering up the computer.
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Click on START in the lower left corner, hold down
mouse, go to "Programs."
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While "Programs" is open, move cursor to
"PowerPoint" and release.
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At the first PowerPoint screen, double click on TEMPLATE. You might want to
try the AutoContent wizard if this is your first use of PowerPoint.
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Select a design - preview it by clicking once on the design. Double click on
your selection. At the New Slide screen, select a layout by double-clicking on
it. Type in the text at the appropriate points on the slide.
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To go to the next slide, press CTRL
(the "control" key) and the letter M. Select
another template and repeat this process until you have completed the
presentation. Save the presentation after every few slides to avoid losing
everything in case of a crash. To save, click on File in the upper left
corner of the tool bar at the top of the screen. Click on Save As and save to
the A drive floppy disk 3 1/2 Floppy (A:).
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To animate, highlight the text to be animated, move the cursor to Slide Show,
at the top middle of the Menu Bar, hold down and go to Preset Animation, go to a
selection, release the mouse.
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To view the slides, go to the menu bar Slide Show, click on View
Show. Click or press enter to advance the slide show. If you want to stop and
change a slide, press ESC.
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To print slides for a handout, click on File in the menu bar, go to Print,
click. Single click on Properties, click on PrintQuality, EconoFast, click on
OK. Single click on Black & White. At Print What, click on
Handouts (3 or 6 slides per page), click OK.
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To end, click on File, click on Close to close out the file. Click on
Exit to exit PowerPoint.
III. OPEN AN EXISTING POWERPOINT FILE:
To open an existing slide show, click on File, click on Open, go to A drive,
double click on the file you wish to open -or- if you are just starting the
PowerPoint program.
At the first screen, click on OPEN AN EXISTING PRESENTATION.
Explore PowerPoint options by moving the cursor to various icons on the
screen. For example, options for changing fill colors, adding lines, AutoShapes,
etc. When you are in CLIP ART, if you are linked to the Internet, you can import
clip art images from Microsoft by clicking on the world icon in the bottom right
corner of the screen. Use the wizard to help guide you through this process.
Detailed instructions are available at the following website:
PowerPoint
solutions
(visit some of the additional web sites shown at the bottom of this page).
IV. EFFECTIVE
PRESENTATIONS:
Content, Design, Delivery, Creativity:
A.
CONTENT: What makes a
presentation effective? Content, design, and delivery are key factors that the
presenter must consider. Content should be kept simple and
straightforward. Aim for one main thought or concept
per slide. Your slides should present just the key points. As such, they should not be read
verbatim.
Create speakers notes for your presentation so you can develop the flow of your
presentation to accompany the key points on the slide. Do not confuse the
audience with jargon they will not understand.
B. DESIGN: Design must follow the
content and be consistent. Use the same presentation template for each slide in
a presentation because uniformity is less apt to
distract viewers. Do not clutter the design with too many different colors as this detracts
from what you are trying to say. LIKEWISE AVOID ALL CAPITALS, as they are
much more difficult to read than a combination of upper and lower case type.
Make sure the type font can be read even by audience members sitting in the back
of the room. Avoid very small type.
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When
using clip art, avoid clutter and the same,
tired old art that everyone else uses.
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Use art or graphics that illustrate a point or add to
the presentation.
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Diagrams and tables must be simple and uncluttered in
order to be readable.
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Cartoons can be inappropriate in a business presentation. Be cautious in
using them.
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Do not change type fonts. Consistency is
more elegant than
excessive variety.
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Do not clutter the slide, use white space; aim for 8 or fewer words per
thought.
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Avoid reverse type, light colors on a dark
background are difficult to read.
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Use italics sparingly as they can be difficult to read.
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DO NOT USE A DARK BACKGROUND (- 5 POINTS).
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Do not misspell words (-5 POINTS).
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Use correct sentence syntax (-5 POINTS).
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Avoid the use of contractions (e.g., don't) (-5
POINTS).
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Use the "Arial" font (or some other
"block" font like Arial).
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Always include "an introductory slide" and
a "THE END" slide (-5 POINTS).
C. DELIVERY: Delivery
is where many presenters fail. Practice, practice, practice before you get in
front of the class. Practice your timing and your vocal
delivery -- volume, pitch, modulation. Tape record your presentation, listen for
annoying vocal mannerisms (uh, um) and accents, then remove them! Do NOT read the slides
verbatim. This is
annoying, since your audience can read, and implies that you need a crutch and
are unsure of yourself.
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Get to the room early to check the equipment and lighting BEFORE your
presentation.
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Bring transparencies with you in case the computer
and/or projector is not working.
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Do not stand behind the monitor as this hides you from the audience.
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Maintain eye contact with the audience.
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Move around to emphasize a point, but do not be manic or rock on your
heels.
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Keep your hands out of your pockets, use them for meaningful emphasis.
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When you need to refer to something on a slide, don't turn around to look
at the screen.
D. CREATIVITY: Be sure to add some creativity to your
PowerPoint presentation. Nothing puts people to sleep faster than a dull
presentation. You have to have some graphic images on each of your slides.
For example, have some
information "slide in" from right to left, or
include some brief sounds.
V. Problem Solving:
A number of people have
contacted me with specific questions about PowerPoint. Some of their questions
and the answers are provided below in the hope that the
information can help solve your PowerPoint problem. If anyone reading this page
can provide additional insight into these questions, PLEASE contact me and I
will add them to this section.
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Question: How can PowerPoint be set up so it opens to a particular presentation
slide in the slide show mode?
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Answer: Use the PP viewer. It will show a specific presentation and
nothing else. You can download the PowerPoint viewer free from the Microsoft
web site.
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Question: How can a PowerPoint presentation be saved and seen as a presentation
where the viewer cannot copy or edit the information?
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Answer: Anything displayed on the screen can be captured and edited
using various tools. One way to control access is by storing the PowerPoint
presentation on a CD Rom disk, which few others can (at this time) copy or
edit. Otherwise, the presentation is vulnerable to changes.
VI.
PowerPoint Requirements for Dr. Snell's classes.
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COVER SLIDE:
The first PowerPoint slide should provide a TITLE for the project.
Next, list the name(s) of the author(s) of the project
(if it is a group project, also identify which group (e.g., "Group A).
Next, list the class and its title (e.g., PY531.74: Psychological
Testing). Under that list the semester (Spring 2005) and the
submission date (February 14, 2005). Be sure to "center justify" all
of this information.
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ABSTRACT SLIDE: The abstract slide should be similar to the abstract
of an APA manuscript. That is, on a single slide summarize
your project topic (see the APA Publication Manual for additional info).
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SLIDES 2-20: The next 18 slides constitute
the content of your PowerPoint project (18 at a minimum, 25 at a maximum).
In general, provide a brief title at the top of each slide (so the viewer
can know what the slide will discuss). In
addition, you MUST include at least one RELEVANT graphic image on each of
these 18 slides (see the link below to learn how to do this).
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THE END SLIDE: After you have
presented the content of your PowerPoint project, include a next slide that
reads, "THE END" (slide 21 if you have 18 content slides, or slide 28 if you
have 25 content slides!
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REFERENCE SLIDES: Be sure to include as many slides as you need to
list the references for your PowerPoint project. You are PROHIBITED
from using "web sites" as information/references for your PowerPoint
projects in Dr. Snell's classes. Write these references in APA format--which
is similar to the references in the back of your textbook for your class.
For all references that you include in this Reference section, you MUST cite
them someone on your slides (e.g., Smith, 1995).
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DOUBLE-CHECK: Make sure
that you check your PowerPoint project for types, misspelled words, sentence
syntax, punctuation, etc.
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IMPORTANT: On the due date (before
12:00PM midnight), you must upload a copy of your PowerPoint
presentation to your course website. See the course syllabus to identify
the exact due date for your project.
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GRAPHIC IMAGES:
Include at least one graphic image on each "content" slide.
VII. PowerPoint
Requirement:
PsycARTICLES, 5 Articles, and Plagiarism.
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REQUIRED:
One of the requirements for the PowerPoint project is that students have to
use the following psychology "datebase" to locate information for their
project: PsycARTICLES. Be
sure to read the course syllabus to learn how to access this online
database. DO NOT INCLUDE ANY INFORMATION FROM ANYWHERE ELSE, except PsycARTICLES.
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REQUIRED: 5 psychology journal articles
from each student:
One of the requirements for the PowerPoint project is that EACH student has to
incorporate information from at least 5 psychology journal articles into
their part of the project. AND, the articles must
come from PsycARTICLES. You may use information from other
sources, but at a minimum you must use info from 5
psychology journal articles. When you cite your
references on
your group PowerPoint slides, cite the author(s) last name(s) with a comma and then
the year of the publication within parentheses--such as this (Smith, Jones,
& Carnes, 2003). On the last slide(s)/page(s) of the PowerPoint project, list all of your
references, similar to this:
References
Adams, W. (1995). The title
of the article goes here at this location.
Journal Title goes here,
34, 285-295.
Smith, T. J., Jones, B. M., & Carnes, K. K. (2003).
The title
of the article goes here at this location.
Journal Title goes here, 34, 205-215.
Toms, T. J., Hanks, B. M., & Seeser, K. K. (2002).
The title
of the article goes here at this location.
Journal Title goes here,
47, 358-369.
DO NOT
give the full first name (abbreviate like the above examples). The
numbers after the title of the journal are: (a) the volume number and (b) the
beginning-ending page numbers for the article. In general, only the
first word in the title is capitalized. You will lose 5 points for
EACH reference that fails to follow these guidelines!!
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REQUIRED:
Plagiarism:
Regarding plagiarism, it is always best to paraphrase everything into your own
words. One of the rules in my class is to never directly quote from another
source, no matter how well said something is in the original article. One of
the roles of colleges is to help students develop their own writing skills;
thus, take what the author(s) say and then tell me about it using your own
words. If you do this, then you will not have to worry about plagiarism.
In general, if you are writing a formal research paper, then if you use more
than three words in a phrase directly quoted from the source, it is considered
plagiarism if you do not placed that direct quote in quotation marks (and give
a citation at the end of the quoted information. BUT REMEMBER,
you are
prohibited from using direct quotes in this class.
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Click here to download a "sample" PowerPoint file.
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