Document design

A number of things can be done to improve our group’s reading summary presentation slides. First, our group made the mistake of choosing a white background for our slides. While using light backgrounds is good, white can be hard on the eyes (Russell n.d.). Colours like pastel colours are more ideal.

Next, our slides are filled with punctuations that are unnecessary - they cause clutter on the slides (Russell n.d.). For example, the slide below has full-stops at the end of each sentence.

The above slide also doesn’t suit the audience. As the audience will only want to look at the slide for the main points, elaboration on each point isn’t necessary. All main points should be in bullet point lists (Putnis & Petelin 1996).

When doing presentations using slides, slides with too many words on it can look unattractive to the reader. The number of words used should be limited, and the use of key terms is encouraged (Russell n.d.). Our slide below is an example of this.

How the images are aligned matters as well. In the eighteenth slide, the images are not aligned properly, hence, not making the impression wanted (Krieger n.d.). On top of that, it is difficult to read the link as it crosses the patterned area of the slide.

The number of slides also matters. We had twenty slides, and eleven were used for explanations alone. Slides should be used sparingly, and if the topic is long, it can be explained verbally (Marquez n.d.). If possible, the use of text slides should be avoided (Kaminski 2003).

The way the presentation was presented was not very effective. There were several interruptions during the presentation, and it was rather dry - it lacked creativity (Marquez n.d.). This aspect can be improved on by being more prepared before the presentation.

References:

1. Kaminski, SH 2003, PowerPoint Presentations: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, viewed 4 April 2011, <http://www.shkaminski.com/Classes/Handouts/powerpoint.htm>.
2. Krieger, S n.d., 12 tips for creating better presentations, microsoft at work, viewed 4 April 2011, <http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/skills/presentations.aspx>.
3. Marquez, ZL n.d., How to Make a Good PowerPoint Presentation, EzineArticles, viewed 4 April 2011, <http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178>.
4. Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Profession communication : principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney.
5. Russell, W n.d., 10 Tips for Creating Successful Business Presentations: Give Your Audience the Best Business Presentations, About.com, viewed 4 April 2011, <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>.

Purpose

The purpose of this blog is to discuss publishing and media issues. Publishing refers to the act of producing and distributing information in the form of documents, be it books, blogs, newspapers, magazines, websites.

The contents of this blog are targeted towards people who are interested in publication and document design.