The PowerPoint slide assignments are meant to help Learners develop skills in organizing a series of slides that present a solution to a case, problem, project, proposal or research report. Slides are meant to be concise and present a cogent set of facts and proposed answers to help an audience grasp solutions quickly. The following guidelines are meant to help Learners develop their own style of creative presentations. 

•	Never use backgrounds that detract from the theme or confuse the audience
•	Start with a title slide that has your name, subject, date, and purpose
•	Master slide template should have a common theme and not be overly complex
•	The slide progression should first state the research question and study purpose
•	A progressive slide sequence provides a clear path of organized understanding
•	Use bullet lists to make you point rather than long sentences
•	Illustrations with clever call outs, tables, charts, pictures, and inset objects are great
•	Slides should be separate and stand-alone documents not referring to another slide
•	Slide outlines should not part of the presentation only facts, discussion, conclusions
•	References should be stated clearly especially for data, definitions, and graphics
•	Charts should be clearly labeled with legends, descriptions, centered coordinates
•	Slides should be self-explanatory without voice over descriptions and explanations
•	Presentations are to sell, convince, propose, educate and inform 
•	Always provide clear conclusions and recommendations based on facts
•	Know the audience and assume that the subject content is not familiar material
•	Try to emphasize the key points without repetition and show the solution formulation
•	Creativity and imagination are what win the slide wars with diagrams and illustrations
•	Be format consistent, do not change fonts, layouts in the middle of your presentation
•	Spell check all work for accuracy and quality – mistakes make last bad impressions
•	Use sound and motion options sparingly – poor technical operation will fail to win
•	Slide length is not important compared to precision, message, and persuasion
•	Killer slides should be saved for the conclusion for effect and audience take away
•	Summary slides are the most important and make good the purpose and message
•	Too much detail loses the interest and creates confusion and audience fatigue
•	Avoid poor grammar and sentence structure, no personal references just facts
•	Make each slide tell a story on its own and try to be anticlimactic toward the end
•	Use layout templates for consistent style and formatting image
•	Research graphics online at MSN PowerPoint Templates 
•	Mix up your story line enough to grab and keep your audience from snoring
•	Remember slides are a show not a written document 
•	Audiences react better to less verbiage and more visual image impact statements
•	Busy slides will lose your audience – keep them simple and easy to understand 

Find your own style and practice your speech. Let the slides do most of talking and make the pictures convince the audience that the report is both convincing and solid quality. Each slide you make should convey an immediate message and sell the viewer.