Using Text as a PowerPoint Graphic
By Ellen Finkelstein
Is your text the most important part of your presentation? Learn how to use text as a PowerPoint graphic. –PC Pitstop
Usually, you use text on a slide to tell people your message. I recommend a single line of text when possible. That’s usually the slide title. People read it and immediately know your point. Then you show your point with an image, chart, or diagram. It’s like the boy’s picture book; one side tells the story and the other shows it. This is the Tell ‘n’ ShowSM method that I teach.
But sometimes, you want more pizazz or you just can’t think of a way to visualize your point. In other cases, your text is the point–maybe it’s a short quote or a phrase that you want to drive home. In these situations, you may want your text to be the graphic. In most cases, the amount of text will be minimal.
Here are some slides that use text as a graphic. Most use animation, but you don’t need to animate the text. Usually, I don’t recommend animating text. If you want people to read anything more than 4 words, the movement will be annoying to your audience as they try to read it. But when the text is the graphic, animation can help make your point. Note that I tried to use animation effects that synchronized with the meaning of the words.
Would you like to know how to create these effects? Read on!
This post is excerpted with the permission of PowerPoint Tips.
