Creating PowerPoint Presentations
by Beverly Grose

If you are thinking of making and using PowerPoint presentations here are some considerations

Pros	Cons
Ease of Use	Over used by people who don't customize with original graphics and backgrounds.
Audio & Video can be added to a presentation.	The audio and video files have to be included in the folder with the slide presentation.
Animations are easy to use and varied.	People prepare speeches without training or skills in speech making.
You can easily save the PowerPoint slide show for the web.	You should know how to use graphic software to prepare effective and professional looking graphics for your presentation.
With less time and training than with any other software, you can create a colorful, animated multimedia presentation.	Most people have had to listen to too many badly prepared, boring PowerPoint presentations. Ease of use can have a down side.

Pro and con articles about PowerPoint

• PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely by the famous infographic guru, Edward R. Tufte
• The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint by Edward R. Tufte
  Criticizes PowerPoint and explains how to use it more effectively
• why David Byrne likes creating PowerPoint presentations
  Artist and musicism David Byrne defends PowerPoint and explains why he finds it useful
• The National Teaching & Learning Forum
  Explains why not to use PowerPoint.
• PowerPoint Is Not Evil
  Provided by The National Teaching & Learning Forum

Here are web sites that tell you how to use PowerPoint effectively in teaching

• PowerPoint and Cooperative Learning: An Ideal Instructional Combination by The Michigan Virtual University
• The How to Use PowerPoint Combined with Active Learning
  Provided by The University of Minnesota
• Tips for Creating PowerPoint Presentations
  Discusses using correct font sizes and complimentary font colors and background colors. Says not to write "essays" in PowerPoint. Write short bullet points and refer to notes as you speak.

Two Tutorials

• Visual Tutorial for PowerPoint 2000 users
• PowerPoint 2003 tutorial
  Provides links to Microsoft's lessons on PowerPoint

PowerPoint Presentations to teach rhetoric

• Grammar lessons created in PowerPoint

Provided by:
Beverly Grose, a M. A. student at The University of Texas at Dallas where she specializes in Studies in Literature. She earned a B. A. in English and Secondary Education from the University of Charleston. She has worked as a newspaper reporter, health educator, multimedia training developer and currently, teaches Introduction to Multimedia at Richland College.