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October 14, 2013

Department of English and Technical Communication

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Rolla, MO 65401

Dear Mr. Wampler,

This is YeonKyung Lee in your English 65 class. Enclosed is the proposal for the

instructional booklet which you requested. I want you to look it over and authorize it to

write an instructional booklet on my subject.

The proposal describes a method to create easy and effective design effects on

Powerpoint slides for a powerful presentation. Many college level classes require

professional presentations on various subjects. Most students use Microsoft Powerpoint

as their presentation tool. However, many of them create Powerpoint slides just by

using basic templates. According to my experience in many classes, poorly designed

presentation materials make audiences lose their interest and concentration. The

method described in this proposal offers student a method to create better presentation

materials and enhance presentation quality by using simple and effective design

methods. It will be useful to our classmates as they can use this information not only in

classes but also at work places in the future.

Please look over this proposal and authorize it to make the instructional booklet.

Moreover, please give me any suggestions for improvement you might have. You can

contact me by phone at (312)753-9717, or you can e-mail me at yl4g5@mst.edu.

Sincerely,

YeonKyung Lee

Senior in Economics

Missouri University of Science and Technology

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How to Create

Easy and Effective Design on Power Point Slides

For Powerful Presentation

A proposal for the instructional booklet

By YeonKyung Lee

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Contents

1. Introduction ......................................................................... 4

2. Method ................................................................................. 5

3. Benefits ................................................................................ 6

4. Timeline ............................................................................... 7

5. Qualifications ...................................................................... 7

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1. Introduction

This proposal proposes about the instructional booklet which provides a method

to create simple and effective design effects on the Powerpoint presentation slide (PPT)

for powerful presentation. Currently, many college level classes and work projects

require professional presentations. Most students use Microsoft Powerpoint as their

presentation tool. However, according to my experience in many classes, students

poorly design their PPT using basic templates and putting too much information. It

makes audiences lose their interest and concentration. Effort and consideration on

design is needed for everyone because it has a powerful impact on the presentation.

However, many people think designing is too hard and complicated. The instruction

manual’s purpose is to provide easy design instruction that everybody can follow and

help students to improve their presentation skill.

The main point of the instructional booklet will be ‘Visualization’. It means that

the PPT should help audiences to create visual images in their mind. For example,

consider you are counting the number seven in 10 seconds from the image below.

Fig 1-1. The Value of Visualization – Column Five Company

It’s not easy to capture within a short period of time. However, it becomes much easier if

you give some graphic effects on this slide.

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Fig 1-2. The Value of Visualization – Column Five Company

You can change the color, increase the size, or put blink effect. As you can see in this

example, simple visualization effects help delivering information more efficiently. This

proposal will discuss a method, benefits, a timeline, and qualification of the

instructional booklet based on the concept of the visualization.

2. Method

There are 2 main points to remember when students create their PPT. First, it

should be comfortable as possible to read. Second, it should be easy as possible to

understand. Based on this, the instructional booklet will give examples of bad PPTs and

provide design methods to improve it in 3 categories: Background, Font, and Content.

1) Background: Most students use basic templates that are saved in the program.

Basic templates are not specialized on the subject that presenter is presenting.

Blank pages have many more possibilities to present information efficiently. This

section will show examples of students’ PPTs using basic templates and compare

them with well-designed backgrounds. Moreover, it will provide simple and basic

ways to create and design the background.

2) Font: Font plays an important role in the PPT as it increases readability.

Moreover, we can provide a professional and custom look by simply changing the

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font. This section will discuss fonts that should be used and should not be used. It

will also provide a step by step instruction to improve font quality on the PPT.

3) Content: Most students create a PPT with too many words. Presentation is not a

document. There is no point of the presenter being in front of people if audiences

are reading what the presenter is saying. This section will emphasize the effect of

using graphs and images on the PPT in combination with words.

In each section, it will not only show examples, but also provide a list of websites

that contain free and quality resources readers can use. All methods in instructions will

be easy to understand and follow. These simple methods will help increasing the quality

of the PPT.

3. Benefits

The primary benefit of using the information stated in the instructional booklet is

that it can be applied and used to student’s daily life and make difference on that. There

is so much information we get, but most of it is useless and easily forgotten. However,

the information on the instructional booklet will be useful in class presentations and

work projects. Moreover, that will make your presented information to be remembered

by others.

Second, it can enhance student’s presentation skill and give positive effects on

their grade and career. Presentation skill is a powerful and competitive ability. Good

presentations move and inspire people. For example, Steve Job’s keynote presentations

attracted thousands of views on YouTube and inspired many people. Moreover, 86% of

top executives said that communicating with clarity directly impacts career and income

(Distinction Communication, Inc.). Well designed PPT can be the first step to be a better

presenter as it attracts audiences and enhances overall quality of the presentation.

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4. Timeline

10/15 10/26 11/2 11/5 11/6 11/7 11/8

Researching information

Organizing (First draft)

Revising (Second draft)

Workshop

Revising (Final draft)

Instructional booklet due

1) October 26: Researching information

2) November 2: Organizing and drafting (First draft)

3) November 5: Revising (Second draft)

4) November 6: Instructional booklet workshop

5) November 7: Revising (Final draft)

6) November 8: Instructional booklet due

5. Qualifications

I am a senior college student majoring in business and economics. Most business

classes require a presentation during a semester and I have made many PPTs on various

subjects. As a part of my experience with presentation, I once had to prepare

presentation in a class two weeks after I arrived in America. My English speaking skills

were poor compared to other classmates. With my emphasis on well designed and

prepared presentation, my PPT attracted the attention and surprised my classmates and

the professor. I got the best grade among the students. Seen in this example, I’m

qualified to provide a method of simple designs on the PPT that can change student and

professor’s perspective during presentation.