Education techniques for lifelong learning: making a PowerPoint presentation.

Most radiologists are now creating their own image and text slides for oral presentations. PowerPoint software offers a tremendous number of options for personalizing slides. Having choices of font, color scheme, display options, sound, and graphics provide an opportunity to enhance a presentation in ways that were not possible with 35-mm slides and slide projectors. However, inappropriate use of PowerPoint features can substantially degrade the quality of a presentation. Many of the "rules" for creating an effective presentation given with slide projectors apply to electronic presentations, but some of the options available with only electronic presentations (eg, building, transitioning, and sound) necessitate new "rules." The article provides tips on how to develop effective text and image slides for electronic presentation by using PowerPoint, including the appropriate use of text, font, color, sound, graphics, slide display, and radiologic images. Copyright RSNA, 2004