CG PPT cheat sheet

Audience analysis variables: prior knowledge, role, decision authority, attitude toward topic, and expected setting (live, recorded, self-paced).

Message hierarchy: one core takeaway per deck; each section supports it; every slide supports its section; delete slides with no supporting role.

Time budget rule: plan 1–2 minutes per content slide for live delivery; a 20-minute slot supports roughly 10–15 content slides plus title and closing.

Learning objective format: audience will be able to [observable action] under [condition] to [criterion]; use it to derive slide sequence and assessment questions.

Audience prior-knowledge split determines glossary need: if more than about 20% are novices, add a terms slide or inline definitions rather than assuming shared vocabulary.

Decision-oriented decks place the recommendation and requested action in the first two slides; informational decks place context first and recommendation last.

Stakeholder mapping: list who approves, who influences, and who is informed; each group needs a distinct slide or appendix artifact (summary, detail, FAQ).

Storyboard before building: one line per slide stating the claim it proves; slides without a claim are merged or cut.

Contrast ratio for normal text should be at least 4.5:1 against its background; large text (18 pt regular or 14 pt bold) at least 3:1.

Visual hierarchy order: size, weight, color, and position; the title is usually the largest element and the primary evidence the second most prominent.

Rule of thirds: place key objects near intersection points of a 3×3 grid rather than dead center unless symmetry is the intended message.

One idea per slide: if a slide needs two titles or two competing charts, split it; cognitive load rises with each additional focal point.

White space is a design element: keep margins at least 5–10% of slide width and avoid filling every quadrant with content.

Alignment: every element should align to a shared grid line or to another element; off-grid placement reads as error unless deliberate.

Color palette limit: one dominant, one accent, and neutrals; more than about three saturated hues fragments attention.

Proximity: related items sit closer together than unrelated items; group spacing should be visibly smaller within a group than between groups.

Slide master controls fonts, colors, placeholders, and background for all layouts; changes propagate to every slide using that layout.

Layout placeholders inherit from the master; editing a layout affects only slides using that layout, not the master or other layouts.

Theme color slots (text, background, accent 1–6, hyperlink, followed hyperlink) remap automatically when the theme is changed; hard-coded RGB does not.

Theme fonts define a heading font and a body font; changing the theme font pair updates all text using theme fonts, not manually formatted runs.

Template = theme + master + layouts + sample content; distributing a .potx preserves masters and layouts; a .pptx opened as a template does not reset content.

Placeholder order in the selection pane determines reading order for accessibility; master layouts should be built with logical top-to-bottom order.

Hidden master elements (footer, slide number, date) appear only if the layout includes them and the slide has the corresponding placeholder enabled.

When merging themes, choose Keep Source Formatting to preserve the source master, or Use Destination Theme to remap colors and fonts to the host deck.

Minimum body text size for projected slides is about 18–24 pt; titles 28–40 pt; anything below 18 pt is for handouts or appendix.

Line length target: 45–75 characters per line; beyond that, line tracking errors increase and reading speed drops.

Line spacing 1.0–1.2 for slide body text; paragraph spacing should exceed line spacing to separate ideas.

Six-by-six guideline: no more than about six bullet lines per slide and six words per line; treat it as a ceiling, not a target.

Left-align body text; centered paragraphs of more than two lines create ragged starting points that slow scanning.

Use sentence case for body text; all caps reduces word-shape recognition and is reserved for short labels.

Auto-fit shrinks text to fit a placeholder; it can silently drop below the 18 pt floor, so check font size after any paste or resize.

Text hierarchy: title, subtitle/claim, body, caption/source; assign a distinct size and weight to each level and reuse it consistently.

Raster images have fixed pixel dimensions; scaling beyond 100% enlarges pixels and softens edges. Vector formats (SVG, EMF, WMF) scale without loss.

Target resolution for on-screen projection is about 96–150 ppi at final display size; print handouts need 200–300 ppi.

Image file size estimate: width × height × bytes per pixel; a 1920×1080 RGB uncompressed image is about 6.2 MB before compression.

Compress pictures with the target output resolution (e.g., 150 ppi for screen, 220 ppi for print) to reduce file size without visible loss at delivery size.

Alt text describes the informational content, not the file name; decorative images should be marked decorative rather than given redundant alt text.

Embed vs link: embedded media travel with the file; linked media break when paths change, so package or embed before sharing.

Supported video containers include MP4 (H.264) and WMV; audio commonly MP3, WAV, M4A; unsupported codecs may play on the authoring machine but fail elsewhere.

Crop rather than stretch to change aspect ratio; non-uniform scaling distorts faces, products, and charts.

Chart choice by relationship: comparison across categories → bar; trend over time → line; part-to-whole → stacked bar or pie (pie only for a small number of slices); correlation → scatter.

Bar charts must start the value axis at zero; line charts may use a non-zero baseline when the change is the message, and the axis must be labeled.

Pie charts: slices should sum to 100%; more than about five slices or slices under 5% are better shown as a bar chart or a table.

Data-ink ratio: remove gridlines, borders, and 3-D effects that do not encode data; each retained element should carry information.

Table design: header row distinct, no vertical rules needed, right-align numbers, left-align text, and keep decimal places consistent within a column.

Highlight one series or data point with an accent color; the rest in neutral gray; the highlight should match the slide's claim.

Always cite the data source and date on the slide or in a footnote; undated data invites challenge and reduces credibility.

When pasting linked Excel charts, use Paste Special with link to keep data current; break links before distribution if the workbook will not travel.

Transitions apply between slides; animations apply to objects on a slide; both have duration and start-trigger settings.

Start triggers: On Click, With Previous, After Previous; use After Previous for sequenced builds that should run without presenter input.

Entrance, emphasis, and exit effects are distinct categories; applying an exit to an object removes it from the visual field until reset.

Motion path animations move objects along a defined path; use them to show process flow rather than as decoration.

Animation pane order equals playback order; reorder by dragging; the numbered tags on the slide show the sequence.

Hyperlinks and action buttons can jump to slides, files, or URLs; action buttons are shapes with assigned actions, not transitions.

Triggers let a click on a specific object start an animation; useful for quiz-style reveal without advancing the slide.

Keep transition duration short (about 0.5–1 s) and consistent; long or varied transitions distract from content and slow delivery.

PPTX is editable and version-dependent; PDF preserves layout and fonts but loses animation and interactivity.

Video export renders slides, transitions, animations, and narration into a single file; timing depends on rehearsed timings or recorded narration.

Handouts export slide images plus optional notes; choose 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 9 slides per page; 3-per-page leaves lines for notes.

Package for CD (or Package Presentation) bundles the deck with linked media and fonts so it runs on a machine without the source files.

Embed fonts only when the font license permits embedding; otherwise substitute a widely available font before distribution.

Slide size and aspect ratio (16:9 vs 4:3) are set before design; changing later reflows placeholders and can break layouts.

Presenter view uses one display for notes and next-slide preview and another for the audience; requires extended display mode.

Print settings: color vs grayscale, scale to fit paper, and frame slides; grayscale printing can make color-coded charts indistinguishable.

Every non-decorative image needs alt text; every chart needs a data table or text summary; every video needs captions.

Reading order follows the selection pane; screen readers announce objects in that order, so verify title first, then body, then footer.

Color is never the sole carrier of meaning; pair color coding with labels, patterns, or text.

Use the accessibility checker to flag missing alt text, duplicate slide titles, low contrast, and missing table headers.

Unique slide titles aid navigation; duplicate titles make the outline and screen-reader slide list ambiguous.

Consistency checks: same fonts, palette, logo position, title position, and footer across slides; deviations read as errors.

Proofing pass: run spell check, then read titles aloud; title-only reading should still tell the story.

Final QA: open on a second machine, test in presentation mode, verify media playback, check hyperlinks, and confirm fonts render as intended.