PowerPoint 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual

Handouts (Multiple Slides per Page)

In PowerPoint-ese, a handout is a printout designed to accompany your presentation. There are two major differences between printing handouts and printing slides: You can only print slides one per page, but you can print handouts anywhere from one to nine slides per page. Also, when you print handouts (even one slide per page), PowerPoint automatically adds a basic header and footer and leaves good-sized margins for note taking.

Theoretically, your audience can jot down notes on their handouts during your presentation and be left with useful information they can refer to days or weeks afterward. The problem with this theory is that most slides make terrible handouts—for two reasons:

• Good slides are brief; good handouts aren't. To be effective, the text on your slides needs to be brief, concise, and compelling. For example, short sentences that either ask questions or make controversial statements (which you, of course, answer or explain during your presentation). The same text on a handout, on the other hand, is only going to confuse the audience a week later.

• Good slides are colorful; good handouts aren't. Light-colored text on a nice dark background with a couple of tasteful graphics thrown in for good measure looks great onscreen. The same slide printed in black and white isn't going to look good at all—in fact, the background won't even print. And it goes without saying that any animated effects, sound clips, and interactive links that ...