Chantal

Quite a few years ago, when people discovered PowerPoint and how useful it was for creating presentations, there was a trend for throwing as much into a presentation as possible. In went the bullet points that whizzed in from left and right. In went the images that spiralled round until they settled in the right place. And in went the WordArt ? a way of emphasising a key word and phrases by giving them colour, stretching them sideways and making them 3D. Funky stuff!

But WordArt actually makes it harder to read the words you want to emphasise because it?s too easy to stretch and distort them. It?s too simple to put them into colours that don?t tie in with the rest of your presentation.

If it?s hard to read on a computer screen, just think how difficult it will be for someone seeing it on a projector screen from the back of the room.

When Microsoft launched Office 2007 they came up with some clever new features that mean we don?t have to rely on the old stuff anymore; and they sensibly relegated WordArt to a tiny button that?s quite hard to find.

So the next time you?re putting together a PowerPoint presentation, leave out the WordArt. If you need highlight key messages, just put them in big, bold letters on a slide all on their own. If you need colour and graphics, think about using your own logo and branding to bring your slides to life.

Much better, isn?t it?