The Ins and Outs of Presentation Design and Delivery

Editor's Notes

• #2: As soon as someone says presentation we all think “Powerpoint”. Powerpoints are great visual tools but it’s about time we put a stop to the misuse of them. We all have sat through a long presentation on something academic and just watched the presenter read word for word from the slide presentation on the screen beside them. It’s time for a change people. No more boring presentations with a lot of words. This presentation is meant to teach others how to create a great presentation and how to deliver it in a successful way.
• #3: The most important aspect of a presentation is what it is on. What topic or idea are you trying to share with others? This is the first step to presentations. Decide what you are going to talk about.
• #4: Once you have decided on your topic or idea you have to get started by figuring out who your audience is and what the end result or goal must be. What are you trying to get across and to whom?
• #5: Now it’s time to organize. You must get your thoughts and main points figured out and written down. Keep these simple. Pick a few main points you want your listeners to remember most. After you figure out what you want to say, you must organize what you want to say in a manner that will make most sense to your viewers and will support your main focus best.
• #6: You now have all of your slides figured out and what to say on each one. It’s time to get started on the visual design of the presentation. You always want to keep your listener engaged by what is on the slide.
• #7: 1st: We are no longer using premade templates. We are going to make each slide unique and relevant to what we want to say for that slide. Don’t even think about going near the template button in your powerpoint maker.
• #8: 2nd: Find and use clear, high quality images for your slides and be sure to attribute each image you use properly. Flickr and Compfight are great sources for images with a creative commons license.
• #9: 3rd: Less is often more in presentations so keep your text to a minimum. We don’t want the audience reading off your slides, we want them to listen to what you have to say. This means not including lots of text and bullet points on a slide. They are overwhelming and do not keep the audience focused on your words.
• #10: 4th: No more crazy transitions and builds! People often go overboard with the transitions and they are confusing to the viewer. They take time and get distracting. If you do use them limit them. Pick one or two simple transition types and don’t use them on every slide.
• #11: 5th: Use your charts and graphs appropriately. There is no need to have a confusing chart that the viewers cannot understand. Charts and their relationships need to be clear and should be used to help you get a point across. Use the right chart for your type of data as well.
• #12: 6th: Use color wisely. Color can be a big mood influencer on a presentation. You want to use the right colors that are aesthetically pleasing. Your presentation slides need to be interesting and color helps make them so.
• #13: 7th: Use a sans serif font. These fonts are simple and not too hard to read. You never want your viewers to be unable to read the few words you do have on your slides. These few words are important.
• #14: 8th and last: Use video and audio where appropriate. Don’t use it on every slide but a video relevant to your points here or there throughout a presentation may help the viewer better understand your meaning.
• #15: Now that’s it for slide design. Your presentation is created and you are ready to present. There are a few things to remember when you deliver the presentation. A major part to presentation success is passion of the presenter. If you show you care about your topic then others will too.
• #16: There is no point to a presentation if the audience cannot hear or understand you. Speak loudly and clearly. Keep the “help” words like “um” or “oh” or “like” to a minimum. They get in the way and distract the listener. Be natural.
• #17: Don’t be shy! Maintain eye contact with your viewers. Along with eye contact body language is important. If you fidget and don’t look at your viewers they will not take you seriously.
• #18: Don’t. Just don’t. People tend to write out every word they want to say in a presentation out on their note cards and then get lost and screw up their presentation. We don’t want you to read to us! You could have printed out your note cards and given them to us to read! Note cards may come in handy for remembering dates or statistics but never rely on them.
• #19: Do not read off your slides. Use them as prompts to remember what to say but like note cards, the listeners do not want to watch you read your presentation off the slide in front of them.
• #20: On that note, one of the most important aspects of presenting is practice. There is a very slim chance that you will have a successful presentation by just “winging it”. Practice gets you familiar with your presentation so on the day of the lecture you are confident and know what to expect. Knowing your material will make you look great in front of your audience.
• #21: Presentations are difficult and take a lot of preparation. You can do it though. Follow these few tips and hopefully you will find success on presentation day.