Designing Effective Presentations

1. Designing Effective Presentations Lynn W Zimmerman, PhD

2. What is an Effective Presentation? • In pairs: Think about a good presentation you have seen and a poorly done one. • Write down 3 things about the good one that made it good • Write down 3 things about the poor one that needed improvement.

3. Elements of a Successful Presentation • Preparation • Practice • Presenting

4. Preparation • Plan carefully • Do your research • Know your audience • Good organization • Visual aids

5. Practice • Time your presentation  • Listen for awkward words or phrasing • Pay attention to flow

6. Presenting • Speak comfortably and clearly  • Make good eye contact

7. Benefits of Presentations • A well-designed presentation • helps listeners focus and understand • A presentation with computer enhancements should provide clear visual aids.

8. Specific Issues for ELT • Making presentations can help develop all four skill areas • Reading for research and planning • Oral communication skills, especially pronunciation, intonation, and confidence • Written communication skills by writing and organizing their information • Other students as audience helps develop listening skills

9. Computer-Enhanced Visual Aids • Posters • PowerPoint • Other presentation software • Avoid “death by PowerPoint”

10. Slide Design • Use design templates • Standardize position, colors and styles  • Use colors that contrast  • Be consistent with effects, transitions and animation  • Clip art and graphics should balance the slide 

11. Slide Content • Include only necessary information  • Clip art and graphics should enhance and complement the text, not overwhelm  • No more than two graphics per slide • Too many slides can lose your audience

12. Text guidelines • Generally no more than 6 words a line • Generally no more than 6 lines a slide • Avoid long sentences • Words in all capital letters are hard to read • Avoid abbreviations and acronyms • Limit punctuation marks

13. Fonts • Larger font indicates more important information  • Font size - 18 to 48 point • Text contrasts with background • Avoid fancy fonts

14. Sample 1 • it is easy to misrepresent oneself in the online environment so that the person they are communicating with may not be who they say they – for example – they may say they are a 13 year old girl – just like you – but they are really a 23 year male pedophile. Therefore, they need to learn to not take everything they are told as the truth. They also need to be aware of the dangers of sharing too much personal information. The other part of e-safety is that students need to learn what to do if they 1) suspect the person is misrepresenting themselves, 2) if the person makes them uncomfortable or suggests that they do something they are not sure is the right thing to do –such as meeting the person alone or 3) if they are being threatened or otherwise bullied by their peers.

15. E-safety • Students need to learn what to do if they • 1) suspect the person is misrepresenting themselves!!!!!! • 2) if the person makes them uncomfortable • 3) if the person suggests that they do something they are not sure is the right thing to do • 4) if they are being threatened or otherwise bullied by their peers. E-Safety

16. Learn what to do if they E-Safety

17. Reference • Montecino, V., (n.d.). Creating an Effective PowerPoint Presentation. Education & Technology Resources. Retrieved fromhttp://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/powerpoint.html