Tips for Creating Electronic Presentations

Outline• Overview / Basics• Content• Visual Effects• Presentation Organization and Coherence

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Overview / Basics

Some general recommendations

Overview / Basics• Know your alternatives; examples include

– PowerPoint– Prezi

• Be organized– Title goes first– Agenda or outline comes next

• Always begin with an outline/agenda and stick to it• Use only main points in your outline/agenda

– Number your slides

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Overview / Basics• Tell a story• Keep it relevant• Proof your slides for:

– spelling misteaks– the use use of repeated words– grammatical errors you might have make

• If English is not your first language, please have someone else check your presentation!

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Content

Elements that make up any presentation

Content: Slide Structure• Write in bullets• Avoid wordiness• Include 4-5 bullets per slide• Use parallel structure

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Content: Slide Structure to Avoid• This page contains too many words for a

presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

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Content: Credit• Take credit for the presentation

– Your name and affiliation goes with the title– Introduce yourself to the audience before

moving on from the title

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Content: Credit• Give credit to sources

– “If you use a direct quote, put it in quotation marks” (Dunning, 2006)

– You also need to give credit when you paraphrase (Dunning, 2006)

– Include the reference at the bottom of the page or on a final “bibliography” page

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Content: Timing• Allow an average of 2 minutes per slide

– 30 seconds if you have a few quick bullets– 5 minutes if you have a graphic to explain

• Include transitions from one slide to the next

• Speak slowly• Allow for audience questions• Remember to leave time to breathe

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Content: Special Effects• Use sound and animation sparingly

– They can be very distracting– Use sound only if it supports your main point– Be consistent with the animation you use

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Visual Effects

What should your presentation look like?

Visual Effects: Color• Use sharply contrasting colors

– Dark on light is better than– Using a font color that does not contrast with the

background color is hard to read • Using color for decoration is distracting and

annoying.• Using a different color for each point is

unnecessary– Using a different color for secondary points is also

unnecessary• Trying to be creative can also be bad

light on dark

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Visual Effects: Font• Use large fonts• Use different size fonts for main points and

secondary points– This font is 24-point, the main point font is 32-point,

and the title font is 44-point– Do not go smaller than 18 point

• Use a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial

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Visual Effects: Font• If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written

(this is 16 point)

• CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ

• Don’t use a complicated font

• Sans-serif is better than font with serif

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Visual Effects: Font• Use a color of font that contrasts sharply

with the background– E.g., dark blue font on white background

• Use color to reinforce the logic of your structure– Ex: Dark blue main topic and orange

secondary topic• Use color to emphasize a point

– But only use this occasionally17

Visual Effects: Background• Use backgrounds such as this one that are

attractive but simple• Use backgrounds which are light• Use the same background consistently

throughout your presentation

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Visual Effects: Background – Bad

• Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from

• Always be consistent with the background that you use

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Visual Effects: Graphs• Use graphs rather than charts and words

– Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data

– Trends are easier to visualize in graph form

• Always title your graphs

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January February March AprilBlue Balls 20.4 27.4 90 20.4Red Balls 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6

Bad: Chart

Good: Graph

Visual Effects: Graphs – good

0102030405060708090

100

January February March April

Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002

Blue BallsRed Balls

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Visual Effects: Graphs – bad

January February March April0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

20.4

27.4

90

20.4

30.6

38.634.6

31.6

Blue Balls

Red Balls

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Visual Effects: Graphs – bad • Minor gridlines are unnecessary• Font is too small• Colors are illogical• Title is missing• Shading and 3D effects are distracting

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Presentation Organization and Coherence

What follows is typical content and organization of a slide presentation.

The BSB encourages students to use the BSB template.

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This is your first slide: Put Your Title and Name Here

Introduction– Note that this is not usually a separate slide;

this should be done while the title is up• Who you are• What this presentation is about• Your credentials for talking about this• Recognize experts in the audience

• Know your audience!!!

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Agenda• Presentation agenda

– What you are going to tell them• List outline of presentation

– How long you expect it to take to cover the material

– When to ask questions (during the presentation or at the end) and how much time is allotted for them

• Sample agenda and presentation follows 27

Agenda• Executive Summary• Background• Details• Conclusion/Recap• Questions

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[Note that this is a sample agenda for a sample presentation; you may need other topics]

Executive Summary• Briefly do the following:

– Tell the audience what the main point or bottom line is

– List facts, assumptions and caveats– Reference prior work done and conclusions reached– Explain why conclusions reached from prior efforts

are different (where applicable)• Try to keep this to one slide• This will all be more fully developed later

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Background• Review the issue

• Explain prior research• Give credit

• Explain why we are talking about this issue

• Identify what the significance of this issue is with respect to current events

• This may take many slides

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Details• Give a short overview of the approach used• Explain why this approach was used• Where appropriate show model used• Where appropriate, give a short overview on data

used– List sources for all data– Include dates for when data was pulled

• This might be better labeled “Analysis” “Model” “Methodology” or something else

• This may take many slides

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Details• Show results (again, may require multiple slides)

– When using graphs ensure axes are properly labeled

– Avoid placing too much information on one slide

– Arrange information in so that it transitions smoothly

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Conclusion• Use an effective and strong closing

– Your audience is likely to remember your last words

• Use a conclusion slide to:– Summarize the main points of your

presentation– Note limitations– Suggest future avenues of research

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Questions• Leave time for the audience to ask

questions• Be precise in answering questions• Where necessary seek clarification• Be honest if you do not know that answer• Give the audience information on what

happens next

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Thank You!

Contact information for further information:

References• Dunning, A. E. (2006). The Art of

Professional Presentation. Downloaded from http://www.clemson.edu/transportation/guidelines/Professional%20Presentation.doc

• Much of this slide presentation has been adapted from International Association of Science and Technology for Development (IASTED)

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