Principles of an Effective Presentation
In a professional career, one may be called upon to conduct research and deliver findings in professional settings. No matter how extensive the research or accurate the conclusions, a weak presentation can undermine an argument. A presentation is a tool to assist in making an argument. When creating presentations, students develop skills in researching an issue, synthesizing the information, organizing data logically, and presenting findings in an effective manner.
Principles of an Effective Presentation
You may utilize a product such as Microsoft’s PowerPoint or Google Presentation to create your presentations.
There are various template designs that you can find on the web for your presentation. However, first consider your presentation from the perspective
of your audience prior to selecting a specific style. Distracting backgrounds, large blocks of text, all uppercase fonts, elaborate font styles, grammatical errors, and misspellings are distracting. Be consistent with the style of text, bullets, and sub-points in order to support a powerful presentation that allows your content to be the focus.
Each slide should include your key point(s). Do not place large blocks of text on the visual. Your presentation is not a means of presenting a short paper. In an actual presentation you would not “read” from your slides but rather use them as prompts.
Any notes or narration you would use in delivering this presentation to a group should be listed in the “notes” section of the slide.
References should be listed at the bottom of the slide in slightly smaller text.
Use clip art, AutoShapes, pictures, charts, tables, and diagrams to enhance but not overwhelm your content.
Be mindful of the intended audience and seek to assess the presentation’s effectiveness by gauging audience comprehension (whenpossible).
