Effective Presentations Design

Effective Presentations Design This workshop will: - Cover basic best-practice when planning and preparing presentations for academic assessments - Explore how you can use visual aid resources effectively - Give specific tips on using MS PowerPoint for presenting Teaching points: 1. Differences between good and poor presentations 2. Planning and preparation 3. Context and environment of presentation delivery 4. Presentation structure 5. Presentation content and slide formatting 6. Importance of timing 7. Use of visual aids and supporting materials 8. Tips for using MS PowerPoint effectively 9. Presentation design checklist 1

1. Differences between good and poor presentations Having the ability to design and deliver effective presentations are skills which are very useful in employment, whether you use them to train groups of people, to support a report, provide a review of working practices or persuade senior management your project is too good to ignore. Many people enjoy delivering presentations, especially if it is part of an interview, as you know exactly what is expected of you and you are in complete control. If you work on the assumption that you may have to deliver with no electrical devices and therefore no on-line help, you can cope with anything. If you allocate sufficient time to preparing your presentations thoroughly and designing them thoughtfully, by the time you are standing in front of your audience, you will have completed the hard part. It is the preparation that will give you the confidence to deliver effectively. Let s have a think about the best presentation you have seen. It might have been at school, college or university, at work, or even on the television. What was it about this presentation that made it good what were its features? Activity 1: Worst presentation Now think of a poor presentation one that you did not enjoy. What were its features? Ask your neighbour about their experience and see what the presentations have in common. Jot down the features in the space below. Many features of poor presentations are down to not planning and preparing appropriately which is the first stage of developing an effective presentation. 2

2. Planning and preparation There are three elements to consider: A. Knowing your subject: It is important that you have thought and researched about the subject on which your presentation is based. You cannot present confidently and successfully if your knowledge of the material is sketchy, but it is not a memory test (more on delivering presentations in another workshop). Try conducting an ideas-storm of the subject. This could be done electronically or using paper and pen: place the subject word/s and perhaps several related key words in the centre of a large piece of blank paper or screen, and then jot down or type everything you know that is at all relevant to the subject. Once you can see your ideas, you can begin to identify relationships between them by making connections, perhaps highlighting them in different colours to represent particular themes. B. Being focused: You will now have a basic map of the material that will form the basis of your presentation. However, one of the most common mistakes that presenters make is to try to communicate to an audience everything they know about a subject. If it is to be effective, your presentation must be focused. From the pieces of information and ideas you have gathered, select those which are essential. These will form the backbone of your presentation. C. Prioritising the information: Next, organise your essential material in terms of relative importance which of the ideas should take centre stage, and which supporting roles? You can also organise the remaining non-essential information according to significance which bits might it be a good idea to include if possible, and which bits might you revise in case of questions? Remember that you will almost certainly have to discard some of your original material you should aim to cover essential material repeatedly, rather than attempting to cram everything in. This is the start of a structure to your presentation. 3. Context and environment of presentation delivery Everything happens in some context or another, a particular environment, situation or set of circumstances, and your presentation is no different. One element you should bear in mind is the 3

Audience: Who will be attending your presentation? At the university, it is likely to be your tutor and your classmates, so you will be talking to an expert and people who are at the same level of understanding as yourself. What will their expectations be? This is dependent on the criteria you have been given. Always consider the nature of your audience and design your presentation accordingly. In the future, you will have to know if they are experts, novices or somewhere in between. Vocabulary and use of technical terms especially will have to be delivered at the appropriate level. Venue: Together we will explore what to think about regarding the Activity 2: Other contextual and environmental features In pairs or small groups, jot down what other contextual features to consider when preparing your presentation. Jot down your ideas below. 4. Presentation structure If you do not organise carefully the material you intend to present, your audience will have little chance of understanding the point you are trying to make. A conventional and easy-to-follow structure, for you and the audience is: 4

A. Introduction This includes not just telling the audience the overall purpose of your presentation, and an outline of its structure, but also you introducing yourself. B. Main body Delivery of the essential material you identified during the planning and preparation stage, together with any supporting material that time allows. It is important that your main points are organised logically; in other words, that each point proceeds from the last and to the next in a way that will make sense to the audience. C. Conclusion This is likely to be a summary of the main points that places emphasis on key things to remember. D. Questions Always make time at the end for a few questions from the audience. This is the point at which you might need some of the wider material and specific details from your original ideas-storm that you had to exclude from your presentation owing to the constraints of time. In effect, this basic structure follows The Rule of 3 : A presentation is one occasion when repeating yourself is helpful to the audience, as they will need to be told your main points several times in order to absorb them. The general rule is: 1. Tell them what you are going to tell them = introduction 2. Tell them in detail = main body 3. Tell them what you have just told them = conclusion 5. Presentation content and slide formatting There is a skill in presenting your material in such a way that your audience can understand the subject matter in a limited space of time. As has been discussed earlier, the issue of content is as much about what you leave out as what you put in. Sometimes, when we ourselves have become familiar with a subject, we forget how difficult it was for us to grasp it initially. Also, keep detail in reserve for any questions, provide the source of information for audience to research themselves, and provide more information in the handouts for reading later. Keep this in mind when designing your presentations. This slide (with tables on) is difficult to read because of the font size, that too much information is packed in, and much of the information included is unnecessary. 5

This slide includes just key information presented in a simple format and is easy to read as there is a lot of white space around the text. Let s look at the suggested slide below. How could we improve it? What is the essential information? Highlight or underline the key words or phrases. 4. Content You need to consider, out of all the data gathered, what would be the most relevant information to present. This can be achieved by considering grouping the information into the following categories: information that is essential and must be conveyed; information which would be nice to include if there was time; information which should be included in a supporting role. Then you need to condense the information and ensure that you are being concise. There s no point having waffling, long sentences as a visual aid. Especially when it is a point that can be briefly made. Keep it simple. The more complicated your composition is the less likely it is that you will be understood. You are trying to convey information, not win awards for how complex a presentation you can come up with. Don t forget good presentations can take something complex and make it appear simple to grasp. Activity 3: Formatting slides with key content With a neighbour and using the mini-whiteboards, format the key information you have identified above. Remember that slides should be employed as a means of fixing in the minds of the audience key information and concepts, so the more concise and simple their content the better. Detail can be provided in both what you say and handouts. 6. Importance of timing Accurate timing, in the sense that your material fits the time available, is one of the most important features of a successful presentation, especially if you are being assessed. Reasons to finish on time: Losing marks: if you overrun, you will not be able to cover all the material you have prepared Losing marks: completing your presentation within a set time may be in the marking criteria 6

Audience frustration: even if you manage to fit your presentation in successfully, the audience/your tutor may not have time to ask questions Co-deliverer frustration: if there is a schedule of deliverers, running over will push everyone else back Creates a poor impression: you may have to present to the same audience and tutor in the future, so generate confidence in your ability to finish on time Planning and rehearsal are the keys to getting your timing right: Remember that, to a large extent, accurate timing is a product of thoughtful planning and preparation if you are selective at the ideas-storm stage you will be more likely to complete your presentation within the time allocated. Also, it is better to plan to finish early (using 90% of your time for the presentation delivery itself), to allow for any pauses and questions, than to fill the time slot with as much material as it can possibly take. Rehearsal is a good way to ensure that you complete your presentation within the time allowed as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect! 7. Use of visual aids and supporting materials Visual aids and supporting materials can be useful, but remember that technology cannot compensate for a lack of content or preparation. The key is not to get carried away. Ask yourself, does this add anything to the presentation, or am I including it simply because I know how? Only include features that will improve the effectiveness of your communication with the audience. As a general rule, supporting materials should be: Concise (not longer or more detailed than required) Well-organised Relevant User-friendly (if your handouts are intended for use during the presentation, think whether you could process the information on them at the same time as looking at a screen and listening to a speaker if not, they need revision) Legible (can be easily read) 7

Avoid: Too many words (remember the slide on content above) Too much detail (the key information and concepts are what matter most in a presentation) Untidy layout Remember: spell and grammar check all your materials a chart or graph is worth a million statistics always convert figures into something that represents their significance visually and instantly Finally, remain conscious that technology can fail at the most inconvenient of times you must prepare for this by ensuring that you are equipped with paper copies of your presentation, and that you have rehearsed it sufficiently to be able to cope if PowerPoint is unavailable. 8. Tips for using MS PowerPoint effectively Keep the number of slides down - 1 slide: 1 minute Fonts and word format: Arial, Tahoma, Calibri are easy to read on paper and screen. Do not use words made up solely of capitals as these are difficult to read Use text and visuals sparingly and do not overdo animation less is more Check your slide does not cut anything off or out of your text or visual Clearly label any charts or other visuals Keep backgrounds and style subtle and consistent No lengthy sentences: bullet points and short sentences/phrases with key words work better Create a handout from your slides: some people find screens difficult to look at and others like to take notes; have one yourself with your notes on 8

9. Presentation design checklist A. Have you established clearly the area of your subject on which your presentation will focus? B. Have you prioritised information carefully? C. When designing your presentation, have you considered factors such as the nature of your audience and venue, the time of day at which you ll be presenting, and the purpose of the presentation? D. Does your presentation have a clear structure comprising an introduction, main body and conclusion, with time for questions at the end? E. Are your main points stated repeatedly to ensure your audience understands and remembers them? F. Is the content of your slides concise and simple enough for your audience to grasp it in the limited time available? G. Have you considered carefully how much time you can afford to spend on each of the sections of your presentation? H. Do the visual aids and supporting materials you are intending to use add anything to your presentation, or have you included them simply because you know how? If they add nothing, don t use them. I. Do you have a backup plan if the technology fails? Presentation design is 90% of the work When we look back at the list of what made up your best presentations, you will find ALL of them can be achieved through planning and preparation. If you need more support with presentations, we run a presentation delivery workshop. Please visit our website for more details. Please find below a list of sources with further presentation design advice and tips: Adair, J. and The Industrial Society. (1992) The Effective Communicator. 2 nd ed. London: Spiro Press. Lidstone, J. (1985) Effective Presentations. Aldershot: Gower Publishing Ltd. Mandel, S. (1993) Effective Presentation Skills. London: Kogan Page. 9

Shephard, K. (2005) Presenting at Conferences, Seminars and Meetings. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Stanton, N. (1982) The Business of Communicating. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Microsoft (2014) Tips for creating and delivering an effective presentation. [online] Available at : http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/powerpoint-help/tips-for-creating-and-deliveringan-effective-presentation-ha010207864.aspx [Accessed 13.8.2014] Answers Features of good presentations Logical structure Deliverer knows their subject Delivered at the right level for the audience Connected with audience Slides and visuals appropriate to content and easy to understand Appropriately paced not too slow or too fast Elements of a venue to consider How big/small is the space? Will you need a microphone? Will there be room for any activities you have incorporated? Visit a venue twice once to work out what space is available, how the space is laid out, what electronic devices are available for use; and a second time fairly close to the time and date of your presentation to see if there are any issues you need to consider, e.g. will there be construction work going on outside creating a noise. You may not be able to do anything about last minute changes or issues, but at least they will not be a nasty surprise. Activity 2: Other contextual and environmental features Time of day: Remember that attendees expectations may differ according to the time of day, as may their levels of engagement and responsiveness. Therefore, design your presentations accordingly, e.g., if you are scheduled just after lunch when everyone is full and sleepy, if possible, include an activity or include something surprising. 10

Type of presentation: What is the purpose of your presentation? To persuade, or to inform and explain? A persuasive presentation needs to be exciting and engage the audience s enthusiasm and emotions. An informative/explanatory presentation (more likely at university as you will be showing your understanding of a topic) needs to proceed logically and might employ analogies and examples. Enthusiasm Excitem ent Em otion Persuade Inform/Explain Logic A nalogies Exam ples Essential slide content 4. Content You need to consider, out of all the data gathered, what would be the most relevant information to present. This can be achieved by considering grouping the information into the following categories: information that is essential and must be conveyed; information which would be nice to include if there was time; information which should be included in a supporting role. Then you need to condense the information and ensure that you are being concise. There s no point having waffling, long sentences as a visual aid. Especially when it is a point that can be briefly made. Keep it simple. The more complicated your composition is the less likely it is that you will be understood. You are trying to convey information, not win awards for how complex a presentation you can come up with. Don t forget good presentations can take something complex and make it appear simple to grasp. Activity 3: Formatting slides with key content 4. Content Relevant information - Essential - Prefer to include - Supporting Condense and be concise Keep it simple 11