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Basic tips for making presentationsPreparing for a presentation: Research and study your topic thoroughly. Become an expert on your subject matter! Know your audience and be prepared to answer questions. If you research your subject well you will have the confidence to deliver your presentation and you will be able to answer questions with ease. If you are not familiar with the topic you are presenting – all the Audio-Visual (AV) materials in the world will not help you. Once you have researched your topic and have created notes, summaries (cue cards), start thinking about what information you want to highlight on AV materials. For example, if part of your topic is very difficult to remember you may want to make a slide with this information, i.e., numerical figures, graphics, maps, prompts, etc. AV materials should complement and enhance your presentation and should help you organize the delivery of your presentation. Creating your AV materials: Whether you choose an easel flip chart, overhead transparencies, chalk and blackboard, 35 mm picture slides, a short movie/video or an electronic slide show (like PowerPoint) – YOU MUST KEEP YOUR CHARTS, SLIDES AND TRANSPARENCIES SIMPLE. KISS (Keep It Simple, Simple) The information you choose for these materials must be presented in an organized manner and if possible, no more than 5 or 6 lines of information per slide. The use of bullets is recommended and centering the body of information properly on the slide is vital.The information on your slides, transparencies, easel flip chart, etc., should be similar in style to the headlines of a newspaper. Your slides should highlight information concerning your topic but should be presented in such way so that the audience will want to hear more about it. Do not include all information on a slide - leave out important aspects of the topic so that you will have the opportunity to embellish and elaborate on a particular bulleted item. Your audience will think that you are brilliant! (And you are!) Remember do not read the entire presentation from a slide, transparency or flip chart. Use bold type and a large enough font to be seen by all in your audience. You need to know the physical features of the room you are presenting in. If you are in a lecture hall presenting to an audience of 100 - your slides will need to be very simple and clear, and a larger font should be employed. If you are in a small classroom or conference room, a smaller font may be more appropriate. Avoid distractions on your slides. Use a light color background with dark letters or vice versa. If you are using PowerPoint avoid excessive use of extra elements like wallpapers, sound, fancy movements, etc. If you use sound make sure it doesn't play on every slide -- it will become boring and predictable. Use sound to "wake up your audience" or call attention to a specific point, etc. Never use sound throughout the entire presentation. Wallpapers or any of those fill in backgrounds with lots of colors and designs could become a major distraction and will "most likely" look distorted. Remember that what you see on a small computer screen will not look the same on a large screen. Remember that in order to create good AV materials – you must employ some basic principles. AV materials should be: Clear, summarized and simple. Location, location, location! It is very important that you check out or have a previous knowledge of the place where you will be presenting. This is especially important if you are presenting in unfamiliar territory. The simple fact that an AC electrical outlet is too far away from where you need it could be a disaster for your presentation. As was mentioned above, knowing the place where you are presenting is vital in determining what kind of media you need to use. If you are in a very bright room you will want to avoid projection systems unless this system is the newest and most powerful one you can get. If the room is too bright you will want to use a TV monitor for your computer presentation because TV monitors have their own light source. You must also think about where this monitor will be placed within the room and how its placement will impact your presentation. If the room is dark, you can use a projection system with few problems, but you need to have a source of light near you so you can read your notes. If the room is large, choose large fonts for your slides and use AV materials such as easels or charts that can be placed closer to the audience or in the front of the room. Plan B It is recommended that you always have some kind of backup plan to use for your presentation. You never know when things may go wrong with hardware and/or connections. If your presentation is a big part of your grade, or if you are delivering your presentation in a different location, you definitely need an alternative plan. For example, you can easily create hard copies of your PowerPoint slides and have transparencies made -- you will then be ready for a backup situation. You should always have hard copies of your slides. If the data projector fails or the bulb of the overhead projector burns out on you, you can smoothly continue your presentation by writing the key points of your presentation on the board. If your presentation is "on-line" you also must have a Plan B. Think of an alternative medium to use that would substitute what you want to show "on-line" – we all know that an internet connection can fail at any given moment. You may want to consider handouts as well. It is also much easier to get an overhead projector than it is to get a lap-top or a data projector. Always be ready to execute Plan B! ... And reserve AV equipment early! You will feel confident during your presentation if:
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