Effective Oral Presentations using PowerPoint

EffectiveOral Presentations using PowerPoint

1Making Your PresentationLess is more

Short points5Less is more. Decide the main ideas you want your audience for each part of your story. Your slides should serve as notes to you and your audience, do not include your word for word text. Too much information will overwhelm your audience and they will be reading instead of listening (this is not a plus!). Make sure to spell check the text you do include!

Slides should contain points rather than sentences and/or paragraphs of text. Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation.Include 4-5 points per slide. Use key words and phrases to avoid wordiness. Presentation Day InfoPsycSMP Symposium in GH on Dec 7 & April 29ScheduleSupport your peers!!!PPT file deadlineInvite people to attend!!Handouts?31) Oral presentations will be scheduled as part of the PsycSMP Symposium in GH on either Dec 7 (fall completers) or April 29 (Spring completers) 2) Presenters will be assigned a hour timeslot in a GH classroom. Let Angie know if you have any special technology needs (e.g. sound & dvd/vhs to show media clips) or if you have specific request (e.g. not at same time as roommate). You should plan on only speaking 20 minutes! This leaves time for questions and allows time for the next presenter to set up3) Angie will notify you of your specific timeslot and location when it is scheduled, however you should plan to be available to attend others presentations as well. 5) You MUST e-mail Angie your PowerPoint file by 8AM (ardraheim@smcm.edu) the morning of presentation day so Angie can get it pre-loaded. However, you should bring your file on a jump drive (USB) or CD as a back-up. 6) Remember to invite your friends and family! We will provide snacks & refreshments.7) Handouts are not necessary, and should be used only when you have a lot of complex information that is essential to your presentation but is not included in your slideshow. If this is the case, you will still need to guide your audience through the information.Writing Your PresentationWhat NOT to doExtemporaneous presentationsPresentations as written papers

What TO doPresent a subset of your workWrite to your time limitPracticeUsing visual aids4P1) If you can memorize your whole talk, more power to you. However, DO NOT just wing it. This is this one of the worst things you can do.P2) Following the APA format of your paper provides a clear and logical outline and will generally be expected. However, your presentation can not include all of information in your paper so you need to make some cuts (e.g. Extensive literature reviews, all conceivable statistics, a mention of every study that used your same questionnaire, mention of participants class standings). What to cut depends on the content of your topic and the nature of your audience.

TD1-3) Basically you are telling a story and not a bedtime one so you want to keep it interesting so no one falls asleep! Select highlights across your topic area & build up to your main point-reveal your findings about 1/3 of the way into your lecture. Your presentation will be limited to 30 minutes, and you should plan on leaving 5-10 minutes at the end for questions. That leaves you with only 20 minutes or so to get your point across. Talking faster will NOT be beneficial to your or your audience. Plan to speak at a moderate pace. TD4)Practice your talk not just in your head but out loud as well, many times. Practice will help you to get your words out correctly. Practice will help you to organize your time. You can use the projector in computer labs or classrooms 4-6pm(reservation) to practice. TD5) PowerPoint displays help your audience follow to along and will help you, too. The slides serve as your notes, you do not want to read your presentation to the audience (although a written copy as a backup is a good idea in case you freeze with stage fright).Making Your PresentationStatistical data

Needless details

6Tables of numbers are often too much information, with so many numbers the audience doesnt know where to look. You might understand them perfectly (youve worked on this project for quite some time) but the audience only has minutes to digest the information. Quantitative information should be presented in figures (graphs). If it is essential that audience knows the minute details, of course you must present them. But think long and hard about it first. You can always prepare extra slides to be shown only in the event that someone asks for greater detail.

Generally if you state that Group A was more/bigger/greater than Group B then you have stated what you believe to be true and your audience should believe you. Again, you can prepare reserve slides with all of the data from your statistical analyses but too much information will not persuade your audience.

If it is not absolutely critical to say 213 St. Marys College of Maryland (73% women, 27% men) between the ages of 17 and 54 participated for extra credit in a psychology coursejust make your point and say Students .

No cartoons for comical purposes, they must be relevant. The same goes for cutesy clip art and quotes.

Structured FormatMeaningful Titles

Optional: Overview

Meaningful Sections

7Layout guides give your slides aesthetic structure and consistency. You also need to keep your content in a structured format to help your audience members follow your lead (only you know where you are going).

1)Your first slide should include your title, your name and the name of your mentor (dont forget PhD!) and academic /institution affiliation (Department of Psychology, St. Marys College of Maryland). Make your title meaningful, not cute and catchy. It will let audience members know exactly what you will be talking about and will better attract interested parties to attend.2) Immediately following you might state the basic objective of your presentation, or the general context or framework with which you will be speaking. This need not (and should not) be lengthy and will give your audience a clue as to what you will be discussing.3)For a research presentation of course you can use Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion. You can break these down even farther to break down the different components of each, highlighting differences of fact, perspective, and argument each with its own meaningful title. Near the end you will want to summarize key points you want your audience to remember and talk about how one could extend your research in the future.

Structured Format Cont.Outline Format

Fancy Stuff

Sequence

8Outline form (headings, subheadings, text) helps to clarify sections. PowerPoint has an outline view that is very helpful.

Forget the fancy stuff. Flashy slides with many different transitions, dazzling sound effects and gimmicks of various kinds can distract the audience from the argument being made or the evidence being presented. Put most of your energy in persuasion. The best presentation is the most persuasive, not the most dazzling. Can use pictures to show method!Do not use a whirlwind of transitions (pick a simple one and stick to it). If you need to use a figure more than once, create a duplicate in sequence (backing up gets to be confusing for you and the viewer)

Font Type & SizeDon't sacrifice readability for style!

Main headingsFirst Second

48 pt32 pt28 pt24 pt

14 pt (NO!!!!!!!!)

36 pt Arial36 pt Calibri36 pt Times36 pt Georgia36 pt Comic Sans9All of these fonts may look fine when you're close to the screen but look at this screen from 6 ft.

From a distance, you'll notice that the serif (Times) font and the 'narrow' or condensed font are more difficult to read. Use a sans serif font only (Arial, Verdana, Calibri); pick one and stick with it (the only exception is for your title)Tip: Remember your job is to communicate. Just keep in mind that your audience will be much happier with text they can read, than text that looks pretty. There's always that struggle to squeeze more words into limited space so using a narrow font may sometimes be necessary.

Also, use at least double spacing (single-spacing make it too hard to read) btwn bullet points (can change font size for space). If you want to emphasize a point, bold rather than italicize or underline, or use a different color.

Choosing the right font size is 90% of the job. 36-48-point bold for main headings, 28-point bold font for first sublevel headings, 28-point plain font for second sublevel headings, 22-24-point plain font for third sublevel. (narrative/sentence text if must be included). PowerPoint will provide defaults that closely follow these guidelines.

Color

ColorColorColorColorColorColorColorColor10Colors available to you on your PC may not necessarily be the colors you see in front of your audience. For example, ambient light affects contrast by turning rich, deep burgundy and hunter greens into pastels. PowerPoint allows for a wide arrange of color combination/design options. Choose backgrounds that are simple (e.g. solid color, no images). So if you do not want to use white text with black background or vise versa, or a pale blue or a tan background with black text, the general rule is to use a dark background with light text or vise versa. Never use red on blue or blue on red! There's also the issue of color deficiencies, some have difficulty with reds, oranges, yellow and green. You can use color to reinforce the logic of your structure (e.g. light blue title and dark blue text)Remember, the goal is to enhance readability, not to present a rainbow of color!Helpful PowerPoint FeaturesCustom Animation

Chart Effects

Sounds

11Use the custom animation to present each of your points, one at a time. Use (Fly In from Right or Appear). This Allows your audience to focus and should be the only type of animation. If you create a chart in PowerPoint, you have an option to write your display order so that each data point is drawn on a separate mouse click. Directions included in the print guidelines.Only include sounds directly relevant to your work (i.e. no applause, camera flash, drum roll, etc.)

Charts/GraphsChoosing types

Titles Bad, Standard Error Bars Good!

Colors and fill effects

Clear and meaningful labels

Example

12Using graphs is probably the best way to display your data/results. The trick is to do it well. 1) You should try a variety of different visual representations of your data before you settle on one to use for your presentation (bar chart vs. line graphs). Whichever one you choose should present your data in the clearest most straightforward way. Refer to Dr. Hiris graph guides on Blackboard. No one should have an incorrect graph! No three dimensional graphs for two-dimensional data. The flair makes it difficult to read. 2) Remember that graphs do not titles embedded (instead, you will be providing the figure caption as part of your talk) and to include standard error bars!! 3) All graph backgrounds should be white and have black text. If you must add color, only do so for lines or bars in the body of the graph. Highly saturated reds and blues work well, no pale tans, yellows or grays. No reds and greens together! 2 Categories: use contrasting solid colored bars (can compliment slide color scheme) 3+: see handoutPreparing to Present Your WorkPractice, practice, practice!

Arrive on time

Look professional

Note the time

13Its true- practice makes perfect! Arrive at least 5-10 minutes early Suit & tie not required, but no jeans & t-shirts Bring a watch (or phone) & set it to the side of your notes!!! This is also the time to distribute handouts, if applicable.Presenting Your WorkSpeaking to People

Face your audienceProject your voiceSpeak from your slidesRevealing informationExplain vs. tellMeet the audienceWatch the time

141) You want to be able to engage your audience and convince them that you know what you are talking about. Maintain eye contact, do not speak to your notes or your Power Point display. If you must point out an aspect on your display, stand at an angle. Do not speak to an imaginary audience (ceiling, floor, your hands, the window)-it is distracting! 2) Speak to people in the back row (i.e. speak up!) 3) Your slides serve as your notes, and will thus guide you along through your presentation. The words on slides are meant as talking points and headings - turn your own efforts toward elaboration and exploration. Read, or at least refer to, the text on your slides (you can print out slides with notes to keep in front of you)-your audience may get confused if you do not. However, avoid simply reading slides aloud word for word, this is boring for the audience and will likely cause you to speak too quickly. 4) Remember, stick to your presentation-dont speak extemporaneously. Look at the screen each time you display a new slide (this is a good way to check and make sure the audience is seeing what you expect them to see). Reveal your information slowly, point by point. Otherwise, your audience will likely to read ahead of you and wont be listening to what you have to say. Dont speak on one topic while expecting your audience to read another-they will not listen to what you have to say (e.g. quotes) 5) If your audience is completely nave to your topic area (and for your peers this will generally be the case), you must prepare your presentation in an explanatory way. Make what you have to say understandable to everyone. 6) You are likely to be presenting from a podium, but you do not have to stand behind it the entire time. Walk in front of it at least once, maybe in the beginning or the very end. 7) Keep your eye on the clock. Pace yourselfyou do not want to run over or have to cut information from the end of your presentation.Answering questions and defending your workAnticipating questions

Listening to your audience

Maintain control over your audience

151) At the end of your presentation, there will be some time for a Q&A session. This is the only part where you should speak extemporaneously, but you can prepare by anticipating questions people might ask you and trying to answer them. You will likely have a much better response in the event someone asks you than if you come up with something off the top of your head.

2) Actively attend to the questions and comments made by your audience. The more you pay attention, the clearer your understanding of what they are asking will be, and the better youll be able to respond. You can repeat the questions they ask you to make sure you understand exactly what it is they are asking (may be useful for audience members who did not hear the question asked). Spend time thinking about what the audience says. It is okay to take a short pause and think before responding. It might be one you anticipated and reflection will allow you to respond to the question that was asked. Audience members might point out issues youve not considered or tell you are wrong. Do not get defensive, ask for more clarification or to speak with them afterwards if the discussion becomes too complex.

3) Audience members, even genuine ones, may interrupt or ask question that move your presentation to another topic. To avoid going off topic (& losing precious time!), explain at the beginning of your talk that you will be happy to answer questions at the end.

16Slide Structure - BadThis 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 covered on 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.17

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