Designing an Effective Presentation

Noneffective Presentation looks like this

If you’re anything like I was in school, you may approach presentations with something like mortal dread. Sure, it’s all fun and games (or not entirely unpleasant, at the very least) while you’re doing your research and jotting down your notes and observations, but then you have to—gasp!—actually deliver something? You have to organize all this material you’ve come up with and reach a conclusion? And worse still, it has to all flow together and make sense? And not just to your classmates but to your teacher, someone who actually gets paid to understand this stuff? How on Earth can they expect you to accomplish all that?

Relax. Take a deep breath. I went down those roads many times before and lived to tell the tale. Creating a presentation isn’t as overwhelming as you may feel. You’ll need to do your share of thinking and planning, of course, but it honestly does break down rather simply.

Develop a Strong Central Idea

For starters, put yourself in the position of an audience member viewing your presentation. Ask yourself, “If there were just one idea or point that I should take away from this, what would it be?” Once you’ve answered that question, you’ve found the foundation for your presentation.

Some of you may remark here that you’ve been told to do the same thing when you’re coming up with a thesis for a paper. I’m glad if you have, and that leads me to another piece of advice: think of your presentation in the same way that you would an essay or research paper. By that, I mean that you should arrange your information under the banner of a central point.

Keep It Simple

Once you’ve established that central point and are organizing your information, take a carving knife to that information. Leave out any redundancies or anything that’s irrelevant to the point you’re trying to make. This does not mean leaving out something that refutes or contradicts your main idea; if a big chunk of your research or observations don’t support it, you might want to rework your idea so that it integrates more of what you’ve found. Instead, strip everything down to its absolute essentials and present only that information.

Substance Over Style

You should apply a wise austerity not just to the “what” of your presentation but to the “how.” Avoid flashy graphics, ornate texts and anything else that might get in the way of your information. Make your presentation as clean and plain as you possibly can. I will add the caveat here that, depending on the subject matter and the teacher, if you can work in some little personal touch—if you can come up with some unique way of conveying your information that renders your presentation more memorable and enjoyable—go for it. Above all, however, make sure that you don’t play your audience for saps. Don’t think that embroidery or bells and whistles will distract people from a poorly researched piece of work.

James Cagney once gave the following advice on acting: “Learn your lines, find your mark, look ‘em in the eye and tell ‘em the truth.” You should approach presentations in a similar fashion: do your research, find your main point, get that down and put it out there for your audience.

Bio: Jessica Reynolds (jessicareynolds.ps@gmail.com) is a freelance writer and presentation professional. She currently writes for presentation poster printer postersessions.com, a division of MegaPrint. She considers herself an expert in PowerPoint layout and design.