Presentation Design
This week we began studying presentation design. I had no idea how complicated it was!! I was overwhelmed with all of the information regarding the topic. I decided that I needed to choose 5 of the rules to focus on when working to improve my presentations.
1. No bullets/too much information/only 1 thought per slide:
I have learned to not put too much information on PowerPoint slides. I was told (in college maybe) to use PowerPoint slides as talking points, not to type out everything I was going to say about a topic. So, because of that, I have always listed things out using bullet points on powerpoint slides. I did this so that I wouldn't forget my talking points! I see how this isn't visually appealing to an audience. To go along with that, something that will help me to not use bullet points is to also not have more than 1 thought per side.
2. No font smaller than 30 points/Font styles:
I NEVER KNEW THIS! This is definitely something I missed somewhere along the way, but it makes complete sense. Using a bigger font ensures that people in the front and in the back of the audience are able to see the text. It is also important to use a good quality font! No more than 3 different types of typefaces. One for the Headers, another for the Content, and lastly for the Display.
3. Take more time to prep:
I read that "An outstanding 1-hour presentation can take 30 hours or more of prep time." Woah. I definitely DO NOT take that long to prepare a presentation. More prep work will help me give a more confident and informed presentation.
4. Be picky about visuals:
I learned that it is important to not use too many visuals or too little. It is also important to use good quality visuals. Photographs need to be at least 150 dpi (still not 100% sure what the means, but these are things I am working on!) I am also going to start exploring with online editing tools. Some that were suggested are: Picnik, Pixlr, Splashup, Lunapic, Fotoflexor, and Snipshot.
5. Tell a story:
Great storytellers are great presenters. I need to work on being more relaxed and confident when presenting on a topic. I need to think of a story that I can tell that relates to my topic and give my presentation/share my information by telling that story. An audience will be more engaged with a true and relatable story to follow along with.
1. No bullets/too much information/only 1 thought per slide:
I have learned to not put too much information on PowerPoint slides. I was told (in college maybe) to use PowerPoint slides as talking points, not to type out everything I was going to say about a topic. So, because of that, I have always listed things out using bullet points on powerpoint slides. I did this so that I wouldn't forget my talking points! I see how this isn't visually appealing to an audience. To go along with that, something that will help me to not use bullet points is to also not have more than 1 thought per side.
2. No font smaller than 30 points/Font styles:
I NEVER KNEW THIS! This is definitely something I missed somewhere along the way, but it makes complete sense. Using a bigger font ensures that people in the front and in the back of the audience are able to see the text. It is also important to use a good quality font! No more than 3 different types of typefaces. One for the Headers, another for the Content, and lastly for the Display.
3. Take more time to prep:
I read that "An outstanding 1-hour presentation can take 30 hours or more of prep time." Woah. I definitely DO NOT take that long to prepare a presentation. More prep work will help me give a more confident and informed presentation.
4. Be picky about visuals:
I learned that it is important to not use too many visuals or too little. It is also important to use good quality visuals. Photographs need to be at least 150 dpi (still not 100% sure what the means, but these are things I am working on!) I am also going to start exploring with online editing tools. Some that were suggested are: Picnik, Pixlr, Splashup, Lunapic, Fotoflexor, and Snipshot.
5. Tell a story:
Great storytellers are great presenters. I need to work on being more relaxed and confident when presenting on a topic. I need to think of a story that I can tell that relates to my topic and give my presentation/share my information by telling that story. An audience will be more engaged with a true and relatable story to follow along with.
Telling a story...what a great thought. When you are passionate about something you can tell a great story and using the right visuals make it work. I am still new at making presentations on my own as I don't make many of them for my 2nd graders. The amount of time it takes to make a great presentation is mind blowing. I have found that while working on my presentation that the time just seems to be flying by. I think technology may have caused us to put to much information on a slide. If you go back to the original presentation slides they were based on lots of pictures. It seems that we are going back to the basics with more knowledge and better sense. How many presentations do you typically make in a year and why do you make them? Are they made for students, colleagues, or for your own organization of conferences?
ReplyDeleteHey Abby! I usually only make presentations for my students. However, last year I started sponsoring Student Council and we would make presentations together in our meetings to present to the whole school during our assemblies. I also was on Leadership Team so there was a couple of times I had to present to the staff for that. So, this past year I made more presentations than usual. This sounds bad, but for my students, I would tend to just throw them together and use them year after year. I would put pictures, videos, or facts in them that I wanted them to see.
DeleteThat was my reply above!
DeleteI have always helped present but I have never been the one to make the presentations. I am strangely looking forward to making some presentations now after completing this module. The only thing that worries me is the time it takes to make a good presentation and we all know how much free time we have with being a teacher. I guess since summer school is almost over I may have a bit of time, but I do want to enjoy a little bit of my summer.
DeleteI love that you narrowed down all the information to your top five take-aways. This is such a good idea to do when learning something new. I love the idea of storytelling! This is something that makes sense to me. I love to read a good story, now I just need to work on telling a good story! What do you find is the most difficult part of creating a presentation for you? What are your strengths and weaknesses?
ReplyDeleteHey Karen! I think the most difficult part is presenting the presentation itself and the time it takes to prepare. With that being said, it also depends on who my audience is. If I am presenting to my students, that's no problem. If I am presenting to adults, I am terrifed! I get so nervous and trip up on my words.
DeleteThe reply above is from me!
DeleteI always find it interesting that as teachers, we are so nervous in front of our peers, but give us 100 kids and we are calm as a cucumber!
DeleteI find that the time it takes to make it good is also difficult!