Planning and presenting with PowerPoint

Planning and presenting with PowerPoint

Practical workbook

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Aims and Learning Objectives

To provide practical training on how to plan, prepare and make a PowerPoint presentation, and an opportunity to practice presentation skills in a supportive environment.

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

  • Plan and prepare an effective presentation using a PowerPoint slideshow
  • Use a multi-media projector
  • Make a short timed presentation to an audience of course members
  • Recognise and respond to the needs of an audience
  • Manage a question and answer session
  • Evaluate their own presentation skills

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Related documentation

Other related documents are available from the web at:

The student course document ‘PowerPoint XP (2002) for academic posters (document number pptxp-ss3)’ is available on the web at:

Planning and presenting with PowerPoint (November 03)

If you have any comments or queries about this document mail .

This document may be used wholly or in part by the academic community, providing suitable acknowledgment is made. It may not be used for any commercial or profit-making purpose without permission. © 2003 University of Bristol. All rights reserved.

Planning and presenting with PowerPoint

Contents

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Format conventions

Related documentation

Task 1Planning the presentation

Task 2Preparation – Designing your PowerPoint slideshow

Task 3Practice - Running through the presentation

Task 4Presentation – Making and evaluating a presentation

Planning and presenting with PowerPoint (November 03)

If you have any comments or queries about this document mail .

This document may be used wholly or in part by the academic community, providing suitable acknowledgment is made. It may not be used for any commercial or profit-making purpose without permission. © 2003 University of Bristol. All rights reserved.

Planning and presenting with PowerPoint

Introduction

This course aims to provide you with some simple guidelines on how to plan, design, develop and deliver presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint. The principles of good presentation design and delivery are just as relevant if you are using another presentation medium, for example OHP slides. They are based around a four-stage process:

  • Planning
  • Preparing
  • Practice
  • Presentation

Prerequisites

Basic Windows NT or 2000 skills. Familiarity and confidence with all the main functions of PowerPoint, e.g CC1SPP – Getting started with PowerPoint.

Planning and presenting with PowerPoint (November 03)

If you have any comments or queries about this document mail .

This document may be used wholly or in part by the academic community, providing suitable acknowledgment is made. It may not be used for any commercial or profit-making purpose without permission. © 2003 University of Bristol. All rights reserved.

Planning and presenting with PowerPoint

Task 1Planning the presentation

ObjectivesTo introduce the essential elements of the planning phase.

MethodYou will examine a range of planning issues and complete a planning exercise for a five minute presentation.

CommentsTime spent making thorough plans for your presentation is never wasted. The issues you didn't consider in advance are most likely to be the ones which let you down on the day.

Guidelines for planning your presentation

1.1Begin by asking yourself the following questions:

What?

  • Etablish the topic of your presentation
  • Decide on an appropriate title
  • Be clear about what you intend to cover and what you can afford to leave out
  • Make a list of the points you wish to make and the order in which you will cover them

Try using a Mind Map to get your ideas down on paper, then organise them into a list.

How to make a Mind Map
  • Use plain paper, turned landscape
  • Draw the focus (topic, issue, problem)
  • Radiate thick branches, each a single-word sub-topic or theme
  • From each branch, radiate secondary lines, with key words
  • Use arrows or codes for further associations

1.2Why?

  • Why have you agreed to make this presentation?
  • What particular knowledge or expertise do you have which makes you the appropriate choice? You may wish to include this information in your introduction to establish your credibility with the audience

1.3When?

  • How long do you have to make your presentation?
  • Is it a 10 minute slot in a conference, a one-hour lecture, or a half-day training course?
  • Do you have a choice about the date or time?
  • If you can choose the date, you can allow yourself plenty of time to prepare
  • If you can choose the time, remember people are most receptive in the mornings - after lunch and just before the end of the day, the attention of your audience may be more difficult to maintain!
  • Once the date has been agreed, work backwards in your diary and set your milestones, for example:
  • 2 weeks before presentation - check venue and equipment
  • 1 week before presentation - handouts to printers
  • 2 days before presentation - schedule a run-through
  • 1 day before presentation - panic!

1.4How?

  • What method or methods can you use to get your message across?
This will be determined by:
  • The length of your presentation: a half-day training event gives you far more scope to try multiple methods of delivery than a 10 minute slot in a conference
  • The nature of your topic: some topics lend themselves more readily to audience involvement than others
  • The size of your audience: brainstorming is only possible with fairly small groups; practical demonstrations are problematic if only the first three rows can see what you are doing

  • In addition to a PowerPoint presentation, or a series of presentations in the case of a long time-slot, you might try:
  • Brainstorming
  • Practical demonstrations
  • Question and answer sessions
  • Handouts to provide additional information/references
  • A short quiz
  • Small group discussions with feedback

1.5Where?

  • Do you have any choice about the venue?
  • If you have a choice, check out the available rooms for facilities, blackout, sightlines etc and select the best
  • If you have no choice, find out as much as you can about the room, for example:
  • Does it have adequate blackout?
  • Can you change the layout?
  • Are the acoustics and sightlines good?
  • Are the projection facilities fixed or do they have to be booked?
  • If equipment needs to be booked, are you required to do this yourself?
  • Can you get access in time to set up your presentation before your audience arrive?
  • Is a PC available and does it have PowerPoint installed?
  • Is there someone who can provide technical backup if you need it?
  • What resources do you need to take with you?
  • If you are presenting off-site, for example at a conference, make a list of questions about the venue, facilities, contact names and technical support, and get answers well in advance so that you are not taken by surprise.

1.6Who?

  • Find out as much as possible about your target audience
  • How many are likely to be present?
  • What are their expectations?
  • What do they know already?
  • Is there anything you should provide in advance of your presentation to prepare them, e.g. list of topics, background papers?

Practical Exercise 1 - Planning your presentation

  1. Choose a topic for a five minute presentation from the list below, or select a topic of your own choice
  2. Plan your presentation, using the planning guidelines in Task 1 and the Presentation Planner overleaf
  3. If you wish, try using the Mind Map technique to structure your presentation
  4. Your audience will be the other course participants, and the venue will be the room in which this course is taking place
  5. You have 20 minutes to complete this exercise.
Suggested Topics for a Five Minute Presentation
  1. Brief overview of your current department.
  2. What your current job entails.
  3. Where you see yourself in five years' time.
  4. The City of Bristol (or your home town/village).
  5. Your favourite hobby or sport.
  6. A club or society to which you belong.
  7. An interest or specialist skill.
  8. Your favourite holiday destination.
  9. Your pet hate.
  10. Anything else you would like to talk about.

Presentation Planner
What?
Topic, title, list of points to be covered
Why?
Your knowledge or expertise
When?
Date, time, length of presentation. Time allowed for questions etc
How?
Slideshow, list of handouts, anything which needs to be sent out in advance
Where?
Location, facilities available, layout, access, who to contact. List of resources you will need to provide.
Who?
Number and nature of attendees. What are their expectations? Any pre-requisites? Information to be provided in advance?

Task 2Preparation – Designing your PowerPoint slideshow

ObjectivesTo introduce some guidelines for good PowerPoint slideshow design and to provide an opportunity to put these into practice.

MethodWe will examine some of thefeatures of PowerPoint and consider their use in designing effective presentations. During the practical exercise you will produce a short, simple PowerPoint slideshow for a 5 minute presentation on a topic of your choice.

CommentsA good PowerPoint slideshow can considerably enhance your presentation, drawing attention to your key points; providing a structure to your talk and making a professional impact on your audience. A badly designed or inappropriate slideshow will irritate your audience; distract them from what you have to say; may even ruin your presentation.

Good Presentations - Bad Presentations

2.1Spend a few minutes thinking about presentations you have attended where PowerPoint was used by the presenter. Note below some good and bad features you have observed.

Good features / Bad features
Guidelines for PowerPoint slideshow design

2.2Keep it simple

  • Avoid using too many colours
  • Some colours are difficult for some people to see
  • Find a font you like and stick with it
  • Sans serif fonts are generally easier to read than serif fonts
  • This is Arial - This is Times New Roman
  • Use special effects with caution
  • Animation, slide transition and sound effects have their uses but may irritate your audience if they are over-used
  • Try to keep some empty space for contrast
  • Resist the temptation to overcrowd your slides
  • Your important points will have more impact if they stand alone
  • Be consistent - use the same style throughout
  • Find a template you like and make it your 'house style'
  • Develop your own design master and use it for all your presentations
  • Put anything you want to appear on all slides on the slide master to ensure it will be in the same position on every slide

2.3Keep it clear

  • Aim for a maximum of 8 lines of text per slide
  • Aim for a maximum of 10 words per line
  • Practice writing concise bullet points - you can fill in the details when you speak
  • Expanding a bullet point into a full sentence is preferable to reading a whole sentence from the slide
  • Use a font size everyone can read without difficulty - however far from the screen they are
  • PowerPoint templates use the following sizes:

Main headings44

Level 1 bullets32

Level 2 bullets28

Level 3 bullets24

  • Use colours which contrast well with the slide background
  • The quality of projection equipment varies considerably
  • Light text on a dark background makes the best use of available light
  • Dark text on a light background may cause problems in poor blackout
  • Make use of bullet points and the 'build' feature in PowerPoint
  • Information presented all at once on a slide may lead the audience to read ahead instead of listening to you
  • Using the build effect to display bullet points concentrates the audience on the point you are currently making
  • You have the choice to leave all bullets displayed once they have appeared, or fade them out, or even hide them altogether
  • Use diagrams where appropriate to illustrate concepts
  • Keep diagrams simple and check they can be seen from a distance
  • Animate diagrams where possible so that they build up on the screen rather than appearing all at once

2.4Keep it relevant

  • Use your slides to structure the presentation
  • You may wish to begin with a short list of the topics you will cover. Expand on each topic as you move through your slides
  • Return to your list of topics at the end and tick off each to reinforce the fact that all your objectives have been covered
  • Use your slides to keep you on track
  • Avoid the temptation to sidetrack - particularly in a timed slot
  • Use notes pages to remind yourself what you wish to say
  • Write your notes in a large font so that you can leave them on the desk and glance at them rather than holding them in front of your face
  • Decide whether to provide the audience with a hard copy of your slideshow
  • Give out handouts (3 slides per page) in advance if you want them to write notes as you speak
  • Keep handouts for distribution at the end if you don't want to give the game away - otherwise they will read them as soon as they arrive and you won't have any surprises!
  • If you provide handouts you will have to stick to your script!
  • Check that the information you include on your slides is ACCURATE and UP TO DATE
  • Use the SpellCheck facility within PowerPoint - spelling errors stand out when projected on a large screen

2.5Keep it short

  • Audience attention span is approximately 20 minutes
  • If your slot is longer than 20 minutes, consider using another method to get your message across
  • You could make two shorter presentations with a break for questions
  • As a general rule - work on an average of 1 minute per slide
  • Remember the shorter your time slot - the more difficult it is to get the timing right, you have no hope of speeding up a little to get through
  • If you run out of slides - you can keep talking; if you run out of time before you've covered all your slides, you are in trouble!
  • Rehearse and time your presentation so that you know how long it takes to cover all the topics you've included
  • PowerPoint has a facility which will record rehearsal timings for you
  • If your slideshow is too long - be ruthless, cut out some slides, rather than aiming to get through them faster on the day
  • Generally live presentations take up more time than rehearsals - not less!

Practical Exercise 2 - Designing a PowerPoint Slideshow

  1. Using PowerPoint, develop a slideshow to support the five minute presentation you have chosen to make during the afternoon session
  2. Refer to the Guidelines in Task 2
  3. If you are confident with PowerPoint, use a design template or create your own master style
  4. Add slide transitions and animate your bullet points if you have time
  5. Save your presentation to the floppy disk provided
  6. You have 30 minutes to complete this exercise

Task 3Practice - Running through the presentation

ObjectivesTo stress the importance of doing a dummy run and to provide some simple guidelines for carrying this out.

MethodYou will havean opportunity to familiarise yourself with the multi-media projector in the training room and note any other considerations which you should take into account before making your live presentation.

CommentsWork on the premise that 'If things can go wrong - they probably will!' Experienced presenters frequently miss out this stage of the process - many get away with it, some do not!

Guidelines for a presentation run-through

3.1Before your practice session:

  • Give someone a copy of your slides to check for accuracy, consistency and spelling
  • They will usually find something you have completely overlooked
  • If you have the opportunity - check out the projector and the room in which you will make your presentation
  • Check the sightlines and acoustics to ensure everyone can see and hear you
  • Decide how you would like to change the room layout (if this is possible)
  • Run through your checklist of the things you need to provide to ensure you haven't forgotten anything

3.2During your practice session: