Presentation Design & Delivery: Best Practices

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

******This version will include more text than oral presentation version in order to stand alone on the Internet.

Prepare

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

• Practice, practice, practice.• Know your audience.• Know your setting – especially for

AV materials.• The more you know your content,

the more you will be able to engage with the audience.

Keep it Simple

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

• Choose or design simple template.• Be wary of PowerPoint templates.• There are places online where you can

experiment with more modern/sleek looking templates than what is pre-installed on PowerPoint.

• Use animations, transitions, etc sparingly.• Create a snappy and clear title.• Choose pleasing colors, but no more than 3 colors

per slide.• Stick to your message and keep your message

clear.• Remember SLIDE: Simplify, Lose the cliches,

Information needs emphasis, Designate elements, and Empathy for Audience.

Limit Bullet Points & Text

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

• Use readable font. No cursive or hard to read fonts should be used.

• You can download fonts from the Internet that can make you stand out while also being simple and easy to read.

• No more than three font sizes per slide• Slide should not have all the information and

text for your oral presentation.• Sometimes the best slides have little to no text.• 10/20/30 rule recommends limiting the number

of your slides to 10, your presentation time to 20 minutes, and using at least 30 point font size

Charts & Graphs

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

• Should contain limited data. • Use shapes to draw attention to important data.

http://www.garrreynolds.com/preso-tips/design/

Visual Images

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

• Use high quality visual images to tell your story.• There are websites online to get your images, such

as Getty Images (costs money) or Everystockphoto.com (free with sign up).

• Don’t use cheesy images from clip art unless it fits in with your story.

• Be sure to follow copyright rules, especially if you plan on publishing your presentation or submitting it to a conference. Fair use does not always apply.

• For more information on copyright, visit the HPU Media Services Copyright guide – this guide also lists out places to find images:

http://guides.highpoint.edu/content.php?pid=517049

Delivery

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

• Start Strong: first impressions are important. • Keep it short and speak clearly. • Make good eye contact.• Avoid fillers: like, um, etc.• Be passionate about what your talking about

or no one will care what you are saying. • Be engaged with your audience.• Confidence is key: if you prepared well

confidence should be easier. • Do not read every word off of your slides.

Seth Godin’s Five Rules to Remember to Create Amazing PowerPoints:

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

How to Not do PowerPoint by Don McMillan:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2Ck

Nancy Duarte’s talk at TEDx East: On the Art of Storytelling:http://vimeo.com/20618288

Designing an Effective Presentation:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJgeF3ALl0g

How Can I Make my PowerPoint Presentations Amazing:http://lifehacker.com/how-can-i-make-my-powerpoint-presentations-amazing-507552122

Pecha Kucha: Get to PowerPoint in 20 Slideshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZOt6BkhUg

Presentation Zen:http://www.presentationzen.com/

Guide to Slideshare: includes some good presentation exampleshttp://blog.kissmetrics.com/marketers-guide-to-slideshare/

Helpful Links:

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

HPU Libraries Media Services: tutorials, software, and guideshttp://www.highpoint.edu/library/media/

HPU Media Tutorials: including presentations and videos on various multimedia softwarehttp://guides.highpoint.edu/content.php?pid=436406

HPU Free Media Software guide: find free presentation software and alternatives to PowerPointhttp://guides.highpoint.edu/content.php?pid=531507

Media & Digital Resource Librarian:Samantha Harlowsharlow@highpoint.edu336-841-9462 or 336-841-9103

How can HPU Help?

References

By Samantha Harlow Media & Digital Resource LibrarianHigh Point University

Garr Reynolds, http://www.garrreynolds.com/preso-tips/design/

Seth Godin’s Blog Post: Really Bad PowerPointhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/01/really_bad_powe.html

How Can I Make My PowerPoint Presentations Amazing? By Melanie Pinola on Lifehackerhttp://lifehacker.com/how-can-i-make-my-powerpoint-presentations-amazing-507552122

Images taken from stock.xchnghttp://www.sxc.hu/

University of Washington, PowerPoint Best Practiceshttp://www.washington.edu/research/.SITEPARTS/.documents/.osp/PowerPoint_Best_Practices.pdf