The Art of Confident Public Speaking Postgraduate Skills Programme - PDF document

2016/05/20 The Art of Confident Public Speaking Postgraduate Skills Programme Vicky Davis Acknowledgements to Corina du Toit (co-author of this workshop) BDram, MDram Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides POWERPOINT SLIDES Tips to be Covered 1. Outline 1. Outline • Make your 1 st or 2 nd slide an outline of your 2. Slide Structure presentation 3. Fonts e.g. previous slide 4. Colour • Follow the order of your outline for the rest 5. Background of the presentation 6. Graphs • Only place main points on the outline slide 7. Spelling and Grammar e.g. use the titles of each slide as main points 8. Conclusions 9. Questions 2. Slide Structure – Good Slide Structure - Bad • This page contains too many words for a • Use 1-2 slides per minute presentation slide. It is not written in point of your presentation form, making it difficult both for your • Write in point form, not audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same complete sentences number of points on this slide as the previous • Include 4-5 points per slide, it looks much more complicated. In slide short, your audience will spend too much • Avoid wordiness: use key time trying to read this paragraph instead of words and phrases only listening to you. 1

2016/05/20 Slide Structure – Good Slide Structure - Bad • Show one point at a time, this: – will help the audience concentrate on what you are saying – will prevent the audience from reading ahead – will help you keep your presentation focused • Do not use distracting animation • Do not go overboard with the animation – Animate only if it makes sense to animate • Be consistent with the animation that you use Fonts - Bad 3. Fonts - Good • If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written • Use at least an 18-point font • CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS • Use different size fonts for main points and DIFFICULT TO READ secondary points • Don’t use a complicated font – this font is 28-point, the main point font is 32- point, and the title font is 44-point • Use a standard font like Arial Colour - Bad 4. Colour - Good • Using a font colour that does not contrast • Use a colour of font that contrasts sharply with the background colour is hard to read with the background • Using colour for decoration is distracting and e.g. blue font on white background annoying • Use colour to reinforce the logic of your • Using a different colour for each point is structure unnecessary e.g. light blue title and dark blue text – Using a different colour for secondary points is • Use colour to emphasize a point also unnecessary – But only use this occasionally • Trying to be creative is also bad 2

2016/05/20 5. Background - Good Background – Bad • Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or • Use backgrounds such as this one that are difficult to read from attractive but simple • Always be consistent with the background • Use backgrounds which are light that you use • Use the same background consistently throughout your presentation 6. Graphs and Tables - Good Graphs - Bad • Use graphs rather than only charts and words – Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than raw data – Trends are easier to visualize in graph form January February March April Blue Balls 20.4 27.4 90 20.4 Red Balls 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6 • Always title your graphs Graphs - Good Graphs - Bad Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002 100 90 90 100 80 90 80 70 70 60 60 Blue Balls Blue Balls 50 50 Red Balls Red Balls 38.6 40 40 34.6 31.6 30 30.6 30 27.4 20 20.4 20.4 20 10 0 10 January February March April 0 January February March April 3

2016/05/20 8. Conclusion 7. Spelling and Grammar • Proof read your slides for: • Use an effective and strong closing – spelling mistakes – Your audience is likely to remember your last – the use of repeated words words – grammatical errors • Use a conclusion slide to: – Summarize the main points of your presentation • If it is a big or important presentation, please – Suggest future avenues of research have someone else check your presentation! 9. Questions? • End your presentation with a simple question slide to: – Invite your audience to ask questions – Provide a visual aid during question period – Avoid ending a presentation abruptly 4