Little Red Schoolhouse
Supporting Presentations with
Written Slides
Greg Colomb
The University of Virginia
AGENDA
•The Role of Slides in a Presentation
•The Structure of Effective Presentations
•The Structure of Effective Slides
•The Language of Effective Slides
AGENDA
•The Role of Slides in a Presentation
•The Structure of Effective Presentations
•The Structure of Effective Slides
•The Language of Effective Slides
How Slides Support a Presentation
WHAT SLI DES DO FOR THEPRESENTER
Outline the presentation
• help you remember key points
• record your plan of order
• record data too specific to remember
Allow you to adjust to your audience
• you can slow down to develop points
• you can safely skip points since the
audience has them on the slides
Give your talk visual support
• allow you to include graphics, illustrations,
etc.
• visually represent the presentation's
structure
WHAT SLI DES DO FOR THEAUDI ENCE
Outline the presentation
• save listeners from taking excessive notes
• communicate the presentation's structure
• record data too specific to remember
Give the audience visual reinforcement
• provide alternative channels of information
• provide alternative focus of attention
Give the audience something to hold &
something to do
• provide a place for notes and doodles
• let individuals skip ahead or review
SLIDES COMPENSATE FOR THE LIMITATIONS OF ORAL COMMUNICATION
.
AGENDA
•The Role of Slides in a Presentation
•The Structure of Effective Presentations
•The Structure of Effective Slides
•The Language of Effective Slides
Listeners Need a Framework Even More than Readers
Focuses them on the “So What?”
• What’s my role here?
• Why should I care?
• What will I get from this?
Structures listening
• Keeps audience focused on the story line
• Identifies priorities, organizing principles
• Helps them ask informed questions
Defines deliverables
• What do you want me to do or think?
• What’s worth remembering here?
Tell Listeners What to Expect
• Effective Presentations Tell a Story
So . . . Effective Introductions Announce Main Characters
• Effective Presentations Make an Argument
So . . . Effective Introductions Announce Key Concepts
• Effective Presentations Lead to an Outcome
So . . . Effective Introductions Announce What’s At Stake
ISSUE
DISCUSSION
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
Characters
Key Concepts
What's at Stake?
Topic Strings
Thematic Strings
Problem Statement
Story
Argument
Outcome
Most of All, Listeners Need to Know What’s at Stake
•Listeners understand better and remember more when they have a
specific motivation for following you. Moreover, what they understand
and remember depends on what motivates them to listen.
•You can use several methods to ensure that your audience is motivated
to read in a way that serves your purposes, but the easiest and most
effective is to frame your deck as a solution to a problem that your
audience has and needs to solve.
ISSUE
DISCUSSION
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 1
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 2
• this is a s ub-point
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
This is P oint 3
(Unproblematic)
Common
Ground
PROBLEM
RESOLUTION
Point First or Last?
ELEMENTS OF Y OUR S OCIAL C ONTRACT WITH READERS
Aut horit y
Are you recommending a decision or just
telling participants what you have found?
Will the participants
• make the ultimate decision
• participate in the decis ion
• recommend a decision
• implement the decision of others
• live with the decision of others
The more the participants are oriented
toward making a decision, the more they
want point first.
Time
How long is the scheduled presentation?
Are the participants accustomed to long or
short presentations?
Decision Style
Do the participants want you to recommend
a decision or help them come to a decision
on their own?
Do the participants like to work through the
data or do they want just the big picture?
The more the participants want to work
through things on their own, the less they
need point first.
Meeting Style
Does the audience want
• a participative, open discussion
• a question-and-answer session
• a formal presentation
Will they get impatient?
The more the participants care about time,
the more they want point first.
The more active the participants want to be,
the more they need point first.
AGENDA
•The Role of Slides in a Presentation
•The Structure of Effective Presentations
•The Structure of Effective Slides
•The Language of Effective Slides
MANUFACTURING CONFIGURATION
Differences in plant capability & capacity between Zorax and Abco
•
Lower portion of plant production than Zorax
•
Scale and technology leadership advantage to Zorax plants, which are
typically located in low-cost sourcing regions
•
Current distributed manufacturing network hampered by specialized
functions that require extensive shipping of product and raw materials,
at a raw product cost disadvantage in West and East
Significant problems with proposed strategic plan
•
Lack of best demonstrated practice/technology in plants means lower
productivity levels than benchmark competitors
•
Result is significant manufacturing cost disadvantage vs. Zorax
ABCO MANUFACTURING DISADVANTAGES
Low Capacity, Overspecialized Functions, Flawed Plan
Abco has less production capability and capacity than Zorax
• Commits less to own plant production
• Locates plants in higher-cost sourcing regions
• Yields scale and technology leadership to Zorax
Its plant network is hampered by specialized functions
• Requires extensive shipping of product and raw materials
• Results in higher costs for raw products in West and East
Its proposed strategic plan has significant shortcomings
• Fails to establish best demonstrated practice/technology
• Sets lower productivity levels than benchmark competitors
Manufacturing costs significantly higher
than Zorax
Slides Have A Rhetorical Geography
Each Part Has a Distinct Function
Title: Makes the Point
Sub-title: Tells Readers What to Look for
Main Body Point
• body sub-point
• supporting detail
• body sub-point
Main Body Point
• body sub-point
Main Body Point
• body sub-point
• body sub-point
• supporting detail
Take-away Box: Draws a concluding
inference or sets up next slide
The Title Makes The Point Of The Slide
Do use it to
• make the point of the slide, your value-added
• anticipate the body of the slide
- words predict concepts in each main sub-point
- words at end of the title most emphatic
• connect that slide to the previous one
- begin it with words that connect it to the previous slide
Don’t use it to
• name a general topic
THE SUB-TITLE INTERPRETS THE BODY
Do use it to:
•tell readers what to look for in the body of the slide,
particularly complex visual or quantitative data
•predict key concepts in the body of the slide
Don't use it to
• make the point of the slide
• draw an inference to be developed in next slide
THE TAKE-AWAY BOX ANSWERS “SO WHAT?” AND “WHAT NEXT?”
Do use it to
• draw an inference or conclusion
• make a transition to the next slide
Don't use it to
• fit in what doesn't fit elsewhere
• add an afterthought
AGENDA
•The Role of Slides in a Presentation
•The Structure of Effective Presentations
•The Structure of Effective Slides
•The Language of Effective Slides
Apply LRS Principles to Slides
1. The fewer the abstract nouns the better
2. The more characters down the left hand side of the slide, the
better
3. When the character is the same, the more verbs down the left
hand side of the slide, the better
4. Be sure to make the RIGHT character the subjects of verbs
5. Familiar units of information to the left — usually characters
or their actions, unfamiliar information to the right