Designing an Effective PowerPoint Presentation Craft a Suitable Introduction ▶ start with a big finish ▶ clearly lay out the scope and aims of your talk ▶ mention the main talking points that you will elaborate upon ▶ if you are working with a particular theory or concept, make sure to mention it in your introduction and to mention the name of the person associated with it ▶ the same applies to the work of a particular artist/architect – make sure to mention them, the dates of the artwork/building you are looking at ▶ conclude your introduction with a sentence to remind your audience about the stakes involved – why is this subject important? Using Illustrations Effectively ▶ make sure not to decorate your talk ▶ use images to support your argument/ analysis ▶ speak directly to the features of the illustration ▶ if possible, tie these features back to the central aims and purposes of the presentation, reminding the audience of why you are speaking Suburban Dystopia Correctly Adding Captions to Your Presentation ▶ make sure to use a large enough font – 25 point minimum ▶ provide the name of artists, artworks, architects, buildings, dates for EVERY image ▶ do not include too much textual material Physiognomy and Anthropometry Physiognomy and Anthropometry Jacques-Louis David: Oath of the Horatii (1784) Jacques-Louis David: Oath of the Horatii, detail (1784) Jacques-Louis David: Oath of the Horatii, detail (1784) Jacques-Louis David: Oath of the Horatii, detail (1784) It is important not to include too much textual detail, for by doing so you are creating a distraction. It is especially important not to read voluminous amounts of text from an image that you are projecting. The audience is not sure who to pay attention to – the written text, which carry so much authority, or the voice of the person who is delivering the talk. How often do you have a group of people sitting quietly, listening to every word that you say? Chances are not that often, so why would you waste such a golden opportunity by cutting and pasting vast quantities of written text? The best advice is to keep captions short and to the point! Use Only High Quality Images ▶ lo-res images detract the attention of your audience and make your presentation seem unprofessional ▶ if you’re stuck with a lower-res image, do not enlarge it too much. Remember that you are projecting the image, so it will be larger than it appears on your computer monitor Leonardo da Vinci: Vitruvian Man (c.1490) Leonardo da Vinci: Vitruvian Man (c.1490) Research Pronunciation of Names and Words in Other Languages ▶ stumbling over pronunciations in other languages decidedly detracts from the momentum of your paper ▶ it likely also will detract from your sense of credibility as a speaker on your chosen topic ▶ confirm pronunciations online and write them out phonetically ▶ Vergangenheitsbewältigung – guesses? Look it up… Using Effective Language ▶ what sort of presenter are you? are you better suited to presenting spontaneously or do you prefer reading prepared text? If you work from bullet points... ▶ practice adequately – time limit concerns – eliminate sections that may trip you up ▶ ensure that notes are large enough to read off the page – 16 point font in bold is recommended ▶ also make sure that you do not have too many lines of material together – three lines max ▶ also make sure to number your pages in case you drop your presentation If you choose to read from prepared notes... ▶ PARAPHRASE NOT RECITE!! ▶ make sure not to write the way that you would when you write an essay ▶ use simpler language -- it is more effective -- too many polysyllabic words or dense concepts in a row will surely lose your audience ▶ make sure not to read too quickly – it’s okay to be nervous, in fact it’s preferred to be slightly nervous ▶ remember to pause occasionally, breathe, take a drink of water How to keep the attention of your audience: ▶ make sure to look at your audience ▶ anticipate objections -- ask questions and then answer them ▶ ask rhetorical questions ▶ ask your audience to imagine themselves in a particular setting or to picture a particular scene How to encourage audience participation ▶ ask questions that do not have an obvious answer, but that open debate ▶ ask questions that relate certain points of your presentation to other key issues discussed in earlier lectures or presentations ▶ ask questions that connect ideas in your presentation to contemporary issues Crafting an effective conclusion ▶ make sure to concise -- conclusions should be brief ▶ restate the key points of your presentation ▶ avoid providing too much unrelated additional information or questions – this distracts from the impact of your talk ▶ finish by reminding us of the stakes involved – why is this important?
