A Presentation Presentation

Presented by the Writing & Communication Center

Carson Cook, Peer Consultant
Dr. Beth Leahy, Director
What will we cover today?
Figuring out the presentation’s content

Designing your presentation

Delivering a presentation

Resources to help
Content
Ask yourself
Who is your audience?

What do they know already?

What do they need to know?

Why should they care?

From ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com “Annoying Power Point Study”
Planning for your presentation
What is the main idea/theme

Make an outline

Then fill in with examples, data, and interesting visuals

Remember keep it interesting/relevant to your audience

Slide Design
CLICK TO ADD TITLE

We’ll learn how two fix this?

Most Common Complaints
The speaker read the slide to us 67.8%

Full sentences for text 51.6%

Text to small to read 49.3%

Visuals to complex 33.6%

 Contrast

C.R.A.P. Repetition

Alignment

Proximity
Contrast Isn’t Done This Way
Color is a common way of using contrast, black
and white has HIGH contrast, orange and
yellow are not enough contrast

Typeface is another contrast, with fonts like

Segoe representing a stark contrast to a font
like Agency FB.
Color: White, Font: Serif and Size: Title is Other: CAPS,
blue, and a pop Sans Serif, thick larger than italics, bold
of green and thin subtitle good too

Let’s Take a Look at this slide

Based off the title slide
Repetition
Alignment
Creates a strong edge along related objects

Helps readers see connections

You don’t need to use left-alignment; right alignment can

keep things interesting

Align captions with the

edge of the photo
Alignment
Avoid using center alignment with large
blocks of text.
Center alignment can be good for titles, but
with large blocks of text it leaves you without
any strong edges.
Of course, there probably shouldn’t be many
blocks of text in your slides anyway.
• Bullet points are much more engaging.
Proximity
Placing items together that are related to one
another

Like alignment, helps readers see connections

Applies to words and images

What if the caption for that

photo were over here?
Common
complaints Common complaints
80.00%

70.00% 67.80% 80.00%

60.00% 70.00% 67.80%

51.60%
Percent of Respondents

49.30%
50.00% 60.00%
51.60%

Percent of Respondents
49.30%
40.00% 50.00%
33.60%

30.00% 40.00%
33.60%

20.00% 30.00%

10.00% 20.00%

0.00% 10.00%
Speaker reads slide Full sentences Small text Complex visuals
Complaints
0.00%
Speaker reads slide Full sentences Small text Complex visuals
Complaints
 Contrast

C.R.A.P. Repetition

Alignment

Proximity
Delivery Tips
How Much Text?
Don’t just put all of the material you are planning to deliver on
the slide. Writing out exactly what you are going to say,
including it on the slide, and then reading from the slide is not
an effective way to make your point. The slide is too difficult to
read and you’ve just made your presentation and your delivery
about 100% more boring than it was before this. It’s a big
mistake to have text-heavy presentations, a big mistake to only
read off your slides, and an even bigger mistake to do both at
once.
Bulleted Lists
Concise bullet points are:

Easier to read

More interesting

You fill in the details!

Practicing Your Presentation
Book a practice presentation room in the Library.

Make an appointment with the WCC for presentation feedback.

Practice in the mirror.

Practice in front of your friends or roommates.

Time yourself!
What to Practice
Speaking clearly (volume, pitch, and enunciation)

Avoiding filler words (like, um, okay, right, you know, etc.)

Using natural body language

Pausing for effect/audience reflection

Discovering your own presentation style

Delivery Tips
Choose an outfit that makes you feel good, but:

Make sure you choose an appropriate outfit.

Delivery Tips cont’d
Harness your nervous energy.

Talk TO not AT your audience.

Have confidence; you’ve prepared for this.

Be mindful of time constraints.

Library Resources
Practice Presentation Rooms
Request a practice presentation room:

https://www.utc.edu/library/
PowerPoint Tech Help
MS Office Consultations available:
Basil Considine, basil-considine@utc.edu, LIB 215, 423-425-2668

PowerPoint Workshops and drop-in help in LIB 204

Monday, April 16th 1pm-3pm
Tuesday, April 17th 1pm-3pm
Wednesday, April 18th 12pm-2pm
Writing & Communication Center
Hours
Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 pm.
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Special hours for breaks, holidays,

and finals week (check library
website)
UTC Library, Room 327
How to Make an Appointment
 Visit our website to set up an account:

www.utc.edu/library/services/writing-and-communication-center

 Stop by the WCC for help making an appointment

 Walk-ins are possible depending on our schedule

Questions?