15 Task 12: Prepare Your Presentation
Learning Objectives
By the time you complete this section, you will be able to:
- Create a professionally appropriate PowerPoint
- Verbally communicate highlights of your marketing plan to an audience
Using PowerPoint to Create Slides
- Add Text to Slides
- Don’t put too much text on each slide. Too many words are hard to read, confusing, and tiring
- Use punctuation when you use complete sentences.
- Use font styles that are easy to read.
- Use at least 24 font size, larger for headings or titles.
- Use colours, bold text, and underlining
- Add visuals (pictures, charts, and diagrams) to slides
Pictures should relate to the content on your slide
You can include:
- Images/ pictures
- Graphs, charts, tables
Organize Your Ideas
A presentation has three parts: The introduction (beginning), the body (middle) and the conclusion (end). To plan your presentation, decide what you will say in each section.
| Purpose | My ideas for this section | |
| Introduction
|
1. Starts with something interesting
2. Tells your main point 3. Tells what you will talk about
|
|
| Body
|
1. Presents your main points
2. Gives information to support your ideas **Remember to clearly indicate where you found your information. Use phrases like “according to…” or “in a study by…” |
|
| Conclusion
|
· Tells the main point again
· Reviews what you talked about · Makes a final statement
|
Giving the Presentation: Using your Voice and Body Language
- Use your breath (don’t forget to breathe)
- Check your volume (speak loudly)
- Change pitch (make sure your voice goes up and down when it should)
Body Language and Communication:
Much of our communication is non-verbal (we communicate with our body and actions, not only by what we say).
- Use natural gestures (hand movements)
- Look at your audience when you present
- Don’t read your presentation
- Dress nicely for your presentation
| Activity: Watch a TED talk on the internet. How does the speaker use their voice and body when they present?
|
Practice Your Presentation
- Practice your presentation with a friend or family member.
- Record yourself and watch how you speak.
- Time yourself – is your presentation too long or too short? [1]
Top Ten Reasons Why Your Presentation Stinks! (from KPU Marketing Faculty Bob Crockett)
Reason #10: It’s all data no story
Make your presentation tell a story, ideally with the audience as the heroes.
Reason #9: Your visuals are too fancy
Use the minimum visuals that you need to tell the story
REASON #8: Your slide background is too busy!
Use a simple, single color background. Always.
REASON #7: Your fonts are unreadable!
Use large fonts in simple faces (like Ariel); avoid boldface, italics and UPPERCASE.
REASON #6: Your graphics are too complex!
Only include simple graphics; highlight the data point that’s important.
REASON #5: You are all opinion, no fact!
Only state opinions that you can back up with quantifiable data.
REASON #4: You speak fluent biz-blab!
Just stop it. Cold turkey.
REASON #3: You drifted off topic!
Only include material that’s relevant to your overall message.
REASON #2: It was too d**n long!
Always make your presentation less than half as long as you think it should be.
REASON #1: You read from your slides!
Use slides to reinforce your message rather than to outline your data points.
- Materials developed by: Marti Alger, Learning Strategist (marti.alger@kpu.ca) and adapted by Christina Page, Learning Strategist (christina.page@kpu.ca) Based on : Writing Center, Texas A. and M. University. (2017, October 03).Oral Presentations. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/Classroom-Workshops/Graduate/Oral-Presentations ↵
