DT211 & DT228
Team Project
Presentation Skills
Module Web Page: http://www.comp.dit.ie/pbourke
Contents
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In today's lecture we’ll discuss giving good
presentations
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Presentation overview
Edward Tufte’s Tips
How to use PowerPoint well
Other presentation tips
Death by PowerPoint?
Presentation
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Let’s do a quick overview on presentations
that you have been at
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What things have people done in
presentations that have worked well?
What things have people done in
presentations that have worked badly?
What interesting things have you seen people do
in presentations?
Edward Tufte’s Presentation
Tips
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Edward Tufte makes the following
suggestions for giving presentations:
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Show up early
Have a strong opening
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What's the problem?
Who cares?
What's your solution?
On every subtopic move from the particular to the
general and back to the particular
Give everyone at least one piece of paper
Edward Tufte’s Presentation
Tips (cont…)
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Know your audience
Rethink the overhead
The audience is sacred
Humour is good
Avoid masculine (or even feminine!) pronouns as
universals
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They has been accepted by the Oxford English
Dictionary for years
Take care with questions
Let people know you believe your material
Edward Tufte’s Presentation
Tips (cont…)
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Finish early
Drink lots of water
Have a strong conclusion
Think about all presentation possibilities
Practice, practice, practice
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Film your presentation
Play it back and watch yourself
Watch it without the sound
Listen to it without the picture
Have your first couple of lines rehearsed
PowerPoint Done Well
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Tips for good PowerPoint presentations
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Include only necessary information
Avoid long paragraphs of text
Don’t overcrowd the presentation
Don’t forget to spell check
Don’t be afraid to use pictures – but be careful of
overused clip-art
Be consistent with formatting
Have a backup plan
Remember slides are not the same as notes
PowerPoint Tips: Colours &
Fonts
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Colours:
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Limit the number of colours
Use contrasting colours for background and text
Try to think about accessibility
Somebody who is colour blind won’t be
able to read this!
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Font:
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Always use size 20 or bigger
Larger font may be used for emphasis
PowerPoint Tips: Colours & Fonts
(cont…)
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Using too small font is impossible to read
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CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY
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Don’t use complicated fonts
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Using a font colour that does not contrast with the
background colour is hard to read
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Using a different colour for each point is
unnecessary
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Using a different colour for secondary points is also
unnecessary
Trying to be creative can also be bad
PowerPoint: Colours & Fonts (cont…)
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Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or
difficult to read from
Always be consistent with the background
that you use
PowerPoint Tips: Animation
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Using animation in PowerPoint is almost
always a bad idea!
It just confuses people and makes your slides
take forever to appear
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Also you spend all of your time pressing the
next slide button
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So don’t do it!
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Except when it adds to the
clarity of your presentation
Oral Presentation Tips
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Some tips for oral presentations:
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Body language is important
Speak loudly and clearly
Try to put some feeling into your voice
Do not read from notes
Maintain eye contact with your audience
Speak to your audience
Don’t be afraid to take a pause
Don’t be afraid to correct yourself
Handling Questions
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Questions at the end are just about the most
important part of a presentation
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Repeat the question to the audience
Restate or ask for clarification if necessary
Request that questions are asked during the talk
or afterwards
Avoid prolonged one-to-one discussions
If you can’t answer a question, just say so
Have a dedicated questions slide
Conclusion
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The most important things to remember when
giving presentations are:
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Think about your audience
Think about your objective
Think carefully about visual aides (slides)
Speak confidently, clearly and to the audience
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
Questions?
Rethinking The Overhead
“PowerPoint presentations too often resemble a
school play – very loud, very slow, and very simple”
-Edward Tufte
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“The Cognitive Style Of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts
Within”, Edward Tufte, 2006
Edward Tufte is an analytical
designer (who would rail against
being on this slide!)
NASA & PowerPoint
After the Columbia space
shuttle crashed in 2003 the
Columbia Accident
Investigation Board fingered
PowerPoint as a culprit
NASA, had become too reliant on presenting
complex information via PowerPoint
New York Times Article: PowerPoint Makes You Dumb
Should We Abandon
PowerPoint?
Short team presentations
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Each Monday
3 teams will present on a chosen topic
5-7 minutes presentation
Title for next Monday
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“How to be an effective Team”