Effective Media and Presentation Skills

Strong presentation skills are essential for today’s professional. Presentation skills are invaluable tools for the boardroom and the classroom. Effective presentation skills enhance teaching and learning at the university. It is important for instructors to have clear, engaging, and memorable presentations for their audience to take away the message. In CTLT’s Reading Break Refresher Series workshop “Effective Presentation and Media Skills,” graduate students broke down the different parts of a presentation and gained valuable resources to improve their own presentation skills.

Lucas Wright, Learning Technology Specialist at CTLT, and Zack Lee, Educational Resources Developer at CTLT, were the facilitators for the workshop and both have experience giving presentations while working for CTLT. They began their session with an icebreaker exercise with a twist. Participants were split into pairs and told to get to know each other. Then, each participant was asked to present their partner, while demonstrating bad presentation skills. This humorous and eye-opening task identified mistakes people often make during presentations such as speaking monotonously or hiding behind handouts.

Structuring a Presentation

The icebreaker segued into positive presentation skills and the importance of having a presentation structure. A presentation with structure is easier for audiences to follow and gives presenters a logical flow to move through their presentations. Lucas facilitated a jigsaw activity where participants were numbered into groups, and each group was responsible for one part of the presentation structure. The groups were mixed up and one member from each group joined together to form a new group where each person shared the parts they knew.

The Structure of a Presentation:

1. Purpose – Determine the learning objective and goal of the presentation. Focus on the main points the audience will gain from the presentation.
2. Audience Pre-Assessment – Identify the audience. Look for characteristics such as size, age, knowledge, background, seniority, and faculty. Presenters want to know who their audience is and what they want/need to know. Tips to gauge the audience: ask them questions and mingle before class.
3. Opening the Presentation – Also known as the hook. Grab the audiences’ attention and provide them with a reason to be interested in the presentation.
4. Body of Presentation – The major portion of the presentation. Stick with three major points and provide examples that connect directly to the purpose. Can be informative, introductory, or commemorative with personal narratives.
5. Closing the Presentation – This is the final impression that the presenter will leave with the audience – make it a strong one. Connect back to the purpose; leave the audience with a clear understanding of the points. Examples for closings presentations included closing with the strongest points or offering a future perspective for the topic.

Using Media in a Presentation

The second half of the session was dedicated to media skills that are beneficial for presentations. Some people have a tendency to overuse PowerPoint presentations, so the session demonstrated some best practices for more effective uses. Zack stressed that whatever media a presenter chooses to use, it should be there to help the presenter. Media are merely visuals that back what you, the presenter, are saying.

The wealthy investor, Guy Kawasaki came up with the 10/20/30 Rule to make more impactful PowerPoint presentations. Guy became bored with businessmen presenting him tedious and long-winded PowerPoint presentations. His rules simplify and get to the point of the presentation. Below is the outline for his ideal presentation:

• 10 slides – Challenges people to put their ideas into fewer slides.
• 20 minutes – People only truly focus on a topic for 20 minutes before they need a break. Presenters should say what they want to say immediately.
• 30-size font – The text has to be visible to the entire audience and slides should not be all text.

Furthermore, an unacknowledged author came up with the 6/6 rule that breaks down the text on PowerPoint presentations to 6 lines per slide and only 6 words per line. This creates presentations that emphasize the main idea and leaves the viewers with what is important.

Aside from PowerPoint there are other media options used by instructors, students, and businessmen alike. Lucas and Zack recommended two other options for using media in presentations: Google Presentations and Prezi Zoom Browser.

Google Presentations is very similar to PowerPoint; however, it has several differences that many people prefer over Microsoft’s system. Google Presentations allows users to add almost any media, such as web links and YouTube videos. Users can easily share presentations by posting its link or embedding it in websites, blogs, or even WebCT Vista and the new learning management system, Connect. Google Presentations can be accessed from anywhere and multiple users can collaborate on a single project.

Prezi, in contrast, is a zoom browser that differs from Google Presentations and PowerPoint in its non-linear set up. Prezi places items and links on a canvas or in a pathway that zooms up on a particular part. Similar to Google, users can easily add images and videos using URL addresses, but users can further zoom in on elements of embedded media and diagrams. Like Google Presentations, it can be shared and embedded online, making it an ideal tool for sharing presentations and doing group assignments.

These tools should be used with caution. Prezi is often considered too distracting for academic presentations. It is often difficult to control details on Prezi. It is also important to keep a Prezi presentation tight so that the audience does not get overwhelmed or dizzy. Both Prezi and Google Presentations are US-based services and users need to be aware of potential privacy issues as a result of the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. No student information should be stored on US servers.

Participants in the session were then given time to practice and associate themselves with these new media tools. The participants appreciated the introduction to new presentation media and the resources that were provided in the session. Information about the presentation tools discussed can be found on the workshop’s wiki.