Carlyn M's Way to Create and Develope Effective Presentations

When creating a presentation it is important to include only what is necessary, and to use specific formats and graphics to keep the audience alert and interested. Most presentations include different types of visuals to help convey certain information to a group of people. I am going to discuss the ways to create an effective presentation by elaborating on the uses of different visuals and how they effect the audience.

The reason why it is important to use visuals during a presentation is because they provide a number of advantages to the presenter. Visuals establish organization, and gain attention. Depending on how you layout your visual, there should be a site of emphasis on certain information, as well as the highlighting of specific information. Visuals also establish authority for the presenter. If the visual is a graph or chart containing statistics of a subject, the presenter is perceived with professionalism and credibility.

The few important elements to know and use when putting together a presentation are graphics, images, size, and color.

Graphics include icons, graphs, charts, tables, and line drawings. When focusing on graphs, it is always best to use the more appropriate graph for different information. For example, Bar graphs (pictured below) are used with numeric information.



Image provided by www.jpowered.com

Line graphs (pictured below) are used when depicting shifts over a period of time.



Image provided by www.awe.asn.au

When focusing on charts, you have the option to use either pie charts of flow charts. Pie charts (pictured below) represent percentages, and divide a whole circular area in to different representative sections.



Image provided by www.statcan.gc.ca

Flow charts (pictured below) depict a process or procedure.



Image provided by www.edrawsoft.com/Organizational-Flow-Chart.php

Those different graphs and charts are the main types of graphics that should be used when relaying information statistically.

Moving on to the element of images, these include photographs, screenshots, video, and animation. I like to use images when creating a presentation because they relay information well, and serve as a great visual. It is important to relate the image you are using in your presentation to the information in the presentation. For example, I am explaining the different types of graphs used as graphics, therefore I provided a photograph of a bar graph as opposed to a photograph of an apple.

Another element that is important when creating a presentation is the formatting of the visual. Be sure to mix things up when developing a presentation. You don’t always want to use the block style format for a slide show or a power point. The usage of bullet points are always helpful because they emphasize certain information and keep every subject in an organized manner. They also help to cut down the amount of information used in your slide show and only include the necessary points. This will be easy for you to emphasize on each subject just by looking at each bullet point. It also helps to keep your audience interested, as opposed to them getting lost in your presentation.

The last two elements I would like to discuss are those of size and color. When choosing the size of a presentation, it is important to use variety. You do not want the entire presentation, whether it is a power point or poster board, to all be one size. The title of each slide should be the largest font of the presentation. Following the title may be the second largest font for the subtitle. Any other information after that should be fitted accordingly. Larger fonts, as well as bold fonts emphasize information, so keep that in mind when it is time to make your claim or relay any other information that is of importance. Make sure that the size of your presentation does not come off obnoxious or too dominant. You may rub the audience the wrong way if all letters are capitalized and size 72 font throughout the entire power point.

Finally we have our color. Color can be used in a fun way. Don’t be afraid to get creative! Colorful presentations can catch the audiences attention and also make your claim. Just be careful, you don’t want your presentation to look too colorful and obnoxious. This may take away from the sophisticated and professional outlook that we discussed earlier.

All of these elements are important when creating a presentation. With the correct use of graphics, images, formatting, size, and color, you can develop the most effective presentation in no time! Keep all of these little tips in mind next time you are asked to provide a power point to present to the rest of the company!


Below I have provided a video on more tips for creating an effect presentation, I hope this video is helpful as well!