Emerging issues in PowerPoint/poster presentations (post-Monday session thoughts)
I’ve been asked whether a PowerPoint presentation – or a poster, for that matter – must have the structure of an abstract (I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that it should !?).
Anyway … in a nutshell … PowerPoint presentations do not need to have a standard structure. Any structure is good if it makes the presentation attractive (i.e. it captures the attention of the audience) and effective (i.e. it achieves the intended effect, for example, to convince somebody to do/buy/accept something). But there is a certain logical and chronological order in a PP presentation: for example, it has a title & author(s) page, an agenda slide which informs the audience how you structured the presentation; an introduction of the topic, a body of the presentation and of course, conclusions and references (of course, if you read through the handouts and check some of the links I’ve given in class you may find out more).
On a [not so] different note, remember that I have repeatedly warned you about some of the pitfalls of presentations in general, such as:
- giving in to the temptation to read verbatim (word by word) from the laptop screen, wall screen, poster text or handheld notes;
- using a flat, dull, colourless, therefore unnatural voice, also as a result of mechanical reading and not speaking to the audience;
- forgetting to signpost the transition between stages of the presentation and/or the moment you finish your part and your colleagues takes over; this can be done by using specific language, e.g. “Now that I’ve explained the basics of substance abuse, I’d like to move on to the description of …” / or “[colleague's name] will present the results of…”;
- neglegting the rounding-up or concluding part of the presentation (not the “Conclusions” part), when you announce the end of your presentation and invite the audience to ask questions or to make comments.
I hope some of you will read the above in advance and perform better in the following days, despite the fact that doing it for the first time certainly makes many of you nervous and eager to finish too quickly.
… and remember, we’re among colleagues and friends and … I’m with you.