Creating and Preparing For a Presentation
This module will explain how you can create an effective presentation. It will also cover some ways that you can prepare yourself and your material. A lot of the work for giving a presentation comes before you deliver it. Developing informative content, creating clear visual aids, and making sure you are well prepared will all make a presentation go more smoothly, even if you are nervous.
Top Tips
✓ Give yourself enough time to prepare. Before you begin, use an Assignment Tracker form or Assignment Calculator website to determine how much prep time you need. Guideline: for every 5% plan to spend 2 hours on it.
✓ Know your tech. Make sure that you are comfortable using any technology that is part of your presentation.
✓ Prepare for things that could go wrong. Have a backup copy of your presentation in case technology fails.
How to Create an Effective Presentation
Watch this video (The Learning Portal Ontario, 2019) or read the instructions below to learn how to develop the content of your presentation and how to create effective visual aids.
Develop your content.
Brainstorm ideas.
See where you need to fill in information and research your topic.
Gather all your info and then organize it. Prepare an outline of how you want to present the information.
Transfer the information to cue cards or a single sheet of paper. You can use these to support you during your presentation.
Remember: you can’t read your presentation off of a script, so don’t write an essay. Instead, use bullet points to remind you of the next key point.
Be sure to know the expected length of time for the presentation and plan accordingly. Make sure you have enough to say.
Create your visual aids.
Visual aids can take many forms, which means you can be creative! Other than PowerPoint, you can use Prezi, posters, charts, hands-on samples or demonstrations. Keep in mind that you should be comfortable using whatever methods, materials, or technology you use to create your visual aids.
If you are using slides, make them simple and uncluttered. Too much text or pictures per slide makes it hard for your audience to digest all the information. This means you shouldn’t copy your entire speech onto your slides.
Have 1-2 slides for every 1-2 minutes you are speaking.
Slides should be large enough to be seen from the back of a room. Use a font size of at least 32.
Use colour and contrast (but in moderation!). Avoid yellow and orange because they are hard to see from a distance.
Want to make your presentation even better?
Learn more about how to create engaging presentations using tools like PowerPoint and Google Slides in the Presentations module in the Digital Skills hub.
How to Structure Your Presentation
Structuring your content is an important part of an effective presentation. It is important to know what to include in your presentation and when to include it.
Complete the activity to learn how to structure your presentation. You can also use the tip sheet below as a quick reference when you are creating future presentations.
Tips for Creating Presentations
How to Prepare for Your Presentation
Watch the video (the Learning Portal Ontario, 2019) or read the tips to learn some ways to prepare for a presentation so that it will go smoothly.
You can also use the tip sheet below as a reference when you are preparing for future presentations.
Tips to Prepare for a Presentation
Make sure that you know you know your topic well. It’s much easier to explain something to other people if you have a good understanding of it yourself.
Practice your presentation out loud! This will help you get a more accurate feel for how much time your presentation will take.
Review the assignment rubric to determine what is expected so that you know how to budget your time.
Try timing yourself. You will speak faster during the actual presentation, so expect your presentation to be a bit shorter than your practice run.
If you are using PowerPoint slides, use the “Rehearsal Timing” feature to know exactly how long you have spent on each slide
If you are too long on one slide, consider dividing the information between two cards.
If you don’t spend any time on another slide, consider removing it.
Practice in front of a mirror. This makes you aware of how often you are looking down at your notes or your visuals aids.
Practice in front of a friend or family member and ask for critiques.
If you are using cue cards, make sure you have them numbered in case you drop them. You can also attach them together with a metal ring so that they stay together even if they fall.
Make sure that you are comfortable using whatever you have chosen to use for your visual aids.
Don’t use a network connection to access any part of your presentation. Have the material downloaded ahead of time and use it offline.
Have a backup or a hard copy with you in case of a problem.
Preparation Tip Sheet
Attribution
Unless otherwise stated, the material in this guide is from the Learning Portal created by College Libraries Ontario. Content has been adapted for the NWP Learning Commons in June 2021. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY NC SA 4.0 International License.
All icons on these pages are from The Noun Project. See individual icons for creator attribution.