Effective communication is essential in the classroom and in the real world. Good presentation skills, including public speaking and the design of visual materials, can be learned. Following the best practices outlined in the videos and resources below will help you become more effective at communicating your ideas in a professional way, while developing your own personal style.
Quick links:
Videos on Presenting
Best Practices for Effective Presentations - Video
This video provides strategies for planning and delivering an oral presentation.
Creating and Presenting Your Poster - Video
This video gives tips on what to consider when planning the content, structure, and presentation of a poster.
Videos on Design Principles
PowerPoint Design Concept - White Space
White space is a basic design concept that will help clarify information in your PowerPoint presentations and other forms of visual content.
PowerPoint Design Concept - Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is an important design concept that will help you communicate your main message more effectively.
Designing Effective Presentations - Fonts
Fonts can set the tone for your presentation but it is also important to understand how to make them as legible as possible while communicating your main message.
Designing Effective Presentations - Color
Making thoughtful color choices in your presentation not only helps to set the appropriate feel or style for your presentation but can also help to improve the clarity of your message.
Narrated Presentations in PowerPoint
After reviewing the materials above about presentation strategies and design principles, practice those ideas by creating a narrated presentation in PowerPoint. The newer versions of PowerPoint allow you to record yourself giving the presentation (just your voice). The result adds audio objects for each slide, which makes it possible to redo a slide or two if you make mistakes. The PowerPoint file can then be exported to a movie file, complete with slide transistions and animations, to be easily reviewed or shared. This can serve as great practice for your presentation before showtime.
Create a Narrated Presentation
The following link provides a helpful tutorial for both PC and Mac versions of PowerPoint:
Recording a slide show with narrations and slide timings
Export a Video File
To export your slideshow as a MP4 file (or other video file) with your audio narrations, please review the following help page, which describes both the PC and Mac versions method:
Save a presentation as a Movie file or MP4
NOTE: Not all versions of PowerPoint have the features mentioned above. Hopkins Affiliates have access to a Microsoft Office 365 license which will allow you to download the newest version of Office including PowerPoint. Please visit the following page for how to download Microsoft Office 365:
Office 365 Communication Hub, Microsoft Office