It’s worth saying ‘public speech’ or ‘presentation’, and someone next to you will anxiously turn his back. This nervousness is connected with our terrible memories of awkward classroom performances and failed negotiations. Here we come to a simple thought: the ability to create a PowerPoint presentation is a knowledge that must be acquired and developed.
It is not necessary to become a professional speaker. You just should know how to talk with any audience on different topics. We invite you to read several useful presentation ideas for college and labor activities.
Content comes first
The first thing you should do is to think about content. It would be a big mistake to discuss the design and animation of the slides. Before opening PowerPoint, draft your speech. Remember two simple moments:
- It is bad if you begin crafting a PowerPoint presentation with a decision about a beautiful theme and the colors of the slides.
- It is good if you imagine yourself in the place of your listeners, decide what they need to learn and feel after the performance is over.
Let’s consider the most important steps of writing presentations.
Step 1. Describe the purpose of your work
Remember: you need to know the purpose of the speech before starting to work in PowerPoint. Consider these examples of goal setting:
- To tell the audience about the latest changes in a particular software.
- To bring the team’s knowledge about the changes in the main course of the company up to date.
- To convince the audience to use some product for developing their business.
Specify the purpose of the performance on a sheet of paper. Keep it in front of your eyes while writing content to avoid evading the main goal.
Step 2. Determine who the listeners are
Many speakers use the same approach for any audience, whereas all information should be adapted to the listeners and their knowledge of the topic. If you speak at the meeting of experienced scientists, college presentation ideas will not be as useful as in the case with students. These persons need higher-level content. Adapting the text to the audience will help to achieve the best result.
Describe the listeners below the purpose indicated in the first step. To determine their features, think about this:
- How familiar were these people with the topic before the announcement of the speech?
- How related are you to the people in the audience? Different approaches should be used for the close friends, colleagues from office and a company of strangers. It’s better to have several versions of performance for different groups of listeners.
- What are their expectations from the presentation: to find a solution to the problem, to gain knowledge or to have a little fun?
Step 3. Identify the basic points of the presentation
We set the goal of the speech and learned who our listeners are. Now we need to write a presentation with this information in mind.
Formulate the main thoughts that you would like to convey to people in the audience. It’s enough to create 4-5 main points which will be the base of the performance. Each statement should emphasize the main idea to make the speech convincing. Gather interesting facts and statistical information for all items.
Format your content
You must have four prescribed elements of the speech. We will use them as a basis for further formatting.
- The purpose of the presentation is the driving force and motive for which you gather the listeners.
- Audience. Who are they? How knowledgeable are they about the topic of the speech?
- An abstract is a route of your presentation. You will adhere to it throughout the performance.
- Additional support: different facts, thoughts and data which you will share with your audience.
Now let’s find out how to present an idea in the most memorable way. Open the PowerPoint and begin your work.
Step 1. Allocate the text in PowerPoint
Since you already drafted the key points of your speech on a sheet of paper or in an application, you may upload it into the program.
- Find the View table and click on the Outline View. In the left part of the window, click on one of the white squares.
- To add a new section, press Enter. After adding the subtitle, PowerPoint will update the slide.
- Press Control + Enter to add the second level of the text. Fill in the slides with the needed information.
Use your plan described in the first part of this article to compile the content of the PowerPoint slides. Of course, some of the original notes may be rewritten or shortened to focus the audience’s attention.
Step 2. Change the themes and styles of your presentation
PowerPoint offers many creative ways to present a project. Proceed to the Design label. Select the sketch that best suits your presentation. The choice of the design and placement of the content usually occur in parallel. Change of colors and fonts may require the modification of text for complete conformity.
Step 3. Choose the convenient PowerPoint layout
Layouts serve as placements for content items, images, and media material. When they are in the right order, a good PowerPoint presentation turns into an excellent one.
To use them, find the Layout button in the Home table. Look through the list of options. Regardless of the size of the text, the changes will affect only its placement. The content will be preserved.
Step 4. Add visualization to your presentation
An intensive flow of text can weary the public. Visualization is an effective way to dilute the monotony of your narrative. A successfully placed diagram or picture will attract the attention of the audience and help to present the facts clearly. Also, you can use music and additional effects.
As you can see, it’s not difficult to prepare for a public speech. Adhering to the above recommendations, you will quickly compile a high-quality text and multimedia content. If the lack of time prevents you from coping with such a task, you can always turn to https://pro-papers.com.