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Powerful and Effective Presentation Skills: More in Demand Now Than Ever

When we talk with our L&D colleagues from around the globe, we often hear that presentation skills training is one of the top opportunities they’re looking to provide their learners. And this holds true whether their learners are individual contributors, people managers, or senior leaders. This is not surprising.

Effective communications skills are a powerful career activator, and most of us are called upon to communicate in some type of formal presentation mode at some point along the way.

For instance, you might be asked to brief management on market research results, walk your team through a new process, lay out the new budget, or explain a new product to a client or prospect. Or you may want to build support for a new idea, bring a new employee into the fold, or even just present your achievements to your manager during your performance review.

And now, with so many employees working from home or in hybrid mode, and business travel in decline, there’s a growing need to find new ways to make effective presentations when the audience may be fully virtual or a combination of in person and remote attendees.

Whether you’re making a standup presentation to a large live audience, or a sit-down one-on-one, whether you’re delivering your presentation face to face or virtually, solid presentation skills matter.

Even the most seasoned and accomplished presenters may need to fine-tune or update their skills. Expectations have changed over the last decade or so. Yesterday’s PowerPoint which primarily relied on bulleted points, broken up by the occasional clip-art image, won’t cut it with today’s audience.

The digital revolution has revolutionized the way people want to receive information. People expect presentations that are more visually interesting. They expect to see data, metrics that support assertions. And now, with so many previously in-person meetings occurring virtually, there’s an entirely new level of technical preparedness required.

The leadership development tools and the individual learning opportunities you’re providing should include presentation skills training that covers both the evergreen fundamentals and the up-to-date capabilities that can make or break a presentation.

So, just what should be included in solid presentation skills training? Here’s what I think.

The fundamentals will always apply When it comes to making a powerful and effective presentation, the fundamentals will always apply. You need to understand your objective. Is it strictly to convey information, so that your audience’s knowledge is increased? Is it to persuade your audience to take some action? Is it to convince people to support your idea? Once you understand what your objective is, you need to define your central message. There may be a lot of things you want to share with your audience during your presentation, but find – and stick with – the core, the most important point you want them to walk away with. And make sure that your message is clear and compelling.

You also need to tailor your presentation to your audience. Who are they and what might they be expecting? Say you’re giving a product pitch to a client. A technical team may be interested in a lot of nitty-gritty product detail. The business side will no doubt be more interested in what returns they can expect on their investment.

Another consideration is the setting: is this a formal presentation to a large audience with questions reserved for the end, or a presentation in a smaller setting where there’s the possibility for conversation throughout? Is your presentation virtual or in-person? To be delivered individually or as a group? What time of the day will you be speaking? Will there be others speaking before you and might that impact how your message will be received?

Once these fundamentals are established, you’re in building mode. What are the specific points you want to share that will help you best meet your objective and get across your core message? Now figure out how to convey those points in the clearest, most straightforward, and succinct way. This doesn’t mean that your presentation has to be a series of clipped bullet points. No one wants to sit through a presentation in which the presenter reads through what’s on the slide. You can get your points across using stories, fact, diagrams, videos, props, and other types of media.

Visual design matters While you don’t want to clutter up your presentation with too many visual elements that don’t serve your objective and can be distracting, using a variety of visual formats to convey your core message will make your presentation more memorable than slides filled with text. A couple of tips: avoid images that are cliched and overdone. Be careful not to mix up too many different types of images. If you’re using photos, stick with photos. If you’re using drawn images, keep the style consistent. When data are presented, stay consistent with colors and fonts from one type of chart to the next. Keep things clear and simple, using data to support key points without overwhelming your audience with too much information. And don’t assume that your audience is composed of statisticians (unless, of course, it is).

When presenting qualitative data, brief videos provide a way to engage your audience and create emotional connection and impact. Word clouds are another way to get qualitative data across.

Practice makes perfect You’ve pulled together a perfect presentation. But it likely won’t be perfect unless it’s well delivered. So don’t forget to practice your presentation ahead of time. Pro tip: record yourself as you practice out loud. This will force you to think through what you’re going to say for each element of your presentation. And watching your recording will help you identify your mistakes—such as fidgeting, using too many fillers (such as “umm,” or “like”), or speaking too fast.

A key element of your preparation should involve anticipating any technical difficulties. If you’ve embedded videos, make sure they work. If you’re presenting virtually, make sure that the lighting is good, and that your speaker and camera are working. Whether presenting in person or virtually, get there early enough to work out any technical glitches before your presentation is scheduled to begin. Few things are a bigger audience turn-off than sitting there watching the presenter struggle with the delivery mechanisms!

Finally, be kind to yourself. Despite thorough preparation and practice, sometimes, things go wrong, and you need to recover in the moment, adapt, and carry on. It’s unlikely that you’ll have caused any lasting damage and the important thing is to learn from your experience, so your next presentation is stronger.

How are you providing presentation skills training for your learners?

Manika Gandhi is Senior Learning Design Manager at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. Email her at [email protected] .

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strategies, techniques, and tools for strong slide design, and maximum presentation quality.

Prior to delivering a talk, it is important to prepare and set yourself up for success with a strong slide deck. Depending on the nature of your presentation, the type of speaking engagement, your institution, and other factors and considerations, there are different kinds of approaches and priorities when it comes to slide design. This section includes some tips that will assist you with designing your slides to prepare for your presentation.

Slides drive home the main ideas of your research and play an important role to deliver a strong presentation. After reviewing the Fundamentals of Slide Design , use these resources to create and assess your slides to ensure that you have considered and included important components that make for an effective presentation.

Qualities of Strong Slide Design

Use this self-assessment checklist to design and review your slides. Check all boxes that incorporate key qualities of strong slide design. In addition to focusing on the style, typography, and layout, consider thinking about your use of visuals and color along with other elements to enhance the design of your slides.

Checklist for

Assertion-evidence slides.

The assertion-evidence slide structure is one effective technique to designing effective slides. In conjunction with the webinar on “Better Than Bullets: Transforming Slide Design” by Melissa Marshall, this checklist was developed as a resource for assertion-evidence slides but can be applied more generally to other types of slide designs. Consider the style, typography, and layout of your slides and what it might look like to incorporate these elements with an assertion-evidence slide structure in mind.

Research Presentation Rubric

The format of research presentations can vary across and within disciplines. Use this rubric to identify and assess elements of research presentations, including delivery strategies and slide design. This resource focuses on research presentations but may be useful beyond. 

Templates and Examples for

Check out tips, templates, layout suggestions, and other examples of assertion-evidence slides on  Rethinking Presentations in Science and Engineering by Michael Alley, MS, MFA, from Pennsylvania State University. Download the Assertion Evidence Presention template for Microsoft PowerPoint.

Additional Resources

Create and deliver standout technical presentations, present your science.

Melissa Marshall’s website explores how speakers can transform the way they present their research.

"The Craft of Scientific Presentations: Critical Steps to Succeed and Critical Errors to Avoid" book by Michael Alley

By distinguishing what makes a presenter successful, this book aims to improve your presentation skills.

Want to learn more about how to strengthen your presentation skills?

Visit the delivery authentically page for more information.

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On this page you will find many of the tips and common advice that we cover within our Practical Presentation Skills Workshop.

If you are hoping to attend a workshop in the future, please check the schedule of upcoming classes, and reserve your spot. Space does fill up each week, so please register early!

Creating slides to accompany your presentation can be a great way to provide complimentary visual representation of your topic. Slides are used to fill in the gaps while you tell the story.

Start your presentation with a brief introduction- who you are and what you are going to talk about. 

Think about your presentation as a story with an organized beginning (why this topic), middle (how you did the research) and end (your summary findings and how it may be applicable or inform future research). You can provide a brief outline in the introduction so the audience may follow along. 

Keep it simple with a few key concepts, examples and ideas.

Make sure your audience knows the key takeaway points you wish to get across.

A good way to practice this is to try and condense your presentation into an elevator pitch- what do you want the audience to walk away know? 

Show your enthusiasm!

If you don’t think it is interesting- why should your audience?

Some Good Alternatives to PowerPoint:

• Google Slides
• Keynote (Mac)  
• Prezi  
• Zoho Show  
• PowToon  
• CustomShow  
• Slidebean  
• Haiku Deck  
• Visme  
• Emaze  
• and more…  

Your body language speaks volumes to how confident you are on the topic, how you are feeling up on stage and how receptive you are to your audience. Confident body language, such as smiling, maintaining eye contact, and persuasive gesturing all serve to engage your audience.

• Make eye contact with those in the audience that are paying attention and ignore the rest!
• Speak slower than what you would normally, take a moment to smile at your audience, and project your voice. Don’t rush, what you have to say is important!
• Don’t’ forget to breathe. Deep breaths and positive visualization can helps slow that pounding heart.
• Work on making pauses where you can catch your breath, take a sip of water, stand up straight, and continue at your practiced pace.
• Sweaty palms and pre-presentation jitters are no fun. Harness that nervous energy and turn it into enthusiasm! Exercising earlier in the day can help release endorphins and help relieve anxiety.
• Feeling shaky? Practicing confident body language is one way to boost your pre-presentation jitters. When your body is physically demonstrating confidence, your mind will follow suit. Standing or walking a bit will help you calm those butterflies before you go on stage.
• Don’t be afraid to move around and use the physical space you have available but keep your voice projected towards your audience.
• Practice, practice, practice! Get to the next Practical Presentation Skills workshop in Countway Library http://bit.ly/countwaypresent and practice your talk in front of a supportive and friendly group!

• Excessive bullet points
• Reading your slides instead of telling your story
• Avoid excessive transitions and gimmick
• Numerous charts (especially all on the same slide)
• Lack of enthusiasm and engagement from you
• Too much information and data dump
• Clutter and busy design
• Lack of design consistency 

Now you are on stage!

When delivering the talk, watch out for these bad habits:

•  Avoiding eye-contact
• Slouching or bad posture
• Crossed arms
• Non-purposeful movement
• Not projecting your voice
• Speaking away from the microphone
• Speaking with your back to the audience (often happens when reading slides)
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• Last Updated: Jun 4, 2024 12:35 PM
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Ten smart ways to ace your next academic presentation

Using examples and practical tips, Dorsa Amir explains the techniques that ensure your presentation communicates its message effectively – from slide design to structuring your talk

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As a presenter, your main job is to guide the audience through your argument in the clearest, most engaging, most efficient way possible. You must respect the audience’s time and attention. This means being mindful of how long your presentation is, what you’re including in your slides, and importantly, how it is all packaged and presented.

A great presenter is one who is intentional: each element in the presentation serves a clear function and is intended to support the audience’s understanding of the content.

Here are 10 tips to keep in mind to ensure your presentation hits the mark

1. Any time you put something on your slides, its primary purpose is to help the audience, not you

Many presenters will add copious text or other elements to help themselves remember points they want to make. However, this is usually less helpful for the audience (most of this information belongs in presenter notes, and not on the slides). Think of yourself like a director of a movie. What do you want the audience to focus on at any given moment? What features on your slides will enhance the verbal point you are making and which will distract from it? Be intentional about what you include on your slides, and only include elements that serve a clear and helpful function for the audience.

2. Condense text to the main question or key points of the slide

It may be tempting to write out snippets of the script wholesale and add them to the slides, but this often results in PowerPoint karaoke, where the audience is simply watching you read the text out loud to them. While text is certainly useful for helping to concretise points or make slides more accessible, be judicious about what you include. Each slide should make one or two clear points. It’s better to have more slides with less content than fewer slides that are jam-packed. Of course, the amount of text you include will also be determined by the type of presentation you are giving. If students will be using your slides as a study aid, for example, you may want to include more information than if you are creating a research talk for a conference.

3. Avoid using too many colours, fonts or animations

Consider elements such as fonts, colours and animations as tools in your presentation toolkit. These elements should be used sparingly and only when they serve a clear purpose. I’m sure you’ve all attended a talk with colours bright enough to burn your retinas or crammed with “fun” fonts such as Comic Sans. Try to refrain from doing that. Animations that allow certain elements to appear or disappear along with your presentation — such as bullet points that appear as you say them — can help direct the attention of the audience. Colour contrasts are primarily helpful for visual segmentation or bringing attention to particular elements. Fonts, colours or flashy animations that are purely decorative are more distracting than helpful.

4. Avoid colour combinations that are hard to read

Be mindful of how colours interact with each other to either facilitate or inhibit comprehension. White text on black (or the reverse) is often a safe bet. Don’t overdecorate! (See above).

5.  If you’re showing a graph, orient the audience to the axes before plotting the data and make sure they can actually see all of it

I typically show the axes and labels first, making sure to orient everyone to the variables and how they are going to be visualised, and then I reveal the data. This ensures that everyone understands how to interpret the visualisation they are about to see. It is also helpful to restate the key prediction and tell the audience what they should expect to see if the prediction is true, and then plot the data. Use large sizes and clear fonts. I’ve heard way too many people say things like: “You probably can’t read this but…” To that, I want to say: “But you’re the one making the slide! You did this to us!” Don’t be that person.

6.  Use high-resolution images or videos

This is especially true for presentations that will be projected onto a larger surface. If it’s fuzzy on your computer screen, it will look even fuzzier when magnified and projected. Try to integrate high-resolution images and vector graphics to avoid this. When your images contain text, delete those portions and re-enter the text in text boxes that will scale up much more clearly when magnified.

7. When illustrating results, identify one or two key graphs to make your point

The temptation is often to show the audience every single result you found, but this dilutes the overall message you are trying to send. There’s no need to visualise everything: you should focus on the key graphs that tell most or all of the story. If you have built up the presentation in the right way, when the audience see your data visualisation, they will immediately understand what you found and whether it supports your hypothesis. That’s how clear and accessible the graph should be.

8.  Don’t overload the audience with unnecessary complex jargon or acronyms

Every time you introduce a new term or a brand new acronym (BNA), you are asking the audience to do you a favour and commit this new item to working memory. The audience doesn’t know your presentation; they don’t know what’s going to be important later and what isn’t. They’re trusting that you are only presenting information to them that is relevant and they’re doing their best to follow along. Make this process as easy and enjoyable as possible for them. Be judicious with what you ask them to remember or commit to memory. If you can explain a concept without jargon, avoid the jargon!

9. Enhance accessibility

The Web Accessibility Initiative has a great set of guidelines that I will summarise here. Use easy-to-read fonts in large sizes. Make sure there is enough contrast between colours to make them discernible. When giving virtual talks, consider turning on automatic closed captioning. If it’s feasible, provide annotated slide handouts. During the presentation itself, speak clearly and loudly, avoiding unnecessarily complex vocabulary or culturally specific idioms. Where possible, use a microphone. You should also try to verbally describe pertinent parts of visual information on your slides, such as graphics or videos.

10. Use outline slides and marker slides to segment information

Research shows that we understand and remember information better when it comes in bite-size pieces; think of chapters in a book. To incorporate this structure into your talk, break apart the presentation into smaller pieces. Always incorporate an outline slide that previews the structure of the talk and gives the audience a sense of what to expect. Also, use marker slides to communicate that a new section is beginning. And make sure to wrap up each section with a summary slide.

Dorsa Amir is a postdoc in the department of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

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Presentation Tips For Students – Show And Tell Like A Pro!

Updated: July 15, 2022

Published: May 4, 2020

Giving a presentation to fellow classmates can be a bit daunting, especially if you are new to oral and visual presenting. But with the right PowerPoint tips, public speaking skills, and plenty of practice, you can present like a pro at your upcoming presentation. Here, we’ve laid out the best college presentation tips for students. And once you have one successful presentation, you’ll get better each time!

The Best Presentation Tips for Students

1. arrive early and be technically prepared.

Get to the room early and make sure you leave plenty of time for technical set up and technical difficulties. Have several backup drives (including an online version if possible) so that you are prepared for anything!

2. Know More

Be educated on more than just what you are sharing. That way, you can add points, speak candidly and confidently, and be prepared to answer any audience or teacher questions.

3. Share Your Passion With Your Audience

Connect with your audience by showing that you are passionate about your topic. Do this with the right tone, eye contact, and enthusiasm in your speech.

Photo by  Austin Distel  on  Unsplash

4. pace yourself.

When student presenters are nervous, they tend to speed up their speech. This can be a problem, however, because your speed may be distracting, hard to understand, and you may run under your time.

5. Rehearse Thoroughly

Don’t just practice, rehearse your college presentation. Rehearse the entire delivery, including standing up, using gestures, and going through the slides.

6. Show Your Personality

You don’t need to be professional to the point of stiffness during your college presentation . Don’t be afraid to show your personality while presenting. It will make your presentation more interesting, and you will seem more approachable and confident.

7. Improvise

You can’t be 100% certain what will happen during your presentation. If things aren’t exactly as you expected, don’t be afraid to improvise and run off script.

8. Pump Yourself Up

Get yourself excited and full of energy before your college presentation! Your mood sets the tone for your presentation, and if you get excited right before, you will likely carry that throughout and you’ll make your audience excited about your topic as well.

9. Remember To Pause

Pausing not only only prevents filler words and helps you recollect your thoughts, it can also be a powerful indicator of importance within your presentation.

10. Create “Um” Alternatives

Try hard not to use filler words as they make you look unprofessional and uncertain. The best alternatives to “um” “like” and “so” are taking a breath or a silent pause to collect your thoughts.

11. Using Your Hands

Using your hands makes your college presentation more interesting and helps to get your points across. Point at the slide, use common hand gestures, or mimic a motion.

12. Eye Contact

Eye contact is one of the most important presentation tips for students . Many students are nervous, so they look at their notes or their feet. It is important that you show your confidence and engage your audience by making eye contact. The more presentations you give, the more eye contact will feel natural.

13. The Right Tone

The best public speakers vary their tone and pitch throughout their presentation. Try to change it up, and choose the right tone for your message.

Preparing an Effective College Presentation

1. open strong.

Grab your fellow students’ attention by starting strong with a powerful quote, intriguing scenario, or prompt for internal dialogue.

2. Start With A Mind Map

Mind mapping is literally creating a map of the contents of your college presentation. It is a visual representation and flow of your topics and can help you see the big picture, along with smaller details.

Photo by  Teemu Paananen  on  Unsplash

3. edit yourself.

Some students make the mistake of including too much information in their college presentations. Instead of putting all of the information in there, choose the most important or relevant points, and elaborate on the spot if you feel it’s necessary.

4. Tell A Story

People love stories — they capture interest in ways that figures and facts cannot. Make your presentation relatable by including a story, or presenting in a story format.

5. The Power Of Humor

Using humor in your college presentation is one of the best presentation tips for students. Laughter will relax both you and the audience, and make your presentation more interesting

PowerPoint Tips for Students

1. use key phrases.

Choose a few key phrases that remain throughout your PowerPoint presentation. These should be phrases that really illustrate your point, and items that your audience will remember afterwards.

2. Limit Number Of Slides

Having too many slides will cause you to feel you need to rush through them to finish on time. Instead, include key points on a slide and take the time to talk about them. Try to think about including one slide per one minute of speech.

3. Plan Slide Layouts

Take some time to plan out how information will be displayed on your PowerPoint. Titles should be at the top, and bullets underneath. You may want to add title slides if you are changing to a new topic.

Photo by  NeONBRAND  on  Unsplash

4. the right fonts.

Choose an easy-to-read font that isn’t stylized. Sans serif fonts tend to be easier to read when they are large. Try to stick to only two different fonts as well to keep the presentation clean.

5. Choosing Colors And Images

When it comes to colors, use contrasting ones: light on dark or dark on light. Try to choose a few main colors to use throughout the presentation. Choose quality images, and make sure to provide the source for the images.

6. Use Beautiful Visual Aids

Keep your presentation interesting and your audience awake by adding visual aids to your PowerPoint. Add captivating photos, data representations, or infographics to illustrate your information.

7. Don’t Read Straight From Your Notes

When you read straight from your notes, your tone tends to remain monotonous, you don’t leave much room for eye contact. Try looking up often, or memorizing portions of your presentation.

8. Avoid Too Much Text

PowerPoint was made for images and bullets, not for your entire speech to be written in paragraph form. Too much text can lose your adiences’ interest and understanding.

9. Try A Theme

Choosing the right theme is one of those presentation tips for students that is often overlooked. When you find the right theme, you keep your college presentation looking interesting, professional, and relevant.

10. Be Careful With Transitions And Animations

Animations and transitions can add a lot to your presentation, but don’t add to many or it will end up being distracting.

Public Speaking Tips for Students

1. choose your topic wisely.

If you are able to pick your topic, try to pick something that interests you and something that you want to learn about. Your interest will come through your speech.

2. Visit The Room Beforehand

If your presentation is being held somewhere outside of class, try to visit the location beforehand to prep your mind and calm your nerves.

3. Practice Makes Perfect

Practice, practice, practice! The only way you will feel fully confident is by practicing many times, both on your own and in front of others.

Photo by  Product School  on  Unsplash

4. talk to someone about anxiety.

If you feel anxious about your college presentation, tell someone. It could be a friend, family member, your teacher, or a counselor. They will be able to help you with some strategies that will work best for you.

5. Remind Yourself Of Your Audience

Remember, you are presenting to your peers! They all likely have to make a presentation too at some point, and so have been or will be in the same boat. Remembering that your audience is on your side will help you stay cool and collected.

6. Observe Other Speakers

Look at famous leaders, or just other students who typically do well presenting. Notice what they are doing and how you can adapt your performance in those ways.

7. Remind Yourself Of Your Message

If you can come up with a central message, or goal, of your college presentation, you can remind yourself of it throughout your speech and let it guide you.

8. Don’t Apologize

If you make a mistake, don’t apologize. It is likely that no one even noticed! If you do feel you need to point out your own mistake, simply say it and keep moving on with your presentation. No need to be embarrassed, it happens even to the best presenters!

When you smile, you appear warm and inviting as a speaker. You will also relax yourself with your own smile.

The Bottom Line

It can be nerve racking presenting as a college student, but if you use our presentation tips for students, preparing and presenting your college presentation will be a breeze!

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How to Create a University Presentation?

A university presentation is a document that students and staff make to present a topic. These types of documents are also used to introduce the university to new students.

Presentations come in handy when you need to present a topic at school . The features in applications you choose to make it on are convenient for you. If you need to create one for your class, read our tips below.

1. Decide on a Topic

You can't make a proper presentation without a topic in mind. Determine the kind of topic that you want to tackle. Almost all presentations are informative, and these help a lot during lectures. Create a list of possible subtopics from your main topic.

2. Research the Facts

Get relevant information based on your list of topics and subtopics. Make an outline of all the information that you have gathered—from facts, statistics, and other useful data. If you're working with a group for your presentation, it's easier if you assign each member a topic to research on.

3. Write Content

Open a blank slide and start writing your content. Begin with a catchy introduction. You can use a video, a quote, an iconic poster , or a historical fact to kickstart your presentation. Statistics work better when you're making an academic presentation. Just write the content in the simplest manner possible.

4. Add Details

It's not just content that adds beauty to the presentation. The details also contribute a lot as well. Add graphics and colors to your presentation. Use tables, pie charts, and diagrams to present statistical data accurately. Doing so will make viewers understand your topic better.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you add images in a presentation.

Adding an image in a presentation is simple with the following steps:    

1. Download the image.  2. Go to the file and choose a slide where you want to put the image. 3. Click right and Insert. 4. Choose "Add Image" and click. The image will appear right away. 

Can you add a video in a presentation?

Yes, but make sure that you've already downloaded the video first. Cite the source of the video at the bottom of the slide. You can even add some context to it in another slide if you want.   

Do students work better in groups during a presentation?

If the students have great teamwork, they work well during a presentation. It all lies on how they work as a group.   

What are the characteristics of a good presentation?

The characteristics of a good presentation include:

1. Well-researched content 2. Captivating images and videos 3. Clean fonts 4. Simple writing of complex information 5. Smooth flow from one slide to another

What do you need to do before delivering a presentation?

Before delivering a presentation, it helps if you do the following:

1. Study your topic well.  2. Have a practice presentation. 3. Make sure the audio visual aspects work well.  4. Ask a friend to review your presentation.  5. Check each slide for spelling and grammar mistakes. 

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Presentation U offers free peer tutoring for communication and composition assignments in any form for any course, including research papers, essays, lab reports, presentations, infographics, ePortfolios, and iPad related projects. 

Presentation U tutoring is available in three different formats and each can look and feel a little different. 

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Presentation U supports students’ multimodal communication skills and assignments by offering free, drop-in, and by appointment (both online and face-to-face) peer tutoring.   

Our College Reading & Learning Association (CRLA) certified peer tutors are ready to help you brainstorm, revise, and polish your communication assignments today! Whether you are just starting your assignment or putting the final touches on your project, our tutors can help you reach your goals. 

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When coming to Presentation U, you can expect your tutor to meet you wherever you are in your communication project, whether you are planning, drafting, or revising. Your tutor will give feedback on your assignment to help you find strengths and possible improvements, as well as identify broader elements of success that can transfer to future projects. Tutors will empower you to grow as a writer and guide you through the proofreading process without making any changes themselves.  

eTutoring : File submission where a student can submit their paper and it will be returned with comments and feedback. A student will not  directly speak with the tutor. 

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Guidance and tips for effective oral and visual presentations.

Academic presentations

Presenting your work allows you to demonstrate your knowledge and familiarity of your subject. Presentations can vary from being formal, like a mini lecture, to more informal, such as summarising a paper in a tutorial. You may have a specialist audience made up of your peers, lecturers or research practitioners or a wider audience at a conference or event. Sometimes you will be asked questions.  Academic presentations maybe a talk with slides or a poster presentation, and they may be assessed. Presentations may be individual or collaborative group work.

A good presentation will communicate your main points to an audience clearly, concisely and logically. Your audience doesn’t know what it is you are trying to say, so you need to guide them through your argument.

There are a few key points that you should consider with any sort of presenting:

• What is the format? Is it a poster, a talk with visual material or a video?
• What is the purpose? Is it to summarise a topic; report the results of an experiment; justify your research approach?
• Who is your audience? Are they from your tutorial group, course or is it a wider audience?
• What content needs to be included? Do you need to cover everything, just one topic or a particular aspect? How much detail is expected?
• How should it be organised? This is often the trickiest part of designing a presentation and can take a few attempts.

Planning a presentation

Different people take different approaches to presentations. Some may start by doing some reading and research, others prefer to draft an outline structure first. 

To make an effective start, check your course materials for the format you need to use (e.g. handbooks and Learn pages for style guidelines). If it is an oral presentation, how long do you have?  If it will be assessed, have a look at the marking criteria so you know how you will be marked. (If you do not use the required formatting you may be penalised.) Do you need to allow time for questions?

One way to think about the content and draft a rough structure of your presentation is to divide it into a beginning, middle and end.

• The beginning: How are you going to set the scene for your audience and set out what they can expect to gain from your presentation? This section should highlight the key topic(s) and give any necessary background. How much background depends on your audience, for example your peers might need less of an introduction to a topic than other audiences. Is there a central question and is it clear? If using slides, can it be added as a header on subsequent slides so that it is always clear what you are discussing?
• The middle: How are you going tell the story of your work? This section should guide your audience through your argument, leading them to your key point(s). Remember to include any necessary evidence in support. You might also want to include or refer to relevant methods and materials.
• The end: What is your conclusion or summary? This section should briefly recap what has been covered in the presentation and give the audience the final take-home message(s). Think about the one thing you want someone to remember from your talk or poster. It is usually also good practice to include a reference or bibliography slide listing your sources.

Alternatively, you could start at the end and think about the one point you want your audience to take away from your presentation. Then you can work backwards to decide what needs to go in the other sections to build your argument.

Presentation planner worksheet (pdf)

Presentation planner worksheet (Word docx)

Presentation planner (Word rtf)

Using the right language can really help your audience follow your argument and also helps to manage their expectations.

Guiding your audience (pdf)  

Guiding your audience (Word rtf)

Oral presentations – practise, practise, practise!

Giving a talk can be daunting. If you have a spoken presentation to give, with or without slides, make sure you have time to rehearse it several times.

Firstly, this is really good at helping you overcome any nerves as you’ll know exactly what you are going to say. It will build your confidence.

Secondly, saying something aloud is an effective way to check for sense, structure and flow. If it is difficult to say, or doesn’t sound right, then the audience may find it difficult to follow what you are trying to say.

Finally, practising helps you know how long your presentation will take. If your presentation is being assessed, you may be penalised for going over time as that would be unfair to other presenters (it is like going over your word count).  

If you can, find out what resources and equipment you will have when you present. It is usually expected that presenters will wear or use a microphone so that everyone can hear. But you will still need to remember to project your voice and speak clearly. Also think about how you are going to use your visual material.

IS Creating accessible materials - PowerPoint presentations

IS LinkedIn Learning - online skills development

Making a video

There is no need to use expensive specialist equipment to make a recorded presentation. The Media Hopper Create platform allows film makers to create, store, share and publish their media content easily. You can create presentations using the Desktop Recorder on a PC or Mac.

All University of Edinburgh students are provided with an account on the Media Hopper service allowing you to record and upload media to your personal space and publish to channels. 

You can also use your mobile phone or tablet to make a video presentation. The DIY Film School is an online course covering the basics of shooting video on a mobile device, filming outdoors and indoors and how to get the best audio. Some materials from LinkedIn Learning are relevant to the DIY Film School and include editing advice.

IS Media Hopper Create

IS DIY Film School online course

IS LinkedIn Learning and the DIY Film School

Poster presentations

A poster is a way of visually conveying information about your work. It is meant to be a taster or overview highlighting your key points or findings, not an in-depth explanation and discussion. Your poster should communicate your point(s) effectively without you being there to explain it.

The trickiest thing with poster presentations can be the limited space and words you have. You will need to think critically about what it is important to present.

If the poster is assessed, or is for an event such as a conference, there may be a size and format which you need to follow (e.g. A1 portrait or A0 landscape). Your title should be clear.  Aim to make your poster as accessible as possible by considering the type size and font, colours and layout. It is usually good practice to include your name and email address so people know who you are and how to contact you.

Information Services (IS) have a range of resources including help on using software such as PowerPoint to make a poster and guides to printing one.

IS uCreate user guides and advice on poster printing

Standing up and talking can be intimidating; so can being filmed. Anxiety and stress can get in the way of performing effectively. 

The Student Counselling Service offer advice and workshops on a variety of topics. They have produced a helpful e-booklet about stress, why we need it and how to manage our stress levels to strike the right balance. 

Student Counselling service

Self-help online courses and workbooks on anxiety, stress and mental wellbeing

Stress: A short guide for students (pdf booklet)

Information Services (IS) provides access to a range of support and training for software provided by the University. This includes training and advice on LinkedIn Learning.

IS Digital skills and training

IS LinkedIn Learning

IS Microsoft Office 365 suite

Prezi is a popular alternative to PowerPoint but is often inaccessible to disabled people. Therefore, it is recommended that Prezi is not used for academic presentations. However, if you have to use Prezi, there are some steps you can take to improve your presentation.

IS PREZI and accessibility issues

If you are presenting at an external event, it may be appropriate to use University branding.

University brand guidelines and logos (Communications and Marketing)

This article was published on 2024-02-26

Across disciplines, L&S students give outstanding presentations at the Undergraduate Research Symposium

The UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium is an annual event where student researchers from across the university can showcase the results of their work. At this year’s symposium in April, more than one hundred students presented on topics ranging from E-cigarette taxation to drug-resistant bacteria to Hispanic cultural history.

But several young researchers’ work especially stood out, including some from the College of Letters & Science. They were honored with Outstanding Presentation Awards at the end of the symposium for their hard work and dedication. Below are three L&S students who received awards, drawn from disciplines across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Kelsey Sponholz, research in Biological Sciences – “ Enhancing the Production of Antimicrobial Metabolites in Pseudomonas soli for Sustainable Agricultural Disease Control ”

A few years ago, biological sciences major Kelsey Sponholz did not think she would even attend college, let alone participate in undergraduate research or earn an Outstanding Presentation award.

Instead, Sponholz was grappling with some mental health issues after high school and was reluctant to take on higher education: “I didn’t want to do it. It was scary. Not going to do it. Can’t do it.”

She did it. Standing in her graduation robe at Commencement in May, Sponholz felt “it was really exciting. It was a wonderful reflection on what I’ve done and how far I’ve come.”

Part of that journey was working as an intern for T3 BioScience , a company founded by UWM Professor of Biological Science Ching-Hong Yang. Yang’s primary focus is on combatting fire blight , a disease that targets fruit trees and like apple and pear trees. Left unchecked, fire blight can wipe out entire orchards. The disease is caused by a bacterium that has grown increasingly resistant to clinical antibiotics like streptomycin, which is commonly used to treat infected trees.

Yang has found that a different strain of bacteria, called Pseudomonas Soli T307, produces an antimicrobial compound that has proven effective in inhibiting fire blight. The compound is called RejuAgro A (RAA), and it was Sponholz’s job to identify ways to improve RAA production.

“We induce mutagenesis using chemical treatments, which cause changes in the genetic code similar to natural evolution,” Sponholz explained. “We now have a couple of different strains of P. soli that increase RAA production. Our goal is to understand how these mutations result in higher RAA production.” 

She tests the bacteria’s RAA-producing abilities by observing how a certain strain affects the growth of the pathogen that causes fire blight. If a strain performs well, the researchers know they’re on the right track.

Although this is an admittedly slow method, it provides a rich inventory of improved bacterial strains and valuable insights into the metabolic mechanisms of RAA production and regulation by analyzing the genetic codes in these mutants. Additionally, other researchers in Yang’s lab are working to sequence the P. soli genome to pinpoint which genes are responsible for RAA production. That project will take time, however, so Sponholz is using the old-fashioned trial-and-error method in the meantime.

And it has yielded results; Sponholz and other researchers have identified several “mutant” strains that produce more RAA than the original P. soli strain.

That’s important because “this is going to become a commercial product for farmers to use,” Sponholz said. “The USDA is providing a lot of funding for this project. Our base strain produces a maximum amount of metabolite that we can package easily, but it’s a very finite amount we can get from one batch. … The goal is to have another strain where we can get more of this product out of each batch.”

Sponholz presented her research at the symposium in April. She was happy to win the Outstanding Presentation award, but “I think the more exciting part was when I got to tell Dr. Yang about it. He was so excited and it made me even happier,” she laughed.

Now that she has graduated, Sponholz plans to move to the west coast and take a few years off from school before pursuing a graduate degree.

Charles Rojas, research in Linguistics – “ How Voice-Activated AI Assistants and Humans Share Similar Patterns of Word Recognition ”

Charles Rojas’ research mentor, Jae Yung Song, warned him to temper his expectations for his first Undergraduate Research Symposium.

“She knew how excited I was and she didn’t want me to feel too down on myself if I didn’t win,” Rojas said with a smile. “I ended up winning and we were both just so excited and so happy. It made me feel like all my hard work was being recognized.”

Rojas has worked harder than most. He is a nontraditional student seeking his second Bachelor’s degree after earning his first at UW-Madison in 2019. He is a program assistant working in the Geosciences Department as he works on his Spanish major. And earlier this year, he reached out to see if Song needed a research assistant, since he is particularly interested in learning about language acquisition.

She did, and she wanted to study the language acquisition of an unusual subject: Alexa, the AI assistant powered by Amazon.

“AI is created by humans, but it still learns in a different way than we do,” Rojas explained. “It doesn’t have different parts of a brain focusing on language like humans do. How does AI learn a language? Does it make the same errors that humans do?”

Humans, Rojas explained, have several weaknesses when it comes to word recognition. It is more difficult to recognize words if a speaker is talking quickly versus normally or slowly. We have an easier time recognizing high-frequency words, or words that occur often in everyday speech. We struggle if a word has high density, meaning that a word sounds similar to a variety of other words. For example, the word “bun” sounds similar to “bus,” “sun,” “run,” “but,” and so on, because they all differ by just one phoneme. The word “bun” would therefore be considered a high-density word. A low-density word like “fudge” only has a few phonological neighbors.

To test whether Alexa had the same hang-ups, Rojas and his colleagues set up some word-recognition tests for the AI software. They had 21 different human participants ask Alexa to spell a list of 150 words. If Alexa spelled the word correctly, they knew it had recognized the word. If it was spelled incorrectly, the AI had failed its recognition. The readers read the list of words twice, at a normal speaking pace and at a quick pace.

How did Alexa do?

“Her patterns of word recognition mimic humans very much,” Rojas said. “She struggled a lot with difficult words, meaning they were low-frequency and high-density. She struggled even more with difficult words at a fast-speaking rate condition. … In other words, she produced the same errors that we do, and it was very interesting to see that Alexa pretty much learns language how humans do.”

This knowledge is important because language recognition is a crucial tool for AI software. It can be used to translate foreign languages, or to help disabled people communicate.

“I use my voice-activated AI system for a lot of different things,” Rojas said. “It would be great if didn’t get confused between two different words from time to time because it struggles with the same word recognition patterns that we do.”

Rojas plans to graduate in 2026. In the meantime, he’s eager to continue with his undergraduate research.

Ashley Hale, research in Film Studies – “ Research in the Film Studies Media Collective ”

Ashley Hale was not expecting to receive an Outstanding Presentation Award for her oral presentation about her work in the Film Studies’ archive.

“I thought, I’m not a STEM major. They’re not going to give it to a (humanities) major. And then I did win. … That was really cool,” Hale said with a smile. “I think when people think of research, they think of people in a lab coat. You don’t have to be that if you want to do research. I wanted people to see how valuable work in the humanities is and how it can be applicable to a lot of careers.”

And so, she showed them. Hale’s presentation focused on her work within the Film Studies Department’s media archive, which houses a library of films and other materials available for use by faculty, staff, and students. Over the course of her time, she completed four major projects, which she detailed in her symposium presentation.

• Librarianship – cleaning up media

When Hale, a film studies and English double-major, began working the archive, the collection was disorganized and hard to use. Hale combatted the chaos by inputting books and film into online databases, cataloguing magazines, and alphabetizing much of the collection. She and a graduate student also explored the archive’s VHS collection, eliminated duplicate tapes, and began digitizing the collection.

“I had to relearn how to use a VHS player,” Hale joked. “Then I had to learn how to handle some of our older media like the laser discs – I learned what a laser disc is, too.”

• Creating a lending library

The archive is home to many books as well as films, and Hale wants faculty and students to be able to check them out of the collection. To do that, she organized the haphazard stacks of books, magazines, and journals and created an online finding aid called “Library Thing” so that users can search for the materials they’d like to borrow. Hale also applied her methods to organizing films so that professors can easily request materials for their classes, and the student archivists can gather up their course materials at the beginning of the school year.

• Organizing the Father Gene D. Phillips Collection

“One day I was in the archive and I found these boxes in the corner,” Hale recalled. “I opened them up and it’s this collection of letters and books and film stills that was donated to the UWM Film Studies program from Rev. Gene Phillips who was a professor at Loyola University.”

Among the materials were correspondence between Phillips and industry legends, like Stanley Kubrick, George Cukor, and Mary Hemingway (wife of Ernest Hemingway). Hale sorted through the materials, alphabetized them, sorted them by decade, and has been labeling the film stills – there are more than 500 from films by Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, and others. She’s also entered them into the archive’s online finding aid so they can be easily searched.

• Film Studies program oral history

The Film Studies program celebrates its 50th anniversary next year. Hale and other students have been interviewing past and present faculty members about their experiences with the program, how it has evolved over the years, and how it brings value to students and the university.

“I felt really honored to just talk to a lot of film scholars that I admire,” said Hale. “We’ve collected some really cool interviews.”

Hale has had to leave her projects in other hands; she graduated in May and plans to take some time off before she heads back to graduate school.

Other Outstanding Presentation award winners from the College of Letters & Science include Preston Burdett (Chemistry), Nathan Ebersole (Psychology), Jessica Kania (Psychology), Terra Johnson (Geosciences), Liam Farin (History), Florin Saitis (Biological Sciences), Nicholas Richards (Psychology), Harleen Tewatia (Biological Sciences), Aniket Singh (Mathematical Sciences), and Amelia Scheiber (Biological Sciences).

By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science

Parrish Presents in Costa Rica

Written by Staff

June 3, 2024

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Jerry's work is presented at IEEE ISCAS 2024

Jun (Jerry) Yin, Elisa Pantoja, Yimin Gao, and Mircea R. Stan's paper "A Feedback Self-adaptive Body Biasing-based RF-DC Rectifier for Highly-sensitive RF Energy Harvesting" has been presented in the oral presentation section on IEEE ISCAS 2024. Congrats to the authors on their accomplishments.

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Book Publication and Presentation by QU Assistant Professor of History, Dr. J. Matthew Ward

LSU Press has released Dr. J. Matthew Ward’s book,  Garden of Ruins: Occupied Louisiana in the Civil War .

Garden of Ruins: Occupied Louisiana in the Civil War is a history of how the Union military occupied Louisiana during the Civil War, how the Confederate state government responded, and how common people living in the state related to both Union and Confederate powers during the war.

“Most of the time when people think about the Civil War, they think about famous generals and big battles, but many people experienced the war in a far more local sense,” said Ward. “My book is an overview of the everyday activities and policies of military officials and common civilians in hopes of understanding the war on a more local level. From this perspective we can understand that household issues and domestic life were of utmost concern to soldiers and civilians.”

Ward explains that ultimately, the war was a profoundly personal event for people in occupied territory. “The Civil War was not just about grand victories on a distant battlefield, but also a daily struggle for what life would look like in America in the years to come.”

Dr. Ward will be participating in a Facebook Live Authors Series on Wednesday, June 5 at 2pm at https://www.facebook.com/events/1085438429211346/ .

Here is the link to purchase the book:

https://lsupress.org/9780807181393/garden-of-ruins/ .

It’s also available at most bookstores.

Founded in 1860 by Franciscan friars, Quincy University is a small Catholic university emphasizing the sciences, liberal arts and the professions. Quincy University offers undergraduate, graduate and adult education programs integrating practical experience and Franciscan values. Faculty and advisors work with students to design customized success plans to help them graduate on time, find their passion and prepare them for life. QU is a member of NCAA Division II for intercollegiate athletics. For more information, please visit  www.quincy.edu  or contact the Office of Community Relations at (217) 228-5275 or  [email protected] . Quincy University. Success by Design.

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Home / 2024 / May / The UC Santa Cruz Film and Digital Media Department presents: 'Echoes of Home'

The UC Santa Cruz Film and Digital Media Department presents: 'Echoes of Home'

A showing of six documentaries that represent the best of UCSC filmmaking

May 30, 2024

By Gaby Messino

To celebrate their achievements over the past two years the graduate film students are showcasing their works. The presentation at the Del Mar Theatre marks years of progress and the end of their time at University of California, Santa Cruz. These six documentaries represent years of dedication and hard work by students and faculty.

This film presentation has been a yearly tradition in the Film and Digital Media (FDM) department for years. Though it stopped briefly during COVID, it was brought back last year, and is now celebrating yet another year of graduates. The Social Documentary (SocDoc) MFA is the UC system’s only graduate degree program designed for media makers committed to social change. 

Student filmmakers started the program with an idea of what their film would be. Each documentary focuses on cultural diversity, and the filmmakers' connection to home. The theme, which in previous years was Beyond the Story , shifted this year and is now Echoes of Home . This theme represents how home can be a place we know intimately, or a place of diasporic imagination that we have never been able to experience—an echo that reaches us from another time or generation. 

These six works take us to homes all over the world including countries like Turkey, China and Costa Rica. They explore issues that impact people all over the world through explorations into topics such as the AIDS epidemic and the murder of Indigenous landback activist Jerhy Rivera.

Michale Lindsey, who’s been the graduate program coordinator for SocDoc since November, helped organize the event. “I've known these students for about five months now, and it's exciting to see their efforts and their projects come to an end,” says Lindsey. “I'm looking forward to seeing what they have to share.”

This year's six featured filmmakers are Azad Azizyan, Rita Carmona, Meloddy Gao, Ruebi Jimenez, Vega Darling, and John Ortiz. Past graduates from SocDoc have gone on to have their works played at festivals both locally and nationally.

With thanks to the UC Santa Cruz Arts Division, these filmmakers were able to create unique heartfelt pieces that connect to diverse audiences. This film presentation is a once-a-year chance to see the future of documentary and how it can be used for the greater good.

More Information

Wednesday June 12, 2024

Del Mar Theatre

1124 Pacific Ave. 

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Free and open to the public.

Open seating

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Last modified: May 31, 2024 128.114.113.82

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Generative Parables: AI as an Artform

Matthew Schultz

Liberty University

There used to be only two things an individual could count on for sure: death and taxes; but there seems to be a third in our modern era and that is technology advancing at a rapid rate. With these ad..

There used to be only two things an individual could count on for sure: death and taxes; but there seems to be a third in our modern era and that is technology advancing at a rapid rate. With these advancements come new tools, methods, and of course questions. The recent introduction of artificial intelligence to the public has been no exception. Whether it is ChatGPT writing blog posts or MidJourney creating images of unreal places, AI has begun to seep into many aspects of our lives. One field that this phenomenon has started to deeply impact is the world of art. Many artists will ask whether this introduction is good or bad, but few have asked the question of whether AI can truly be considered art. Can images or assets made with artificial intelligence be defined as art? Or are they merely remixed versions of other artists work in which they were trained in? I sought to answer this question through two methods, experience and comparison. I first created my own artwork using various AI models to understand the tools themselves. I then researched similar advancements and how they were received by the community. Finally, I asked the question of what is the definition of art and whether AI art could safely fit within the boundaries. In my findings I found that AI is merely another tool in the artists toolbelt and that just like each advancement from the past, the community would adapt and change accordingly. But most interestingly, I learned that art is all about the process. The tools used to create matter less than the artist using them in the process. I believe this changes our perception of art as a whole and should encourage us to view every aspect of our lives as art.

https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/context/research_symp/article/2580/viewcontent

http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/research_symp/2024/oral_presentations/54

735b10e7-c14f-4bc9-b737-54deb05efa8e

2024-04-18T17:00:00Z

Oral - Creative and Artistic

https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2580&context=research_symp