purpose of presentation system

What is Presentation Software?

Presentations provide a platform for people to share their message. Entrepreneurs, independent contractors, enterprise businesses, educators, and students can all benefit from presentations to learn, inform, sell, or persuade. Effective presentations will engage an audience with a clear message and call to action. Many businesses leverage presentation software to help them create visually appealing decks quicker, and more efficiently. 

If you’re not clear what presentation software is, and how it can help your productivity, you’re in the right place. 

Understanding presentation software

Presentation software is a type of computer application software that is designed to help users create digital presentations, or slide shows, to convey information in a more engaging way. Most presentation software will come fully equipped with tools and features for creating and editing digital slides that can include text, images, audio, video, charts, graphs, and other multimedia elements. Some key functionalities to look for in presentation software include slide creation and organization, formatting and design options, multimedia integrations, animations and transitions, collaboration, and sharing capabilities. 

Key features and functionalities

When you’re comparing different types of presentation software, these are the key features and functions that you should look for.

Slide creation and organization

It goes without saying, but the number one functionality of presentation software is slide creation. Whether you’re starting from scratch, or using a pre-built presentation or slide template, presentation software allows you to structure your thoughts in a way that makes sense. It also acts as a repository for old and new presentations so you can easily save and find what you need, when you need it.

Formatting and design options

One of the biggest challenges in the presentation creation process is deciding how to format your content without making a mess of the design. Many presentation softwares will handle that for you by offering design guardrails, drag-and-drop templates, and smart recommendations. The benefit of formatting and design options is that even non-designers have the tools they need to create something professional and on-brand.

Multimedia integration

A presentation without visual assets is a lot more likely to lose the audience. Presentation softwares will offer multimedia integration with images, videos, icons, and gifs. Every presentation software allows you to upload your own multimedia to your deck, but only select programs offer a free stock library to choose from. 

Animations and transitions

The average attention span of humans is 8 seconds, which means an engaging deck is critical to your presentation. Presentation software makes it easier to hold the focus of your audience with animations and transitions. Many platforms offer features that allow you to choose the speed and transitions to which your content builds and progresses to the next slide.

Collaboration and sharing capabilities

The whole goal of presentation software is to make the design process more efficient, and a big part of that is collaborating with your team. Newer presentation software— especially web-based or SaaS presentations— will allow teams to work together on the same deck, under the same roof. Similarly, the same web platforms have more flexible sharing capabilities through shared links or embed codes.

Types of presentation software platforms

There are various types of presentation software platforms available, and the industry continues to expand and evolve with new technologies. 

Traditional presentation

Traditional software refers to computer applications or programs that are typically used to create and deliver visual presentations. These programs are designed to allow users to create slideshows containing text, images, charts, graphs, and other visual aids. 

Web-based or SaaS presentation

Web-based or SaaS (Software as a Service) presentation software refers to programs that are accessed through a web browser and do not need to be installed on a user's device. These programs are hosted on the cloud and can be accessed from any internet-connected device.

AI presentations

AI presentation software is a type of presentation software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help users create and design presentations. AI presentation software typically includes features such as automated design suggestions, layout recommendations and image recognition to streamline the presentation creation process.

Video presentation

Video presentation software is a type of software that allows users to create and deliver video presentations. These presentations can include a combination of video footage, images, text, and audio. Video presentation software typically includes features such as editing tools, visual effects, and transitions to help users create engaging and professional-looking presentations.

Nonlinear presentation

A nonlinear presentation is a type of presentation where the viewer can navigate the content in a non-sequential order, rather than proceeding from one slide to the next in a linear fashion. In a nonlinear presentation, the content is organized using hyperlinks or other interactive elements that allow the viewer to jump back and forth between different parts of the presentation, depending on their interests and needs.

To learn more about the differences between presentation software, visit The Ultimate Guide to Presentation Software .

Benefits of a dedicated presentation software platform

Using a specific presentation software for every business need helps teams stay consistent across all internal and client-facing decks. 

Enhancing visual appeal and engagement

Presentation software— like Beautiful.ai— gives teams more control over the deck design which helps them maintain branding. By using the same presentation design software each time, you are ensuring consistency from deck to deck across each department. 

Simplifying content creation and organization

Like any productivity tool, presentation software is all about simplifying the process. You’ve heard of rinse and repeat. By using the same platform for each company or team deck you can automate and recycle things like colors, fonts, logos, and even branded slides. On the same coin, if you’re creating every deck in the same platform, it acts as a library for all of your presentations, making it easy to organize and find existing content. 

Facilitating effective communication

Communication is the backbone of any successful organization, so the ability to communicate effectively in the presentation design process is important. When the entire team is working in the same presentation software, it makes collaboration and communication more efficient and seamless. In Beautiful.ai, for example, teams can add comments and provide feedback in real-time to help eliminate any bottlenecks. 

Enabling seamless sharing and collaboration

When you're working with a presentation software in the cloud, teams can simultaneously make edits or contributions to the same deck at the same time. Gone are the days of lengthy email chains sharing various revisions of the same deck. Presentation software allows you to share the most updated version and invite stakeholders or external partners to collaborate with you in the platform. 

Tips for using presentation software effectively

Now you know what presentation software is, but how do you use it effectively to scale your business efforts? Keep these tips in mind for your next presentation. 

Planning and structuring your presentation

Planning and structuring your presentation effectively is crucial for delivering a clear and organized message. You should think about how you want to format your story before you even open up a presentation software. 

Six things to consider when planning your presentation anatomy;

• The audience
• Overarching message
• Clear objectives
• One key point for each slide
• A strong call to action

Utilizing design principles and visual elements

Presentation softwares have design principles in place to help take on some of the burden of deck creation, and you should take advantage of that. Using a pre-built template can help you think of new ways to structure your presentation, while lending the ability to customize it where you see fit. As a good rule of thumb, less is more in presentations. Your design should be clean and professional, while keeping your company branding in mind. 

Creating concise and impactful slides

With new technology, many presentation platforms (excluding PowerPoint) will actually limit how much you can add to each slide to help avoid Frankendeck situations. Creating clear, concise slides are more impactful than cluttered ones. Make sure to stick to one key point on each slide so that your audience knows exactly what you want them to pay attention to. 

Using multimedia wisely

A picture is worth a thousand words. Your audience will likely remember the multimedia in your presentation over any bullet point or statistic, so choose your visual assets wisely. They should be relevant, high-quality, and on-brand, always. The multimedia is meant to complement your story and drive the point home.

Practicing and rehearsing 

Presentation software and deck design is important, but so is your delivery. Don’t spend time crafting the perfect presentation deck only for your actual presentation of it to fall flat. Practice, practice, practice. And even when you think you’ve practiced enough, do a full dry-run one more time. This allows you to test the presentation software, the technology required for the meeting or conference, and the timing of any video or animations within the deck.

Jordan Turner

Jordan is a Bay Area writer, social media manager, and content strategist.

Recommended Articles

7 steps to improve your next sales deck, how to create an effective customer case study presentation, make a stand-out presentation in 3 easy steps, go pro: 5 secrets to prepping for your next big presentation from top pros.

Meet AV Access

All Products >

New Arrivals

Best Sellers

Become a Partner

HDMI Extender

Hdmi switch, hdmi splitter, hybrid conference, kvm extender, kvm switch & dock, converter & cable.

Hospitality

Meeting Room

• Partner Application
• Distributor Application
• Ask for a Quote
• Solution Consulting
• “Share Your Project” Campaign
• Customize AV over IP Solution
• Affiliate Program
• We’re Hiring
• Press Release
• Products search

No products in the cart.

What Is a Wireless Presentation System? How Does it Work?

Table of Contents

Introduction

Nowadays, wireless presentation systems have become increasingly popular among companies worldwide. Many IT employees have installed a wireless presentation device in their company’s meeting rooms, reception areas, or other locations. What is a wireless presentation system exactly? How does it work? Why is it so popular among enterprises? In this blog, I will answer these questions one by one.

What Is a Wireless Presentation System?

A wireless presentation system is a device that allows you to cast contents wirelessly from your laptop, smartphone, or tablet to a connected projector, flat panel, or TV. With a high-quality wireless presentation device installed in a meeting room, every participant can make a smooth presentation and effectively collaborate.

Some of the representative brand products include AV Access eShare W50 , Barco ClickShare CX-20 , Barco ClickShare CX-30 , etc. All of them have one feature in common: the capability of wireless screen casting. Besides that, they have different functions and features. Please read another blog “ Which is the Better Presentation System, Barco ClickShare or AV Access eShare? ” if you are interested.

How Does a Wireless Presentation System Work?

A wireless presentation system is usually built with one or two antennas receiving the wireless video signal. It is also built with a video output port like HDMI, so it can output the video signal to a display device. For different BYOD devices, like laptops, smartphones, or tablets, you can cast contents wirelessly via different screen mirroring technologies, like Miracast, AirPlay, and Google Cast.

Let me take the eShare W50 wireless  presentation s ystem as an example. It allows you to cast your contents wirelessly via Miracast, AirPlay, or a USB-C dongle. All you have to do is just enable your mobile device’s Wi-Fi function or connect eShare W50’s hotpot.

Different from some pure wireless presentation systems like Barco ClickShare CX-20 , AV Access eShare W50 is built with physical input interfaces: an HDMI and a USB-C, as well as an indispensable HDMI output port. It can work as a wired presentation switch, so you can connect your video source to it via an HDMI or USB-C cable, then transmit it to the display device.

Why Are Wireless Presentation Systems So Popular?

The reason is that a high-quality wireless presentation system device can make your meetings more productive. It requires a lot of preparation time to deliver a wonderful presentation or host an efficient meeting. If you have trouble finding the right cable to connect to the meeting room display, a high-quality wireless presentation system helps you cast the screen wirelessly, with no cable hassles. Now you and your team can concentrate more on the issues and contents of the meeting. It helps enhance team collaboration and improve work efficiency.

What’s more, a wireless presentation system will also ensure your guests/clients present content from their devices effortlessly. When your guests visit your company and walk into the conference room, you probably don’t want them to struggle with messy cables for presenting.

This is also ideal when you need to host a meeting with multiple presenters. It will eliminate the time needed to switch from presenter to presenter since all participants can connect quickly and effortlessly.

A wireless presentation system can make your meetings more productive. If you are looking for an advanced and reliable wireless presentation system device, AV Access eShare W50 is the one you can’t miss out on.

eShare W50 supports both wired and wireless connections. You can share contents easily from your source device to a large screen via USB-C/HDMI port or wireless casting. Working with BizEye series webcams and AnyCo series speakerphones , the system allows you to make a wonderful local presentation or hold an efficient remote conference in your meeting room.

That’s all for the blog. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Shane Jiang

Shane Jiang holds a master's degree in English translation and brings more than four years' working experience in content marketing. His extensive knowledge in multilingual writing and translation has brought a balanced perspective to the AV Access team.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Privacy Overview

Username or email address  *

Password  *

Remember me Log in

Lost your password?

Username  *

Email address  *

User Type  * End User Partner

First Name  *

Last Name  *

Phone Number  *

Company Name  *

Job Title 

Company Website 

Select a country / region… Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Monaco Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom (UK) Update country / region

Town / City  *

Postcode / ZIP  *

VAT No.  *

AV Access is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, and we’ll only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the products and services you requested from us. From time to time, we would like to contact you about our products and services, as well as other content that may be of interest to you. You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy policies, and how we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy . By clicking register below, you consent to allow AV Access to store and process the personal information submitted above to provide you the content requested.

Captcha  *

Presentations

Presentation Management 101

How bad is your presentation management?  It might seem like a pretty direct question, but few of us really know what presentations management is actually about. Let alone how to be any good at it.

Most of us can relate to a plethora of presentations floating around on memory sticks, shared drives, various cloud services, and of course on our trusty desktops. But it’s exactly this organisational ‘system’ which causes us problems when we try to find the best presentation we made a few years back, and our colleagues problems when they promise to send us slides from the last company conference.

Sound familiar? Without having a place where business presentations can go to rest once they’ve been shown off, we’re creating a repetitive work culture. With teams having to re-create the essence of a good slide they saw a while ago. Rather than being able to simply find the slide and repurpose it.

This also carries through to other parts of presentations. Approved logos, fonts and colors fly around without expiry dates and are subject to misuse by well meaning employees who for example, have just returned from their holiday. This makes presentations far more difficult to manage. As not having one place for up to date information means that employees often just use the first thing they find. Presentation management is a way to solve all of these problems, and more.

What is Presentation Management?

Presentation management is a way of structuring how presentations are made, stored, and shared in teams. It is user focused, and ensures that presentations live in a secure and defined place in a company which is super easy to navigate. Some organizations also use this as a place to keep their best presentations, pitch decks, and templates.

On the whole, presentation management for businesses means giving proper thought to three areas:

1. Quantity of Presentations

Storing presentations in a way which is practical and useful to those making them. Dealing with many presentations means having searchable functions such as tagging, or other structures to make it easy to find files in the future.

2. Quality of Presentations

Creating a high level of quality for all presentations in the future. Ensure that all of the materials and guides needed for employees to make the best presentations are in one easy to find place. That way, spontaneous uses of ‘creative license’ can be avoided.

3. Making full use of Previous Presentations

Properly making use of each business presentation ensures that productivity is at its peak, brand guidelines are kept clear, and time is not wasted correcting mistakes, or repeating the same content. This may include keeping centralised presentations for certain events such as health and safety procedures, onboarding new employees, or researching for future presentations.

Getting the most out of presentations can make a big difference in the day to day workings of teams, and can take the place of many external agencies, from new onboarding courses to freelancers who need to know what the company is about, quickly.

We all know that finding a presentation that we haven’t cleverly stored on our desktop is a hassle, and trying to find a particular slide can be even worse. It takes up a lot of time opening each presentation we come across to see if it’s in there. But there are numerous ways to combat presentation frustration and locate your whole team’s presentations easily. From company conferences to investor reports, keeping everything in a logical order can make everything much simpler for everyone involved with the right presentation management.

Although finding the best presentation software out there may be on some peoples minds, presentation management doesn’t mean downloading a new program and investing in learning how to use a new piece of software. It can be simple.

Some companies create folders on their shared drives for people to upload their presentations, and make their teams aware of any changes via email. For example – Shared Drive >> Presentation >> Marketing >> Reports >> 2018 >> May

This is probably the simplest way of coming up with a system in which to store your presentations. But is also one of the easiest to have ignored or messed up.

If you believe that using folders is the best route to go down with storing your presentations, try delegating control in certain departments to one individual. By doing so, you shift the responsibility to one employee, who the rest of the team know will be checking up on them with their presentation management.

Some who use folders also make sure to name their presentations with very long titles, so that they’re easier to find later through the search function. For example, instead of twitter-report-2018.ppt changing it to twitter-report-2018-q1-user insights-statistics-RT-likes-mentions-demographics.ppt

Some people don’t like to separate their presentations from other files, because it makes sense to work project by project, or theme by theme. For these teams, having a presentation space for everyone to use might not be the best option. Instead, zipping up files every month may be the right way to handle things.

This is a great presentation management solution for those who want to keep all of their files locally on their computer and also want to be able to save on space.

Given the recent rise of Slack, many people now us it as their go to for information sharing. Whether that’s presentation slides or logo formats, Slack has turned into the hip new storage unit.

However, the search function on slack can leave much to be desired. With problems such as searching for a particular report resulting in either getting a thousand results or none. Seldom in between.

But, there are better ways to use slack for your files. One of which is to send important presentations to yourself in a personal message. Another way would be to set up a #presentations-2018 channel for everyone to upload their presentations to. This makes it easier to search, as Slack allows you to search inside specific channels with the in: command.

Having a natural place where every presentation is stored can bring value to some teams. Not having to search around for a memory stick, or worry about corrupted files can take an extra layer off the unnecessary stress that comes with certain presentations. In most cloud platforms, the ability to share PowerPoints with colleagues or departments is also a great asset, meaning that information can be easily shared, but still with elements of privacy if needed.

Another good use of cloud services regarding business presentations is to keep a folder of all the company templates which are up to date. This allows for an element of control for the design team in presentation management, and also a way to keep everyone on the right page.

But not every cloud has a silver lining. Some people feel that uploading presentations to cloud services isn’t secure enough, or company policy dictates that there is no cloud approved server. Leaving individuals having to look elsewhere.

Multiple Platforms

Using lots of different platforms is another method which is commonly used by businesses. It’s often favoured by those who have trouble with business presentations from different departments being mixed up. For some this method works well as it stops files being confused with others, updated or deleted. It also allows teams to designate someone to be in charge of each platform without having to take on the responsibility of everything.

However, for some teams this can cause a lack of accountability, and increase the chances of not storing their presentations where they should be.

Email Presentations to Yourself

Perhaps one of the most common ‘storage’ system out there – email. Sending presentations to yourself by email is a common trick used by many individuals who want to save on hard disk space without using a cloud platform.

To make the most of this technique, you can easily ‘tag’ your emails by writing all they key words which may one day help you to find that presentation again.

For instance, if you’re sending a marketing report from your latest twitter campaign in an attachment, your email may read ‘Twitter, Social Media, Report, Q1 2018, Presentation etc. ’ But remember that although this may work for individuals with a few presentations, there is no ability for you to view all of your presentations side by side for comparison, or use presentation management for teams.

Using presentation management also means keeping up a high standard of quality with all your business presentations. This can be made easier by knowing a few tricks of the trade, and working out what would be appropriate to you, your team and your company as a whole. Creating a mix of the solutions below or sticking to one rigid system can be the right solution, depending on the your company, and your needs.

Corporate Templates

Corporate slides are a common sight in business, regardless of the industry. They are used by companies to keep brand guidelines tight, and to ensure that each presentation is kept in a similar style across the company.

They are normally a set of PowerPoint slides with the company colors, fonts and logos built in as standard to every business presentation. All intended to be used by employees across every department. In some companies, these are updated every quarter. In others, only every few years. But regardless of when they are updated, slide templates are rigid, tricky to fit graphs over, and restrictive of color schemes. However, they do the job. So for some companies who don’t make many presentations, corporate templates do the basic task of keeping branding in there somewhere, without much fuss over the specifics of presentation management.

Presentation Templates

Presentation templates are usually a set of 30-50 sides which have many different formats. From charts to data, and processes to a who’s who of team members. Creating well formatted sides can be difficult to create from scratch, so having something to work from with an appropriate, and Keynote or PowerPoint friendly design can be a great asset when weighing up the right presentation management solution.

Although individuals may find benefit in having such presentation templates stored on their desktop, being able to cut and paste slides wherever and whenever necessary, this is not a sustainable solution for large teams who consistently need slides for various purposes.

However, if you’re the only person creating presentations in your company, you might want to take a look at Improve Presentation for hundreds of fully editable pitch decks.

Management Systems

Some organisations choose to document every presentation, file, picture etc. in one place. Allowing desktop space to be freed, and data to be updated continuously. This empowers companies who struggle with keeping employees aware of updates to make sure everyone is using the latest data. Whilst also ensuring they are making good quality presentations with the right information.

In keeping a management system active for all company data which is intended to be shared, companies usually choose from DMS, CMS or ECM depending on their needs. These management systems vary by the needs of the company. From ECM systems, which concentrate on extensive documentation, delivery, managing and storing, to DMS which acts more like a filing cabinet for slides, allowing for individuals to quickly locate files in a more organized system than available locally on drives.

If you need to store more than presentations in a logical way, presentation management can be incorporated into such systems easily instead of using the best presentation software which will only help with part of the problem.

PowerPoint Version Control

PowerPoint version control is a function often overlooked by companies who rely on PowerPoint for their presentation making. It’s a way for employees to keep one master version of a presentation. Instead of having many of the revisions take up space, and potentially cause problems when presenting the most recent updates of data. Employees can use PowerPoint version control to send their business presentations for review, whilst still keeping the original. Or, they can send it to co-workers for edits, all the while having the clean master version.

Simply open the original presentation, then click review >> compare and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the merging process between PowerPoint files.

Presentation People

Keeping track of the quality of presentations can also be measured by an element found in every office – people. Presentation people, or as they’re less fondly known if they do a bad job – ‘presentation police’, can work to ensure employees know that the quality and style of every presentation must always be kept on point.

Some businesses opt for having presentations scored, but that doesn’t work for all teams. Others work on a system of rewards or bonuses for quality presentations, or their own system which has proved efficient before.

Another way companies keep presentations manageable is to designate different members to certain types of business presentations. For example, having John in charge of ensuring that all financial reports are presented with up to date information, whilst Sarah is charged with keeping client reporting up to scratch.

Making full use of previous Presentations

Using presentations to their full potential can cause some serious ‘ Ah ha! ’ moments in some offices. This is mostly because presentations are not really anyone’s favorite thing to do, and the idea of using PowerPoint for another purpose may seem ridiculous. And that’s before even considering the problems of trying to actually locate presentation files.

But once the quality of presentations is improved, the other uses of presentations become clearer. From on boarding new employees, to researching for the next investor update, presentations can be a great way to get a current handle of what is going on in the company.

...once the quality of presentations is improved, the other uses of presentations become clearer. Click To Tweet

Managers and Presentation Management

Management can often find presentation organization a little daunting. There are so many business presentations made everyday, that coming up with a universal solution can seem difficult. And no-one wants to be seen as unofficial branding police for presentation management. Many managers face the presentation decision that perhaps having a good office atmosphere is worth taking the responsibility for the odd bad presentation.

But not all managers find this a difficult decision. Many also ensure that their team are always up to date with the presentation content. But the price to pay is that they are investing time which they could spend working on other projects, instead of presentation management.

Managers can also become a key focus point for presentation related questions, as they often watch most of the presentations themselves, and can act as a good knowledge base of where to start looking for the right information.

Best Presentations

Companies must have a set of best in class presentations for employees to aim for. If your team have no idea what to work towards, creative licenses will be used not only in the presentations themselves, but also in where they store them. If your team don’t have a location where your business templates or other presentation materials are kept, you’re missing a trick, and you’re likely to be causing an organizational mess. Although finding the best presentation software out there is the right answer for some, it’s also possible that you just need to find the right storage method for your PowerPoints.

Having a place where you show best practises also serves another purpose. It allows departments to give praise to certain employees, whilst also encouraging others to look up to them for great presentation skills. Keeping your best-in class presentations clear is a must for all companies, both large and small if you want to get employees presenting perfectly.

Catching up Employees

Catching up employees is also a common problem in some companies. From annual leave to unexpected absences, getting everyone on the same page at the same time can be hard. Some businesses use the PowerPoints created since the employee has been away as an audio visual tool for the explanation of events. This allows companies to not skip any changes and not have to spend a morning attempting to recollect events.

By having an upload point for your presentations, catching up those who have been away can become a much simpler process. Whilst also making it easier for the individuals themselves to remember all the events which have happened. Best of all, this would come at no extra cost chasing down presentations, or time wasted having to remember everything that has happened.

Keeping all your Presentations in one Place

Having your presentations easily accessible is great, but what about individual slides? Keeping individual slides for charts, quotes, maps and everything else your team might need is pretty much impossible to do on your own.

But, we have come up with a solution for that problem – google images for presentation slides. In fact an entire library of company branded slides on an online platform for you and your team to access 24/7.

It’s called SlideCamp , and it’s where managers have control over every presentation, which means being able to oversee that quality, quantity and proper use of presentations is always being handed well.

1. Quantity

The quantity of presentations in any team builds up over time, or can come crashing down like an avalanche when a company conference comes up. SlideCamp comes with an upload and search function, which doesn’t just allow you to search the title and tags of every presentation, but also the content within each individual slide. Permissions and sharing features are also available to ensure that the quantity of presentations can be kept under control. Whilst newly created presentations can live in one online location, rather than in many across the company.

Teams often struggle with keeping the quality of presentations the same across the board. With employees each having a different individual take on what the company branded template should really look like. But by using SlideCamp’s slide library the quality of presentations will stay at the same professional level. Creative employees will be able to display information in different ways rather than go off brand, and any new need of creativity can be channeled by simply requesting a new slide template from us.

Repurposing presentations for different functions is also important to managing presentations properly. SlideCamp enables you and your team to share links to your presentations instead of having files clog up your company computers with many versions of the same thing. At the same time managers are also in a much better position to proofread presentations before they are made, catch-up employees who have been away, and give a boost to productivity when lost time in presentation design is no longer an issue amongst their team.

Making presentations manageable will have different solutions for different teams. But by putting aside a little time to consider quantity, quality and proper use of presentation slides, you’re sure to improve your presentation process for your whole company.

Problem: We have too many presentation files flying around everywhere, with no sustainable organizational solution in sight.

Solution: Addressing quality, quantity, and making full use of every presentation results in using presentation management to sort everything out. From zipping up files to cloud services, and presentation police to Slack, this article explores the various ways other businesses out there make their presentations manageable.

Get awesome presentation content in your inbox every week

It only takes a click to unsubscribe.

2018 © SlideCamp

How it works

For Business

Join Mind Tools

Article • 10 min read

How to Structure a Presentation

Choosing the best format for your audience.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Have you ever sat through a rambling, disorganized presentation? If so, you probably found it hard to follow what the speaker was saying.

When presentations don't flow well, it's easy for audiences to get lost. This is why it's important to think carefully about the structure and organization of your presentation.

In this article, we'll explore some common structures that you can use next time you speak in front of other people.

The Importance of Structure

Without a defined structure, your audience may not be able to follow your presentation. When this happens, your opportunity is lost, the communication fails, and your reputation takes a hit. For example, if your aim is to persuade people, you'll want to use a different approach from the one you'd use if you wanted to demonstrate how a product works.

Many factors can influence your choice of structure, but the most important consideration is your presentation's purpose or goal. You need to identify what you want to achieve – do you want to inspire, motivate, inform, persuade, or entertain people?

Your audience's needs also affect the structure you choose. For example, those who are new to your topic need more background information than people with more expertise and experience. So, in this case, you'd want to choose an approach that gives you ample time to explain the context of your subject, as well as to reinforce your main points.

Structures to Consider

Below, we outline several structures that you can use to organize your presentation.

1. Open – Body – Conclusion

The Open – Body – Conclusion approach is one of the most practical structures you can use for presentations. (Click here to download a worksheet that helps you use it.)

People often call it the "tell 'em" approach, because you:

• Tell audience members what you're going to tell them (introduction).
• Tell them (body).
• Tell them what you told them (conclusion).

This structure is simple, effective and easy to remember. Its repetitive nature allows you to reinforce your points, which helps others remember them. It is also flexible: you can adjust the introduction and body to persuade, motivate, educate, or entertain them.

One downside, however, is that repetition can quickly bore people. The approach is also "old hat" to many, which can cause them to lose interest. If you choose to use it, balance repetition with plenty of interesting facts, images, anecdotes, or stories to hold your audience's interest.

Let's look at each stage of the Open – Body – Conclusion structure in detail and discuss the elements that you need to include in each. We'll start with the body, rather than the introduction, because the rest of your presentation will be based on that.

The body of your presentation needs to contain your key points. You should present these in a logical order, so that your audience can follow them easily.

Keep in mind that the body should comprise a limited number of ideas: the more you try to include, the fewer people will remember. A good guide is to cover three to five main points, but no more.

When organizing your ideas, use the chunking principle to put the information into specific units. This will make the concepts easier to grasp, and help people remember what you have told them.

Make sure that you back up your main points with facts. Use good information-gathering strategies in your research, and consider citing the sources that you use. To add credibility to your presentation, consider using the following information to support your ideas:

• Data, facts or statistics.
• Images or diagrams.
• Stories and examples.
• Quotes or testimonials from experts or industry leaders.

Reliable sources will strengthen your credibility , and build trust with your audience.

Your opening, or introduction, has two main purposes: to grab your audience's attention, and to cover the key points that you intend to talk about.

Instead of telling people what you plan to say, you can use a different approach and explain why they are there. What will they learn from your presentation, and how will the content benefit them?

It's also important to get their attention right from the beginning. You can do this in several ways:

• Tell a story.
• Ask a rhetorical question.
• Play a short video.
• Make a strong or unexpected statement.
• Challenge your audience.
• Use a quotation or example.
• Appeal to people's self-interest.
• Request a specific action.
• Use suspense.

If you plan to answer questions at the end of your presentation, it's a good idea to mention this in the introduction, so people don't interrupt you mid-flow.

Many presenters overlook the importance of a conclusion – but the statements you finish with are what many audience members will remember best.

With the "tell 'em" approach, your conclusion summarizes the main points in the body of your presentation. If you want people to take action, be specific about what you want them to do.

Think carefully about how you want them to feel once you've finished; your conclusion is a great opportunity to reinforce this. Why not inspire them with a great story, a quote or a compelling call to action?

2. The Sandwich Approach

The Sandwich Approach is a variation of the Open – Body – Conclusion structure. This three-part structure covers:

• Advantages and/or benefits of your message or idea.
• Risks and concerns.
• How the benefits manage or eliminate those risks.

This approach is effective when you want to persuade audience members, or change their minds.

Having evidence to support your position is critical. However, factual data and reams of spreadsheets and charts are not highly persuasive. What people respond to is "vivid" evidence that brings your concept or argument to life.

To brush up on your persuasion skills, look at The Rhetorical Triangle . This tool asks you to consider your communication from three perspectives: those of the writer, the audience and the context. It's a method that builds credibility, and helps you ensure that your arguments are logical.

3. Monroe's Motivated Sequence

Monroe's Motivated Sequence is another good structure to use when you need to motivate or persuade. This sequence consists of five key steps:

• Getting your audience's attention – Use an interesting "hook" or opening point, such as a shocking statistic. Be provocative and stimulating, not boring and unemotional.
• Creating a need – Convince the audience there's a problem, explain how it affects them. Persuade them that things need to change.
• Defining your solution – Explain what you think needs to be done.
• Describing a detailed picture of success (or failure) – Give people a vision; something they can see, hear, taste, and touch.
• Asking the audience to do something straight away – Get them involved right from the start. If you do this, it's then much easier to keep them engaged and active in your cause.

4. Demonstration Structure

Use a simple demonstration structure when you are unveiling a new product or service.

Start by explaining why the product or service is so good. What makes it special? What problem will it solve for people?

Next, demonstrate what it does. How you do this will depend on your product but, whatever you do, make sure it works! Bring any important points to the audience's attention and provide helpful tips, where appropriate. Show them the results, and finish by giving them useful information, a good understanding of your topic, and something to remember.

Don't get too wrapped up in the detail; remember to keep it simple. Your presentation will be more powerful and your audience will remember more if you highlight just a few of the most important features. This will whet their appetite, and leave them wanting to know more.

5. Opportunity, Benefits, Numbers Structure

The Opportunity, Benefits, Number (OBN) structure is useful when you face busy people who want to hear what you have to say in the shortest time possible.

To use this structure, give audience members a quick summary of the opportunity that they need to consider, and outline the benefits that they can expect. Then, show them the numbers that back up your claims. [1]

For example, imagine you are explaining why your company should implement a new performance management system. First, you might give some background on the proposal – for example, you want to drive a high-performance culture. Then, you could explain the benefits, such as improving organizational performance and profits. Finally, you could compare the cost of bringing the system in with the predicted return on investment, based on a similar system at another organization.

Presentations that lack a clear flow are confusing and ineffective. This is why it's important to pay careful attention when choosing the most appropriate structure.

Different structures fulfill different purposes. Before you begin, think about why you are giving your presentation. Do you want to inform, persuade, inspire, or entertain your audience?

The most common structure for presentations is Open – Body – Conclusion. This is often effective because it gives you the opportunity to repeat your key points a number of times. However, other structures can be more appropriate, depending on the circumstances, such as when you're trying to persuade an audience, demonstrate a product, or provide information in the most time-efficient way.

Download Worksheet

[1] Martinuzzi, B. (2013). '11 Ways to Structure a Knockout Presentation,' from American Express OPEN Forum [online]. Available here . [Accessed 7 August 2014.]

You've accessed 1 of your 2 free resources.

Get unlimited access

Discover more content

Mintzberg's organizational configurations.

Understanding Your Organizational Structure

The Foursquare Protocol

Managing Ethical Decision Making

Add comment

Comments (0)

Be the first to comment!

Team Management

Learn the key aspects of managing a team, from building and developing your team, to working with different types of teams, and troubleshooting common problems.

Sign-up to our newsletter

Subscribing to the Mind Tools newsletter will keep you up-to-date with our latest updates and newest resources.

Subscribe now

Business Skills

Personal Development

Leadership and Management

Member Extras

Most Popular

Newest Releases

SWOT Analysis

How to Build a Strong Culture in a Distributed Team

Mind Tools Store

About Mind Tools Content

Discover something new today

Top tips for delegating.

Delegate work to your team members effectively with these top tips

Ten Dos and Don'ts of Change Conversations

Tips for tackling discussions about change

How Emotionally Intelligent Are You?

Boosting Your People Skills

Self-Assessment

What's Your Leadership Style?

Learn About the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Way You Like to Lead

Recommended for you

How to manage a commission-based team.

Getting the Best From People on Variable Pay

Business Operations and Process Management

Strategy Tools

Customer Service

Business Ethics and Values

Handling Information and Data

Project Management

Knowledge Management

Self-Development and Goal Setting

Time Management

Presentation Skills

Learning Skills

Career Skills

Communication Skills

Negotiation, Persuasion and Influence

Working With Others

Difficult Conversations

Creativity Tools

Self-Management

Work-Life Balance

Stress Management and Wellbeing

Coaching and Mentoring

Change Management

Managing Conflict

Delegation and Empowerment

Performance Management

Leadership Skills

Developing Your Team

Talent Management

Problem Solving

Decision Making

Member Podcast

• K-12 Education
• Higher Education
• Religious Venues
• Restaurants
• Hospitality
• Grocery & Retail
• Manufacturing
• Senior Living

Product News, Customer Stories and Updates from Rise Vision

The 9 best wireless presentation systems.

June 03 2021

Wireless presentation tools are loved in business settings for making meetings faster and more informative. In education, though, they’re truly transformative, moving teachers away from the whiteboard and giving students more input and control. Even quite simple systems can make lessons vastly more efficient, which is why they’re gradually finding their way into more and more schools and higher education institutions. But they often leave the screen blank when no one’s actually presenting; a missed opportunity. Rise Vision has developed a solution, in the form of a fully device-agnostic web player that can display your Rise Vision signage and alerts when you’re not presenting.

The Rise Vision web player

Rise Vision’s new web player works app-free across any wireless presentation system , allowing a school or university to use its Rise Vision content library as the default display across all its screens. Those displays can show content specific to the location, time of year or time of day — defaulting to lab safety messages in the chem building, for instance. And they can draw on a growing education-specific library of over 425 templates to build appropriate content for their students, then control them centrally from their Rise Vision dashboard. Rise Vision web player is fully device-agnostic, app-free and works with these wireless presentation tools — and many others. We’ll start with our favorite (and partner), Airtame.

What is Airtame?

Airtame is a hardware device for wireless screen sharing. Hook it up to screens or projectors and connect to your local network wirelessly or by ethernet, and you and your guests will be able to present. It’s centrally managed remotely, so one IT person can control the whole system from their laptop wherever they are. Airtame works with any device and operating system, and when screens aren’t being used for presentations, they can be used for digital signage.

How does Airtame work with Rise Vision web player?

When those screens are in digital signage mode, in between presentations, you can use Rise Vision’s dynamic digital signage and alerts. Airtame users get access to Rise Vision’s content thanks to a partnership between the two companies. ‘Partnering with Rise Vision will help us leverage their extensive library of professional content. The combination of the Airtame Cloud platform – supported by our display hardware – and Rise Vision’s digital signage templates will enable effective communication within schools. We believe the school community can achieve a lot more through this collaboration,’ says Orri Gudmundsson, Chief Commercial Officer, Airtame.

Standout features:

Airtame’s most impressive features include:

Device-agnostic screen sharing via the Airtame app, Miracast, Google Cast, and Airplay. Use any device, including emergency substitutes.

Support for touchback via Miracast from Windows and Android devices, when connected to an Interactive Flat Panel.

The Airtame 2 is $399, with a 30-day free trial. There’s also the $119 Airtame PoE adapter that both powers your Airtame and connects it to your Ethernet. Airtame Cloud licenses give you access to enhanced capabilities for your Airtame 2. Here’s how they’re priced:

Firmware updates

Global device management

Unlimited users

Unlimited devices

User roles and access delegation

Screen orientation control

Branded images and custom backgrounds

Moderator mode

Public website URL

$10 per user per month (billed annually)

Everything in the Lite plan

Real-time screen overview

Welcome screen with meeting room scheduling

Meeting room overview

Looped content with digital signage playlists

Scheduled content allowing you to plan digital signage by days of the week and times of day

Integration with scheduling and content apps including Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Dropbox, Youtube, Microsoft OneDrive and more

For larger deployments (20+ seats)

Custom pricing via sales

Everything in Plus

Dedicated training webinar

Designated customer success team for onboarding and activation

The bottom line

We love Airtame — that’s why we chose to partner with them. In the words of our Head of Revenue, Shea Darlison, ‘we’re thrilled to partner with Airtame to help schools get the most out of their investment in classroom displays .’ Schools can get 50% off the first year’s cost for each Rise Vision license they buy to use with an Airtame Cloud license. This offer is open for all Airtame Cloud licenses purchased by K-12 and higher education institutions from May 1st, 2021 until August 31st, 2021. Claim yours by contacting Airtame or your local resellers to purchase your Airtame Cloud license . Then go to https://www.risevision.com/airtame to submit the proof of purchase and receive the discounted Rise Vision licenses.

2. AirSquirrels / AirSquirrels Ditto What is AirSquirrels?

AirSquirrels comes in three parts: Ditto is a device-agnostic screen-mirroring and digital signage tool. Reflector 4 is AirPlay, Google Cast and Miracast receiver software. And AirParrot is advanced mirroring and screen sharing for Mac and PC.

Ditto lets you take any screen and turn it into a wireless meeting collaboration tool. What it doesn’t do is play well with others. You can’t use Rise Vision or any other third-party player through AirSquirrels Ditto, and you can’t play web content through it. Its inbuilt signage lacks support for full-size videos, templates and scheduling, so it’s also very static.

How does AirSquirrels work?

AirSquirrels offers both screen sharing and collaboration, and digital signage. The tools AirSquirrel offers are more oriented to the enterprise than Rise Vision, and take less account of schools’ requirements.

Ditto offers its users:

Cross-platform wireless screen mirroring from iPhones, Macs, Android devices, Chromebooks and Windows devices

Device agnostic single-app screen mirroring lets you cast just a particular application to public screens

Ditto is priced at $150 per receiver per year or $15.99 per month per receiver.

Ditto is a solid solution if you’re looking for an all-in-one tool that covers most of the bases of a dedicated screen-casting tool and a dedicated digital signage tool.

3. Mersive Solstice What is Mersive Solstice?

Solstice is a meeting collaboration tool, built for local and remote teams. It lets users share content to room displays nearby and to remote locations using any of several major video conferencing services. Software-based and cloud-enabled, Solstice lets you start sharing your screen in just a few seconds.

How does Mersive Solstice work with Rise Vision web player?

Solstice already controls screens to facilitate sharing and collaboration, so it makes sense that they also offer digital signage. There’s native digital signage built-in, and partnerships with multiple digital signage companies. Rise Vision users can use the Rise Vision web player just the way you would with any other presentation tool to run digital signage from your Rise Vision dashboard to screens controlled by Solstice.

Solstice brings its users:

Uniquely easy to present in other locations. When they say, ‘make any room a Zoom,’ they’re not kidding

Device-agnostic content sharing via the Solstice app, AirPlay, Miracast, a web browser, or the HDMI-in port

Mersive Solstice pricing is custom via their sales team.

Mersive Solstice is a winner for large, distributed organizations, or ones that need collaboration tools for a network of partners. But for smaller organizations, it’s overpowered.

4. ScreenBeam What is ScreenBeam?

ScreenBeam is an app-free, contactless wireless presentation tool that integrates quickly and easily into any meeting space or Unified Communication system. Unusually for the niche, ScreenBeam deliberately eschews all applications and contact points — dongles, boxes and so forth — to allow standards-based wireless connections from any device. Only the ScreenBeam wireless receiver is required.

How does ScreenBeam work with Rise Vision web player?

ScreenBeam can display static digital signage or you can push digital signage to it from another source. The Rise Vision web player can function as a source, allowing the two systems to connect seamlessly.

ScreenBeam lets you:

Pipe apps up to the big screen easily. Everything from Skype for the Classroom to OneNote and FluidMath can be moved onto the main screen to allow collaboration and teaching

Do native screen mirroring without downloading or installing an app at all.

ScreenBeam pricing is custom , via their sales team.

ScreenBeam is one of the most powerful and versatile tools for K-12 and higher education institutions, as well as businesses, to facilitate collaboration. Its app-less functionality makes using it uniquely quick and easy to connect to.

5. ViewSonic

What is viewsonic.

ViewSonic offers a range of visual tools, from high-end gaming monitors to large-venue projectors. But one of its areas of focus is wireless presentations in schools. For this, ViewSonic has the ViewSync receiver, allowing rapid wireless connectivity to a range of screens from laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

How does ViewSonic work with RiseVision web player?

ViewSonic offers presentation via a receiver with a USB backchannel that lets the host annotate what’s displayed on the screen and assume full mouse and keyboard control. It’s built for presentations in a lecture, meeting or classroom environment, but can also be used as a digital signage receiver when not presenting. Rise Vision’s web player can play your Rise Vision signage playlists and alerts through your ViewSonic receiver.

ViewSonic’s ViewSync 3 receiver is $39.99 . To use it, you’ll also need the ViewMirroring Android app or the ViewMedia Android/iOS app.

ViewSonic is a great choice if you have a relatively small number of screens and you want a versatile, plug-and-play presentation solution; paired with Rise Vision’s web player and digital signage dashboard, you’ll get everything you need to run a full suite of presentations, signage and alerts.

6. Barco WePresent What is WePresent?

WePresent is a simple, fully configurable app-based presentation toolkit designed specifically for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) environments, and can be optimized for the needs of schools, businesses, government and universities.

How does WePresent work?

WePresent relies on its MirrorOp app plus a three-device suite of boxes, designed to suit different needs (see Pricing for details). When you use WePresent, students and teachers can connect to the WePresent box from any device. You can share multiple device screens on one screen, and teachers can preview student content, set polls and quizzes, and ask silent questions through the WePresent system too.

Unfortunately, Barco doesn’t work with Rise Vision’s web player or most other third-party players, meaning you’re stuck with the Barco feature set — admittedly impressive, but incomplete.

Standout features

WePresent comes with:

Support for native Airplay and Chromecast

BYOD-friendly with teacher controls to manage, annotate, queue and share content from students

MirrorOp is free to download for Mac, Windows, Android, iOS and Chromebook. There are three hardware options:

Not available in Canada, Mexico or the United States

Entry-level

64 simultaneous connections

Airplay support

Fixed screen layout (up to 4)

On-screen moderation

Central management

Available globally

All features available with WiPG-1000, plus smart upgrades

Whiteboard and annotation features

1-to-many distribution (up to 4)

Video streaming

USB document/content player

All features of WiPG-1600W, plus upgrades

Dynamic screen layout (up to 4)

On-screen user preview and moderation

Education pack with student monitor

Eco standby mode

Pricing for all WePresent hardware is custom through the Barco sales team.

WePresent is a full-featured presentation system that works great for schools and universities. It’s the kind of tool that’s likely to get bought at the school or district rather than department or classroom level, but it’s well-supported and effective for teaching and learning. It also plays great with your existing Rise Vision library of signage and alerts.

7. WolfVision

What is wolfvision.

WolfVision provides wireless presentation tools as part of a suite of business and education tools that includes visualizers, document cameras and more, all aimed at tying together the classroom and digital environments. At its most advanced the WolfVision suite includes onscreen multisource annotations, multiscreen sharing, and drag and drop distribution across student screens. Presentation is just a part of this.

How does WolfVision work?

WolfVision’s suite of tools includes a range of receivers able to do duty as presentation receivers and multi-app remote meeting tools, collaboration solutions and more.

However, WolfVision has no built-in digital signage solution. They allow digital signage providers access to their tool through their API, but not directly, so it doesn’t work with the Rise Vision web player.

WolfVision is distinguished by:

App-free, dongle-free, wireless sharing and presentation via its Cynap range of receivers

Easy configuration, but endless customization via powerful API access

WolfVision’s pricing is custom via their sales team, though their tools are also sold by authorized resellers .

8. Startech

What is the startech wifi2hdvga.

Startech’s WIFI2HDVGA is a simple, effective tool for sharing from Windows and Mac computers and laptops to big screens.

How does the Startech WIFI2HDVGA work?

Startech’s simple presentation and collaboration tool is one of the most lightweight solutions on this list. But that’s its appeal. If you need something that will plug and play into whatever system you’re currently using, Startech has you covered. What it doesn’t have, as most presentation tools don’t, is native digital signage. Rise Vision has you covered there, with scheduled signage playlists and real time alerts — but Startech isn’t compatible with third-party players, so if you choose the stripped-down approach your options are limited.

Startech delivers:

Quick, efficient screen sharing switching between computers

Wireless display mode that lets users mirror any screencast-enabled device app-free

Startech’s pricing is transparent: each unit is $185.99 USD, and is also available from a reseller network .

9. Polycom Pano

What is the polycom pano.

The Pano is part of Polycom’s wider collaboration and presentation ecosystem, allowing users to connect any device and present up to four screens simultaneously. You can annotate in real-time and connect to virtually any display through a standard HDMI output, or select touch displays for a fully interactive experience.

How does the Polycom Pano work?

Pano is a powerful collaboration tool, especially when it’s embedded in the wider Polycom ecosystem. But its focus is the meeting, the presentation, the huddle — not the times in between. It lacks digital signage functionality, and isn’t compatible with third-party players.

Pano gives users:

Device-agnostic access, though with relatively poor support for Linux

Security-conscious design including secure boot and encrypted content

Polycom’s Pano is best used as part of a wider strategic investment, and it’s one that’s better suited to businesses than to education. Pano’s pricing is custom through the Polycom sales team.

More From Our Blog

Implementing Digital Guest Directories in Small Bed and Breakfasts

Exploring the Benefits of Interactive Building Directories in Enhancing User Experience

How Does Digital Signage Enhance Business Intelligence?

Keep your displays interesting - pick new templates every week.

Every week, we send Template recommendations that will make you look great and improve your audience experience. And the best part, they save up to 16 hours of content creation time every week.

Not convinced? Check out the email we sent last week .

Digital signage doesn’t have to be difficult. We make it easy or your money back. 30 days risk-free.

1-866-770-1150 • [email protected] • Help Center

• How Rise Vision Works
• Weekly Playbook
• Press Releases
• Digital Menu Boards
• Emergency Alerts
• Digital Directory
• Digital Donor Wall
• Digital Hall of Fame
• Social Media Wall
• Digital Reader Board

• PRESENTATION SKILLS

What is a Presentation?

Search SkillsYouNeed:

Presentation Skills:

• A - Z List of Presentation Skills
• Top Tips for Effective Presentations
• General Presentation Skills
• Preparing for a Presentation
• Organising the Material
• Writing Your Presentation
• Deciding the Presentation Method
• Managing your Presentation Notes
• Working with Visual Aids
• Presenting Data
• Managing the Event
• Coping with Presentation Nerves
• Dealing with Questions
• How to Build Presentations Like a Consultant
• 7 Qualities of Good Speakers That Can Help You Be More Successful
• Self-Presentation in Presentations
• Specific Presentation Events
• Remote Meetings and Presentations
• Giving a Speech
• Presentations in Interviews
• Presenting to Large Groups and Conferences
• Giving Lectures and Seminars
• Managing a Press Conference
• Attending Public Consultation Meetings
• Managing a Public Consultation Meeting
• Crisis Communications
• Elsewhere on Skills You Need:
• Communication Skills
• Facilitation Skills
• Teams, Groups and Meetings
• Effective Speaking
• Question Types

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and start improving your life in just 5 minutes a day.

You'll get our 5 free 'One Minute Life Skills' and our weekly newsletter.

We'll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time.

The formal presentation of information is divided into two broad categories: Presentation Skills and Personal Presentation .

These two aspects are interwoven and can be described as the preparation, presentation and practice of verbal and non-verbal communication. 

This article describes what a presentation is and defines some of the key terms associated with presentation skills.

Many people feel terrified when asked to make their first public talk.  Some of these initial fears can be reduced by good preparation that also lays the groundwork for making an effective presentation.

A Presentation Is...

A presentation is a means of communication that can be adapted to various speaking situations, such as talking to a group, addressing a meeting or briefing a team.

A presentation can also be used as a broad term that encompasses other ‘speaking engagements’ such as making a speech at a wedding, or getting a point across in a video conference.

To be effective, step-by-step preparation and the method and means of presenting the information should be carefully considered. 

A presentation requires you to get a message across to the listeners and will often contain a ' persuasive ' element. It may, for example, be a talk about the positive work of your organisation, what you could offer an employer, or why you should receive additional funding for a project.

The Key Elements of a Presentation

Making a presentation is a way of communicating your thoughts and ideas to an audience and many of our articles on communication are also relevant here, see: What is Communication? for more.

Consider the following key components of a presentation:

Ask yourself the following questions to develop a full understanding of the context of the presentation.

When and where will you deliver your presentation?

There is a world of difference between a small room with natural light and an informal setting, and a huge lecture room, lit with stage lights. The two require quite different presentations, and different techniques.

Will it be in a setting you are familiar with, or somewhere new?

If somewhere new, it would be worth trying to visit it in advance, or at least arriving early, to familiarise yourself with the room.

Will the presentation be within a formal or less formal setting?

A work setting will, more or less by definition, be more formal, but there are also various degrees of formality within that.

Will the presentation be to a small group or a large crowd?

Are you already familiar with the audience?

With a new audience, you will have to build rapport quickly and effectively, to get them on your side.

What equipment and technology will be available to you, and what will you be expected to use?

In particular, you will need to ask about microphones and whether you will be expected to stand in one place, or move around.

What is the audience expecting to learn from you and your presentation?

Check how you will be ‘billed’ to give you clues as to what information needs to be included in your presentation.

All these aspects will change the presentation. For more on this, see our page on Deciding the Presentation Method .

The role of the presenter is to communicate with the audience and control the presentation.

Remember, though, that this may also include handing over the control to your audience, especially if you want some kind of interaction.

You may wish to have a look at our page on Facilitation Skills for more.

The audience receives the presenter’s message(s).

However, this reception will be filtered through and affected by such things as the listener’s own experience, knowledge and personal sense of values.

See our page: Barriers to Effective Communication to learn why communication can fail.

The message or messages are delivered by the presenter to the audience.

The message is delivered not just by the spoken word ( verbal communication ) but can be augmented by techniques such as voice projection, body language, gestures, eye contact ( non-verbal communication ), and visual aids.

The message will also be affected by the audience’s expectations. For example, if you have been billed as speaking on one particular topic, and you choose to speak on another, the audience is unlikely to take your message on board even if you present very well . They will judge your presentation a failure, because you have not met their expectations.

The audience’s reaction and therefore the success of the presentation will largely depend upon whether you, as presenter, effectively communicated your message, and whether it met their expectations.

As a presenter, you don’t control the audience’s expectations. What you can do is find out what they have been told about you by the conference organisers, and what they are expecting to hear. Only if you know that can you be confident of delivering something that will meet expectations.

See our page: Effective Speaking for more information.

How will the presentation be delivered?

Presentations are usually delivered direct to an audience.  However, there may be occasions where they are delivered from a distance over the Internet using video conferencing systems, such as Skype.

It is also important to remember that if your talk is recorded and posted on the internet, then people may be able to access it for several years. This will mean that your contemporaneous references should be kept to a minimum.

Impediments

Many factors can influence the effectiveness of how your message is communicated to the audience.

For example background noise or other distractions, an overly warm or cool room, or the time of day and state of audience alertness can all influence your audience’s level of concentration.

As presenter, you have to be prepared to cope with any such problems and try to keep your audience focussed on your message.   

Our page: Barriers to Communication explains these factors in more depth.

Continue to read through our Presentation Skills articles for an overview of how to prepare and structure a presentation, and how to manage notes and/or illustrations at any speaking event.

Continue to: Preparing for a Presentation Deciding the Presentation Method

See also: Writing Your Presentation | Working with Visual Aids Coping with Presentation Nerves | Dealing with Questions Learn Better Presentation Skills with TED Talks

• BEGINNER TRAINING
• ADVANCED PRESENTATION TRAINING
• CORPORATE PRESENTATION TRAINING
• PRESENTATION SKILLS COACHING
• TRAINING OUTLINE
• PRESENTATION REFRESHER
• REFER A COLLEAGUE
• PRESENTATION REHEARSAL
• PRESENTATION REVIEW
• PRESENTATION SEMINAR
• ADVANCED TRAINING
• CORPORATE TRAINING
• ONLINE COURSE
• PUBLIC SPEAKING COACHING
• PUBLIC SPEAKING REFRESHER
• SPEECH REHEARSAL
• EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION TIPS
• CONFIDENT PRESENTATION TIPS
• SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATION TIPS
• PRESENTATION DESIGN TIPS
• PUBLIC SPEAKING TIPS
• TIPS FOR SPEAKERS
• PRESENTATION VIDEOS
• What’s the Purpose of a Presentation? What You Need to Know
• Presentation Tips You Should Know
• Use These Effective Presentation Tips and Succeed

What's the purpose of a presentation? You might well think that there's a simple answer. But, of course there isn't. That's because the purpose of your presentation depends on you, the presenter. That's right. What is it that you want to achieve with your audience? And, of course, that's the starting point for some serious work.

What's The Purpose Of A Presentation?

Because your job is to achieve results with your audience. That's results set against your own objectives.

So, what do you want to achieve? To help, you can phrase another question, along the lines of…" what do you want your audience to understand after your presentation ?

You want your audience to…

• Understand something,
• Know something,
• Believe something, or
• Do something

You plan to achieve a result with your audience, all because of your presentation. And that result is a change in their understanding . Or a change in their knowledge or beliefs . Or, perhaps your audience will choose to do something, all because of your presentation.

So, that's the purpose of a presentation. It's your purpose…your objective for your own presentation. So, it's not important whether it's a PowerPoint or a Keynote presentation. Your purpose is what really matters.

What's Your Purpose?

And, if you don't have a rationale for your presentation?

Then you need one. Because without purpose your presentation won't work. Your purpose for your presentation drives everything:

• Your points
• Your examples
• And, your evidence with which you illustrate your points

And, as your presentation is the best way to forge a communication with your audience, then now is the time to get cracking with a purpose for your presentation.

All the best public speakers have an answer to the question, " why give a speech ?" And so should all of us.

You can always discover more presentation tips with our regular series of podcast and video tips. And, when you are ready for more intensive learning, then you can always join us on a presentation course or ask us to organise a coaching session. Please don't hesitate to get in touch when the time is right.

Contact Details

Please don't hesitate to get in touch for presentation course advice.

Phone number

01344 859823

Email Address

[email protected]

"In the dim background of our mind, we know what we ought to be doing but somehow we cannot start."

William James

Related Tips

5 ways to a fully prepared presentation, how to handle feedback after your presentation, grow in confidence with these office party presentation skills, how to be a dynamic communicator with your presentations, 10 ways to improve your powerpoint presentation skills, how to finish your presentation with a bang, how you can achieve a title effect for your next presentation, how to point, turn and talk with powerpoint, how to be a confident presenter with better rehearsal skills, how to take questions during a presentation, how to manage time as a presenter, how to engage an audience in a presentation with a theme, join our mailing list to get the latest updates.

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

12.2 Functions of Presentation Aids

Why should you use presentation aids? If you have prepared and rehearsed your speech adequately, shouldn’t a good speech with a good delivery be enough to stand on its own? While it is true that impressive presentation aids will not rescue a poor speech, a good speech can often be made even better by the strategic use of presentation aids. Presentation aids can fulfill several functions: they can serve to improve your audience’s understanding of the information you are conveying, enhance audience memory and retention of the message, add variety and interest to your speech, and enhance your credibility as a speaker. Let’s examine each of these functions.

Improving Audience Understanding

Human communication is a complex process that often leads to misunderstandings. Most people can easily remember incidents when they misunderstood a message or when someone else misunderstood what they said to them. Misunderstandings happen in public speaking just as they do in everyday conversations.

One reason for misunderstandings is the fact that perception and interpretation are highly complex individual processes. Most of us have seen the image in which, depending on your perception, you see either the outline of a vase or the facial profiles of two people facing each other. Or perhaps you have seen the image of the woman who may or may not be young, depending on your frame of reference at the time. This shows how interpretations can differ, and it means that your presentations must be based on careful thought and preparation to maximize the likelihood that your listeners will understand your presentations as you intend them to do so (you can see these images at http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/Creative/Drawing/vases.htm ).

As a speaker, one of your basic goals is to help your audience understand your message. To reduce misunderstanding, presentation aids can be used to clarify or to emphasize.

Clarification is important in a speech because if some of the information you convey is unclear, your listeners will come away puzzled or possibly even misled. Presentation aids can help clarify a message if the information is complex or if the point being made is a visual one.

If your speech is about the impact of the Coriolis effect on tropical storms, for instance, you will have great difficulty clarifying it without a diagram because the process is a complex one. The diagram in Figure 12.1 (“Coriolis effect”) would be effective because it shows the audience the interaction between equatorial wind patterns and wind patterns moving in other directions. The diagram allows the audience to process the information in two ways: through your verbal explanation and through the visual elements of the diagram. By the way, the Coriolis Effect is defined as “an effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force (the Coriolis force) acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation. On the earth, the effect tends to deflect moving objects to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern and is important in the formation of cyclonic weather systems.” You can see why a picture really helps with this definition.

Figure 12.2 (“Model of Communication”) is another example of a diagram that maps out the process of human communication. In this image, you clearly have a speaker and an audience with the labels of source, channel, message, receivers, and feedback to illustrate a basic model of human communication. As with most models, it is simplified (can you remember what two components of the communication process, explained in Chapter 1, are missing here?).

Another aspect of clarifying occurs when a speaker wants to help audience members understand a visual concept. For example, if a speaker is talking about the importance of petroglyphs in Native American culture, just describing the petroglyphs won’t completely help your audience to visualize what they look like. Instead, showing an example of a petroglyph, as in Figure 12.3 (“Petroglyph”) can more easily help your audience form a clear mental image of your intended meaning.

Emphasizing

When you use a presentational aid for emphasis, you impress your listeners with the importance of an idea. In a speech on water conservation, you might try to show the environmental proportions of the resource. When you use a conceptual drawing like the one in Figure 12.4 (“Planetary Water Supply”), you show that if the world water supply were equal to ten gallons, only ten drops would be available and drinkable for human or household consumption. This drawing is effective because it emphasizes the scarcity of useful water and thus draws attention to this important information in your speech.

Another way of emphasizing that can be done visually is to zoom in on a specific aspect of interest within your speech. In Figure 12.5 (“Chinese Lettering Amplified”), we see a visual aid used in a speech on the importance of various parts of Chinese characters. On the left side of the visual aid, we see how the characters all fit together, with an emphasized version of a single character on the right.

So, clarifying and emphasizing are two roles that support the “Improving Audience Understanding” purpose of presentation aids. What are other purposes?

Aiding Retention and Recall

The second function that presentation aids can serve is to increase the audience’s chances of remembering your speech. An article by the U.S. Department of Labor (1996) summarized research on how people learn and remember. The authors found that “83% of human learning occurs visually, and the remaining 17% through the other senses—11% through hearing, 3.5% through smell, 1% through taste, and 1.5% through touch.”

For this reason, exposure to an image can serve as a memory aid to your listeners. When your graphic images deliver information effectively and when your listeners understand them clearly, audience members are likely to remember your message long after your speech is over. Moreover, people often are able to remember information that is presented in sequential steps more easily than if that information is presented in an unorganized pattern. When you use a presentation aid to display the organization of your speech (such as can be done with PowerPoint slides), you will help your listeners to observe, follow, and remember the sequence of information you conveyed to them. This is why some instructors display a lecture outline for their students to follow during class and why a slide with a preview of your main points can be helpful as you move into the body of your speech.

An added plus of using presentation aids is that they can boost your memory while you are speaking. Using your presentation aids while you rehearse your speech will familiarize you with the association between a given place in your speech and the presentation aid that accompanies that material.

Adding Variety and Interest

A third function of presentation aids is simply to make your speech more interesting. For example, wouldn’t a speech on varieties of roses have greater impact if you accompanied your remarks with a picture of each rose? You can imagine that your audience would be even more engaged if you had the ability to display an actual flower of each variety in a bud vase. Similarly, if you were speaking to a group of gourmet chefs about Indian spices, you might want to provide tiny samples of spices that they could smell and taste during your speech.

Enhancing a Speaker’s Credibility

Presentation aids alone will not be enough to create a professional image. As we mentioned earlier, impressive presentation aids will not rescue a poor speech. Even if you give a good speech, you run the risk of appearing unprofessional if your presentation aids are poorly executed. Conversely, a high quality presentation will contribute to your professional image. This means that in addition to containing important information, your presentation aids must be clear, clean, uncluttered, organized, and large enough for the audience to see and interpret correctly. Misspellings and poorly designed presentation aids can damage your credibility as a speaker. In addition, make sure that you give proper credit to the source of any presentation aids that you take from other sources. Using a statistical chart or a map without proper credit will detract from your credibility, just as using a quotation in your speech without credit would. This situation will usually take place with digital aids such as PowerPoint slides. The source of a chart or the data shown in a chart form should be cited at the bottom of the slide.

If you focus your efforts on producing presentation aids that contribute effectively to your meaning, that look professional, and that are handled well, your audience will most likely appreciate your efforts and pay close attention to your message. That attention will help them learn or understand your topic in a new way and will thus help the audience see you as a knowledgeable, competent, and credible speaker. With the prevalence of digital communication, the audience expectation of quality visual aids has increased.

Avoiding Problems with Presentation Aids

Using presentation aids can come with some risks. However, with a little forethought and adequate practice, you can choose presentation aids that enhance your message and boost your professional appearance in front of an audience. One principle to keep in mind is to use only as many presentation aids as necessary to present your message or to fulfill your classroom assignment. The number and the technical sophistication of your presentation aids should never overshadow your speech.

Another important consideration is technology. Keep your presentation aids within the limits of the working technology available to you.  Whether or not your technology works on the day of your speech, you will still have to present. What will you do if the computer file containing your slides is corrupted? What will you do if the easel is broken? What if you had counted on stacking your visuals on a table that disappears right when you need it? Or the Internet connection is down for a YouTube video you plan to show?

You must be prepared to adapt to an uncomfortable and scary situation. This is why we urge students to go to the classroom well ahead of time to test the equipment and ascertain the condition of the items they’re planning to use. As the speaker, you are responsible for arranging the things you need to make your presentation aids work as intended. Carry a roll of masking tape so you can display your poster even if the easel is gone. Test the computer setup. Have your slides on a flash drive AND send them to yourself as an attachment or upload to a Cloud service. Have an alternative plan prepared in case there is some glitch that prevents your computer-based presentation aids from being usable. And of course, you must know how to use the technology.

More important than the method of delivery is the audience’s ability to see and understand the presentation aid. It must deliver clear information, and it must not distract from the message. Avoid overly elaborate presentation aids. Instead, simplify as much as possible, emphasizing the information you want your audience to understand.

Another thing to remember is that presentation aids do not “speak for themselves.” When you display a visual aid, you should explain what it shows, pointing out and naming the most important features. If you use an audio aid such as a musical excerpt, you need to tell your audience what to listen for. Similarly, if you use a video clip, it is up to you as the speaker to point out the characteristics in the video that support the point you are making—but probably beforehand, so you are not speaking over the video. At the same time, a visual aid should be quickly accessible to the audience. This is where simplicity comes in. Just as in organization of a speech you would not want to use 20 main points, but more like 3-5, you should limit categories of information on a visual aid.

It’s About Them: Public Speaking in the 21st Century Copyright © 2022 by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Improve your practice.

Enhance your soft skills with a range of award-winning courses.

How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples

August 3, 2018 - Dom Barnard

For many people the thought of delivering a presentation is a daunting task and brings about a  great deal of nerves . However, if you take some time to understand how effective presentations are structured and then apply this structure to your own presentation, you’ll appear much more confident and relaxed.

Here is our complete guide for structuring your presentation, with examples at the end of the article to demonstrate these points.

Why is structuring a presentation so important?

If you’ve ever sat through a great presentation, you’ll have left feeling either inspired or informed on a given topic. This isn’t because the speaker was the most knowledgeable or motivating person in the world. Instead, it’s because they know how to structure presentations – they have crafted their message in a logical and simple way that has allowed the audience can keep up with them and take away key messages.

Research has supported this, with studies showing that audiences retain structured information  40% more accurately  than unstructured information.

In fact, not only is structuring a presentation important for the benefit of the audience’s understanding, it’s also important for you as the speaker. A good structure helps you remain calm, stay on topic, and avoid any awkward silences.

What will affect your presentation structure?

Generally speaking, there is a natural flow that any decent presentation will follow which we will go into shortly. However, you should be aware that all presentation structures will be different in their own unique way and this will be due to a number of factors, including:

• Whether you need to deliver any demonstrations
• How  knowledgeable the audience  already is on the given subject
• How much interaction you want from the audience
• Any time constraints there are for your talk
• What setting you are in
• Your ability to use any kinds of visual assistance

Before choosing the presentation’s structure answer these questions first:

• What is your presentation’s aim?
• Who are the audience?
• What are the main points your audience should remember afterwards?

When reading the points below, think critically about what things may cause your presentation structure to be slightly different. You can add in certain elements and add more focus to certain moments if that works better for your speech.

What is the typical presentation structure?

This is the usual flow of a presentation, which covers all the vital sections and is a good starting point for yours. It allows your audience to easily follow along and sets out a solid structure you can add your content to.

1. Greet the audience and introduce yourself

Before you start delivering your talk, introduce yourself to the audience and clarify who you are and your relevant expertise. This does not need to be long or incredibly detailed, but will help build an immediate relationship between you and the audience. It gives you the chance to briefly clarify your expertise and why you are worth listening to. This will help establish your ethos so the audience will trust you more and think you’re credible.

Read our tips on  How to Start a Presentation Effectively

2. Introduction

In the introduction you need to explain the subject and purpose of your presentation whilst gaining the audience’s interest and confidence. It’s sometimes helpful to think of your introduction as funnel-shaped to help filter down your topic:

• Introduce your general topic
• Explain your topic area
• State the issues/challenges in this area you will be exploring
• State your presentation’s purpose – this is the basis of your presentation so ensure that you provide a statement explaining how the topic will be treated, for example, “I will argue that…” or maybe you will “compare”, “analyse”, “evaluate”, “describe” etc.
• Provide a statement of what you’re hoping the outcome of the presentation will be, for example, “I’m hoping this will be provide you with…”
• Show a preview of the organisation of your presentation

In this section also explain:

• The length of the talk.
• Signal whether you want audience interaction – some presenters prefer the audience to ask questions throughout whereas others allocate a specific section for this.
• If it applies, inform the audience whether to take notes or whether you will be providing handouts.

The way you structure your introduction can depend on the amount of time you have been given to present: a  sales pitch  may consist of a quick presentation so you may begin with your conclusion and then provide the evidence. Conversely, a speaker presenting their idea for change in the world would be better suited to start with the evidence and then conclude what this means for the audience.

Keep in mind that the main aim of the introduction is to grab the audience’s attention and connect with them.

3. The main body of your talk

The main body of your talk needs to meet the promises you made in the introduction. Depending on the nature of your presentation, clearly segment the different topics you will be discussing, and then work your way through them one at a time – it’s important for everything to be organised logically for the audience to fully understand. There are many different ways to organise your main points, such as, by priority, theme, chronologically etc.

• Main points should be addressed one by one with supporting evidence and examples.
• Before moving on to the next point you should provide a mini-summary.
• Links should be clearly stated between ideas and you must make it clear when you’re moving onto the next point.
• Allow time for people to take relevant notes and stick to the topics you have prepared beforehand rather than straying too far off topic.

When planning your presentation write a list of main points you want to make and ask yourself “What I am telling the audience? What should they understand from this?” refining your answers this way will help you produce clear messages.

4. Conclusion

In presentations the conclusion is frequently underdeveloped and lacks purpose which is a shame as it’s the best place to reinforce your messages. Typically, your presentation has a specific goal – that could be to convert a number of the audience members into customers, lead to a certain number of enquiries to make people knowledgeable on specific key points, or to motivate them towards a shared goal.

Regardless of what that goal is, be sure to summarise your main points and their implications. This clarifies the overall purpose of your talk and reinforces your reason for being there.

Follow these steps:

• Signal that it’s nearly the end of your presentation, for example, “As we wrap up/as we wind down the talk…”
• Restate the topic and purpose of your presentation – “In this speech I wanted to compare…”
• Summarise the main points, including their implications and conclusions
• Indicate what is next/a call to action/a thought-provoking takeaway
• Move on to the last section

5. Thank the audience and invite questions

Conclude your talk by thanking the audience for their time and invite them to  ask any questions  they may have. As mentioned earlier, personal circumstances will affect the structure of your presentation.

Many presenters prefer to make the Q&A session the key part of their talk and try to speed through the main body of the presentation. This is totally fine, but it is still best to focus on delivering some sort of initial presentation to set the tone and topics for discussion in the Q&A.

Other common presentation structures

The above was a description of a basic presentation, here are some more specific presentation layouts:

Demonstration

Use the demonstration structure when you have something useful to show. This is usually used when you want to show how a product works. Steve Jobs frequently used this technique in his presentations.

• Explain why the product is valuable.
• Describe why the product is necessary.
• Explain what problems it can solve for the audience.
• Demonstrate the product  to support what you’ve been saying.
• Make suggestions of other things it can do to make the audience curious.

Problem-solution

This structure is particularly useful in persuading the audience.

• Briefly frame the issue.
• Go into the issue in detail showing why it ‘s such a problem. Use logos and pathos for this – the logical and emotional appeals.
• Provide the solution and explain why this would also help the audience.
• Call to action – something you want the audience to do which is straightforward and pertinent to the solution.

Storytelling

As well as incorporating  stories in your presentation , you can organise your whole presentation as a story. There are lots of different type of story structures you can use – a popular choice is the monomyth – the hero’s journey. In a monomyth, a hero goes on a difficult journey or takes on a challenge – they move from the familiar into the unknown. After facing obstacles and ultimately succeeding the hero returns home, transformed and with newfound wisdom.

Storytelling for Business Success  webinar , where well-know storyteller Javier Bernad shares strategies for crafting compelling narratives.

Another popular choice for using a story to structure your presentation is in media ras (in the middle of thing). In this type of story you launch right into the action by providing a snippet/teaser of what’s happening and then you start explaining the events that led to that event. This is engaging because you’re starting your story at the most exciting part which will make the audience curious – they’ll want to know how you got there.

• Great storytelling: Examples from Alibaba Founder, Jack Ma

Remaining method

The remaining method structure is good for situations where you’re presenting your perspective on a controversial topic which has split people’s opinions.

• Go into the issue in detail showing why it’s such a problem – use logos and pathos.
• Rebut your opponents’ solutions  – explain why their solutions could be useful because the audience will see this as fair and will therefore think you’re trustworthy, and then explain why you think these solutions are not valid.
• After you’ve presented all the alternatives provide your solution, the remaining solution. This is very persuasive because it looks like the winning idea, especially with the audience believing that you’re fair and trustworthy.

Transitions

When delivering presentations it’s important for your words and ideas to flow so your audience can understand how everything links together and why it’s all relevant. This can be done  using speech transitions  which are words and phrases that allow you to smoothly move from one point to another so that your speech flows and your presentation is unified.

Transitions can be one word, a phrase or a full sentence – there are many different forms, here are some examples:

Moving from the introduction to the first point

Signify to the audience that you will now begin discussing the first main point:

• Now that you’re aware of the overview, let’s begin with…
• First, let’s begin with…
• I will first cover…
• My first point covers…
• To get started, let’s look at…

Shifting between similar points

Move from one point to a similar one:

• In the same way…
• Likewise…
• Equally…
• This is similar to…
• Similarly…

Internal summaries

Internal summarising consists of summarising before moving on to the next point. You must inform the audience:

• What part of the presentation you covered – “In the first part of this speech we’ve covered…”
• What the key points were – “Precisely how…”
• How this links in with the overall presentation – “So that’s the context…”
• What you’re moving on to – “Now I’d like to move on to the second part of presentation which looks at…”

Physical movement

You can move your body and your standing location when you transition to another point. The audience find it easier to follow your presentation and movement will increase their interest.

A common technique for incorporating movement into your presentation is to:

• Start your introduction by standing in the centre of the stage.
• For your first point you stand on the left side of the stage.
• You discuss your second point from the centre again.
• You stand on the right side of the stage for your third point.
• The conclusion occurs in the centre.

Key slides for your presentation

Slides are a useful tool for most presentations: they can greatly assist in the delivery of your message and help the audience follow along with what you are saying. Key slides include:

• An intro slide outlining your ideas
• A  summary slide  with core points to remember
• High quality image slides to supplement what you are saying

There are some presenters who choose not to use slides at all, though this is more of a rarity. Slides can be a powerful tool if used properly, but the problem is that many fail to do just that. Here are some golden rules to follow when using slides in a presentation:

• Don’t over fill them  – your slides are there to assist your speech, rather than be the focal point. They should have as little information as possible, to avoid distracting people from your talk.
• A picture says a thousand words  – instead of filling a slide with text, instead, focus on one or two images or diagrams to help support and explain the point you are discussing at that time.
• Make them readable  – depending on the size of your audience, some may not be able to see small text or images, so make everything large enough to fill the space.
• Don’t rush through slides  – give the audience enough time to digest each slide.

Guy Kawasaki, an entrepreneur and author, suggests that slideshows should follow a  10-20-30 rule :

• There should be a maximum of 10 slides – people rarely remember more than one concept afterwards so there’s no point overwhelming them with unnecessary information.
• The presentation should last no longer than 20 minutes as this will leave time for questions and discussion.
• The font size should be a minimum of 30pt because the audience reads faster than you talk so less information on the slides means that there is less chance of the audience being distracted.

Here are some additional resources for slide design:

• 7 design tips for effective, beautiful PowerPoint presentations
• 11 design tips for beautiful presentations
• 10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea

Group Presentations

Group presentations are structured in the same way as presentations with one speaker but usually require more rehearsal and practices.  Clean transitioning between speakers  is very important in producing a presentation that flows well. One way of doing this consists of:

• Briefly recap on what you covered in your section: “So that was a brief introduction on what health anxiety is and how it can affect somebody”
• Introduce the next speaker in the team and explain what they will discuss: “Now Elnaz will talk about the prevalence of health anxiety.”
• Then end by looking at the next speaker, gesturing towards them and saying their name: “Elnaz”.
• The next speaker should acknowledge this with a quick: “Thank you Joe.”

From this example you can see how the different sections of the presentations link which makes it easier for the audience to follow and remain engaged.

Example of great presentation structure and delivery

Having examples of great presentations will help inspire your own structures, here are a few such examples, each unique and inspiring in their own way.

How Google Works – by Eric Schmidt

This presentation by ex-Google CEO  Eric Schmidt  demonstrates some of the most important lessons he and his team have learnt with regards to working with some of the most talented individuals they hired. The simplistic yet cohesive style of all of the slides is something to be appreciated. They are relatively straightforward, yet add power and clarity to the narrative of the presentation.

Start with why – by Simon Sinek

Since being released in 2009, this presentation has been viewed almost four million times all around the world. The message itself is very powerful, however, it’s not an idea that hasn’t been heard before. What makes this presentation so powerful is the simple message he is getting across, and the straightforward and understandable manner in which he delivers it. Also note that he doesn’t use any slides, just a whiteboard where he creates a simple diagram of his opinion.

What is a Wireless Presentation Display?

A wireless presentation display (WPD) is a display with integrated connectivity used for presentations and collaboration. The systems are designed to work the same as more complex wireless presentation systems, but offering the same collaboration and connectivity in a fully integrated system. Uses include meeting rooms, training rooms, classrooms, commercial displays, and office communications.

Learn more about wireless presentation displays and their function below. Or see ViewSonic’s solution here .

Just setting up for a meeting and getting presenters connected can waste valuable time. As meetings are already a huge time commitment , it’s essential to minimize wasted time (and the frustration it causes).

Existing solutions include projectors, interactive whiteboards, and complex wireless presentation systems, but some situations call for a simpler – but still elegant – device in the form of a wireless presentation display.

What is a Wireless Presentation Display (WPD)?

A wireless presentation display is an all-in-one presentation system including simple wireless connectivity, screen sharing, and an integrated multimedia display. Their purpose is to make content sharing easier with no cables and no interruptions from switching sources.

A WPD should also include the ability to share multiple screens at once – even from multiple locations – allowing for easier collaboration during meetings and presentations. They should also support videoconferencing peripherals in the form of cameras and microphones.

How Is It Different from a Wireless Presentation System?

A wireless presentation system (WPS) is a hardware solution for integrating multiple other devices into a wireless system. Usually, it is a box that physically connects some combination of stand-alone displays, wireless routers, cameras, microphones, and other necessary peripherals.

Standard displays without built-in wireless connectivity also require external dongles to attach new devices, a problem that WPDs address by allowing known users to connect automatically through an application.

Why Use a Wireless Presentation Display?

Wireless presentation displays shine in situations where one or many devices are going to connect to the same shared display. The device makes it easy to connect wirelessly from anywhere in the room and switch displays without interrupting the presentation, so it’s great for teams that frequently meet and collaborate.

Given their wireless connectivity, WPDs also make it easier for IT to manage the devices. Especially handy in large organizations, an IT manager can change configurations and directly share content over the network instead of having to manually address every problem.

Wireless presentation displays also fill a specific need between projectors and interactive whiteboards, though all three are displays well suited to certain situations.

While they typically have a lower initial cost, projectors have a higher total cost of ownership (TCO) than flat-panel displays due to regular maintenance and a larger number of moving parts that could break (e.g. fans). Also, unless you’re using a fixed projector with wireless integration, there’s a good chance you’ll have to spend time calibrating the device each time you use it.

On the other hand, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are a more advanced – and more expensive – option that takes advantage of a flat-panel display and add touchscreen functionality for digital whiteboarding. However, the additional functions may not be necessary or even interfere with the regular use of the display. Using a touch screen also requires close proximity, which can block many viewing angles for large teams’ collaborations.

Common Uses for a Wireless Presentation Display

As one of several devices available, it’s important to know where a WPD is actually the best choice. The easy connectivity, screen sharing, and image quality combined with a reasonably priced, integrated system certainly benefit a number of environments.

• Meeting rooms, conference rooms, and huddle spaces are the most likely candidates for a wirelessly connected display. It’s an ideal solution for presentations and collaboration from individual devices, especially when multiple screens are shared at once. And since most meetings happen while everyone is in their seats, a large touchscreen display isn’t strictly necessary.
• Training rooms can also use the combined connectivity and screen sharing of wireless presentation displays, especially with 2-way screencasting. Even if the trainee can’t see the main display, the trainer can share their screen with everyone with the click of a button. A larger training venue – or even a school – could even cast to multiple large WPDs simultaneously.
• Small- and medium-sized classrooms are also good places for a front-of-classroom display like this. They work especially well where the lesson format is mostly lectures, especially in higher education, or as one of several classroom projector alternatives .
• Commercial display in retail outlets and public spaces was one of the original functions of large-format displays like WPDs. Going wireless has the additional benefit of reducing the need for data cables and other problematic infrastructure. Keep displays up to date with nothing more than a power source.
• Office communications is a more novel use for digital displays, but one that has a lot of merits. Having high-quality, dynamic displays around the office is a great way to improve internal communication and employee engagement. Learn more about improving communications with digital signage here .

When NOT to Use a Wireless Presentation Display

Wireless presentation displays are a great addition to presentations, except when there’s a better option.

• Very small collaborative spaces like two-person huddle rooms probably don’t need such a large shared display. A more reasonably sized monitor either on the table or mounted on the wall could do the job just fine. Bigger isn’t always better, so be sure to choose the right device for the space.
• Large spaces like lecture halls or auditoriums probably aren’t well suited to the fixed size of a flat-panel display. A projector with a high lumen count that can produce larger images might be a better choice for larger spaces and audiences.
• Interactive presentations like frequent brainstorming or lessons often require a more direct path towards annotating and manipulating objects on the screen. When it’s necessary to regularly interact with the displayed content, interactive whiteboards are a better choice.

Final Thoughts

The wireless presentation display (WPD) is a new class of collaborative display. It simplifies the setup and operation of a shared screen by integrating all the necessary hardware and software to provide a streamlined collaborative device. By occupying a space between a clunky, jury-rigged conference room TV and a more advanced interactive whiteboard, WPDs offer a solution to organizations looking to move away from projectors without breaking the bank on unnecessary features.

Learn more about the ViewSonic CDE7520 wireless presentation solution. Or get a run-down on effective meetings here .

RELATED ARTICLES

Entertainment  |  Nov 27 2023

Commercial Projectors for Digital Signage: A Buying Guide​

Learn the key factors when choosing a commercial projector for digital signage and explore the real-use scenarios across applications.

Ergonomics  |  Nov 20 2023

Monitor with Webcam: Everything You Need to Know

Discover the benefits and key features to consider when selecting a video conferencing monitor, making your decision-making process a breeze.

Tech  |  Nov 03 2023

Buying an Office Projector: 5 Things to Consider 

Looking to buy an office projector? This article covers the 5 essential factors you need to consider before making your purchase.

Gaming  |  Nov 03 2023

Finding The Right Portable Monitor for Laptop: What You Need to Know

From top technology to vital features, here’s all you need to know to find your perfect portable monitor for laptop.

SELECT YOUR REGION

Asia pacific & africa.

One Platform...

your teams need to sell more. And a team of Revenue Enablement experts to keep you armed with the latest technology and the best techniques. All in one place.

ChatGPT Knowledgebase

Content management, guided selling, sales management, learning & readiness, data subscription, solutions to support your entire revenue team..

Solutions to support your entire revenue team. From leadership to managers to operations to reps—we cover dozens and dozens of use cases. The data and tools your teams need to sell more effectively. All in one place.

Marketing Teams

Sales Teams

Sales Enablement

Customer Teams

Data & Operations

uncategorised

What is Presentation Software?

Why a great presentation software is crucial to the success of organization

Any experienced salesperson knows that words can only get you so far. You can articulate the features and benefits of your product or service to perfection. But eventually, the prospect will want to see it for themselves.

This is especially true in the world of software. Where users spend hours navigating apps, sites, and programs as part of their daily responsibilities.

According to research gathered by 3M (known for their invention of the Post-It Note) visuals are processed by the human brain 60,000 times faster than text.

Presentations can truly make or break a prospect’s experience with your brand. A great presentation is engaging and conveys value through visuals. And it helps prospects visualize themselves as beneficiaries of your product or service.

What is presentation software?

A presentation software (sometimes called a presentation program) is a digital tool. It utilizes sequences of graphics, text, audio, and video to accompany a spoken presentation. These sequences, often called slides, are consolidated in virtual files called “slide decks.”

Presentation software across the web vary greatly in their capabilities, but they must offer at least three essential features:

• A text editor with custom formatting
• A means of inserting, editing, and resizing digital graphic
• A slideshow system for displaying these visuals sequentially

Some presentation programs, like Microsoft PowerPoint, must be downloaded onto a computer’s hard drive before they can be used. Others, like Google Slides and Prezi, can be accessed from an internet browser.

Why is a Good Presentation Software Important?

Oftentimes, if a prospect agrees to view a presentation, you’ve at least piqued their interest.

You’ve likely spent some time on the phone or exchanged a few emails. Perhaps the prospect has visited your website a couple times. They’re likely not sold on you and actively forming their opinion of your brand.

This is why it’s imperative that your first presentation is a slam dunk. When a prospect sees you, your brand, and your product on display, you want them to leave excited for the benefits you can offer them.

A great presentation software gives you the tools and functionality you need to create a winning presentation. And create it quickly and easily.

In addition to usability, below are more benefits a good presentation software can bring to your organization.

Consolidation of information

A great slide deck combined with quality content is often one of the best single sources of sales information in your company.

Most sales decks contain a complete pitch all the way from pain point identification to feature/benefit pairings. Testimonials, best practices, and case studies are often scattered throughout.

This means you have a single file you can hand off to new sales reps for training. Or, if you need to pull a testimonial from a happy customer, you can find it in the slide deck. This one-stop shop for valuable sales information is made possible by a good presentation software.

Mobility for reps on the go

If your sales reps are doing a lot of physical site visits, having a mobile sales presentation that they can carry around in their pockets is a whole lot easier than lugging around a laptop. Almost every modern presentation software offers robust mobile functionality.

Having the consolidated information mentioned in the last point available at all times is a powerful asset for the rep doing on-site visits or demos.

For an example of how impactful a mobile presentation can be, check The Real Problem of Humanity as it pertains to technology by Tristan Harris.

Consistency across the team

Most presentation solutions allow for the creation of custom templates. This, combined with a “master slide deck” means that you can ensure greater alignment across your sales reps. This, with a content management platform , means your content is version-controlled and up-to-date. Which is important as its being presented to prospects.

Rapid content personalization

Let’s say you’re about to hop on a presentation call with a prospect. Right before the call, you receive an email from him letting you know his boss will be on the call as well. As it turns out, she’s particularly interested in one specific feature of your product.

With a great presentation tool, you can edit slides immediately (often from your mobile device, if needed). You can also delete, append, or customize information. This allows you to quickly tailor your messaging and visuals to fit the needs of a particular prospect or market segment.

Firsthand feedback from prospects

There are a lot of advantages of making sales presentations a two-way conversation as opposed to a monologue. Even if you can’t meet in person, real-time verbal feedback from prospects is incredibly valuable information.

A good sales rep will listen closely for clues that certain slides are holding the attention of the audience. These are moments that likely deserve to be highlighted or more deeply articulated.

A great presentation software will allow you to add slides, write copy, and format visuals immediately after the prospect hangs up. All while the information is fresh in the presenter’s mind. That way you can elevate their points of interest.

Thus, an easy-to-use presentation software is key to a sales team’s ability to quickly iterate on and improve effective content.

Getting the Most Out of Your Presentation Software

Vastly more important than your tool of choice is how you use it. Modern presentation software can produce razor-sharp, engaging presentations that convert prospects to sales. But they’re also capable of producing abominations that no prospect should ever see.

Abide by the following guidelines and you’ll be on the right track. Not only to avoid common presentation pitfalls, but also to help your message stick.

Utilize your Notes section

While a more conversational tone is obviously the goal, hitting all the important beats of a sales presentation from memory can be tough. This is where presentation notes come in handy.

Whether it’s a word-for-word script or bullet points, every presentation software offers the ability to write formatted notes associated with your slide decks.

When you present, these notes will be visible to you alone. This is especially useful when delivering presentations remotely over the web. If you’re going to read a word-for-word script, be sure to add some inflection and natural pauses to avoid sounding robotic.

Utilize grids when formatting visuals

Pixelated graphics and misaligned visuals in slide decks can make you look like an amateur. Which is not the message you want to send to your audience.

It’s safe to say that most sales reps are not also trained graphic designers. It’s all the more important that we rely on grids to line up our images in an aesthetically-pleasing way.

All modern presentation tools offer some sort of grid for optimal image placement. Cross-referencing your visuals against the grid takes mere minutes. But it could potentially save you embarrassment and help build credibility with your prospect.

Tell a story

Real-life stories are what captivate and unite humans. It’s been neurologically proven that stories engage more areas of the brain than the parts that store and recall facts. In fact, science shows us that our brains don’t distinguish between hearing a story and actually experiencing it.

That means your prospect will tune out if you’re reciting a laundry list of features and benefits. They’re more likely to stay engaged if you tell a real story of how your product helped a real person.

This also means that when you describe a real-life pain point of someone in a similar position, the odds are high that your prospect will feel that pain. It follows that they’ll also feel a greater urgency for whatever you’re offering.

The Hero’s Journey is a popular storytelling framework that’s been used ever since humans could communicate with drawings on cave walls. Using this template is one of the most effective ways to integrate storytelling into your presentations. So, try making them the hero, not your product.

Keep it simple

Keep the amount of information you give the prospect down to a few important things. Don’t burry the resources they need to see with lots of little insignificant things. Don’t get bogged down in feature explanations. Keep things brief and high-level. If you have to ask yourself if you should cut a section, the answer is yes.

Avoid animations (unless they’re custom)

As a general rule, when animations in presentations are good, they’re really good. When they’re bad, though, they’re really bad. I have seen some beautiful animations done in PowerPoint for large-scale conference presentations. Important note: they were created by a trained graphic designer with weeks of prep time and years of experience.

If you don’t have time or expertise to make your animations great, keep them simple and minimal. Or avoid them altogether. The animation presets in modern presentation tools are guaranteed to make your content look cheap.

The occasional fade-in can be tasteful. But beyond that, it’s probably wise to stay away from any distracting spins, swipes, or bounces.

Rehearse on your target machine

This tip is more about technology than technique. I can’t count how many times I’ve been in the audience of a presentation where the presenter advances to a broken or unformatted slide. “Whoa,” they say. “That’s so weird. That worked on my computer.”

Perhaps you’ve experienced the same thing. It’s definitely not something you want your prospect experiencing as they’re forming their opinion of your brand.

So, if you’re building a presentation on your home PC to transfer to your work laptop, make sure you test it on your work laptop before unveiling to the world. It seems obvious, but it takes mere minutes to troubleshoot and could save you a sale and a stressful situation.

Start with a template

A great way to ensure aesthetic consistency and alignment is a custom template. One that’s designed with your organization’s branding. If you don’t have an in-house designer, there will be an initial investment. But it’s well worth it considering it may be the first impression a prospect gets of your brand. As well as, how many eyeballs will be on your slides over time.

This will help you avoid the distraction of mismatched fonts and colors. But this will also help you ensure that every prospect gets a consistent experience, regardless of the presenter. Nothing is left up to chance.

Almost every modern presentation software has a “New from Template” or equivalent option. These save time during the start of each slide deck as well. Branded templates mean you’re never left wondering if your team has the right content.

Speaking of saving time, Accent Connect keeps all of your presentation decks neatly organized and updated. Your sales reps can access them from any device, anywhere, at any time.

To learn more about how we can help you optimize your presentation workflow and sell more effectively, reach out to our team today for a live demo .

By Accent Technologies

12th june 2020.

There's more to discover

Keep reading..

Why Revenue Enablement is the Next Big Thing

Creating an Effective Game Plan with Sales Battle Cards

What is Business Analytics?

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”

• Guy Kawasaki

Remember: Less is more.

A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.

• Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
• Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
• Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
• Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.

As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.

• Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.

Partner Center

• Onsite training

3,000,000+ delegates

15,000+ clients

1,000+ locations

• KnowledgePass
• Log a ticket

01344203999 Available 24/7

What is PowerPoint: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners

What is PowerPoint? This blog provides the essence of PowerPoint, a versatile presentation software by Microsoft. Discover its features, uses, and the art of crafting compelling slideshows. Whether you're a student, professional, or simply curious, explore the power of PowerPoint and learn how to create impactful presentations effortlessly.

Exclusive 40% OFF

Training Outcomes Within Your Budget!

We ensure quality, budget-alignment, and timely delivery by our expert instructors.

Share this Resource

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (ERP) MB920
• Microsoft Access Training
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM) MB910
• Microsoft Word Course
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing MB220

According to Glassdoor , a PowerPoint designer's average salary in the UK is about £37,811 annually. In this blog, you will learn What is PowerPoint, its key features, its benefits, and how to use it, as well as learn some tips for creating effective presentations.   

Table of contents       

1)  What is PowerPoint?  

2)  Understanding the PowerPoint Interface  

3)  Key Features of PowerPoint 

4)  How to use PowerPoint to create a presentation? 

5)  Benefits of PowerPoint  

6)  Tips for Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations 

7)  Conclusion      

What is PowerPoint?   

PowerPoint is a versatile and popular presentation software developed by Microsoft (MS). It is a part of the Microsoft Office Suite and offers various features and tools to create visually appealing and engaging presentations. MS PowerPoint allows users to combine text, graphics, multimedia elements, and animations to convey information effectively .   

Evolution of PowerPoint   

Understanding the PowerPoint Interface   

The PowerPoint interface provides a user-friendly environment for creating and editing presentations. Familiarising yourself with its essential components will help you navigate the software efficiently. Here's a breakdown of the MS PowerPoint interface:   

1)  Ribbon : The Ribbon is located at the top of the MS PowerPoint window and consists of multiple tabs, such as Home, Insert, Design, Transitions, and more.    

2) Slides pane : The Slides pane is on the left side of the PowerPoint window. It displays thumbnail images of your presentation slides, allowing you to navigate and rearrange them easily. You can add, delete, duplicate, or hide slides from this pane.   

3)   Notes pane : The Notes pane is located below the Slides pane. It provides space for adding speaker notes or additional information related to each slide.    

4)  Slide area : The Slide area occupies the central part of the PowerPoint window. It displays the selected slide, where you can add and arrange content such as text, images, charts, and multimedia elements .    

5)  Task panes : Task panes are additional panels on the PowerPoint window's right side. They offer various functionalities such as formatting options, slide layouts, animations, etc. Task panes can be opened or closed based on your specific needs.   

Understanding the MS PowerPoint interface will help you navigate the software effectively and make the most of its features. Whether you are creating slides, adding content, or applying formatting, having a good grasp of the interface ensures a smooth and productive experience .  

Key Features of PowerPoint  

When it comes to creating captivating and professional presentations, MS PowerPoint stands out as versatile and feature-rich software. Its array of tools and functionalities enables users to bring their imagination and ideas to life. Moreover, it also helps engage their audience effectively .    

1) Slide Templates : PowerPoint provides a collection of pre-designed templates that make it easy to create visually appealing slides.   

2)  Slide Master : The Slide Master feature allows users to define the overall layout, font styles, and colour scheme for the entire presentation .   

3)  Animations and transitions : PowerPoint offers various animation effects and slide transitions to add visual interest and captivate the audience .   

4)  Multimedia integration : Users can embed images, videos, and audio files directly into their presentations, enhancing the overall impact .   

5)   Collaboration tools : MS PowerPoint allows multiple users to work on a presentation simultaneously, making it ideal for team projects and remote collaboration .   

6) Presenter View : The Presenter View feature gives presenters access to speaker notes, a timer, and a preview of upcoming slides, enabling a seamless presentation experience .   

These features collectively contribute to PowerPoint's versatility and make it a powerful tool for developing engaging and impactful presentations.  

How to use PowerPoint to create a presentation?   

Creating a presentation in PowerPoint is a straightforward process. Whether it's simple animations or explainer videos learning H ow to use PowerPoint is an extremely valuable skill. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to create a presentation:   

1)  Launch PowerPoint and choose a template or start with a blank slide. 

2)  Add slides by clicking "New Slide" or using the shortcut key (Ctrl + M). 

3) Customise slide content by entering text and inserting visuals.  

4)  Rearrange slides for a logical flow by dragging them in the slide navigation pane.  

5)  Apply slide transitions for visual effects in the "Transitions" tab.  

6)  Add animations to objects in the "Animations" tab.  

7)  Preview your presentation by clicking "Slide Show".   

8)  Save your presentation and choose a format (.pptx or .pdf).  

9)  Share your presentation via email, cloud storage, or collaboration tools.   

By following these steps, you can create a well-structured and visually appealing presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint. Remember to keep your content concise, use engaging visuals, and practice your presentation skills to deliver an impactful presentation .   

Benefits of PowerPoint   

1) Visual appeal : Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to create visually appealing presentations with its wide range of design tools and features. You can use templates, themes, and customisable layouts to make your slides visually engaging and professional .   

2)  Easy to use : PowerPoint has a user-friendly interface, making it accessible to users of all levels. The intuitive tools and straightforward navigation make it easy to create, edit, and deliver presentations efficiently .   

3)   Flexibility : PowerPoint provides flexibility in terms of content creation. You can include various types of content, such as text, images, charts, graphs, videos, and audio files, to enhance your message and engage your audience effectively.   

4)   Organisation and structure : PowerPoint offers features to help you organise and structure your content. You can create multiple slides, use slide masters for consistent formatting, and arrange the sequence of slides to create a logical flow .   

5)  Presenter tools : PowerPoint includes built-in presenter tools that aid in delivering presentations smoothly. You can use presenter view to see your notes and upcoming slides while your audience sees only the presentation. Additionally, features like slide transitions and animations add visual interest and help you control the flow of information .   

6)  Collaboration and sharing : PowerPoint allows for easy collaboration and sharing of presentations. Several users can simultaneously work on the same presentation, making it convenient for team projects. You can also share your presentations via email, cloud storage, or online platforms, ensuring easy access for viewers .   

7)   Integration with other tools : PowerPoint can seamlessly integrate with other Microsoft Office applications, such as Word and Excel. You can import data and charts from Excel or copy and paste content between different Office applications, saving time and effort .  

8)   Presenter-audience interaction : PowerPoint provides features that facilitate interaction between the presenter and the audience. You can include interactive elements like hyperlinks, buttons, and quizzes to engage your audience and make your presentations more dynamic.   

9)   Portable and accessible : PowerPoint presentations can be saved in various formats, such as .pptx or .pdf, making them easily accessible on different devices. This portability allows you to deliver presentations on laptops, tablets, or even projectors without compatibility issues .   

10)  Time and effort savings : PowerPoint simplifies the process of creating presentations, saving you time and effort. The pre-designed templates, slide layouts, and formatting options enable you to create professional-looking presentations efficiently .   

Unleash your creativity to deliver captivating presentations that leave a lasting impact with our Microsoft PowerPoint Masterclass – Sign up now!   

Tips for Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations   

1) Simplicity is key : Keep your slides clean and uncluttered. Use concise bullet points and simple visuals to convey your message effectively .   

2)  Visuals matter : Incorporate relevant, high-quality visuals such as images, charts, and diagrams to enhance understanding and engagement .   

3)  Limit text : Avoid overwhelming your audience with excessive text on slides. Use brief phrases or keywords to communicate key points .   

4)  Choose legible fonts : Opt for clear and readable fonts that are easy to read, even from a distance. Maintain consistency in font styles throughout your presentation .   

5)  Consistent design : Maintain a consistent design theme, including colours, fonts, and layout, to create a visually appealing and professional presentation.   

6)  Emphasise important points : Use visual hierarchy techniques, such as font size, colour, and formatting, to draw attention to essential information .   

7)  Use transitions and animations sparingly : Incorporate slide transitions and animations thoughtfully, focusing on enhancing content and transitions without distracting the audience .   

8)  S lide notes for guidance : Utilise the slide notes feature to include additional details, explanations, or reminders for a well-prepared and confident presentation.   

9)  Practice and time yourself : Rehearse your presentation to ensure smooth delivery and stay within the allocated time. Practice helps you refine your content and delivery.   

10)  Engage the audience : Encourage audience participation through interactive elements, questions, or discussions to foster engagement and make your presentation more memorable.   

By implementing these tips, you can create effective MS PowerPoint presentations that capture attention, communicate information clearly, and engage your audience effectively.  

Conclusion      

We hope this blog has helped you understand What is PowerPoint and how it can help you. It offers powerful features with a user-friendly interface for creating visually appealing presentations. With its tools for organising information, incorporating text and visuals, and delivering impactful content, PowerPoint is a valuable tool for beginners to communicate their ideas effectively .   

Master the art of effective communication and productivity and unlock your potential with our comprehensive Microsoft Office Training – Sign up now!  

Frequently Asked Questions

Upcoming office applications resources batches & dates.

Thu 16th May 2024

Thu 6th Jun 2024

Thu 4th Jul 2024

Thu 8th Aug 2024

Thu 5th Sep 2024

Thu 10th Oct 2024

Thu 7th Nov 2024

Thu 5th Dec 2024

Get A Quote

WHO WILL BE FUNDING THE COURSE?

My employer

By submitting your details you agree to be contacted in order to respond to your enquiry

• Business Analysis
• Lean Six Sigma Certification

Share this course

Our biggest spring sale.

We cannot process your enquiry without contacting you, please tick to confirm your consent to us for contacting you about your enquiry.

By submitting your details you agree to be contacted in order to respond to your enquiry.

We may not have the course you’re looking for. If you enquire or give us a call on 01344203999 and speak to our training experts, we may still be able to help with your training requirements.

Or select from our popular topics

• ITIL® Certification
• Scrum Certification
• Change Management Certification
• Business Analysis Courses
• Microsoft Azure Certification
• Microsoft Excel Courses
• Microsoft Project
• Explore more courses

Press esc to close

Fill out your  contact details  below and our training experts will be in touch.

Fill out your   contact details   below

Thank you for your enquiry!

One of our training experts will be in touch shortly to go over your training requirements.

Back to Course Information

Fill out your contact details below so we can get in touch with you regarding your training requirements.

* WHO WILL BE FUNDING THE COURSE?

Preferred Contact Method

No preference

Back to course information

Fill out your  training details  below

Fill out your training details below so we have a better idea of what your training requirements are.

HOW MANY DELEGATES NEED TRAINING?

HOW DO YOU WANT THE COURSE DELIVERED?

Online Instructor-led

Online Self-paced

WHEN WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE THIS COURSE?

Next 2 - 4 months

WHAT IS YOUR REASON FOR ENQUIRING?

Looking for some information

Looking for a discount

I want to book but have questions

One of our training experts will be in touch shortly to go overy your training requirements.

Your privacy & cookies!

Like many websites we use cookies. We care about your data and experience, so to give you the best possible experience using our site, we store a very limited amount of your data. Continuing to use this site or clicking “Accept & close” means that you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more about our privacy policy and cookie policy cookie policy .

We use cookies that are essential for our site to work. Please visit our cookie policy for more information. To accept all cookies click 'Accept & close'.

What is a Presentation? Objectives, Elements, Important skills, Four Ps

• Post last modified: 4 June 2023
• Reading time: 19 mins read
• Post category: Business Communication

What is a Presentation?

A presentation communicates a message, an idea or information to a group. It is similar to a report, but with a key difference–the human element. A presentation conveys the speaker’s personality and enables immediate interaction among all participants.

Table of Content

• 1 What is a Presentation?
• 2.1 To Inform
• 2.2 To Train
• 2.3 To Persuade
• 2.4 To Motivate
• 2.5 To Entertain
• 3 Main Elements of Presentation
• 4.1 Analytical ability
• 4.2 Effective communication ability
• 4.3 Creative ability
• 4.4 Good interpersonal skill
• 4.5 Sound time management
• 4.6 Problem-solving ability
• 4.7 A sense of humour
• 5 Evaluation Wheel
• 6.1 Prepare
• 6.2 Practice
• 6.3 Present
• 7.1 Know Yourself
• 7.2 Know Your Material
• 7.3 Know Your Purpose
• 7.4 Know Your Audience

Objectives of Presentation

The main objectives of a presentation are:

To Persuade

To motivate, to entertain.

A presentation is created to convey some information to a group of people. For example, a presentation may display an organisation’s quarterly performance.

Most training programmes in organisations are done through the presentation mode. Such instructional presentations convey a lot of information and are created with instructional design principles to keep the audience engaged for a long period.

Some presentations are used to convince a group of people to accept a particular idea and/or make a certain choice.

The growing popularity of TED Talks indicates how a presentation can be a powerful motivation tool. These presentations trigger emotions and inspire people to act.

Presentations can also be used to celebrate an event. For example, a farewell presentation of a colleague can be used to narrate the story of his/her overall tenure, experiences and achievement in the organisation.

Main Elements of Presentation

A presentation is said to be effective if it has three main elements, which are as follows:

• Specific content : This refers to the information that a presentation will comprise. The information must be conveyed effectively so that it is absorbed by the audience in one sitting. It should be relevant and meaningful to them.
• Audience : A presentation should be targeted for a specific group of audience who share the same purpose and have a similar level of pre-knowledge.
• Presenter: The presenter should act as the advocate of the information. If his/her conviction and passion in the message are clearly articulated, the audience will also pay attention to the subject.

Important Presentation Skills

In today’s business environment, presentation skills are requisite in almost every professional arena. Employees are often required to give presentations on the targets achieved by them. A presentation can be effective if it is carefully planned and prepared.

However, delivering presentations is not always easy for every individual. Some people take presenting as a probable opportunity to showcase skills, while others find it a challenging task. To provide an effective presentation, a presenter must possess some abilities.

Some of them are explained as follows:

Analytical ability

Effective communication ability, creative ability, good interpersonal skill, sound time management, problem-solving ability, a sense of humour.

It refers to a calibre which empowers an individual to collect, organise, visualise and comprehend data. Such skills enable a person to look at related patterns, draw conclusions and find solutions to problems. In addition, sound analytical skills also enable an individual to forecast future trends using various techniques such as brainstorming, forecasting, data mining and metrics interpretation.

Communication entails much more than mere talking to the audience. To communicate effectively during a presentation, one ought to showcase information lucidly. During a presentation, a person should not just have a good set of slides together; rather he needs to engage and strike a chord with the audience to transmit the intended message.

It refers to the ability to present things in a creative way that have not been explored earlier. Creative skills in presentation enable an individual to invent or develop something path-breaking, such as a new concept, unique way out from a problem, a method, a work of art or new machinery, etc.

It encompasses how an individual portrays or presents himself to the audience and builds a rapport with the audience. During a presentation, sound interpersonal skills empower a speaker to interact, communicate and collaborate with the audience effectively.

Interpersonal skills are prevalent across all personal and professional interactions between people. Interpersonal skills entail empathy, active listening and emotional intelligence.

While delivering a presentation, a person should manage time effectively, set a presentation schedule and end a presentation within a stipulated time. If a presentation is long, there are chances the audience may lose interest and the message may not be delivered.

A speaker cannot expect audience to actively listen to the presentation for hours. At the start of presentation, a speaker should aim to grab audience’s attention and allocate time for questions and answers at the end.

Problem-solving is a requisite skill for a presentation. During a presentation, the audience may ask the speaker any kind of questions. On the other hand, it is important for the speaker to provide an appropriate answer to the audience to make the presentation successful.

A sense of humour is crucial to deliver a quality presentation to make the environment light and engaging. Appropriate usage of light jokes relieves stress and holds the attention of an audience, which makes the presentation a memorable experience for both the speaker and the audience.

Evaluation Wheel

Evaluation wheel is a creative and effective tool that accumulates information on outcomes in a simple and accessible manner. A presenter can opt for the evaluation wheel tool to show the outcomes of the research or reports. This tool is used to provide various types of information and journeys of change within the organisation.

It offers a visual representation of progression and results in the form of a spider diagram. The evaluation wheel measures the exact outcomes for a programme at the start and end. It also helps educators, designers to comprehend information systematically. Figure shows an example of evaluation wheel:

Figure states the scale questionnaire in a circle form wherein respondents will analyse the instances from their discretion and experience and give rating on a scale of 1 to 5.

For instance, service users are appropriately involved. In this case, if the respondent strongly agrees, he/she will give 5 rating and if he/she does not agree, he/she will give 1 rating. The centre of the circle is for 1 and as the respondent agrees, they reach out to edge for 5 rating.

Ps of Presentation

Even the most powerful presentation may fail if the presenter comes unprepared. A presentation is both a mental and a physical effort. There are Ps of presentation that provide a checklist to the presenter for ensuring that the presentation is well-constructed and clear so that the audience gets the message. These four Ps are explained as follows:

A thoroughly prepared presentation captivates the interests of the audience. The topic or content of the presentation must be thoroughly researched. No one would develop interest in a vague or equivocal presentation. A speaker can make use of stories or relatable examples and quote references to give more depth to the presentation and make it intriguing.

Apart from that, it should be ensured that only important points are highlighted in bullets or using other graphical elements. Providing too much of theory or full sentences can create boredom for the audience.

While preparing for a presentation, the presenter should include the following sections:

• Introduction : This section includes the name of the topic and the purpose of the presentation.
• Body : This section contains the main content of the presentation; thus, it must be prepared in a well-organised manner.
• Summary : It provides a recap of the content of the presentation. It outlines the most important points of the presentation to ensure the key message is retained by the audience.

Practice will make a man perfect is an adage that is appropriate across all spheres of life. It helps a speaker become familiar with his/her own voice, words and phrases and adjust accordingly. By practising thoroughly, a speaker can explore how to fit different pieces of information together and practise transition.

Also, a speaker should make notes wherever required as a part of presentation support. Using an index card is a common form of note-taking that provides a quick glimpse of important points.

While delivering a presentation, the speaker needs to demonstrate confidence in front of the audience. The speaker must be polite, but not apologetic in situations, such as if the session is running overtime or the microphone has stopped working.

Instead he/she should expect and ask for discipline and attention. It is important for a speaker to engage with the audience during the presentation in order to assure them that he/she is genuinely interested in talking to them. 4. Pace, pitch and pause: A presenter should deliver the presentation in an easy-to-follow pace and try changing the pace to enliven the presentation.

For example, pauses can be taken intentionally between main points to reinforce them. Along with pace, pitch is equally important. Just as pace varies in normal conversations, it should be used effectively during presentations too. For example, when asking a question, the presenter can raise the pitch and can lower it down when explaining a point.

Four Cornerstones of Making Memorable Presentations

The most crucial aspect of delivering an effective presentation is that the speaker should appear confident and the speech should look effortless. Presentations are a source of anxiety for many individuals. However, getting well-prepared before delivering a presentation can reduce this feeling considerably and ease apprehension.

There are a number of ways to overcome feelings of anxiety, stress and stage fright before the presentation in order to appear confident in front of the audience. The four cornerstones of making a memorable presentation are provided in the upcoming sections.

Know Yourself

Know your material, know your purpose, know your audience.

A presenter should acknowledge his/her strengths and weaknesses. Accordingly, he/she should decide the style of delivering a presentation. For instance, if a presenter has a great sense of humour and can use it comfortably in the speech, he/she can make the presentation more engaging and interesting.

On the other hand, if the speaker who is an introvert and prefers to talk or engage less, he/she can add visuals in the presentation. Therefore, the trick is whosoever is delivering the presentation should feel comfortable.

Knowing the topic thoroughly is the most important step in preparing and delivering a presentation. A presenter with well-versed knowledge of the topic is bound to feel more confident. One should perform extensive research of the topic using credible websites and surveys.

A presenter with minimal information about the topic will not be able to deliver a memorable presentation; rather, it would create a negative image in front of the audience. A good presentation is one that is centred around the main theme, presents relevant information and stimulates thought.

It is crucial to know the purpose of the presentation. A presenter should be aware of whether the purpose is to create awareness or to build new skills or to change attitudes. For instance, professional firms or businesses use presentations for various purposes such as to create awareness, educate, motivate and persuade internal and external audiences.

Therefore, to prepare a presentation, identify its objective/purpose, determine the method of delivery, formulate a structure, include visual aids and rehearse.

One should know the type of audience and what is their purpose of attending the presentation. For instance, whether they are there for gaining knowledge or learning new skills, etc. The age, culture and knowledge base of the audience help a presenter in designing and delivering his/her presentation effectively and in a manner in which audience can easily understand and relate to.

A well-designed presentation uses visual aids effectively to reinforce the main points and enhance the audience’s level of understanding.

Business Communication Notes

( Click on Topic to Read )

• What is Business Communication?
• What is Communication?
• Types of Communication

7 C of Communication

• Barriers To Business Communication
• Oral Communication
• Types Of Non Verbal Communication
• What is Written Communication?
• What are Soft Skills?
• Interpersonal vs Intrapersonal communication
• Barriers to Communication
• Importance of Communication Skills
• Listening in Communication
• Causes of Miscommunication
• What is Johari Window?
• What is Presentation?
• Communication Styles
• Channels of Communication
• Hofstede’s Dimensions of Cultural Differences and Benett’s Stages of Intercultural Sensitivity

Organisational Communication

• Horizontal C ommunication
• Grapevine Communication
• Downward Communication
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Upward Communication
• Flow of Communication
• What is Emotional Intelligence?
• What is Public Speaking?
• Upward vs Downward Communication
• Internal vs External Communication
• What is Group Discussion?
• What is Interview?
• What is Negotiation?
• What is Digital Communication?
• What is Letter Writing?

Resume and Covering Letter

• What is Report Writing?
• What is Business Meeting?
• What is Public Relations?
• What Is Market Segmentation?
• What Is Marketing Mix?
• Marketing Concept
• Marketing Management Process
• What Is Marketing Environment?
• What Is Consumer Behaviour?
• Business Buyer Behaviour
• Demand Forecasting
• 7 Stages Of New Product Development
• Methods Of Pricing
• What Is Public Relations?
• What Is Marketing Management?
• What Is Sales Promotion?
• Types Of Sales Promotion
• Techniques Of Sales Promotion
• What Is Personal Selling?
• What Is Advertising?
• Market Entry Strategy
• What Is Marketing Planning?
• Segmentation Targeting And Positioning
• Brand Building Process
• Kotler Five Product Level Model
• Classification Of Products
• Types Of Logistics
• What Is Consumer Research?
• What Is DAGMAR?
• Consumer Behaviour Models
• What Is Green Marketing?
• What Is Electronic Commerce?
• Agricultural Cooperative Marketing
• What Is Marketing Control?
• What Is Marketing Communication?
• What Is Pricing?
• Models Of Communication
• What is Sales Management?
• Objectives of Sales Management
• Responsibilities and Skills of Sales Manager
• Theories of Personal Selling
• What is Sales Forecasting?
• Methods of Sales Forecasting
• Purpose of Sales Budgeting
• Methods of Sales Budgeting
• Types of Sales Budgeting
• Sales Budgeting Process
• What is Sales Quotas?
• What is Selling by Objectives (SBO) ?
• What is Sales Organisation?
• Types of Sales Force Structure
• Recruiting and Selecting Sales Personnel
• Training and Development of Salesforce
• Compensating the Sales Force
• Time and Territory Management
• What Is Logistics?
• What Is Logistics System?
• Technologies in Logistics
• What Is Distribution Management?
• What Is Marketing Intermediaries?
• Conventional Distribution System
• Functions of Distribution Channels
• What is Channel Design?
• Types of Wholesalers and Retailers
• What is Vertical Marketing Systems?
• What i s Marketing?
• What i s A BCG Matrix?
• 5 M’S Of Advertising
• What i s Direct Marketing?
• Marketing Mix For Services
• What Market Intelligence System?
• What i s Trade Union?
• What Is International Marketing?
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
• What i s International Marketing Research?
• What is Exporting?
• What is Licensing?
• What is Franchising?
• What is Joint Venture?
• What is Turnkey Projects?
• What is Management Contracts?
• What is Foreign Direct Investment?
• Factors That Influence Entry Mode Choice In Foreign Markets
• What is Price Escalations?
• What is Transfer Pricing?
• Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
• What is Promotion Mix?
• Factors Affecting Promotion Mix
• Functions & Role Of Advertising
• What is Database Marketing?
• What is Advertising Budget?
• What is Advertising Agency?
• What is Market Intelligence?
• What is Industrial Marketing?
• What is Customer Value
• What is Consumer Behaviour?
• What Is Personality?
• What Is Perception?
• What Is Learning?
• What Is Attitude?
• What Is Motivation?
• Consumer Imagery
• Consumer Attitude Formation
• What Is Culture?
• Consumer Decision Making Process
• Applications of Consumer Behaviour in Marketing
• Motivational Research
• Theoretical Approaches to Study of Consumer Behaviour
• Consumer Involvement
• Consumer Lifestyle
• Theories of Personality
• Outlet Selection
• Organizational Buying Behaviour
• Reference Groups
• Consumer Protection Act, 1986
• Diffusion of Innovation
• Opinion Leaders
• What is Business Law?
• Indian Contract Act 1872
• Essential Elements of a Valid Contract
• Types of Contract
• What is Discharge of Contract?
• Performance of Contract
• Sales of Goods Act 1930
• Goods & Price: Contract of Sale
• Conditions and Warranties
• Doctrine of Caveat Emptor
• Transfer of Property
• Rights of Unpaid Seller
• Negotiable Instruments Act 1881
• Types of Negotiable Instruments
• Types of Endorsement
• What is Promissory Note?
• What is Cheque?
• What is Crossing of Cheque?
• What is Bill of Exchange?
• What is Offer?
• Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008
• Memorandum of Association
• Articles of Association
• What is Director?
• Trade Unions Act, 1926
• Industrial Disputes Act 1947
• Employee State Insurance Act 1948
• Payment of Wages Act 1936
• Payment of Bonus Act 1965
• Labour Law in India
• What is Brand Management?
• 4 Steps of Strategic Brand Management Process
• Customer Based Brand Equity
• What is Brand Equity?

You Might Also Like

What is Business Communication? Process, Types, Importance, Barriers

What is negotiation importance, process, strategic model, learning skills.

What is Business Meeting? Need, Importance, Conduct, Role of Participants

Difference between upward and downward communication.

What is Group Discussion? (GD), Objectives, Types, Prerequisites, Steps

What is Communication? Importance, Forms, Nature

Difference between interpersonal and intrapersonal communication.

What is Public Relations? Definition, Tools, Function, Advantages, Process

What is Horizontal Communication? Definition, Advantage, Flow

Leave a reply cancel reply.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

World's Best Online Courses at One Place

We’ve spent the time in finding, so you can spend your time in learning

Digital Marketing

Personal growth.

Development

Cookie Setting

We use cookies and similar technologies to process personal information for the operation of our website, statistical analysis, and providing targeted advertising. We share information about your use of the site with our advertising partners who may further share it with additional parties. You may opt out of performance cookies here , and learn more about how we use cookies here ” 

How can I change my BenQ cookie settings?

Page updated: May 2020

Some essential features on BenQ sites just won’t work without cookies. And having other cookies switched off can seriously affect the way you’ll be able to enjoy our services.

Please check your cookie settings below and  turn on  any cookies you’re happy with.

“Strictly necessary” cookies can’t be turned off. But Functional and Performance cookies can be turned on or off below. You can  learn more about cookies and what they do  on our other pages.

If you've chosen to block third-party cookies on your browser, your cookie preferences won't carry over from benq.eu to benq.xx and vice versa. Please make sure to set your cookie preferences in both places.

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential so that you can move around the website and use its features. Without these cookies services you have asked for cannot be provided.

See list of strictly necessary cookies

Functional cookies

These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make to give you better functionality and personal features.

See list of functional cookies

Performance cookies and advertising cookies

Performance cookies

These cookies help to improve the performance of BenQ. If you want to opt-out of advertising cookies, you have to turn-off performance cookies. We also use Google Analytics, SessionCam and Hotjar to track activity and performance on the BenQ website. You can control the information provided to Google, SessionCam and Hotjar.  To opt out of certain ads provided by Google you can use any of the methods set forth here or using the Google Analytics opt out browser add-on here. To opt-out of SessionCam collecting data, you can disable tracking completely by following link： https://sessioncam.com/choose-not-to-be-recorded/ . To opt-out of Hotjar collecting data, you can disable tracking completely by following link： https://www.hotjar.com/privacy/do-not-track/ .

See list of performance and advertising cookies

Advertising cookies

These cookies are used to track your activity on the BenQ website and other websites across the Internet, help measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaign and deliver advertisements that are more relevant to you and your interests. We use various advertising partners, including Amazon, Facebook, and Google. These cookies and other technologies capture data like your IP address, when you viewed the page or email, what device you were using and where you were. You can find out how to avoid them below.

What is a Wireless Presentation System?

Wireless presentation system is a device that allows you to mirror your notebook or mobile device content on a shared projector, flat panel, or TV without a need to plug in a cable. Presenters can be switched at a click of a button and no precious time will be wasted wasted. According to Gartner Research , wireless presentations systems are one of the top 10 strategic technologies to improve BYOD collaboration in office spaces.

Unlike consumer wireless dongles for screen mirroring, commercial wireless presentation systems are designed to improve collaboration during meetings and enable multiple presenters to share ideas, concepts, and media without having to plug in a long cable. Because these are purpose-built for collaboration, a typical system will have these key elements:

• Multiple presenters  – Most systems come with at least two buttons to enable collaboration out of the box and can support 16 or more different presenters.
• Content Encryption  – Market leaders in this category encrypt the content so that people outside the meeting room cannot wirelessly “listen in” or record the presentation

What wireless presentation methods are used the most?

These are the most popular systems – and are very simple to use. To connect to the projector, you simply plug in a button or “puck” to your notebook or device and tap it to start presenting. The button encrypts the signal and wirelessly sends it to a receiver or “host” attached to the display. The Barco ClickShare and BenQ InstaShow are popular models that use this approach.

AV Control System / Video Conferencing Integration

Many traditional AV control systems and video conferencing systems offer wireless connections to their infrastructure to enable presenters to connect without a cable. Systems like the Crestron AirMedia can be integrated into existing HDMI switchers and control panels to leverage existing systems.

WiFi Hub System

These systems typically use a proprietary app to enable a notebook or other device to connect and present to the display using the corporate WiFi network and a receiver attached to the display. Systems such as the AirTame don’t require a button connected to the notebook but rely on the corporate WiFi network infrastructure to be robust enough to enable features such as smooth video frame rates.

Wireless presentation systems typically use one of three ways to wirelessly connect to the shared display.

According to Futuresource , wireless presentation systems that used buttons were the most popular approach, followed by those that integrated into AV control systems and WiFi Hubs. 

What are the most popular brands?

The most popular brands of wireless presentation systems between $500 and $1000 are the Barco ClickShare , BenQ InstaShow , and Mersive Solstice ? according to Futuresource . Each of these solutions is used by major companies, have worldwide availability, and offer strong customer support infrastructures to ensure IT managers get the help they need – if they need it.

What are the most popular features in wireless presentation systems?

High Resolution

For budget reports, calendars and schedules, the ability to read small text on a shared display is crucial to the collaborative process. Most commercial-grade wireless presentation systems will deliver 1080p resolution, while the more expensive versions can deliver 4K.

Smooth Video

Companies rely on videos to effectively communicate their messages to their customers. Different models of wireless presentation systems handle video differenty and depending  on the type and configuration of the wireless presentation system, it can be easy to be able to play videos over the system at frame rates up to 60 frames per second without jittering or frozen frames. 

Multiple Screen Options

Many mid-range and higher-end systems enable you to display more than one image on the screen. The most popular models can provide either a split-screen with two presenters or support quad screens with four presenters. When combined with 4K resolution, this enables each presenter to have a high-resolution 1080p image that makes the details of a spreadsheet easy to read.

When connected to an interactive flat panel or projector, the touch back feature can enable a presenter to annotate and control the presentation directly from the screen – while wirelessly saving the changes and notes on a Windows notebook.

Custom Welcome Screen

Commercial-grade systems typically have welcome screens that can be customized via text or special welcome graphics to provide instructions or reminders to the people in the meeting room.

What types of devices can I connect to a wireless presentation system?

All popular wireless presentation systems can support Windows and MacBooks either using a button connection (BenQ InstaShow / Barco Clickshare) or using the company WiFi network. For mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, you can either plug in a button or use an app running on the device.

Some systems also can connect to Chromebooks and other types of devices, such as Blu-ray players and digital cameras, where the buttons can take the HDMI content directly from the device and enable a wireless presentation without any extra software.

How much do they cost?

Most wireless presentation systems used in corporations are typically priced between $500 and $2,000 per room. In addition to the cost of the equipment, some presentation systems – such as those using WiFi networks – can require special network configurations and setup in order to perform properly. Some brands also require annual subscriptions for features such as security updates.

To compare different types of systems and calculate the total cost of ownership for your organization, learn more about how to apply the Gartner TCO model to wireless presentation systems .

Where can I learn more?

BenQ provides a Knowledge base that can answer many detailed questions you may have for your deployment, including how these systems can be used to improve social distancing in a meeting

Here are three of the most popular questions people ask when looking at a wireless presentation system

We would love to hear from you.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Be the first to hear from us.

BenQ Asia Pacific Corporation

BenQ Corporation

12 Jihu Road, Neihu, Taipei 114, Taiwan

Tel: +886-2-2727-8899

Fax: +886-2-2656-2438

Or find your local office

Region and Language

• The Importance of Digital Evidence Presentation Systems

by ron | Nov 2, 2021 | Blog

The Scales of Justice have been used to symbolize truth and fairness in the justice system for centuries. This dates back all the way to Rome when they first began, with a reminder that everyone deserves their day in court – and that truth, fairness, equality should be given to all peoples, even if you are an accused criminal or someone being persecuted for their beliefs. Over the years in courtrooms, evidence has always been given. But year after year there is more to presenting that information than just giving it – today’s lawyers need tools for creating impact on jurors with their presentations whether they are sitting right next door or across state lines!

Digital presentation systems can help make sure all parties receive what needs seeing without missing anything important through remote access at any point during your case proceedings (even while you’re still deciding how best to approach things). You’ll never again have trouble looking over someone else’s shoulder when showing them something; now everything will stay focused solely where it should be: On Your Defense!

“93% of all information never leaves the digital domain. This means that the majority of information is being created, modified and consumed entirely in digital form.”

Forensic Focus

1. What is a Digital Evidence Presentation System (DEPS)?

Generally, a DEPS is made up of an evidence table, an overhead camera, lighting, a touch screen display, built-in speakers and multiple audio/video outputs and maybe connected to a DVD/CD Player, Computer, and LCD Screen.

2. How does it work and what are its features?

DEPS is comprised of an evidence table; overhead camera with lighting for low light situations; touch screen display which connects with multiple outputs including built in speakers or connection directly into other systems like the Judges screen for previewing, etc .

Attorneys can present evidence either by inserting the item and/or image under the document camera or by sending the electronic data points to the Judge for review before distribution. Data is collected from a variety of sources, such as cell phones, paper documents, physical items used at the scene of the incident/crime, etc…. No matter what the type of evidence it can be incorporated into the DEPS process so that all parties whether in person or remote can have access to view it.

3. What are some of the most common types of digital evidence used in courtrooms today?

According to Yuri Gubanov, with Forensic Focus, “A recent  research conducted by Berkeley scientists  concluded that up to 93% of all information never leaves the digital domain. This means that the majority of information is being created, modified and consumed entirely in digital form. Most spreadsheets and databases never make it on paper, and most digital snapshots never get printed. There are many activities such as chats and social networking that are specific to digital and are even unimaginable outside of the virtual realm.”

If this is true, and a large majority, if not all evidence is digital, how do we consume this properly? What are the most common types of digital evidence out there for review? Here is a starting list:

• Address books and contact lists
• Audio files and voice recordings
• Backups to various programs, including backups to mobile devices
• Bookmarks and favorites
• Browser history
• Compressed archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.) including encrypted archives
• Configuration and .ini files (may contain account information, last access dates etc.)
• Email messages, attachments and email databases
• Hidden and system files
• Organizer items
• Page files, hibernation files and printer spooler files
• Pictures, images, digital photos
• Virtual machines
• System files
• Temporary files

4. What are the costs associated with using DEPS?

The costs vary depending on the amount of courtrooms you need to deploy these in, complexity of wiring and install in each room as well as age. While there’s many similarities across all manufacturers’ devices they all do have their own spin so it’s important for trial attorneys or judges who want high performing equipment without paying too much money upfront do detailed research prior to purchase. DEPS is crucial to your courtroom environment and to allow all parties a chance at justice.

Training & Support

As any new technology deployment goes ongoing support for the judicial staff is crucial in ensuring that they know how to use the system properly. The goal of updated technology is to streamline the court proceeding and to ensure justice for all. Training should be provided, by the DEPS vendor, for the regular courtroom users, district attorney, public defenders, and even the local bar. For those that are not attorneys training can be provided by simply having a laminated cheat sheet next to the document camera on how to use the system.

In Conclusion

As the justice system becomes more digitized, so too does the evidence. Digital Evidence Presentation (DEPS) is a crucial part of any legal case involving digital content. We would love to hear your thoughts on DEPS and how it has impacted you or someone close to you in court! Comment below with your experience with this new technology that’s changing our world for better or worse. What are YOUR thoughts on DEPS?

Recent Posts

• BEINCOURT and e1 Form Powerful Hybrid Courtroom Alliance
• Managing the Complexities of Courtroom Hearings – A Pandemic Response
• Legal Tech Startup Creates Platform for Virtual, Hybrid Court Hearings

Recent Comments

• February 2022
• November 2021
• August 2021
• Entries feed
• Comments feed
• WordPress.org