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Presentation Structure Guidelines for Effective Communication

In the business world, a presentation is so much more than just a bunch of slides or points—it’s a golden opportunity. It can sway decisions, propel change, or bring people together. How you structure your presentation is absolutely critical in getting your ideas across clearly and compellingly. 

When you’ve got a structured presentation just right, it’s like you’re taking your audience by the hand and guiding them through your thoughts, making sure they pick up all the important bits along the way. Moreover, it speaks of your degree of professionalism and how much knowledge you bear on the topic in question. 

Therefore, nailing your presentation structure isn’t just helpful; it’s downright necessary to get the results you’re after. Whether you’re pitching a new concept to the investors, sharing the latest findings with your team, or taking the stage at a conference, how you lay out your content becomes the language you use to interact with your audience. Get to know all that’s required to create a powerful presentation structure that will guarantee success in business meetings, academic dissertations, or motivational talks .

Table of Contents

What is a Presentation Structure

Introduction, techniques to structure your presentation, common mistakes to avoid when designing a presentation structure, final words.

Let’s compare a presentation structure to a business plan . Just as a business plan is essential for guiding a company’s strategy and ensuring all aspects of the business are aligned toward common goals, a presentation structure is crucial for organizing the content and delivery of your talk. 

The presentation structure lays out a clear and logical sequence of information, akin to the sections of a business plan that outline the company’s mission , market analysis , and financial projections. This clear sequence ensures that your audience can easily follow and understand your message, maximizing the impact your speech can deliver and influencing your target audience. 

Key Elements of a Presentation Structure

The easiest way to study a presentation structure is to subdivide it into sections. Basically, every presentation has a structure that follows this formula: Introduction > Body > Conclusion.

The introduction is the first section of the presentation and sets the tone for the rest of the presentation. It should be attention-grabbing and make the audience want to listen to the rest of the presentation.

When defining how to start a presentation , these are the best tips we recommend you implement.

Start with a Hook

Kick off your introduction with a strong hook that grabs your audience’s attention. This could be an intriguing fact, a thought-provoking question, or a compelling story related to your topic. A captivating opening will make your audience want to listen and engage with your presentation.

Clearly State Your Topic

Be clear and concise when stating your topic. Your audience should immediately understand what your presentation is about and what they can expect to learn. A clear statement of your topic sets the stage and provides a roadmap for the rest of your presentation.

Establish Credibility

Take a moment to establish your credibility by briefly sharing your qualifications or experience related to the topic. This helps to build trust and rapport with your audience, and it shows that you are knowledgeable and well-prepared.

Engage Your Audience

Make your audience part of the presentation by engaging them from the start. Ask a question, encourage participation, or invite them to think about how the topic relates to their own experiences. Engagement helps to create a connection between you and your audience. Using a surprise factor is an alternative if you feel the topic you’re about to present may not fully resonate with the target audience.

Preview Main Points

End your introduction by briefly previewing the main points you will cover in your presentation. This provides a clear structure for your audience to follow and helps them understand what to expect in the body of your presentation. An agenda slide is the perfect tool for this purpose.

The body is the main part of the presentation and provides the content and information that the audience came to hear. It should feature the main points and details supporting your presentation’s objective. Depending on your topic, this could include data, arguments, case studies, examples, or demonstrations. Each main point should be clear and distinct, with evidence or examples substantiating it. The content should be tailored to your audience’s level of knowledge and interest.

Different presentations call for various structures. For example, a Product Presentation ’s structure should start by dividing the content into clear sections or headings. For instance, if presenting a new software tool, sections could include its features, benefits, and user feedback.

On the other hand, a Persuasive Presentation begins with stating the current situation or problem, followed by proposed solutions, evidence supporting those solutions, and the benefits of adopting your proposition.

Workshop or Training Presentations begin with an overview of what will be taught, followed by step-by-step instructions, examples, demonstrations, and summaries or quizzes after each major section.

One essential aspect is to plan the multimedia elements to include in your presentation, including audio, images, and video, depending on the presentation style you aim to deliver. Through our expertise, we want to share some tips on how to plan this kind of content:

• Using relevant content: Each image should be related to its accompanying content. Avoid using images just for decoration. If using videos, dedicate an entire slide to them rather than sticking them to a corner of your slide. Plan a powerful hook to connect your thoughts with these visual aids.
• Quality: Ensure all images are of high resolution and can be clearly viewed, even from a distance. Avoid pixelated or distorted images.
• Simplicity: Infographics and diagrams should be easy to understand. If presenting data, use simple charts or graphs instead of complex tables. Limit the amount of text on each slide to ensure clarity. This rule of simplicity also applies to written content and the structure of your speech. Use the Feynman Technique as a time-saver approach to simplify content to reach any knowledgeable audience.
• Consistency: A common cause of presentation failures is to distract the audience with an unprofessional look. Maintain a consistent style and color scheme for all images to give your presentation a polished and professional feel.

Along the path of creating these media elements, you can rethink your strategy for disclosing content. In general lines, you should present your points in a logical order, often from the most to least important or in a chronological sequence. This helps the audience follow along and build understanding step by step. Well-known practices like the storytelling technique follow this approach to maximize audience engagement. 

Transition smoothly between points. Phrases like “moving on,” “in addition,” or “on the other hand” can guide your audience through your narrative. Break up long sections of spoken content with anecdotes, questions, or short videos. Such an approach adds variety and keeps the audience engaged.

A well-structured conclusion is the linchpin that holds your presentation together, reinforcing your main points and leaving a lasting impression on your audience. It is your final opportunity to communicate your message and encourage audience engagement. So, before you consider how to end a presentation , here are some powerful tips to ensure you conclude your presentation with impact.

End with a Strong Statement or Quote

This technique is commonly used in motivational presentations, where the speaker leaves the audience with a slide containing a quote related to the topic of the presentation, something that evokes inner reflection about the topic discussed. 

Conclude your presentation with a strong, memorable statement or a powerful quote that ties back to your main message. This adds weight to your argument and leaves a lasting impression on your audience. If you aim to surprise your audience, silence can also be a strong statement if your presentation has to raise awareness about a problem.

Incorporate a Call-to-Action

Clearly communicate to your audience what you want them to do next. Whether it’s to adopt a new perspective, take specific action, or continue the conversation outside of the presentation, a clear call to action drives engagement and encourages your audience to act upon your message.

Ask Thought-Provoking Questions

Pose thought-provoking questions that stimulate reflection and discussion. This opens the door for audience participation and engagement and allows you to interact with the audience in a Q&A session, or reach after your presentation concluded to network.

Additional Resources and Contact Info

Offer resources such as articles, websites, or books for those interested in exploring your topic further. This not only adds value to your presentation but also encourages the audience to engage with the content beyond the presentation itself.

Consider the way you leave a communication channel open with your audience. This can be in the format of a deliverable, writing down your contact data in the “Thank You” slide , or simply via speech to inform where they can know more about you and your work.

We already discussed the basic Introduction-Body-Conclusion framework for a presentation, but there are alternative approaches that can help you structure your talk.

Problem-Solution Framework

The Problem-Solution Framework is a compelling method to structure presentations, particularly when aiming to persuade or inform an audience about addressing specific challenges. The framework operates on a simple yet impactful premise: initially, highlight a problem or challenge that needs addressing and subsequently propose a viable solution or set of solutions.

Starting with the problem establishes a context, engages the audience by highlighting pain points or challenges they may recognize, and creates a desire for resolution. It sets the stage for the solution to be perceived as necessary and valuable.

The solution phase offers that much-needed resolution. By presenting a clear, actionable solution or set of recommendations, the presenter provides a pathway to overcome the identified challenge. This structure is not only logical but also highly persuasive, as it appeals to the audience’s desire for resolution and improvement. In essence, the Problem-Solution Framework is both a guide for content organization and a psychological tool for persuasion.

Chronological Structure

The Chronological Structure is an intuitive and organized approach to presenting information based on a sequence of events or a progression in time. Whether recounting historical events, outlining the stages of a project, or narrating a personal story, this structure follows a clear beginning, middle, and end sequence. By presenting details in the order they occurred, the audience can easily follow the narrative, making connections between events and understanding causality.

This structure is especially effective when the timeline of events is crucial to the narrative or when showcasing developments, evolutions, or growth over time. It provides clarity and eliminates confusion that might arise from a non-linear presentation. Moreover, by anchoring information on a timeline, the Chronological Structure aids memory retention, as the audience can mentally “map out” the journey of events. In sum, this method offers clarity and a compelling narrative arc, ensuring audience engagement from start to finish.

Comparative Structure

The Comparative Structure is a strategic approach to presentations that hinges on juxtaposing two or more elements, ideas, or solutions side by side. By examining similarities and differences, this method illuminates unique qualities, advantages, or drawbacks inherent in each element. Often employed in business scenarios like product comparisons, market analysis, or debates, the comparative structure helps audiences critically analyze options and make informed decisions.

Presenters utilizing this structure typically start by introducing the elements for comparison. They then delve into detailed analysis, often using criteria or metrics to maintain objective evaluations. Visual aids like Venn diagrams or comparison charts can enhance clarity and visual appeal.

The strength of the Comparative Structure lies in its ability to foster critical thinking. By directly contrasting items, audiences are engaged, encouraged to weigh pros and cons, and ultimately arrive at a deeper understanding or more nuanced perspective on the subject matter.

Matrix Structure

The Matrix Structure offers an approach to organizing presentations by segmenting information into distinct categories or sections, akin to a grid or matrix. Instead of a linear flow, topics are grouped by themes, criteria, or any relevant classification, allowing for simultaneous exploration of multiple facets of a subject. Think of it as viewing a topic through various lenses concurrently.

For instance, in a business setting, a product might be examined in terms of design, functionality, market positioning, and customer feedback. Each of these constitutes a segment in the matrix.

Visually, the matrix can be represented using tables, grids, or quadrant charts, making the content easily digestible and engaging. A key advantage of this structure is its flexibility; presenters can delve deep into one segment or provide a broader overview of all areas, depending on the audience’s needs. Ultimately, the Matrix Structure ensures a comprehensive and multifaceted examination of a topic, providing depth and breadth in analysis.

Modular Structure

The final model we will study is the Modular Structure. It takes content and packs it into modules, which can be arranged at any other the presenter requires them to be. Each module addresses a specific topic or idea and is designed to be self-contained, ensuring clarity even if presented independently or in a different order. This adaptability makes the modular approach especially valuable in dynamic settings, such as workshops or conferences, where audience feedback or time constraints might necessitate adjustments on the fly.

For example, in a corporate training session, different modules could cover distinct skills or topics. Based on the attendees’ prior knowledge or the session’s time limit, the presenter can prioritize, omit, or rearrange modules without compromising the integrity of each segment.

By adopting the Modular Structure, presenters gain flexibility without sacrificing depth. This approach fosters a responsive presentation style, allowing speakers to tailor content in real-time, ensuring maximum relevance and engagement for their audience.

Even well-seasoned presenters can fall prey to these common mistakes in terms of presentation structure. Let’s learn how to prevent them.

Overloading with Information

It’s tempting to include every bit of knowledge you have on a topic. Still, information overload can quickly disengage an audience. Prioritize key points and leave out extraneous details. As famous architect, Mies van der Rohe famously coined, “Less is More.”

Weak Transitions

Jumping abruptly from one point to another can disrupt the flow and confuse listeners. Ensure smooth transitions between sections, signaling shifts in topics or ideas to keep the narrative cohesive.

Dull Design

While content is king, visual appeal matters. Relying solely on walls of text or bland slides can lose your audience’s interest. Incorporate engaging visuals, charts, and multimedia elements to enhance your message and retain attention.

Ignoring the Call to Action

Concluding your presentation without guiding the audience on the next steps or what’s expected of them can be a missed opportunity. Whether it’s seeking feedback, prompting a discussion, or encouraging an action, always have a clear call to action.

Good communication is all about making your point clear, especially in presentations. We’ve talked about how the right structure can keep your audience hooked. But there’s more to it. Think about your presentation. Is it telling your story the way you want? Is it reaching your audience? Take a step back and really look at how you’re laying it out. Don’t just go with the flow – choose your format wisely. Remember, every presentation tells a story, and how you set it up matters a lot.

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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.]

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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.

The Wisdom of a Third Grade Dropout – by Rick Rigsby

Here’s an example of a presentation given by a relatively unknown individual looking to inspire the next generation of graduates. Rick’s presentation is unique in many ways compared to the two above. Notably, he uses no visual prompts and includes a great deal of humour.

However, what is similar is the structure he uses. He first introduces his message that the wisest man he knew was a third-grade dropout. He then proceeds to deliver his main body of argument, and in the end, concludes with his message. This powerful speech keeps the viewer engaged throughout, through a mixture of heart-warming sentiment, powerful life advice and engaging humour.

As you can see from the examples above, and as it has been expressed throughout, a great presentation structure means analysing the core message of your presentation. Decide on a key message you want to impart the audience with, and then craft an engaging way of delivering it.

By preparing a solid structure, and  practising your talk  beforehand, you can walk into the presentation with confidence and deliver a meaningful message to an interested audience.

It’s important for a presentation to be well-structured so it can have the most impact on your audience. An unstructured presentation can be difficult to follow and even frustrating to listen to. The heart of your speech are your main points supported by evidence and your transitions should assist the movement between points and clarify how everything is linked.

Research suggests that the audience remember the first and last things you say so your introduction and conclusion are vital for reinforcing your points. Essentially, ensure you spend the time structuring your presentation and addressing all of the sections.

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Presentations

How to Structure a Great Presentation

Today, visual communication is more important than ever. The time we spend in a home-office is rapidly growing . Not only that, but the interaction between us changed significantly in the last couple of years.

It’s completely normal to work with somebody for a long time, but never meet them in person. You can get customers, suppliers, investors anywhere on the globe—without the actual need to travel there personally.

Webinars have been with us for quite some time, but we can all agree that the number of webinar events is unprecedented. With those comes a variety of webinar services , so nowadays you are presenting through MS Teams, later participating in Google Hangouts, and tomorrow you are invited to a Webinarjam event.  

Even personal meetings are becoming fast-paced. Everybody has a lot to do. It is critical to communicate in a clear an simple way. 

This is why visual presentation is now more important than ever. It is not difficult to lay out an idea in 50 slides and give a two-hour presentation. But in the modern world, it is not possible to have such long interactions. 

A challenge is to put an idea on a few presentation slides and get your message across in five minutes. While this is an extreme example, in most cases this is what the presenter should strive for.

In this post, we will go over the main tips on structuring an informative, clear, and short presentation. 

You could also learn on the go by creating an account on Piktochart for free. Select one of our presentation templates to get started.

Considerations Before Structuring Your Presentation. 

Before we dive into actionable tips to get your presentation going, first let’s clarify some of the main points.

What is the goal of your presentation?

Making posters , infographics, or presentations; whatever your visual medium, you need to ask yourself what is its purpose. Is the main objective of your presentation to pitch investors ? Get new customers? Discuss an idea with your colleagues? 

Never do the presentation just because “it has to be done”. Your whole pitch will be much more efficient when you know exactly why you are doing it and where you need to get your audience to. 

Who is your audience? 

As for every marketing endeavor, the same goes for presentations —know your audience. It does not have to be exact research, but you must know the overall information. 

Age, profession, interests—the more you connect with your audience the more memorable will your presentation be. 

No matter the goal of the presentation, during your pitch, the audience is your client. And as a famous saying goes, “know your client”.

What are the main points?

Right at the beginning, establish the main points that you want your audience to remember. If I would ask one of the presentation participants in a week what was your pitch about—what would he/she answer? 

Presentation style

There are many ways how you can style (structure) your presentation. Which approach you will choose hugely depends on what is required from you. Let’s go over some of the most popular styles of the presentation: 

• Short Presentation 

If you are one of many presenters that day, you will have a very limited amount of time to present your idea. In addition to that, you may be speaking after many people. So at this point, the audience is already tired and it is important for you to stand out.

In this situation, you must compress your ideas to as few points as possible. Your presentation will probably not have more than 3-5 slides. On these slides, only the main points will be included. 

Piktochart has many great templates that will help you create a pitch deck (or a quick presentation) in no time!  Sign up for free to create a visual.

• Guest Presenter

If you are one of the main participants of the program, you will have more time to present. Though it may not seem so, it is much easier to prepare for a longer presentation than for a short one. 

In this case, you may add more points to each slide, and speak more freely on the topic. 

• Problem Solving

You may see this approach frequently on TED. Presenters briefly talk about themselves, then they describe the problem that exists there.

To emphasize its importance, they also describe the possible impacts of the problem not being solved. After the stage is set, they describe how they would solve it. 

• Storytelling

We frequently see this approach in various motivational presentations. Storytelling is a great way to emotionally connect with the audience. All the stories start with an underdog. Why? Because everybody can relate. 

They go through struggles, setbacks, problems. Again—everyone can relate. They end with catharsis in a form of success or justice. For the last part, not many can relate but they can emotionally resonate with it as they too would like such an outcome for themselves. 

• Demonstration

We all remember the presentation of the iPhone by Steve Jobs in 2007:

Or the unveiling of the Tesla 3 model by Elon Musk:

Rather than the speaker, the center stage is given to the product. This is what good demonstration-presentation should look like.  

The main topic becomes the product, so all the tips that we will discuss in this post must be related to it. 

There are many other niche styles of the presentation, but most of the ones you see (and do) will fall into one of the described categories. 

So since we established the main presentation styles, let’s dive a bit deeper into the way a good presentation would be structured.

Presentation Structure

While in the previous section we established what and to who we will be presenting. In this section, we will go over the main flow of your presentation.

In this section, I will use some examples. All of them come from Piktochart, and they are of course done for illustration purposes only—so please do not judge my creations too critically.

Also, for each section, I will be using a different visual template. Your presentation should of course be coherent in terms of style! 

• Cover Slide

Through your presentation, you are telling a story and all good stories start at the beginning. Cover slides look professional when you present and they are a must when you are printing or sending.

Nothing too complicated. Brief and to the point. The cover slide is there to establish the topic (or that audience knows that they are in the right room) and set an overall tone to the presentation. 

If you have a longer presentation, an agenda slide should be included. Sure, if you are going with a 5-minute sales pitch—skip this, but it is good to let your audience know what you will cover and how much time it will take.

• Profile Slide

It is important to establish authority with your audience. Why should they listen to you? What qualifications or experiences do you have? 

The profile slide is a great tool to establish your background and also to connect a bit. 

I am not a big fan of jokes in presentations. Particularly when speaking to a bigger audience. What may seem like a witty joke to you, may be taken as not funny or even insulting by your audience. 

But if I would be considering a small joke, it would be in the profile slide. Do not overdo it, or don’t it at all if you are not sure about it. 

• The Problem

The common pleasantries are behind us and now we are getting to the main part of a good presentation. It opens with The Problem.

For this post, I will not be explaining how to present a quarterly financial report (you may find plenty of report presentations here). But (as you may have noticed) we are rather having a look at how a sales deck, investment pitch, or product presentation may look like. 

The problem slide will set out the main point of the presentation. This is when you are trying to seriously connect with your audience. 

In the case of a pitch—you are trying to present the problem in such a way that many people can relate to it. If nobody can relate—nobody will be interested. 

If you are just doing a presentation on the topic (not a sales pitch), you might want to draft this in a way that will explain the overall environment of the topic that you are to tell about—to set the tone of the whole presentation. 

The Solution

After the tone of the presentation is set, or in the case of a pitch—the problem is explained, it is time to deliver what everybody is here for. For the pitch it would be the solution, for the overall presentation—it would be just an explanation of things (or possibly your personal view on the matter). 

As with everything else, the provided solution/explanation must be as simple as possible. It must directly tackle the problem/the tone of the presentation that you‘ve set in the earlier slide. 

The Conclusion Slide

After the main talk is done, close the presentation with the final slide. One of the teachings of leadership books (or pseudo-teachings) is that even if you are silent for the whole meeting, but in the end, you recap all that was said by others—you will be seen as a leader. 

Closing statement matters. Ending with a properly chosen inspirational quote is something that worked well for me. 

Of course, it will depend on the overall theme and tone of your presentation. But first and last impressions matter. So make sure you close on a strong note. 

Right before the closing slide, it is good to set up a “stop slide” which will remind you that now is a good time to take some questions.

You may start with a couple of pre-written questions to get the discussion going and then see if there are some questions from the public. 

Closing Slide

The final slide of your presentation will be the one with Thank You note and contact information.

Make sure that you include the contact information, so you make it easier for everyone to find you. 

That is it. While it may seem like a lot of work, with Piktochart templates you will be much quicker. The brief slides that you see above took me a couple of minutes to make. 

So while we have the main structure of the presentation behind us, let’s have a look at some actionable tips that you should think of when preparing for your event or a webinar.

Presentation Tips

No matter what type of presentation awaits you, here are some presentation tips that will hopefully help you as much as they helped me:

• When designing your presentation, make sure to leave space on the left or upper side. This will serve you well if you have to print and bind your presentation. 
• Font type matters . It sets the tone for your presentation. Piktochart has lots of great combinations to choose from, but when in doubt, Helvetica and possibly Verdana will always look good. For tables with lots of numbers, Arial will be both readable and will fit the cells. 
• This will force you to put less text on the slide. 
• Always imagine that you are a 50+ investor sitting in a back row. How readable is your presentation for him/her? 
• In small groups, take questions as you go . It will help you develop the topic and better feel out what your listeners are thinking about (worried about).
• In bigger groups, leave the Q&A to the end of the presentation . Otherwise, it will be too messy and you will constantly get interrupted.
• The presentation podium is an enemy . It will make you stand in one spot, with no movement, and monotonously monolog through your presentation. Do not do it. 
• Use your voice . It is said that to get into the meditative state of trance, you have to hum on the same low frequency. You do not want that to happen to your listeners right? Do not be overly dramatic or emotional, but do not be afraid to give a rhetorical question or to give color to your presentation with the proper use of your voice. 
• Do not read from your presentation . Your slides are there just so you can keep track of where you are in your story. Pay attention to the audience, not the presentation.
• If possible, do not give out your presentation in advance . Your audience will read through it, make their conclusion about it and you will have no chance to explain all the nuances. 

The hardest part of a presentation is to start. When you are staring at a blank slide, it seems like it just can’t be done. You do not know where to put the pictures, how the titles should be, how the text will be laid out.

Here is where Piktochart’s online presentation maker comes to the rescue. Create an account for free and choose the design that seems to work for your topic and just start filling the blanks. As you will progress, the path will be much clearer.

Hopefully these tips on how to structure a presentation and how to present it will help you achieve your goal! 

Create a presentation that leaves an impact.

Slides that impress. Start for free.

Vlad Falin is a founder and blogger at Costofincome.com, where he writes about digital marketing, landing page builders, business, and motivation.

Other Posts

Mastering the Craft: Presentation Design Strategies From a Pro

How to Make a Presentation (2023 Guide With Tips & Templates)

How to Nail Your Brand Presentation: Examples and Pro Tips

Do you want to be part of these success stories, join more than 11 million who already use piktochart to craft visual stories that stick..

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Blog Beginner Guides

How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

By Krystle Wong , Jul 20, 2023

A top-notch presentation possesses the power to drive action. From winning stakeholders over and conveying a powerful message to securing funding — your secret weapon lies within the realm of creating an effective presentation .  

Being an excellent presenter isn’t confined to the boardroom. Whether you’re delivering a presentation at work, pursuing an academic career, involved in a non-profit organization or even a student, nailing the presentation game is a game-changer.

In this article, I’ll cover the top qualities of compelling presentations and walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to give a good presentation. Here’s a little tip to kick things off: for a headstart, check out Venngage’s collection of free presentation templates . They are fully customizable, and the best part is you don’t need professional design skills to make them shine!

These valuable presentation tips cater to individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, encompassing business professionals, sales and marketing teams, educators, trainers, students, researchers, non-profit organizations, public speakers and presenters. 

No matter your field or role, these tips for presenting will equip you with the skills to deliver effective presentations that leave a lasting impression on any audience.

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 10 qualities of a good presentation?

Step-by-step guide on how to prepare an effective presentation, 9 effective techniques to deliver a memorable presentation, faqs on making a good presentation, how to create a presentation with venngage in 5 steps.

When it comes to giving an engaging presentation that leaves a lasting impression, it’s not just about the content — it’s also about how you deliver it. Wondering what makes a good presentation? Well, the best presentations I’ve seen consistently exhibit these 10 qualities:

1. Clear structure

No one likes to get lost in a maze of information. Organize your thoughts into a logical flow, complete with an introduction, main points and a solid conclusion. A structured presentation helps your audience follow along effortlessly, leaving them with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

Regardless of your presentation style , a quality presentation starts with a clear roadmap. Browse through Venngage’s template library and select a presentation template that aligns with your content and presentation goals. Here’s a good presentation example template with a logical layout that includes sections for the introduction, main points, supporting information and a conclusion: 

2. Engaging opening

Hook your audience right from the start with an attention-grabbing statement, a fascinating question or maybe even a captivating anecdote. Set the stage for a killer presentation!

The opening moments of your presentation hold immense power – check out these 15 ways to start a presentation to set the stage and captivate your audience.

3. Relevant content

Make sure your content aligns with their interests and needs. Your audience is there for a reason, and that’s to get valuable insights. Avoid fluff and get straight to the point, your audience will be genuinely excited.

4. Effective visual aids

Picture this: a slide with walls of text and tiny charts, yawn! Visual aids should be just that—aiding your presentation. Opt for clear and visually appealing slides, engaging images and informative charts that add value and help reinforce your message.

With Venngage, visualizing data takes no effort at all. You can import data from CSV or Google Sheets seamlessly and create stunning charts, graphs and icon stories effortlessly to showcase your data in a captivating and impactful way.

5. Clear and concise communication

Keep your language simple, and avoid jargon or complicated terms. Communicate your ideas clearly, so your audience can easily grasp and retain the information being conveyed. This can prevent confusion and enhance the overall effectiveness of the message. 

6. Engaging delivery

Spice up your presentation with a sprinkle of enthusiasm! Maintain eye contact, use expressive gestures and vary your tone of voice to keep your audience glued to the edge of their seats. A touch of charisma goes a long way!

7. Interaction and audience engagement

Turn your presentation into an interactive experience — encourage questions, foster discussions and maybe even throw in a fun activity. Engaged audiences are more likely to remember and embrace your message.

Transform your slides into an interactive presentation with Venngage’s dynamic features like pop-ups, clickable icons and animated elements. Engage your audience with interactive content that lets them explore and interact with your presentation for a truly immersive experience.

8. Effective storytelling

Who doesn’t love a good story? Weaving relevant anecdotes, case studies or even a personal story into your presentation can captivate your audience and create a lasting impact. Stories build connections and make your message memorable.

A great presentation background is also essential as it sets the tone, creates visual interest and reinforces your message. Enhance the overall aesthetics of your presentation with these 15 presentation background examples and captivate your audience’s attention.

9. Well-timed pacing

Pace your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides, neither rushing through nor dragging it out. Respect your audience’s time and ensure you cover all the essential points without losing their interest.

10. Strong conclusion

Last impressions linger! Summarize your main points and leave your audience with a clear takeaway. End your presentation with a bang , a call to action or an inspiring thought that resonates long after the conclusion.

In-person presentations aside, acing a virtual presentation is of paramount importance in today’s digital world. Check out this guide to learn how you can adapt your in-person presentations into virtual presentations . 

Preparing an effective presentation starts with laying a strong foundation that goes beyond just creating slides and notes. One of the quickest and best ways to make a presentation would be with the help of a good presentation software . 

Otherwise, let me walk you to how to prepare for a presentation step by step and unlock the secrets of crafting a professional presentation that sets you apart.

1. Understand the audience and their needs

Before you dive into preparing your masterpiece, take a moment to get to know your target audience. Tailor your presentation to meet their needs and expectations , and you’ll have them hooked from the start!

2. Conduct thorough research on the topic

Time to hit the books (or the internet)! Don’t skimp on the research with your presentation materials — dive deep into the subject matter and gather valuable insights . The more you know, the more confident you’ll feel in delivering your presentation.

3. Organize the content with a clear structure

No one wants to stumble through a chaotic mess of information. Outline your presentation with a clear and logical flow. Start with a captivating introduction, follow up with main points that build on each other and wrap it up with a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.

Delivering an effective business presentation hinges on captivating your audience, and Venngage’s professionally designed business presentation templates are tailor-made for this purpose. With thoughtfully structured layouts, these templates enhance your message’s clarity and coherence, ensuring a memorable and engaging experience for your audience members.

Don’t want to build your presentation layout from scratch? pick from these 5 foolproof presentation layout ideas that won’t go wrong. 

4. Develop visually appealing and supportive visual aids

Spice up your presentation with eye-catching visuals! Create slides that complement your message, not overshadow it. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, but that doesn’t mean you need to overload your slides with text.

Well-chosen designs create a cohesive and professional look, capturing your audience’s attention and enhancing the overall effectiveness of your message. Here’s a list of carefully curated PowerPoint presentation templates and great background graphics that will significantly influence the visual appeal and engagement of your presentation.

5. Practice, practice and practice

Practice makes perfect — rehearse your presentation and arrive early to your presentation to help overcome stage fright. Familiarity with your material will boost your presentation skills and help you handle curveballs with ease.

6. Seek feedback and make necessary adjustments

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and seek feedback from friends and colleagues. Constructive criticism can help you identify blind spots and fine-tune your presentation to perfection.

With Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature , receiving feedback and editing your presentation is a seamless process. Group members can access and work on the presentation simultaneously and edit content side by side in real-time. Changes will be reflected immediately to the entire team, promoting seamless teamwork.

7. Prepare for potential technical or logistical issues

Prepare for the unexpected by checking your equipment, internet connection and any other potential hiccups. If you’re worried that you’ll miss out on any important points, you could always have note cards prepared. Remember to remain focused and rehearse potential answers to anticipated questions.

8. Fine-tune and polish your presentation

As the big day approaches, give your presentation one last shine. Review your talking points, practice how to present a presentation and make any final tweaks. Deep breaths — you’re on the brink of delivering a successful presentation!

In competitive environments, persuasive presentations set individuals and organizations apart. To brush up on your presentation skills, read these guides on how to make a persuasive presentation and tips to presenting effectively . 

Whether you’re an experienced presenter or a novice, the right techniques will let your presentation skills soar to new heights!

From public speaking hacks to interactive elements and storytelling prowess, these 9 effective presentation techniques will empower you to leave a lasting impression on your audience and make your presentations unforgettable.

1. Confidence and positive body language

Positive body language instantly captivates your audience, making them believe in your message as much as you do. Strengthen your stage presence and own that stage like it’s your second home! Stand tall, shoulders back and exude confidence. 

2. Eye contact with the audience

Break down that invisible barrier and connect with your audience through their eyes. Maintaining eye contact when giving a presentation builds trust and shows that you’re present and engaged with them.

3. Effective use of hand gestures and movement

A little movement goes a long way! Emphasize key points with purposeful gestures and don’t be afraid to walk around the stage. Your energy will be contagious!

4. Utilize storytelling techniques

Weave the magic of storytelling into your presentation. Share relatable anecdotes, inspiring success stories or even personal experiences that tug at the heartstrings of your audience. Adjust your pitch, pace and volume to match the emotions and intensity of the story. Varying your speaking voice adds depth and enhances your stage presence.

5. Incorporate multimedia elements

Spice up your presentation with a dash of visual pizzazz! Use slides, images and video clips to add depth and clarity to your message. Just remember, less is more—don’t overwhelm them with information overload. 

Turn your presentations into an interactive party! Involve your audience with questions, polls or group activities. When they actively participate, they become invested in your presentation’s success. Bring your design to life with animated elements. Venngage allows you to apply animations to icons, images and text to create dynamic and engaging visual content.

6. Utilize humor strategically

Laughter is the best medicine—and a fantastic presentation enhancer! A well-placed joke or lighthearted moment can break the ice and create a warm atmosphere , making your audience more receptive to your message.

7. Practice active listening and respond to feedback

Be attentive to your audience’s reactions and feedback. If they have questions or concerns, address them with genuine interest and respect. Your responsiveness builds rapport and shows that you genuinely care about their experience.

8. Apply the 10-20-30 rule

Apply the 10-20-30 presentation rule and keep it short, sweet and impactful! Stick to ten slides, deliver your presentation within 20 minutes and use a 30-point font to ensure clarity and focus. Less is more, and your audience will thank you for it!

9. Implement the 5-5-5 rule

Simplicity is key. Limit each slide to five bullet points, with only five words per bullet point and allow each slide to remain visible for about five seconds. This rule keeps your presentation concise and prevents information overload.

Simple presentations are more engaging because they are easier to follow. Summarize your presentations and keep them simple with Venngage’s gallery of simple presentation templates and ensure that your message is delivered effectively across your audience.

1. How to start a presentation?

To kick off your presentation effectively, begin with an attention-grabbing statement or a powerful quote. Introduce yourself, establish credibility and clearly state the purpose and relevance of your presentation.

2. How to end a presentation?

For a strong conclusion, summarize your talking points and key takeaways. End with a compelling call to action or a thought-provoking question and remember to thank your audience and invite any final questions or interactions.

3. How to make a presentation interactive?

To make your presentation interactive, encourage questions and discussion throughout your talk. Utilize multimedia elements like videos or images and consider including polls, quizzes or group activities to actively involve your audience.

In need of inspiration for your next presentation? I’ve got your back! Pick from these 120+ presentation ideas, topics and examples to get started. 

Creating a stunning presentation with Venngage is a breeze with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and professionally designed templates for all your communication needs. 

Here’s how to make a presentation in just 5 simple steps with the help of Venngage:

Step 1: Sign up for Venngage for free using your email, Gmail or Facebook account or simply log in to access your account. 

Step 2: Pick a design from our selection of free presentation templates (they’re all created by our expert in-house designers).

Step 3: Make the template your own by customizing it to fit your content and branding. With Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily modify text, change colors and adjust the layout to create a unique and eye-catching design.

Step 4: Elevate your presentation by incorporating captivating visuals. You can upload your images or choose from Venngage’s vast library of high-quality photos, icons and illustrations. 

Step 5: Upgrade to a premium or business account to export your presentation in PDF and print it for in-person presentations or share it digitally for free!

By following these five simple steps, you’ll have a professionally designed and visually engaging presentation ready in no time. With Venngage’s user-friendly platform, your presentation is sure to make a lasting impression. So, let your creativity flow and get ready to shine in your next presentation!

The 3 parts of a presentation: introduction, main part, closing part

The task of each part for the presentation structure.

A successful business presentation requires careful planning and structuring. In this article, we will look at presentation structure, focusing on the three parts: Introduction, main body, and conclusion of a presentation. We will explore what each part does and specific tips to help structure these parts of the presentation in the best possible way.

Part 1: The introduction of a presentation

Part 2: The main part of a presentation

Part 3: The conclusion of a presentation

A successful presentation needs a well-structured agenda. It helps your audience to keep track and follow the content of the presentation. The agenda ensures that all important aspects of a topic are covered in the presentation.

An attractively designed and worded agenda can also help to capture the audience’s attention right from the start and get them excited about the presentation. For example, the agenda can be designed using images, language, or terminology that is specific to the audience’s goals and interests. In this way, the presenter signals that they value the audience’s time and interest and are tailoring their presentation to meet their needs. Read more about the importance of the agenda in presentations and learn how to use action titles profitably as well.

Part 1: the introduction of a presentation

1. Greeting:

With a friendly greeting, you create a positive atmosphere right from the start. You give the audience the opportunity to arrive, get quiet and collect themselves and signal that it’s about to start. This phase is important to establish the audience’s concentration.

2.  Introduction:

Briefly introduce yourself and your organization. Give an overview of who you are and what your role is in your organization. By doing this, you will give your audience direction and reinforce your expertise and credibility at the very beginning of the presentation.

3. Objective:

Briefly outline the topic of your presentation and explain what you hope to accomplish with the presentation. Make sure the goal of the presentation is clear and concise.

4. Context:

Explain the context in which the presentation will take place. Why is the topic important? Why is it relevant to the audience? Here you should also make sure that you connect with the audience and tailor your presentation to their needs and interests.

After the introduction, you should have achieved the following with your audience:

• The audience is focused
• They know who you are and that you bring expertise to the topic
• It knows what the presentation is about and why it is worth paying attention.

Part 2: the main part of a presentation

The main part is the most important part of your presentation from a content point of view. Here you present your information, argue for your position, try to convince the target audience or bring them to a decision. In short, the middle section is the heart of your presentation. It should be structured in a logical and comprehensible way and should be consistently oriented towards your presentation objective. The biggest challenge is to make the main part compact and not to ramble too much, but still not to make any jumps in content where you might lose your audience. Ideally, when building the main body, you follow the thought processes your audience might have and answer any questions that might pop into your target audience’s head. Of course, this requires a good knowledge of your target audience and also some experience. If you have given similar presentations before, you should take into account insights you can derive from audience reactions or questions, for example, when building your next presentation.

The main part should make up about 75% to 80% of the total duration of the presentation. These are our tips for the main body:

1. Precise headings:

Make sure the main body is clear and logical and use precise headings. They will ensure that your audience can follow your arguments. Headings that are to the point also help the speaker, for example, when you want to jump back and forth within the presentation.

2. Key messages:

Present your core messages and arguments in a logical order. Make sure to support your arguments with examples and facts to strengthen your position. Report from the field to show that you understand the needs of your target audience.

3. Visualization:

Make sure you make your information easy to grasp quickly. Whenever possible, you should make use of visualizations. Diagrams, icons, and images are quicker to grasp than columns of scrubs, and you’ll stick in their minds. Your audience is more likely to remember a good picture than the text on your slides.

After the main part, you should have achieved the following with your audience:

• The audience has understood your information and your arguments
• You have answered or anticipated your audience’s most important questions and objections
• The audience has recognized the relevance of the topic for their own needs and requirements
• The audience is ready to take the next step toward your goal.

The closing section is the last part of your presentation and gives you the opportunity to emphasize your message once again. It’s not just about leaving a strong impression. The conclusion of your presentation determines whether you have achieved your presentation goal. Were you able to find supporters for your topic? Were you able to bring about a decision? Were you able to win a new customer? In order to be able to measure the achievement of your objectives, it is important to be specific at the end of your presentation. Depending on the goal, you can give an outlook here, agree on next steps or deadlines, or already distribute tasks. Use all possibilities for a binding exit and a concrete connection. Make sure that your topic is thought about further, a project is pursued or a collaboration is started. Otherwise, unfortunately, your presentation will be forgotten very quickly or other topics will push in front of it.

The conclusion of your presentation should be about 10% to 15% of the total duration of the presentation and include the following elements:

Summarize the most important points of your presentation again in a short and concise way. This will remind the audience of the key messages and strengthen your overall impression.

2. Call-to-action

Conclude your presentation with a call-to-action that fits your presentation objective. Ask the audience to make a decision, buy a product, or schedule a follow-up appointment with you. This will create commitment and ensure that your presentation objective is achieved.

Give an outlook on future developments or projects. Show the next steps or point out follow-up topics. By doing so, you show that you know the processes and are also an expert for the next steps and implementation.

4. Thank you

Conclude your presentation by thanking the audience. Show your appreciation for the interest and time the audience invested in your presentation. You can also include your contact information and offer to answer questions or provide further information. The thank you note should come from you in person; you don’t need a slide for that. Also read our tips for PowerPoint closing slides .

• The audience follows your recommendation.
• It acts in the sense of your presentation goal.
• Your presentation is remembered and you are set with the audience as an expert on the presentation topic.

You can find many more very helpful tips on presentation structure in our blog articles on the golden thread of your presentation and presentation structure .

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46 How to structure your presentation

Lucinda Atwood and Christian Westin

This chapter teaches you a quick, easy way to create effective presentations. You’ll also learn how to use valid resources and avoid plagiarism.

There are lots of ways to structure a presentation, but we like this one best. It’s clear, simple and fits most presentations.

In this part of your presentation, you’ll capture the audience’s attention, tell them who you are, and give them a preview of your presentation.

• Grabber/hook   (Goes before or after the self-introduction) A very brief and interesting statement or question that grabs the audience’s attention. See Grabber Types below for more details.
• Self-introduction  (Goes before or after the grabber ) Tell the audience your name and credentials. For example: I’m Minh and I’ve been a professional presenter for 10 years.
• Thesis   The main point or argument of your presentation. Be brief and precise, not general or vague. For example: I’m going to show you how practicing your presentation 10 times will improve your grade by 20%.
• Overview of main points  Briefly outline the main points that you’ll cover in your presentation. To help your audience, do list these in same order that you’ll deliver them later on. For example: First, we’ll talk about what makes presentations great, then I’ll share some data on how practice affects your confidence and performance, and finally we’ll look at how to practice.

In this part of your presentation, you’ll deliver the detailed information of your presentation.

• Key point 1   A major point that supports your thesis and may have supporting sub-points
• Key point 2   Another major point that supports your thesis and may have supporting sub-points
• Key point 3   The final major point that supports your thesis and may have supporting sub-points

In this part you’ll remind the audience of what you told them, and tell them what to do next.

• Summary of main points   (Can be merged with your conclusion) Clearly restate your three main points in the same order you delivered them. It’s the same as your overview but in past tense. First, I described what makes presentations great, then I shared data on how practice affects confidence and performance, and finally we looked at how to practice.
• Conclusion   Restate your thesis in past tense. For example: I’m showed you that practicing your presentation 10 times will improve your grade by 20%.
• Call to action   Give your audience clear, active and compelling direction, based on what you told them. For example: Practice your presentations ten times and start collecting those A-plusses!

Grabber types

Remember that the grabber’s job is grabbing the audience’s attention, so it must be surprising, fascinating or intriguing. It must also be related to your presentation’s topic. Here are some descriptions and examples:

You can also mix and match grabbers. For example, you could show an image and ask the audience to guess what it is.

The length of your grabber is relative to your total presentation time. For a 2-minute presentation, it should be quite brief – maybe one sentence. For a 16-minute team presentation, a 45-60 second grabber would be appropriate.

Outline your presentation

The fastest way to create a successful presentation is to start with an outline. Y ou’ll need two outlines: a preparation outline, and a speaking outline.

Preparation outlines are comprehensive outlines that include all of the information in your presentation. Our presentation outline will consist of the content of what the audience will see and hear. Eventually, you will move away from this outline as you develop your materials and practice your presentation.

Your speaking outline will contain notes to guide you and is usually not shared with your audience. It will summarize the full preparation outline down to more usable notes. You should create a set of abbreviated notes for the actual delivery.

Use an outline, not a script; this will allow you to be more natural and let you look at the audience or camera. Reading is a guaranteed way to make your presentation boring.

The easiest way to create your outline is to work in this order:

• Determine your thesis and write this as a full sentence
• Determine your 3 Main Points
• Add key supporting points for each of your Main Points
• Complete the other parts – introduction, grabber, call to action, etc.

Working in this order is fast because it’s easier to create the conclusion and grabber when you’ve already decided on the content. Also, after you have the main structure it’s easy to add details, examples, and stories that make your presentation interesting and convincing.

You can use your presentation outline as a starting point to developing your speaking outline. It’s a good idea to make speaking notes to align with your main points and visuals in each section.

UNC Libraries Presentation Planning Worksheet

Using Examples and Scenarios

Presenters will often use examples and scenarios to help illustrate the their message. The main difference between examples and scenarios is that while both help “show” the audience what you mean, an example is the “thing” itself, while a scenario would include more detail about the sequence or development of events. Scenarios also tend to be longer and more nuanced.

An ‘example’ of a sales target might be: to sell 500 units in 30 days. A ‘scenario’ might be described as: Company A is selling vacuums to the Atlantic Canada region. They are trying to increase their sales, and so have set a target of 500 units in the region in 30 days, using a sales incentive program for employees and promoting a sale at local stores.

A Word About Storytelling

Storytelling can be an effective way to convey your message to your audience. Stories are a fundamental part of the human experience, and, if well-told, can resonate with listeners. Some of the most inspiring TEDTalks speakers use storytelling effectively in their presentations. You can find out more about how to incorporate storytelling techniques into presentations from the TEDTAlk speakers directly.

Read the following blog post from Nayomi Chibana (2015).

http://blog.visme.co/7-storytelling-techniques-used-by-the-most-inspiring-ted-presenters/

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How to structure your presentation Copyright © by Lucinda Atwood and Christian Westin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Design a PowerPoint: A Visual Guide to Making Slides with Impact

Home > Speaking > How to Design a PowerPoint

A quick Google Images search for “worst PowerPoint slides” proves two very clear realities: 1) anybody can create a PowerPoint; and 2) many don’t know how to do them well.

That’s understandable, though. Unless you’ve recently taken courses or training in design, data visualization, and public speaking, you likely haven’t had any more education on how to create an effective slide deck than a ten-year-old.

And you’re not alone.

Bad PowerPoints are everywhere: professor lectures, science conferences, human resources trainings, team meetings, sales review gatherings, thesis and dissertation defenses, product pitches, job interviews, you name it. Some of the brightest people in the world have created some of the most awful PowerPoints. For most, it’s just not a natural skill.

That’s unfortunate, too, because a well-designed slide deck can make a tremendous difference in the reception of the message you’re trying to convey.

To start designing excellent slide decks right away, follow my quick guide to designing better PowerPoints right after this paragraph. To get a whole workshop’s worth of information about how to design better slides, scroll below. 🙂

Click image to enlarge.

The question is, does designing a nice PowerPoint actually matter?

Well, if you’ve made it this far, you already know my opinion. But the short answer is, YES! Effective slide decks can make a HUGE difference in the outcome of your presentation. Why? Because slides—which should be used to supplement and enhance your well-prepared script (not be the presentation, as we often see in slides that are nothing more than bulleted lists)—significantly improve engagement during the presentation and recall after the presentation.

Basically, if you want people to both pay attention AND remember what you said, good slides can make all the difference. Plus, research has shown that people trust information more when it’s well-designed. In sum, good slides will cause your audience to:

• Pay attention more and stay more engaged;
• Remember the key messages from your presentation better;
• Trust you and your information more; and
• Believe you are super smart and awesome. (I mean, you already are, but good slides will seal the deal.)

Bad slides, on the other hand, are not only distracting, but they can actually damage a person’s ability to understand and follow your message.

At best, poorly designed slides will make you look less professional. At worst, they’ll encourage people to not listen to anything you have to say. Bad slides (which are caused by a whole range of things, including being too text-heavy, too busy, too inconsistent, or too color crazy, etc. [see my article on 40 Ways to Screw Up a PowerPoint Slide ]), overwhelmingly distract from your presentation.

If a slide has too much text, people try to read it and listen to you at the same time—which damages their ability to do either well. If your slides are too busy, your audience won’t be able to understand the information quick enough. If it’s ugly, well…people just tune out and ignore (and judge you, to boot).

Okay, so enough of the why . Let’s get to making better slides!

The 9 Steps to Designing a Better PowerPoint Slide

Step 1: empathize with your audience.

The term “empathy” in this context comes from a relatively new theory called “design thinking,” in which you can apply the mindset of a designer to a variety of contexts. So, whether you’re creating a toothbrush, a video game, an automobile, or…a PowerPoint, you need to be thinking a like a designer—which starts with empathy.

Empathizing with an audience is like applying the Golden Rule: present unto them as you would like to be presented to. Of course, the content of presentation itself comes first and foremost, but the design of your slides should support and enhance your content, so you’ll be thinking of your script and your slides at the same time. To begin, it’s best to start with a few concrete questions about your audience:

• Why are they there? Are they at your presentation because they want to be, or because they have to be? Is your presentation the only one of the day, or is it one of many (like at a conference)? Are they expecting to learn, be entertained, be inspired, be trained? In essence, you want to know their state of mind before coming so you can plan to accommodate that as best you can.
• Why would they care? Dig deep here. Does your audience actually care about the topic as much as you do? And…if you don’t care, why don’t you? If the topic isn’t meaningful and you can’t make it feel that way, then why even present? But…if they do care, know why they do. What will they hope for and expect out of it? What can you do to meet and exceed their expectations?
• What do they need to know? And what DON’T they? How much about your subject do they already know? Are they novices, experts, or a blend of both? Does it make more sense to break your topic into separate presentations on separate days, rather than giving it all at once? Is it focused and narrow enough to make an impact? Can you leave anything that is irrelevant out?
• What will keep them engaged? Consider your content and your big takeaways. Consider the personalities and knowledge base of the audience? What can you do to keep them engaged? Now…remember that “engaged” doesn’t mean “entertained” (though it can). If you’re a scientist presenting on bacterial infections in the liver, entertainment is obviously not appropriate. But…if you don’t engage them, they may not appreciate your research, no matter how valuable it is. What will they want to see, hear, and know and how can you display that to them in a way that will keep them interested?

Once you have clear idea about your audience’s needs and desires, you can begin to develop slides (along with the content of your script) that will give them exactly what they’re looking for rather than wasting their time (and yours).

Step 2: Define the Story

Think of your presentation as a story and you, the presenter, as an author in real time. As you deliver a presentation, you are creating the tone, setting, and plot for what happens. Your execution of the presentation will, if done right, create a climax/conflict and an important resolution. Consider how your slide development functions like the five components of a story, then write down how you plan to control (define) that story:

• The Setting. You create a mood and presence by the way you enter the room, interact with the audience, and display your title. While you may not have full control over who comes and what the room looks like, you do have relative control over the tone and ambiance and how they will react to your message. Consider the title of your presentation. Does it capture your message while also creating a buzz about your topic? Can you add a photo on the title slide that will intrigue your audience? What colors will you use? How do you plan to interact with the slides and how will you keep the audience involved?
• The Characters. You may not know all the people in the room, but you should know as much about them as possible (start with Step 1). Still, you have a way to shape their interest and engagement in this topic. Characters in this story are stakeholders. Your ultimate goal for giving should be one of three things: help them think about something in a new, meaningful way; learn something valuable they didn’t know before; and/or act as a result of what they learned. If you can’t get them to one of those three points, you’ve never really developed the characters.
• The Plot . A plot in storytelling is a series of events that build towards a conclusion. A plot needs to have direction, with clear and meaningful series of events. As you develop your script, you should be thinking about your rhetorical progression of ideas—your building towards a final outcome or conclusion. The development of slides can help you with this and they can help your audience stay on track. The key is, you need to make sure your audience is following the plot. If the plot starts to feel loose, disconnected, fragmented, or…all over the place, you’ll lose them faster than a 0-star rated movie.
• The Conflict. There must be some reason why everyone is there to see you presentation. It’s possible they don’t fully understand it themselves, but you, as the presenter, must make their purpose evidently clear. You must make them care. The more and more you pull them into your subject matter, the more you have effectively built a climax, which is the key to any successful story.
• The Resolution . The resolution is the takeaway—it’s what resolves the conflict. If you’ve built a strong climax, you now need to make sure your audience leaves with something valuable. If they leave thinking in a new, meaningful way; if they have learned something valuable that they can apply today; or if they are ready and knowledgeable about how to act, then the resolution is there and you, the author, have done your job.

Step 3: Brand Your Message

Jeff Bezos is famous for having said, “Brand is what others say about you when you’re not in the room.” You might think similarly about your presentation. How will your audience feel about your presentation afterwards, when you’re not around?

That can be an intimidating question to ask. And, it may seem a little odd to think about your message as a “brand.” But…applying brand theory to messaging makes a lot of sense. You want people to get on board with what you have to say. To do that, you have to establish what they value, what motivates them, and what you’ll have to do meet or exceed their expectations.

Brand experts use a lot of terms to describe and define brands. Let’s address a few, and apply them to slide design:

• Differentiation. How yours is different from the rest. What can you do to make your message stand out from a world of clutter and information? What makes yours unique? Is it your approach, the stories you tell, your language, your humor, your ideas, something else?
• Authenticity . How much you genuinely care. Audiences can tell if you’re passionate or not. They know if you care about both your topic and them learning it. If you fake it, the message gets diluted. Use your slides to help showcase how much you care.
• History . What people already know about you, your topic, or your experience. Do you need to establish credibility, or do you already have it? Do you have experience you can lean into? Does your audience already like/agree with this topic? Is it totally new and unfamiliar to them? How can you bring the history of your topic and yourself into the presentation? Will you audience need a primer on the history or does it matter?
• Simplicity. Making the most important things stick. Good brands almost always have simple logos, simple taglines, and simple brand positioning statements. Many also focus on limited products—they focus on what they do well. Your message can work the same way. Can you simplify your entire message into 2 – 5 key points? Can you reduce the amount of information that has to be taken in all at once? Can you help organize and chunk information to be clearer and simpler to follow? People generally have a hard time remembering complex information all at once—determine what the real purpose of your presentation is and what your audience can reasonably get out of it, then simplify to make sure that happens.
• Visual Identity . Your message, like a brand, can be enhanced if people resonate with the overall look and feel. Just like with buying a brand of shoes, people will be drawn to the design of your information. If it looks static, cliche, poorly design, or just plain ugly, you’ve created an undesirable visual identity and people will have a harder time buying into it. But if you can take your message and harmonize with strong design and imagery, people will be more likely to be attracted by, latch onto, and “buy in” to what you have to say. What should your visual identity look like, considering your topic?

Step 4: Select Your Fonts

The choice of your font may seem a small thing, but it can make the difference between a sleek, professional presentation and one that is static, boring, or, worse, painfully obnoxious.

If you’re not a professional designer, being font savvy may not come natural. Fortunately, there just a few rules you can follow to help you make your choices:

• Avoid the Defaults . In PowerPoint (as in MS Word), the default font is Calibri. Before 2010, the default was Times New Roman. Other programs use Arial or Myriad Pro as the default. What’s wrong with defaults? The fonts themselves are actually fine fonts—that’s why Microsoft went with them. BUT…because they’re the defaults, they are so widely used that they’ve become dull. If you just leave the defaults, your audience will subconsciously feel that you didn’t design your PowerPoint (because you probably didn’t). Just changing the font can bolster your PowerPoint’s professionalism quickly.
• Stick to Simple, Modern Fonts. Okay, so you don’t want to use the defaults, but what DO you use? Something simple. Don’t go crazy. Find something that is similar to the default, with just a little variation. Find something that is super easy to read and looks clean, simple, and sleek. Nothing distracting. Remember: you want people to focus on your story and message, not the lettering. Look at the graphic above for a list of some good, simple, modern fonts. Avoid, at all costs, the notoriously ugly or cliched fonts: Comic Sans; Chiller; Papyrus; Algerian; Curlz MT; and so forth.
• Make Sure Your Fonts Are on the Computer(s) You’re Presenting On. Remember: fonts are installed on individual computers, not attached to a program. A misunderstanding that many people have is that a font comes with PowerPoint (or any other program you’re working on). That’s NOT accurate. Fonts are installed on your computer. So…if you use a cool font that was on your desktop PC, but you are presenting your slides on a MacBook laptop, you’ll want to check that both computers have the font you’re using. Some fonts are pretty standard and you’ll find them on pretty much all computers: Palatino Linotype, Century Gothic, Segoe UI, Garamond. Others, however, are proprietary and may not be on other computers: Acumin Pro, Raleway, Helvetica. If you know you’ll be presenting on multiple different computers, find a standard font. One I’ve always liked to use is Century Gothic.
• Consider Using Two Fonts . The “two-font rule” suggests that designs will be more attractive if they use two fonts—one for headings and titles, the other for body text. You can get away with just one font if you make your headings stand out in some way—by size, weight, or color—but it’s often a nice aesthetic to use two. Just be sure that the two fonts are obviously different from each other (don’t use both Arial AND Century Gothic—they’re too similar, which will look like an accident) and that they harmonize well together. It’s often good to use a serif font (the type with little “feet” like in Palatino Linotype) paired with a sans serif font (the kind without “feet,” like Century Gothic).

Step 5: Narrow Your Colors

A hallmark of any good design is a simple, consistent color scheme. Keep your slide designs to fewer than four colors. Often, it’s good to use black, white, gray, and then one or two accent colors. Years ago, when I was new to design, I had someone tell me that a brochure I created looked like a clown exploded on the page. You DON’T want your slides to look like a clown exploded! To avoid that, find your color scheme in advance and stick to it.

Color can be tricky. If you work for a company that already has a pre-established style guide and color scheme, definitely use it! Not only is that important for your company’s brand, it makes your life a whole lot easier. If you do have to choose colors yourself, though, consider going to this website first: color.adobe.com . You can type things into the “explore” bar and you’ll be led to color schemes that look nice.

What you want to look for are colors that are a bit muted and won’t overwhelm the eyes of your viewers. Remember that you want to keep a high contrast so it doesn’t strain your audience members’ eyes. So…stick to black or really dark gray for text. Keep a white or very light background. Use the accent color for headings or important pieces of content. And…just make sure the colors match your topic or industry.

Step 6: Divide into Sections

Good presentations are well organized. Your slides should visually reflect your organization by using different slide “types” for different parts of your presentation or content.

All presentations should have at least three slide types: a title slide, a body slide, and a closing slide. Most presentations will have a fourth: a section slide. Section slides are used to transition your presentation from one major topic to the next. Many presentations can also benefit from callout slides, which are used to designate unique types of content that show up periodically—like for direct quotes or polling questions to audience members.

If you’ve ever taken a college course on public speaking, you probably remember your professor telling you to use “signposts.” A signpost is a metaphor for visual or oral cues that let your reader know where they’re at in the journey. Signposts keep your audience oriented. Sectioning your slides provides a visual signifier to your audience that you are shifting gears—plus, it just makes your slides feel cohesive, professional, and organized.

Take the time to design your slide types first. Then, fill in the content from your presentation script.

A quick note about body slides, though. These are going to be the most frequently used slides, the ones that you put the majority of your content on. Note that body slides don’t all have to look identical. They need to be consistent in design—repeating the same fonts, colors, photography style, highlights, etc.—but the layouts can change. Providing some visual variation is good for your audience.

Step 7: Visualize Every Slide

One of the biggest errors inexperienced presenters make is believing that audience members need to be able to read a lot of text to understand the message.

The reality is, when you put a lot of text on the screen—even if it’s in a bulleted list—you end up creating more difficulty for your audience. They’ll try to read while also trying to listen to you, creating a conflict of noise that will eventually cause them to only catch about half of what you wanted them to. Plus, a lot of text is boring and not efficient for the human brain.

Research has actually shown (and there is significant evidence to prove this) that making information visual is good for humans for four reasons: engagement, cognition, trust, and recall.

• Visual information is more engaging . Most all people will tell you that they are “visual learners.” The reality is that pretty much all humans are. We pay attention to visual information because our brains are designed to process visual information faster. When you provide visuals—photographs, charts, diagrams, icons, etc.—people will pay far more attention than if you just have text. In fact, if you just have text on a screen, people will likely zone out.
• Visual information is easier to understand. If designed well and related to the topic, people will understand visual information faster than they will from reading. Even as you read this article (assuming you’re still here!), the information that is really going to help you are the visual examples and explanations I’ve added for each section. That’s the stuff where you’ll say, “aha! now I know what Curtis is telling me to do.” All this text—it’s just ancillary stuff to provide more detail. But the photos/graphics are what you’ll really learn from.
• Visualized information builds trust. For better or for worse, humans are wired to trust information more when it has been visualized, especially when it looks professional. If you take a table of data and turn it into a data visualization that is professionally design, people will tend to trust it more. Something about taking the time to visualize information makes people assume you know what you’re talking about. Now, that said, you have to make sure your data visualizations are accurate. The real pitfall here is that people will tend to trust it more, even if it’s misleading. If they discover any flaws, your entire argument (and credibility) will go out the window.
• Visual information is easier to remember . Research studies have shown that visual information will be retained more than six times better if visuals are attached to it. If you actually want people to remember your presentation you must do two things: tell stories and use pictures. If you simply regurgitate information and make it very text-heavy, your audience will forget almost everything you said within three days. If you add pictures, though, they’ll have mental images to trigger memory, helping them retain your message much longer.

Find ways to visualize every chance you can, making sure that your visuals emphasize, clarify, or enhance the content you are talking about. Look at the examples above. Find ways to reduce text and enlarge graphics; turn bullets into images or icons; and use simple, easy to understand graphics that draw attention to the most important point.

Step 8: Play with Photos and Layouts

This is the one that takes the most practice, but it can be the most fun and rewarding. Recognize that your body slides can take multiple forms and that there are endless ways to organize, crop, and adjust visualizations, photos, headings, and designs. As long as you keep your color scheme, fonts, and highlighting techniques consistent, the slides will still feel uniform and professional, while giving variety to your slides.

Some things to think about as you play with the design of your slides:

• CONTRAST: Make sure you use high contrast in colors, especially for areas where you have text (black text on white backgrounds almost always work best). In addition, make sure that things that are different actually look significantly different. If two fonts are different sizes, make them obviously different sizes. If you’re using two colors, make them completely different colors. When two things look similar, there isn’t much contrast, which looks accidental and/or visually dull.
• REPETITION: Repetition is all about consistency in design. Repeat design elements throughout: fonts, colors, highlights, logos, shapes, styles, etc. Repeat the same visual feel for photos. Use the same types of icons and graphics. The more unified the design, the strong the appeal and the more professional you look.
• ALIGNMENT: Make sure everything on your slide is aligned with something else. Nothing should be “floating,” or placed arbitrarily. Align photos to titles, words to other words, rules/lines to other elements. Keep it all tightly aligned and crisp.
• PROXIMITY: Put things that are related close together and things that aren’t apart from each other. The brain will automatically assume that, if two things are next to each other (like a photo and a caption) that they are connected. Avoid confusing your audience by separating things that are different and connecting things that go together.
• Move Photos to the Bleeds . The term “bleed” is a graphic design principle that describes moving photos to the edge of page (where the ink “bleeds” off) in order to reduce visual noise. An old design principles developed by Josef Albers, 1+1=3, suggests that when you insert two objects, you automatically create a third—the space between. When you insert a photo, you end up creating a margin of white space around the edges. If that white space isn’t necessary, just make the image larger and push clear to the edge of the screen. This will remove the margin and the noise. Plus, it just makes slides look simpler and more professional and it really draws the eyes to the photo.

Step 9: Orient Your Audience

In addition to creating section slides (see Step 6 above), you can help your audience—and yourself—stay organized by giving visual cues and textual information in footers, slide counts, and headers or sidebars.

These orienting features of a slide deck can be especially valuable if you’re giving a long presentation, workshop, or training.

Start by creating a footer. These aren’t required and you don’t need them on every slide, but in most costs, presentations will benefit from some information in the footer. Some of the most common things to include in a footer:

• Company logo
• Company name
• Name of presenter
• Name of event or conference
• Title of presentation
• Copyright information

Beyond the footer, you can also include a slide count (in example above, look at the bottom right of the slide). While some argue that this can be distracting, most would say that a slide count will help audience members know how much more to expect, putting their “I’m being held hostage by this presenter!” fears away.

If your presentation is particularly long (like, say, 45 minutes or more) or you’re giving a workshop, you can really help your audience by giving them a sort of contents or guide, so that they know where they’re at in relation to everything else. You might, for example, create a small sidebar on the left that includes the section they’re in with the subsection. Or, as in the example at the top (see top left of example), you might just include which section you’re on and a summary title of that section.

There is no one or perfect way to orient your audience members. Just make sure it’s on the forefront of your mind as you work to build empathy into your slide design. The presentation is for them, after all, not you. Give them as much as you can to help them appreciate the message you’re delivering.

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The 10 Key Elements of a Great Presentation Explained

Whether we’re at a team meeting or making a presentation for an audience, we all have to speak in public once in a while. 

We can do it well, or we can do it badly, but one thing is sure: the result will affect what other people will think about us.

That’s why public speaking causes so much anxiety and worry; the good news is that with preparation, practice, and other techniques, you will overcome your nervousness and perform exceptionally well! In this article, you will learn which elements make an excellent presentation.

The 10 Key Elements of a Great Presentation

The question that arises then is…

The 10 key elements of a GREAT presentation a 1. PREPARATION AND PLANNING 

Before getting into a strong presentation opening, the overall delivery techniques to keep the audience engaged and so on, we have got to talk about Planning. In order for a Great presentation to come to be, there needs to be serious planning for it (like many things in life).  

Unless, of course, you’re making an impromptu speech , then that is a different story, and you can learn more about how to successfully deliver those here .

What are the key aspects of Planning a Great Presentation?

• Get to know Your Audience
• Select a Relatable Topic
• Plan the Delivery from Beginning to the End
• Write down a simple speech outline
• Get some interesting Quotes and Stories ready
• Rehearse and Rehearse some more!
• Finish under 10% below the Real Presentation allotted time
• Familiarize with the venue
• Arrive early and test all the tech before starting the delivery

2. THE DEBUT AND OPENING

A successful entry will give you energy, a good connection with the audience, and establish your presence on stage.

Most presentations are often determined by the quality of how they begin; hardly an audience will be interested in what you have to say if a negative image is already created in their head.

Start big and make your mark! Before entering the stage, you will be backstage, seated in the back of the stage or at the foot of it.

As soon as your turn arrives, enter the stage by walking with a determined step, neither too soft nor too fast, make eye contact with the audience as soon as possible ( keep on reading, and we will explain to you why this is crucial ).

To deliver the presentation, we advise you to move to the center of the stage, take your support and count to three before you start talking.

3. SHARE VALUABLE INFORMATION

To prepare your presentation, make a list of some ideas; they must be in a few words and be logically linked: it is the structure of your outline that you must know by heart.

Each of these points must be simple enough to be dealt with in less than ten minutes; too long a development would make you lose attention.

When you hold your structure, you can work on transitions. These are key moments where you release the audience and mobilize their attention again for the next part.

4. PRESENTATION STYLE

There are many ways to tell your story. Some people, primarily if they are not used to speaking in public, prefer to write a text and read it aloud; others prefer to make a list of things they want to talk about.

Finally, some people who speak in public do not need notes to make their presentations. 

Choose the style that suits you best, and you will probably notice that your presentation style will change over time or depending on the audience you are speaking to.

If you want to learn more, we have an interesting piece on the different methods of speech delivery . Check it out, it should prove helpful in deciding your approach.

5. GOOD ARTICULATION OF IDEAS

Being an excellent speaker requires having some degree of knowledge of the topic of discussion, it is not helpful to not have anything to say; this is why we always advise starting by identifying the key message.

Be aware of the words you use and make sure they are appropriate for your audience. For example, if you talk to young people, use words they understand.

Use terms that will attract their attention based on their interests; whatever you say, be yourself, and don’t use slang or jargon if you don’t know the meaning. 

6. ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE WITH COMPELLING STORYTELLING 

Telling a story is much catchier and can be very visual and engaging to the audience when it comes to delivering the message and engaging the audience.

There are several ways to do this, but none draws so much attention to the public and creates future memories, such as using a good story. 

Inserting experiences, facts, and anecdotes will make the whole thing more personal, appeal to each listener, and make it easier to remember your message more.

According to the book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive, and Others Die,” in a speech, only one in ten students counts one.

It is curious to note that after the end of the speech, about 63% of the public say they remember the stories told. It seems so obvious this is a great way to create an impactful presentation.

7. CONTENT OF THE PRESENTATION 

Be sure to highlight the three key ideas you want to share; these ideas will be the thread of your presentation and will prevent you from getting lost along the way.

The simpler and clearer they are, the better. The same goes for the visual support, and we hope it is user-friendly without it becoming a distraction to what you have to say. Less is more; that is the rule.

In video conferencing, the same approach applies; opt for a simple presentation, with moments for your audience to ask questions. 

If you need to submit complex charts, you can also send them in advance to avoid losing your audience’s attention.

8. VISUAL CONTACT

One of the most common mistakes is to address everyone as a group; the best way to hook an audience is to look at people individually and face-to-face, and spend 3-5 seconds talking to each one of them, as you shift to a different sentence or idea.

If you have a videoconference, choose to look at the virtual eyes and try to look at the camera rather than yourself; this way, you will not give the impression of looking elsewhere.

If it intimidates you, we look for an open and benevolent gaze in the audience to which we can return whenever the nervousness takes over.

In a video conference, you can hang a picture of a person you are comfortable with above your camera and pretend to present it to that person to look in the right place. Although, some people may see through this trick.

9. BODY LANGUAGE 

A good body language also is natural, open, and expressive. Natural, because it corresponds to your style. If you are rather expansive, you can make significant and many gestures.

Each gesture has a meaning, so if you try to adapt some motion that doesn’t correspond to your natural communication style, it can be noticed, and everything may seem forced.

We will explain how to practice the gestures, but before that, let us list some gestures to avoid:

• Putting one or two hands in the pockets gives an impression of disregard, of flippancy;
• Contrary to a common myth, keeping your arms crossed does not mean that you have a closed attitude; it is usually just a comfortable position and may sound a bit informal.
• Having the arms behind the back this is a position indicating a certain discomfort on the part of the speaker;
• Finger-pointing (regardless of a finger): This is a gesture that is considered coarse or inappropriate in many cultures;
• If you want to show a direction, it is better to do it by extending the whole hand, using an image, or verbally.

10. STRESS MANAGEMENT (Keeping Fear in Check) 

Fortunately, there are different methods to manage this stress; we are all different, and what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. 

For example, some people will use meditation to relax before delivering a presentation, or in other situations, they get anxious or nervous. In contrast, for others, it will only increase their stress.

However, fundamentally, the root causes are almost the same for everyone:

A. The fear of facing judgment and the eyes of the public, this fear can also derive from fear of failure;

B. The fear of the unknown, the impossibility of controlling the future, generates anguish of sometimes unbearable waiting.

To combat these two causes, there are many methods. I will list a few here:

• Repeat to yourself the content until you know you know it. Lack of preparation is one of the significant causes of stress and one of the reasons why people choose reading notes;
• Stay in the present moment by counting each time you inhale and exhale to avoid building disaster scenarios or worrying about the future;
• Treat the content like a casual conversation you will relate your friends in so it will be easier for you to remember without anxiety because it’s familiar.
• Do not assume that you don’t know enough, teach what you know, and endeavor to keep learning about what you don’t know. One sentence of what you know today could very well change the life of one or more people in your audience.

9 Basic Elements of a Great Persuasive Speech

As human beings, we commonly face debates, sales pitch, or even casual conversations, where we discuss with an audience (that can be familiar or not) about a subject that we want to convince, to think in a similar or same perspective that we do. If we are playing the speaker role, we need to bring…

11 Best Body Language Tips For Engaging Presentations (#11 is Underrated)

Growing up, we were always taught how we should have manners while talking to others and that there were some things we could not do in front of people like sprawling or even putting our elbows on the table while eating because it was rude. In the examples above, the rudeness comes from gestures, not…

The 7 Basic Elements of Public Speaking

Conclusion 

Reference and Further Reading

AcethePresentation. 7 Basic Elements of Public Speaking.

AcethePresentation. How to Stand Out In a Presentation.

Inc. 6 Key Elements of a Great Presentation.

Seawater Foundation. 9 Elements of Great Presentations.

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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133 Structure of the Presentation

• Published: December 2009
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Just as a house consists of a harmonious arrangement of some common elements (door, hall, kitchen, lounge, bedroom, bathroom, garage), so a presentation consists of a set of standard components (title, outline, introduction, message, conclusion) arranged in such a way that the audience can be informed, educated and entertained. The structure of the talk is important in keeping the audience engaged—a poorly structured talk leaves the audience confused and disorientated. And just as with architecture, there are some conventions. In a house, the main door is usually near the front of the house, the bathrooms tucked away at the side, the kitchen somewhere near the dining room, the lounge leading to a pleasant garden, the bedrooms upstairs and so on. Similarly, a talk usually starts with a title slide, follows with an outline, continues with the introduction, delivers the main message and reaches some conclusions. But sometimes, as with architecture, you may wish to depart, perhaps radically, from this conventional structure—for example, starting with the conclusions because you want the audience to know where you are taking them. However, as with architecture, you need to be sure that this departure from convention serves a purpose—to help the audience understand your message. Failure to structure the talk properly risks reducing your message to a pile of rubble—unattractive, unappreciated and soon forgotten. If the structure of the talk as a whole is like the architecture of a building, the structure of the slides is like the interior decoration of the rooms. Each room, and each slide, is different, but all usually share some common features. In general, slides should have a title which tells the audience what the slide is about, just as, for example, it is often useful to label the bathroom as the bathroom—obvious but, if you are new to it, helpful. The body of the slide contains your message; a figure or figures, lists, tables, pictures, etc. We will discuss the design of the slides in Chapter 5. We note here that the structure of the slides and the structure of the talk must be harmonious.

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Module 8: Developing and Delivering Business Presentations

Putting it together: developing and delivering business presentations.

Let’s return to your presentation for SB ’18 and assume you were able to power through your doubts and accept the call. Now that you have a solid understanding of presentation tools, options and techniques, let’s put it all together.

Creating a good presentation involves research and analysis, reflection and distillation. As is true of many things in life, the process will go more smoothly if you start with the end in mind. Prior to putting words on paper/slides, address the three presentation planning priorities: purpose, audience and message. These three priorities will determine (or at least inform) your content, presentation tools, and techniques. Note: Message—the idea you want to communicate—is singular, not plural. Think simple, clear and compelling.

Figure 1. We are all storytellers

In addition to keeping your end (your desired outcome or audience action) in mind, you need to consider your audience’s desired outcome. As Theodore Roosevelt noted: “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” And speaking of care, do your audience a favor and invest at least as much time in the design of your slides as the selection of your words. Remember that communication in whatever format is a fundamentally human interaction; invest your presentation with your personality: your passion, your point of view and your sense of humor (if you have one).

Finally, before going live, test drive your presentation. Ask colleagues, friends or family to listen to a dry run and rate you on the presentation evaluation criteria. In particular, identify and address any words or images that may represent a barrier to effective communication.

Let go of the memories of bad presentations—and reject the default choices and templates that contribute to ugly slides and ineffective presentations. Think of the many stories that have engaged you and that you have told over the years and channel that energy when you get up to speak.

The art of storytelling

If you’re interested in learning more on about cultivating your innate storytelling skills, you can check out Pixar’s The Art of Storytelling on Kahn Academy .

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• Putting It Together: Developing and Delivering Business Presentations. Authored by : Nina Burokas. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Hands at the Cuevas de las Manos. Authored by : Mariano. Provided by : Wikimedia. Located at : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210651b.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution

Creating and Using Presentation Slides

Different types of visuals work better than others, depending on the information you need to convey and who your audience is. Remember to complete a developed outline of your presentation before creating your slides.

When to Use a Presentation

Although what you have to say is interesting and important, you can enhance your presentation with slides, such as those used in a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation.. The visuals you create for your presentation will influence how your audience receives your information. This portion of the unit will help you determine what to include in your visuals. It also offers questions to consider when thinking about your audience.

Particular types of information are best presented in specific formats. The information will have a bigger impact, and audience members are more likely to remember what you have to say.

Emphasize Key Points

When you are driving, street signs identify where you are. Similarly, bulleted key points serve as street signs throughout your presentation. They also help mark transitions clearly and reinforce your summary and conclusions. However, avoid wordy, cluttered visuals. You should not read your presentation from the visual. To read more, choose any of the items below:

The Rules of Sixes

Make sure your visuals communicate just enough information. Your audience will follow your visual with ease if you limit the text to six words per line and six lines per visual.

Minimum Type Size

To be sure everyone can read your visuals, the minimum type size you should use is 24 point. For transparencies, a 24 point, lower case "x" would be 1/3" high. Using this size and following the Rules of Sixes will result in clean, readable visuals.

Although it may be tempting to make your visuals unique by using cursive or slanted fonts, you should avoid fancy fonts. Choose a clean, simple font style, such as the sans-serif fonts. Your visuals must be legible!

Visual Consistency

Maintain a consistent visual style. Font type, size, and color should not vary from visual to visual. You want to be sure your audience is listening to you instead of analyzing your visuals.

Masking Considerations

When you view a film, what you see corresponds with what you hear. Likewise, your presentation should correspond with your visuals. Make sure each key point is revealed as it is discussed.

Showing Trends, Patterns, Relationships

If you want your audience to gain a clear understanding of trends, patterns, or relationships in your data, consider using a chart. For instance, suppose roller blading on campus has increased by 30% over the past two years. Since this trend takes place over a period of time, a chart would best depict this.

Show Precise Data Clearly

If you need your audience to follow you through a detailed numerical analysis, consider using tables. Suppose you need to convey that 20% of students on campus drive cars to school, 20% walk, 10% roller blade, 30% bike, 10% skateboard, and another 10% use a mixture of these modes. An audience is more likely to remember these figures if they are presented in a table.

Providing Special Emphasis

Leaf through any magazine and image after image leaps out at you. Advertisers know the right visuals will attract readers. You should incorporate visuals into your presentation to spark your audience's interest. Let them see what you are talking about. Consider using iconic visual aids such as figures, drawings and pictures. Visuals also improve audience's recall and enhance the perceived clarity and organization of your presentation.

Educate Your Audience

An important consideration in creating slides is educating your audience. What you include will depend on who your audience is.

Questions to Access Your Audience

Ask yourself the following questions to analyze your audience:

• Does your audience know the jargon and/or technical terms of your topic? This will help you decide how intricate your visuals can be. A figure versus a picture can make a big difference in audience comprehension.
• What does your audience know about your topic? You may have to provide some background information about your topic, or perhaps you can assume a certain knowledge level.
• What are your audience's attitudes toward your topic? You may need to "captivate" them into your topic with simple visuals to make your presentation appealing, or perhaps you need to use more technical visuals for credibility.
• How will the information from your presentation be used? Your information may be used to make a decision, or the audience may be tested on the material.

Audience Pointers

Various audiences have particular needs; however, here are some important considerations:

• Audiences generally have a recall of seven. This means you should never introduce more than seven concepts per visual.
• Audiences learn what symbols represent. If you use a symbol repeatedly, you don't have to label it every time.
• Icons have more impact on audiences than a simple list. If you need to make a list, also create an accompanying icon.

Considering the Basic Design

You'll want your visuals to be as effective as possible. This portion of the unit reviews when and how you should use a visual aid. It will instruct you on creating a storyboard and formatting your visuals. Details such as color scheme and text readability are discussed.

After you have outlined your presentation, you will need to identify when and how you should use a visual aid. Creating a storyboard will help you determine what visuals are necessary. Once you know what visuals you'll need, follow the specific formatting rules.

Using Storyboards

A storyboard is a working paper; it helps you design your visuals and key points. To create a storyboard, you can use pieces of paper or presentation software. You'll need to draw two boxes: one for your visual and one for the accompanying text. Remember to write down the section of your report or paper on each board, so you can easily locate the information later.

Consider these pointers while creating your storyboard:

• Write down key points, ideas, concepts under consecutive storyboard frames.
• Make rough sketches of visuals for each frame. Don't worry about polish at this point; you just want the idea of the visual clearly portrayed.
• Read your presentation while looking at the storyboard and complete the storyboard checklist.

Storyboard Checklist

• Does my visual clearly display one key idea from my presentation?
• Is my aid as visually simple as I can make it?
• Can my audience understand my visual completely in less than 30 seconds?

General Formatting Guidelines

Manipulating how you present your information makes you r visuals more affective. Specific color schemes, as well as simplicity make visuals successful. To read more, choose any of the items below:

Landscape Orientation

All visuals should appear in "landscape" rather than "portrait" orientation. In other words, display your visual horizontally. When preparing transparencies for slide projectors, turn the sheet sideways and mask off a 6" by 9" area. Use only this area for your material.

Maximum Text Readability

Help your audience read your visuals by:

• Using no more than three sizes of text.
• Limiting the size of your text between 24-48 pt. fonts.
• Avoiding ALL CAPITAL text and italics.

Clarity and Simplicity

Once you've constructed your visuals, answer the following questions:

• Are the visuals as simple as I can make them?
• Are my visuals appealing to the eye?
• Do my colors differentiate my various elements well?
• Is my text easy to read and absolutely necessary?

Each visual's title should be clear and concise. A visual's title is a short, declarative sentence similar to a newspaper heading. It expresses one main idea only. Generally, more than eleven words is too lengthy for a title.

While a title needs to be short and concise, it also should accurately describe a visual. For instance,

Accelerated Electrons

is probably not going to inform your audience as well as the following:

The accelerated electrons hit a target and produce x-rays.

Here's another:

Computer Simulations

is better depicted with:

Computer simulations aid evaluation of building system elements

If you are having problems creating titles, ask yourself "So what?" about a visual's overall content. Tell your audience what the particular visual is doing or represents.

Effective Use of Color

Colors help you highlight key points and differentiate between concepts. For instance, you might use a specific color to show your audience what steps in a process are dangerous. Or perhaps you need to distinguish different elements. Colors should be used practically, and they also liven up your visuals. To read more, choose any of the items below:

As humans, we appreciate colors. Just think how quickly color televisions replaced black and white screens. We also use colors to identify and differentiate objects. You should use color in your visual aids to:

• Help the audience differentiate key elements in your visual aid.
• Assist you in emphasizing key elements in your presentation.

Color Numbers

Although colors add to your presentation, don't overwhelm your audience with too many. Keep your visual simple enough; three colors (plus black and white for lines and text) are sufficient.

Color Contrasts

Contrasts make colors appealing. Just look at trees changing in autumn. Imagine the spectacular shades of yellows, reds, oranges and browns. When choosing three colors for your visual aids, you should consider the following:

• Luminance Contrast - Luminance refers to the relative brightness of a color. Your three colors should encompass a good range of luminance values. For instance, a dark blue, a medium blue, and a light blue provide a good luminance spread.
• Hue Contrast - Hue refers to the color itself. Strive for a harmonious mix of colors rather than a strong contrast. Distinct, but related colors (red, orange and yellow) work better together than strikingly different colors (red, green and blue).

Choosing Types of Visuals

How will your audience best understand the information you convey? This portion of the unit examines different methods of presenting your information. Charts, tables, figures, drawings, pictures and models are discussed.

During your presentation, you'll present different types of information. You'll need to determine what the best way is to convey your information to a specific audience.

Charts provide easy-to-interpret visual representations of data. While charts do not provide the detail typically found in tables, they allow audiences to understand the "big picture" easily. Consider using a chart to depict group data over time. harts convey the correlation between trends and time. Depending on the information you need to depict, you'll have to use the appropriate chart.

Related Information: Bar Graphs

Bar graphs are similar to column graphs, except the bars run horizontally rather than vertically. These charts compare groups at a single point in time. For example, a bar graphs would accurately depict the number of African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanic Americans in the 1982 Congress.

Visually-effective bar charts should be spaced as follows:

• 1/2 bar width between single bars and
• one bar width between grouped bars.

Related Information: Column Graphs

Column graphs are easy for audiences to understand. These charts present trends over a few (or grouped) time intervals. If you need to show the number of African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanic Americans in Congress during specific years (1962, 1975, 1982, 1995) over a thirty year period, a column chart is a good choice.

A column graphs should have no more than eight single bars and a maximum of four bars per group. (i.e. all ethnic groups are represented under each specific year). For your column graphs to be legible, the spacing between each bar should be:

• 1/2 bar width for single bars and

Related Information: Line Graphs

Line graphs depict trends over long, continuous intervals. For instance, you would use a line graphs to show the number of women and men in Congress over thirty years.

The axis and grid provide a background for curves on a line graphs. Since you will typically have more than one trend depicted on this type of graphs, use different colors and label each trend.

Please note: If you can present your data in groups of time (i.e. 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990), consider using a column graphs instead.

Related Information: Pie Charts

A pie chart effectively displays the proportion of the parts of a whole. For instance, a pie chart can visually display the percentage of men and women in Congress during a particular session.

Each slice of the pie chart must be labeled, and the number or percentage should be placed under the corresponding label. Avoid clutter by having no more than six slices within a pie. Consider combining smaller groups to reduce the slices to six.

Related Information: Scatterplots

Scatterplots show correlations between raw data, but they are relatively difficult to see and understand. Use scatterplots only with specialized audiences. Otherwise, you may confuse your audience.

Typically, a point on a scatterplot represents thousands of cases. A scatterplot is useful to show how citizens vote during an election.

Tables are useful in conveying information to technical audiences. Tables are used to highlight precise data to technical audiences. Depending on your audience, you may need to present your information in simpler terms.

Figures, Drawings, Pictures, Models

These visual aids are different from others because they are iconic and show an image as it really is. They are most effective when the image will enhance an audience's appreciation or understanding. Do not use images simply because they are available or to fill "dead space" in a presentation, rather they should be simple and used carefully.

Using Figures, Drawings, Pictures, and Models

One of the greatest errors in using iconic visuals is having too small a visual for audiences to see well. Solve this problem by:

• Enlarging the visual to show only significant parts.
• Providing a handout before you begin your presentation. Use this technique only if critical data cannot be handled any other way.
• Inviting audience members to view them after your presentation.
• Labeling significant components clearly.

Remember, over-detailed icons will distract an audience. Consider simplifying as much as possible.

Designing Your Presentation Slides

Being prepared will help your presentation run smoothly. This portion of the unit offers numerous tips on how you can avoid disasters. 

When you can answer "Yes!" to each of the following questions for each of your presentation slides, you will be well on your way to presenting!

• Does the visual meet the specific needs for which I made it?
• Is the visual as simple and clear as I can make it?
• Have I double-checked the accuracy of all data?
• Will all text (words and numbers) be legible for the entire audience?
• Have I double-checked all spelling?
• Have I chosen harmonious, contrasting colors?
• Does the visual conform to all the guidelines for its specific type?
• Does the visual "fit" well into the presentation?

Rehearsal Checklist

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! The more you practice, the more at ease you'll be with your presentation. Use this checklist to prepare:

• Rehearse your presentation using your visual aids. Afterwards, review the integration checklist again to determine if changes to your visuals are necessary.
• Rehearse your presentation again. And again. Rehearse until you can move through the entire presentation smoothly.
• Rehearse in front of an audience. Begin with an audience of peers...you should be willing to do the same for them someday.
• Ideally, you should also rehearse with an audience as similar to your "real" audience as possible.
• Rehearse in the actual presentation room if possible.
• For one last time, go back to the integration checklist and modify your visual aids in light of your audiences' comments.
• You should be comfortable with your presentation by now. Run through it until the presentation becomes a familiar story you can tell with ease.

Presentation Tips

The following tips will help you prepare for your actual presentation. Should anything go wrong during the actual presentation, don't panic. You can always adjust your presentation--just be prepared to do so.

• The Room : If the presentation setting is unfamiliar to you, visit it ahead of time. Knowledge of the room's layout, lighting, and equipment will allow you to make adjustments and requests for adequate facilities.
• Equipment : On the day of the presentation, double-check that the equipment is there and working. Rehearse with it if possible.
• Handouts : Handouts are difficult to use effectively. Avoid them whenever possible. Otherwise, do not hand them out during a presentation. Distribute handouts either before or after your presentation, depending on whether or not your audience requires them for information throughout the presentation.
• Using Your Presentation Slides : Position yourself so the projection screen is clearly visible to the audience. Don't obstruct the audience's view. This sounds obvious, but double-check during your presentation to be sure! Also, don't talk to the screen. Talk to the audience.
• Showing Graphics : Use progressive disclosure with your graphic. This means reveal your points as you make them . Remove a visual once you are done with it, but give your audience at least 30-60 seconds with each visual.
• Time of Day : Remember, your audience is human. Their energy levels will vary depending on the time of day.

Vest, David. (1994). Creating and Using Slides. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guides.cfm?guideid=35

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Units of Presentation

NCI Thesaurus OID: 2.16.840.1.113883.3.26.1.1

NCI concept code for potency units: C48470

Units of Measurement

The units of measurement are the units that are used to represent physical quantities like length, mass, temperature, current, area, volume, intensity, etc. We use different measurement units to represent the magnitude of the physical quantities including the traditional units, the Metric System of units, the imperial system of units, and US customary units. Units of measurement have also evolved and played a crucial role from the early ages till the present. We use the measuring units to compare how large or small a physical quantity is as compared to the basic standard quantity.

In this article, we shall explore the concept of metric and imperial units of measurement. We will also discuss the various measurement units used for measuring length, mass, time, temperature, and volume. Generally, we measure almost everything around us in our daily lives such as how many hours we have worked and slept, the amount of water we drink, our body weight, height, distance traveled on foot and by car. We shall solve various examples using the different units of measurement for a better understanding of the concept.

What are Units of Measurement?

The units of measurement are the collection of standard and other units that are used to measure various physical quantities. We have been using different units to measure these quantities like length, mass, volume, current, temperature, etc. from the early ages. These units of measurement have evolved since then and we have different systems of measurement now which are more convenient and easy to use.

In the early days, when we didn't have any proper tools to measure the physical quantities, we use some informal methods and units of measurement. For example, we used the body parts to measure the length such as hand span, foot span, arm span, cubit, pace, etc. Since the body parts vary from person to person, these methods of measurement did not give very accurate results. So, gradually better units of measurement were invented.

As a result, the metric system, also known as the International System of Units (called the SI units - the modern form of the metric system), the Imperial system, and US customary units were standardized across the world as the units of measurement to get more accurate results.

Metric Units of Measurement

The metric units of measurement in mathematics are standard units defined to measure length, height, weight, area, and capacity ( volume ). It is based on the decimal system as it includes numbers in powers of 10. The modern form of the metric units are called the SI units and are accepted worldwide. Each unit has a universally recognized size. Let us see some of the commonly used SI units in the table below.

SI Units of Measurement

SI units of measurement are units of the international system of units, also known as the metric system which is used across the world and each unit has a standard measure.

Unit of Measurement List

The table above shows the SI units but we use other units as well to measure the given physical quantities. Let us list some of the commonly used to units of measurement below:

• Length - kilometer, meter , centimeter, millimeter
• Mass - kilogram, gram, milligram
• Capacity - kilolitre, litre, milliliter, centilitre
• Time - Minute, Hour, Second, Days, Week, Month, Year
• Temperature - Kelvin, Celsius, Fahrenheit

All the above units for a specific physical quantity can be expressed in terms of each other using the conversion of the units of measurement .

Imperial Units of Measurement

Imperial units of measurement are the units from the British Imperial System (System of Weights and Measures used in Great Britain). As we discussed the metric units, the imperial system uses different units to measure the physical quantities like length, mass, volume, and area. Let us go through imperial units of measurement in the table below:

Note: The imperial units of measurement can be expressed in terms of the metric units and vice-versa as they are standard units.

Units of Measurement for Length

Length is a physical quantity that gives the measure of how long an object is. There are different aspects of measuring length such as distance covered, height, etc. Units of measurement for all the physical quantities belong to the same category. Each unit of measuring length can be expressed in terms of each other using the conversion method as these units have a standard value. Let us see the commonly used metric and imperial units of measurement of length below along with their relations with one another.

Units of Measurement for Mass

Mass is a physical quantity that tells how heavy or light an object is. It is also commonly called the weight of the object. The SI unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). The table below shows the different and commonly used units of measuring mass in the metric and imperial systems along with their conversions:

Please note that there are other units of measurement of mass that are used such as tonnes, stone, microgram imperial ton, etc. The above table shows the commonly used units only.

Units of Measurement for Volume

Volume, also known as the capacity, gives the amount of space that an object occupies or the maximum space the object has. The SI unit of volume is litre (L). We can also express the units of measuring volume in terms of cubic length units such as centimeter cube (cm 3 ), meter cube (m 3 ), etc. Let us go through some of the commonly used units of measurement of volume in the table below:

Units of Measurement for Temperature

Temperature is a physical quantity that describes how hot or cold an object or the weather is. We have mainly three units of measurement of temperature, Celsius, Kelvin, and Fahrenheit. Kelvin is the SI unit of measuring temperature. The table given below shows the different units of measuring temperature and their conversion.

Generally, for the conversion of temperature, we use the formula C/5 = (F - 32) / 9 = (K - 273.15) / 5. This formula helps to express the temperature in different units.

Units of Measurement of Time

Time is a measure that tells about the time taken to complete a process, travel from one point to another. It is an ongoing process of continuous events. We measure time in three units, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. The table given below describes these units and their relation with each other.

These units of measurement of time are standard and are followed all across the world.

Units of Measurement Chart

Now that we have discussed the different units of measurement used across different systems of measurement, let us summarize the units in a chart below for a quick review:

Important Notes on Units of Measurement

• The units of measurement are the units that are used to represent physical quantities like length, mass, temperature, current, area, volume, intensity, etc.
• We use two systems of units of measurement - metric and imperial.
• In the early days, hand span, arm span, and foot span were used as units of measurement.

☛ Related Topics:

• Feet to Inches
• How Long is a Meter
• Length Conversion

Units of Measurement Examples

Example 1: What is the unit 'acre' used for? Express one acre in terms of sq. yards and sq. feet.

Solution: An acre is a unit of measurement of area. Earlier, it was used to measure the size of the field. One acre is equal to 43,560 square feet. We can also express acre in terms of square yards.

1 acre = 43,560 square feet = 4840 square yards.

Answer: 1 acre = 43,560 square feet = 4840 square yards.

Example 2: Convert 5 kilograms in an imperial unit of measurement pound.

Solution: We know that 1 kilogram is approximately equal to 2.2 pounds. So, 5 kg in pounds is given by,

5 kg = 5 × 2.2 pounds

= 11 pounds

Answer: 5kg is equal to 11 pounds.

Example 3: How many feet are there in 3 miles?

Solution: We know that 1 mile is equal to 5280 feet. So, 3 miles in feet are given by,

3 miles = 3 × 5280 feet

= 15,840 feet

Answer: 3 miles is equal to 15, 840 feet.

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Units of Measurement Questions

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FAQs on Units of Measurement

What are the units of measurement in math.

The units of measurement are the units that are used to represent physical quantities like length, mass, temperature, current, area, volume, intensity, etc. We use different measurement units to represent the magnitude of the physical quantities including the traditional units, the Metric System of units, the imperial system of units, and US customary units.

What are the 7 Basic Units of Measurement?

The 7 basic units of measurement are:

• Length - Meter (m)
• Mass - Kilogram (kg)
• Capacity - Litre (L)
• Electric Current - Ampere (A)
• Amount of Substance - Mole (mol)
• Luminous Intensity - Candela (cd)
• Temperature - Kelvin (K)

What are the Units of Measurement in the Metric System?

The standard units of measurement for specific physical quantities used in the metric system are:

• Length - Meter
• Mass - Kilogram
• Volume - Litre

How to Convert Units of Measurement of Temperature?

We can convert the units of measurement of temperature using the formula C/5 = (F - 32) / 9 = (K - 273.15) / 5, where C - Celsius, F - Fahrenheit, K - Kelvin

What are the 3 Systems of Units of Measurement?

The 3 systems of units of measurement are Metric System, Imperial System, and the US customary system.

What are Units of Measurement Used for?

We use different measurement units to represent the magnitude of the physical quantities including the traditional units, the Metric System of units, the imperial system of units, and US customary units.

Why are Standard Units of Measurement Needed?

In the early days, people used body parts to measure the length such as hand span, foot span, arm span, cubit, pace, etc. Since the body parts vary from person to person, these methods of measurement did not give very accurate results. So, standard units of measurement were invented.

What are the Different Units of Measurement for Length?

The commonly used units of measurement for length are meter, centimeter, kilometer, millimeter, decimeter, decameter, etc.

What are Imperial Units of Measurement?

Imperial units of measurement are the units from the British Imperial System (System of Weights and Measures used in Great Britain). These units are used to measure length, volume, mass, area, etc.

What are Metric Units of Measurement?

The metric units of measurement in mathematics are standard units defined to measure length, height, weight, area, and capacity (volume). The modern form of the metric units are called the SI units and are accepted worldwide.

UNITS AND MEASUREMENT

Jan 02, 2020

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UNITS AND MEASUREMENT. Physical Quantity – Fundamental &amp; Derived Quantities Unit – Fundamental &amp; Derived Units Characteristics of Standard Unit fps, cgs, mks &amp; SI System of Units Definition of Fundamental SI units Measurement of Length – Large Distances and Small Distances

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UNITS AND MEASUREMENT • Physical Quantity – Fundamental & Derived Quantities • Unit – Fundamental & Derived Units • Characteristics of Standard Unit • fps, cgs, mks & SI System of Units • Definition of Fundamental SI units • Measurement of Length – Large Distances and Small Distances • Measurement of Mass and Measurement of Time • Accuracy, Precision of Instruments and Errors in Measurements • Systematic Errors and Random Errors • Absolute Error, Relative Error and Percentage Error • Combination of Errors in Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division and Exponent. • Significant Figures, Scientific Notation and Rounding off Uncertain Digits • Dimensions, Dimensional Formulae and Dimensional Equations • Dimensional Analysis – Applications- I, II & III and Demerits Next Created by C. Mani, Education Officer, KVS RO Silchar

Physical Quantity A quantity which is measurable is called ‘physical quantity’. Fundamental Quantity A physical quantity which is the base and can not be derived from any other quantity is called ‘fundamental quantity’. Examples:Length, Mass, Time, etc. Derived Quantity A physical quantity which can be derived or expressed from base or fundamental quantity / quantities is called ‘derived quantity’. Examples:Speed, velocity, acceleration, force, momentum, torque, energy, pressure, density, thermal conductivity, resistance, magnetic moment, etc. Home Next Previous

Unit Measurement of any physical quantity involves comparison with a certain basic, arbitrarily chosen, internationally accepted reference standard called unit. Fundamental Units The units of the fundamental or base quantities are called fundamental or base units. Examples:metre, kilogramme, second, etc. Derived Units The units of the derived quantities which can be expressed from the base or fundamental quantities are called derived units. Examples:metre/sec, kg/m3, kg m/s2, kg m2/s2, etc. Home Next Previous

System of Units A complete set of both fundamental and derived units is known as the system of units. Characteristics of Standard Units A unit selected for measuring a physical quantity must fulfill the following requirements: • It should be well defined. • It should be of suitable size i.e. it should neither be too large nor too small in comparison to the quantity to be measured. • It should be reproducible at all places. • It should not change from place to place or time to time. • It should not change with the physical conditions such as temperature, pressure, etc. • It should be easily accessible. Home Next Previous

Various System of Units In earlier time, various systems like ‘fps’, ‘cgs’ and ‘mks’ system of units were used for measurement. They were named so from the fundamental units in their respective systems as given below: Systeme Internationale d’ unites (SI Units) The SI system with standard scheme of symbols, units and abbreviations was developed and recommended by General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1971 for international usage in scientific, technical, industrial and commercial work. This is the system of units which is at present accepted internationally. SI system uses decimal system and therefore conversions within the system are quite simple and convenient. Home Next Previous

Fundamental Units in SI system Home Next Previous

Definition of SI Units Metre The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second. (1983) Kilogramme The kilogram is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram (a platinum-iridium alloy cylinder) kept at international Bureau of Weights and Measures, at Sevres, near Paris, France. (1889) Second The second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom. (1967) Ampere The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed 1 metre apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2×10–7 newton per metre of length. (1948) Home Next Previous

Kelvin The kelvin, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water. (1967) Candela The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540×1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian. (1979) Mole The mole is the amount of substance of a system, which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogramme of carbon-12. (1971) Home Next Previous

dθ dΩ Plane angle Plane angle ‘dθ’ is the ratio of arc ‘ds’ to the radius ‘r’. Its SI unit is ‘radian’. ds ds r dθ = r r O Solid angle Solid angle ‘dΩ’ is the ratio of the intercepted area ‘dA’ of the spherical surface described at the apex ‘O’ as the centre, to the square of its radius ‘r’. Its SI unit is ‘steradian’. dA r r dA dΩ = r2 O Home Next Previous

IMPORTANT The following conventions are adopted while writing a unit: (1) Even if a unit is named after a person the unit is not written in capital letters. i.e. we write joules not Joules. (2) For a unit named after a person the symbol is a capital letter e.g. for joules we write ‘J’ and the rest of them are in lowercase letters e.g. second is written as ‘s’. (3) The symbols of units do not have plural form i.e. 70 m not 70 ms or 10 N not 10 Ns. (4) Punctuation marks are not written after the unit       e.g. 1 litre = 1000 cc not 1000 c.c. Home Next Previous

Some Units are retained for general use (Though outside SI) Home Next Previous

MEASUREMENT OF LENGTH The order of distances varies from 10-14 m (radius of nucleus) to 1025 m (radius of the Universe) The distances ranging from 10-5 m to 102 m can be measured by direct methods which involves comparison of the distance or length to be measured with the chosen standard length. Example: i) A metre rod can be used to measure distance as small as 10-3 m. ii) A vernier callipers can be used to measure as small as 10-4 m. iii) A screw gauge is used to measure as small as 10-5 m. For very small distances or very large distances indirect methods are used.  Home Next Previous

Measurement of Large Distances • The following indirect methods may be used to measure very large distances: • Parallax method • Let us consider a far away planet ‘P’ at a distance ‘D’ from our two eyes. • Suppose that the lines joining the planet to the left eye (L) and the right eye (R) subtend an angle θ (in radians). • The angle θ is called ‘parallax angle’ or ‘parallactic angle’ and the distance LR = b is called ‘basis’. • As the planet is far away, b/D << 1, and therefore θ is very small. • Then, taking the distance LR = b as a circular arc of radius D, we have P θ D D R L b LR b θ = = D D b D = θ Home Next Previous

Measurement of the size or angular diameter of an astronomical object If ‘d’ is the diameter of the planet and ‘α’ is the angular size of the planet (the angle subtended by d at the Earth E), then α = d/D The angle α can be measured from the same location on the earth. It is the angle between the two directions when two diametrically opposite points of the planet are viewed through the telescope. Since D is known, the diameter d of the planet can be determined from d D D α E d = α D Home Next Previous

Echo method or Reflection method • This method is used to measure the distance of a hill. • A gun is fired towards the hill and the time interval between the instant of firing the gun and the instant of hearing the echo of the gun shot is noted. • This is the time taken by the sound to travel from the observer to the hill and back to the observer. • If v= velocity of sound; • S = the distance of hill from the observer • and • T = total time taken, then S S Sound wave v x T S = Echo received Gun fire 2 Home Next Previous

In place of sound waves, LASER can be used to measure the distance of the Moon from the Earth. LASER is a monochromatic, intense and unidirectional beam. • If ‘t’ is the time taken for the LASER beam in going to and returning from the Moon, then the distance can be calculated from the formula where c = 3 x 108 m s-1 c x t S = 2 Home Next Previous

Estimation of Very Small Distances 1. Using Electron Microscope: For visible light the range of wavelengths is from about 4000 Å to 7000 Å (1 angstrom = 1 Å = 10-10 m). Hence an optical microscope cannot resolve particles with sizes smaller than this. Electron beams can be focused by properly designed electric and magnetic fields. The resolution of such an electron microscope is limited finally by the fact that electrons can also behave as waves. The wavelength of an electron can be as small as a fraction of an angstrom. Such electron microscopes with a resolution of 0.6 Å have been built. They can almost resolve atoms and molecules in a material. In recent times, tunneling microscopy has been developed in which again the limit of resolution is better than an angstrom. It is possible to estimate the sizes of molecules.  Home Next Previous

2. Avogadro’s Method: A simple method for estimating the molecular size of oleic acid is given below. Oleic acid is a soapy liquid with large molecular size of the order of 10–9 m. The idea is to first form mono-molecular layer of oleic acid on water surface. We dissolve 1 cm3 of oleic acid in alcohol to make a solution of 20 cm3 (ml). Then we take 1 cm3 of this solution and dilute it to 20 cm3, using alcohol. So, the concentration of the solution is cm3of oleic acid per cm3 of solution. 1 Next we lightly sprinkle some lycopodium powder on the surface of water in a large trough and we put one drop of this solution in the water. The oleic acid drop spreads into a thin, large and roughly circular film of molecular thickness on water surface. 20 x 20 Home Next Previous

Then, we quickly measure the diameter of the thin film to get its area A. Suppose we have dropped ‘n’drops in the water. Initially, we determine the approximate volume of each drop (V cm3). Volume of n drops of solution = nVcm3 Amount of oleic acid in this solution = This solution of oleic acid spreads very fast on the surface of water and forms a very thin layer of thickness ‘t’. If this spreads to form a film of area ‘A’cm2, then the thickness of the film 1 nV cm3 Volume of the film 20 x 20 t = t = 20 x 20 x A Area of the film or nV cm If we assume that the film has mono-molecular thickness, then this becomes the size or diameter of a molecule of oleic acid. The value of this thickness comes out to be of the order of 10–9m. Home Next Previous

Range of Lengths The size of the objects we come across in the Universe varies over a very wide range. These may vary from the size of the order of 10–14 m of the tiny nucleus of an atom to the size of the order of 1026 m of the extent of the observable Universe. We also use certain special length units for short and large lengths which are given below: Home Next Previous

(Llongest : Lshortest = 1041 : 1) Range and Order of Lengths Home Next Previous

MEASUREMENT OF MASS The SI unit of mass is kilogram (kg). The prototypes of the International standard kilogramme supplied by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) are available in many other laboratories of different countries. In India, this is available at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi. While dealing with atoms and molecules, the kilogramme is an inconvenient unit. In this case, there is an important standard unit of mass, called the unified atomic mass unit (u), which has been established for expressing the mass of atoms as 1 unified atomic mass unit = 1 u One unified mass unit is equal to (1/12) of the mass of an atom of Carbon-12 isotope (12C6 ) including the mass of electrons.   1 u = 1.66 × 10–27 kg Home Next Previous

Methods of measuring mass • By using a common balance. • Large masses in the Universe like planets, stars, etc., • based on Newton’s law of gravitation can be measured by • using gravitational method. • For measurement of small masses of atomic/subatomic • particles etc., we make use of mass spectrograph in which • radius of the trajectory is proportional to the mass of a • charged particle moving in uniform electric and magnetic • field.  Range of Masses The masses of the objects, we come across in the Universe, vary over a very wide range. These may vary from tiny mass of the order of 10-30 kg of an electron to the huge mass of about 1055 kg of the known Universe. Home Next Previous

(Mlargest : Msmallest = 1085 : 1 ≈ (1041)2) Range and Order of Masses Home Next Previous

MEASUREMENT OF TIME  We use an atomic standard of time, which is based on the periodic vibrations produced in a cesium atom. This is the basis of the cesium clock, sometimes called atomic clock, used in the national standards. In the cesium atomic clock, the second is taken as the time needed for 9,192,631,770 vibrations of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of cesium-133 atom. The vibrations of the cesium atom regulate the rate of this cesium atomic clock just as the vibrations of a balance wheel regulate an ordinary wristwatch or the vibrations of a small quartz crystal regulate a quartz wristwatch. A cesium atomic clock is used at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi to maintain the Indian standard of time. Home Next Previous

Range and Order of Time Intervals (Tlongest : Tshortest = 1041 : 1) Home Next Previous

ACCURACY, PRECISION OF INSTRUMENTS AND ERRORS IN MEASUREMENT Error: The result of every measurement by any measuring instrument contains some uncertainty. This uncertainty is called error. Accuracy: The accuracy of a measurement is a measure of how close the measured value is to the true value of the quantity. Precision: Precision tells us to what resolution or limit the quantity is measured. Example: Suppose the true value of a certain length is near 2.874 cm. In one experiment, using a measuring instrument of resolution 0.1 cm, the measured value is found to be 2.7 cm, while in another experiment using a measuring device of greater resolution, say 0.01 cm, the length is determined to be 2.69 cm. The first measurement has more accuracy (because it is closer to the true value) but less precision (its resolution is only 0.1 cm), while the second measurement is less accurate but more precise. Home Next Previous

In general, the errors in measurement can be broadly classified as • (I) Systematic errors and (II) Random errors • I. Systematic errors • The systematic errors are those errors that tend to be in one direction, either positive or negative. • Some of the sources of systematic errors are: • (a) Instrumental errors: • The instrumental errors that arise from the errors due to imperfect design • or calibration of the measuring instrument, zero error in the instrument, • etc. • Example: • The temperature graduations of a thermometer may be inadequately calibrated (it may read 104 °C at the boiling point of water at STP whereas it should read 100 °C); • In a verniercallipers the zero mark of vernier scale may not coincide with • the zero mark of the main scale; • (iii) An ordinary metre scale may be worn off at one end. Home Next Previous

(b) Imperfection in experimental technique or procedure: • To determine the temperature of a human body, a thermometer placed • under the armpit will always give a temperature lower than the actual • value of the body temperature. • (c) Personal errors: • The personal errors arise due to an individual’s bias, lack of proper • setting of the apparatus or individual’s carelessness in taking • observations without observing proper precautions, etc. • Example: • If you hold your head a bit too far to the right while reading the • position of a needle on the scale, you will introduce an error due to • parallax. • Systematic errors can be minimized by • improving experimental techniques, • selecting better instruments and • removing personal bias as far as possible.   Home Next Previous

II. Random errors The random errors are those errors, which occur irregularly and hence are random with respect to sign and size. These can arise due to random and unpredictable fluctuations in experimental conditions, personal errors by the observer taking readings, etc. Example: When the same person repeats the same observation, it is very likely that he may get different readings every time. Least count error Least count: The smallest value that can be measured by the measuring instrument is called its least count. The least count error is the error associated with the resolution of the instrument. Home Next Previous

Example: (i) A Vernier callipers has the least count as 0.01 cm; (ii) A spherometer may have a least count of 0.001 cm. Using instruments of higher precision, improving experimental techniques, etc., we can reduce the least count error. Repeating the observations several times and taking the arithmetic mean of all the observations, the mean value would be very close to the true value of the measured quantity. Note: Least count error belongs to Random errors category but within a limited size; it occurs with both systematic and random errors. Home Next Previous

Absolute Error, Relative Error and Percentage Error Absolute error The magnitude of the difference between the individual measurement value and the true value of the quantity is called the absolute error of the measurement. This is denoted by |Δa|. Note: In absence of any other method of knowing true value, we consider arithmetic mean as the true value. The errors in the individual measurement values from the true value are: Δa1= a1 - amean Δa2= a2 - amean ---------------- ---------------- Δan= an - amean The Δa calculated above may be positive or negative. But absolute error |Δa| will always be positive. Home Next Previous

The arithmetic mean of all the absolute errors is taken as the final or mean absolute error of the value of the physical quantity a. It is represented by Δamean. Thus, Δamean= (|Δa1|+|Δa2|+|Δa3|+...+ |Δan|)/n n = ∑ |Δai|/n i=1 If we do a single measurement, the value we get may be in the range amean ± Δamean This implies that any measurement of the physical quantity a is likely to lie between (amean + Δamean) and (amean - Δamean) Home Next Previous

Relative error The relative error is the ratio of the mean absolute error Δameanto the mean value ameanof the quantity measured. Mean absolute error Mean absolute error Percentage error = Relative error = Relative error = True value or Arithmetic Mean True value or Arithmetic Mean Percentage error When the relative error is expressed in per cent, it is called the percentage error (δa). Δamean Δamean amean amean x 100% Percentage error δa = x 100% Home Next Previous

Combination of Errors In an experiment involving several measurements, the errors in all the measurements get combined. Example: Density is the ratio of the mass to the volume of the substance. If there are errors in the measurement of mass and of the sizes or dimensions, then there will be error in the density of the substance.  (a) Error of a Sum: Suppose two physical quantities A and B have measured values A ± ΔA, B ± ΔB respectively, where ΔA and ΔB are their absolute errors. Let Z = A + B Z ± ΔZ = (A ± ΔA) + (B ± ΔB) = (A + B) ± (ΔA + ΔB) = Z ± (ΔA + ΔB) ± ΔZ = ± (ΔA + ΔB) When two quantities are added, the absolute error in the final result is the sum of the individual errors. ΔZ = (ΔA + ΔB) or Home Next Previous

(b) Error of a Difference: Suppose two physical quantities A and B have measured values A ± ΔA, B ± ΔB respectively, where ΔA and ΔB are their absolute errors. Let Z = A - B Z ± ΔZ = (A ± ΔA) - (B ± ΔB) = (A - B) ± ΔA ΔB ± = Z ± (ΔA + ΔB) (since ± and are the same) ± ± ΔZ = ± (ΔA + ΔB) When two quantities are subtracted, the absolute error in the final result is the sum of the individual errors. ΔZ = (ΔA + ΔB) or Rule: When two quantities are added or subtracted, the absolute error in the final result is the sum of the absolute errors in the individual quantities. Home Next Previous

(c) Error of a Product: Suppose two physical quantities A and B have measured values A ± ΔA, B ± ΔB respectively, where ΔA and ΔB are their absolute errors. Let Z = A x B Z ± ΔZ = (A ± ΔA) x (B ± ΔB) Z ± ΔZ = AB ± A ΔB ± B ΔA ± ΔA ΔB Dividing LHS by Z and RHS by AB we have, ΔA ΔB ΔA ΔB = 1 ± ± ± A B A B 1 ± ± ΔA ΔB ΔZ ΔA ΔB ΔZ is very small and hence negligible A A B B Z Z When two quantities are multiplied, the relative error in the final result is the sumof the relative errors of the individual quantities. ΔZ ΔB ΔA = ± ± = + or Z B A Home Next Previous

Error of a Product:ALITER Suppose two physical quantities A and B have measured values A ± ΔA, B ± ΔB respectively, where ΔA and ΔB are their absolute errors. Let Z = A x B Applying log on both the sides, we have log Z = log A + log B Differentiating, we have ΔZ ΔB ΔA = + Z B A Home Next Previous

(d) Error of a Quotient: Suppose two physical quantities A and B have measured values A ± ΔA, B ± ΔB respectively, where ΔA and ΔB are their absolute errors. 1 1 ± 1 ± Let ΔA ± (A ± ΔA) Dividing LHS by Z and RHS by A / B and simplifying we have, B Z ± ΔZ = (B ± ΔB) (A ± ΔA) Z ± ΔZ = ΔA ΔB B B2 ± -1 (A ± ΔA) ΔB ΔB ΔB ΔB ΔZ ΔA A A A A ΔB Z ± ΔZ = Z = = is negligible Z B B A B B B B B B B B ΔA When two quantities are divided, the relative error in the final result is the sum of the relative errors of the individual quantities. B ΔA ΔB ΔZ ΔB ΔA ± x x ± ± Z ± ΔZ = = ± ± ± Z ± ΔZ = + B B or Z B A (by Binomial Approximation) Home Next Previous

Error of a Quotient: ALITER Suppose two physical quantities A and B have measured values A ± ΔA, B ± ΔB respectively, where ΔA and ΔB are their absolute errors. Let Applying log on both the sides, we have log Z = log A - log B Differentiating, we have Logically an error can not be nullified by making another error. Therefore errors are not subtracted but only added up. A Math has to be bent to satisfy Physics in many situations! Think of more such situations!! Z = B Rule: When two quantities are multiplied or divided, the relative error in the final result is the sum of the relative errors in the individual quantities. ΔZ ΔZ ΔB ΔB ΔA ΔA = = + - Z Z B B A A Home Next Previous

(e) Error of an Exponent (Power): Suppose a physical quantity A has measured values A ± ΔA where ΔA is its absolute error. Let Z = Ap where p is a constant. Z = A x A x A x ………x A (p times) Z ± ΔZ = (A ± ΔA) x (A ± ΔA) x (A ± ΔA) x ……. x (A ± ΔA) (p times) ΔA ΔA ΔZ ΔZ ΔA ΔA ΔA + + ……… (p times as per the product rule for errors) Note: If p is negative, |p| is taken because errors due to multiple quantities get added up. A A = = p + + or Z Z A A A Rule: The relative error in a physical quantity raised to the power p is the p times the relative error in the individual quantity. Home Next Previous

(f) Error of an Exponent (Power): ALITER Suppose a physical quantity A has measured values A ± ΔA where ΔA is its absolute error. Let Z = Ap where p is a constant. Applying log on both the sides, we have (Whether p is positive or negative errors due to multiple quantities get added up only) log Z = |p| log A Differentiating, we have Z = ΔA |p| A ΔZ ΔZ ΔA ΔC ΔB = = q r p Z Z B C A Ap x Bq In general, if , then Cr Note: Cr is in Denominator, but the relative error is added up. + + Home Next Previous

SIGNIFICANT FIGURES The reported result of measurement is a number that includes all digits in the number that are known reliably plus the first digit that is uncertain. The reliable digits plus the first uncertain digit are known as significant digits or significant figures. Example: (i) The period of oscillation of a simple pendulum is 2.36 s; the digits 2 and 3 are reliable and certain, while the digit 6 is uncertain. Thus, the measured value has three significant figures. (ii) The length of an object reported after measurement to be 287.5 cm has four significant figures, the digits 2, 8, 7 are certain while the digit 5 is uncertain.   Note: A choice of change of different units does not change the number of significant digits or figures in a measurement. Eg. The length 1.205 cm, 0.01205, 12.05 mm and 12050 μm all have four SF. Home Next Previous

Rules for determining the number of significant figures • All the non-zero digits are significant. • All the zeros between two non-zero digits are significant, no matter • where the decimal point is, if at all. • If the number is less than 1, the zero(s) on the right of decimal point but • to the left of the first non-zero digit are not significant. • (iv) The terminal or trailing zero(s) in a number without a decimal point are • not significant. • (v) The trailing zero(s) in a number with a decimal point are significant. Home Next Previous

Scientific Notation Any given number can be written in the form of a×10b in many ways; for example 350 can be written as 3.5×102 or 35×101 or 350×100. a×10bmeans"a times ten raised to the power of b", where the exponentb is an integer, and the coefficienta is any real number called the significand or mantissa (the term "mantissa" is different from "mantissa" in common logarithm). If the number is negative then a minus sign precedes a (as in ordinary decimal notation). In normalized scientific notation, the exponent b is chosen such that the absolute value of a remains at least one but less than ten (1 ≤ |a| < 10). For example, 350 is written as 3.5×102. This form allows easy comparison of two numbers of the same sign in a, as the exponent b gives the number's order of magnitude. Home Next Previous

Rules for Arithmetic Operations with Significant Figures • In arithmetic operations the final result should not have more significant figures than the original data from which it was obtained. • Multiplication or division: • The final result should retain as many significant figures as are there in the original number with the least significant figures. • (2) Addition or subtraction: • The final result should retain as many decimal places as are there in the number with the least decimal places. Home Next Previous

Rounding off the Uncertain Digits • Rounding off a number means dropping of digits which are not significant. The following rules are followed for rounding off the number: • If the digits to be dropped are greater than five, then add one to the • preceding significant figure. • 2. If the digit to be dropped is less than five then it is dropped without • bringing any change in the preceding significant figure. • If the digit to be dropped is five, then the preceding digit will be left • unchanged if the preceding digit is even and it will be increased by • one if it is odd. • In any involved or complex multi-step calculation, one should retain, in intermediate steps, one digit more than the significant digits and round off to proper significant figures at the end of the calculation. Home Next Previous

DIMENSIONS OF PHYSICAL QUANTITIES • The nature of a physical quantity is described by its dimensions. • All the physical quantities can be expressed in terms of the seven base or fundamental quantities viz. mass, length, time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature, intensity of light and amount of substance, raised to some power. • The dimensions of a physical quantity are the powers (or exponents) to which the fundamental or base quantities are raised to represent that quantity. • Note: • Using the square brackets [ ] around a quantity means that we are dealing with ‘the dimensions of’ the quantity.  • Example: • The dimensions of volume of an object are [L3] • The dimensions of force are [MLT-2] • The dimensions of energy are [ML2T-2] Home Next Previous

Dimensional Quantity Dimensional quantity is a physical quantity which has dimensions. For example: Speed, acceleration, momentum, torque, etc. Dimensionless Quantity Dimensionless quantity is a physical quantity which has no dimensions. For example: Relative density, refractive index, strain, etc. Dimensional Constant Dimensional constant is a constant which has dimensions. For example: Universal Gravitational constant, Planck’s constant, Hubble constant, Stefan constant, Wien constant, Boltzmann constant, Universal Gas constant, Faraday constant, etc. Dimensionless Constant Dimensionless constant is a constant which has no dimensions. For example: 5, -.0.38, e, π, etc. Home Next Previous

DIMENSIONAL FORMULAE AND DIMENSIONAL EQUATIONS • The expression which shows how and which of the base quantities represent the dimensions of a physical quantity is called the dimensional formula of the given physical quantity. • Example: • The dimensional formula of the volume is [M° L3 T°], • The dimensional formula of speed or velocity is [M° L T-1] • (iii) The dimensional formula of acceleration is [M° L T–2] • An equation obtained by equating a physical quantity with its dimensional formula is called the dimensional equation of the physical quantity.   Example: (i) [V] = [M° L3 T°] (ii) [v] = [M° L T-1] (iii) [a] = [M° L T–2] Home Next Previous

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SI System: Base and Derived Units - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SI System: Base and Derived Units

As we become more global, common means of sharing ideas ... how many tons in a 10 megaton bomb approximating. 1 meter is about the height of a doorknob. ... – powerpoint ppt presentation.

• SI System Base and Derived Units
• Le Systeme International dUnites
• International System of Units
• Often called the metric system
• When no one left their own community, it didnt really matter.
• 1.5 killmers of cookies would be a perfectly acceptable unit of measure, if everyone had a killmer to refer to.
• As we become more global, common means of sharing ideas becomes more significant.
• It doesnt make sense to measure the thickness of a piece of paper with a meter-stick
• So we subdivide the units, rather than make up new ones
• How many grams in a kilogram?
• How many centimeters in a meter?
• How many deciliters in a liter?
• How many killmers in a hectokillmer?
• What does the k in Y2k mean?
• How many years in a century?
• How many years in a millenium?
• How many tons in a 10 megaton bomb?
• 1 meter is about the height of a doorknob.
• 1 cm is about the width of a button.
• 1 mm is about the thickness of a dime.
• 1 kg is about the mass of a small text book.
• 1 g is about the mass of a dollar bill.
• 1 mg is about the mass of 10 grains of salt.
• Base units are the simplest units.
• We can combine base units to make derived units.
• A derived unit is used to measure those things that are not part of the base options
• If I want to measure the volume for a cube, I need to use a derived unit.
• V length x length x length
• V m x m x m
• A cubic meter is a derived unit built from base units.
• One of the first needs we will have for derived units involves density.
• Density is the amount of mass in a given volume.
• D mass / volume
• Since density doesnt have a base unit, we have to build one.
• The nice part is, we can use any mass or volume units to do this
• What is the density of a block of metal that has a mass of 2.50 grams and occupies a volume of .20 ml?
• D mass/volume
• D (2.50 g)/(.20 ml)
• D 12.50 g/ml
• We can use algebra tricks to rearrange our density formula if we need to
• VolumeD mass
• Volume mass/D
• Read Lab 2 for next time

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