Chapter 16. Learning the Elements of Effective Presentations

In this chapter

• Find out ways to size up an audience

• Learn the importance of objective-driven content

• Explore ways to grab and keep an audience's attention

• Learn how colors and fonts are part of the message

• Discover ways to assess the impact of a presentation

An effective presentation is one that achieves its objectives of communicating ideas, teaching concepts, or convincing or motivating listeners. This book presents PowerPoint features and procedures with an eye toward helping you create successful presentations. But all that has come in bits and pieces. This chapter brings together some of the key ingredients in creating and presenting effective presentations.

However, you should also know what this chapter doesn't do. It does not provide a comprehensive treatment of public speaking, learning theories, motivational psychology, or the like. There are plenty of other books out there that can do a much better job with those topics, partly because their authors are experts in those areas and because they've got a lot more pages to cover the topics.

So does that mean you've got a rookie here, trying to tell you what to do? Not at all. I've got plenty of teaching and presenting experience. Take what you can from these pages, and, like I do, continue to observe other presenters. Some day you'll be able to compile your own list of what makes an effective presentation.