Constructing a Good Presentation

Begin by organizing your main thoughts onto index cards, or sticky notes. Then, arrange them in the order that makes the most sense. Instead of thinking of this as a straight line (A –> B, linear), imagine a branching family tree with roots where the main idea is the trunk. Or a Mind Map where the center is the main idea which spiders out into clusters in all directions. Begin grouping your ideas by their relevance to each other. Once you have all your ideas organized, then start asking this question for each “chunk” of information: How can I best communicate this to my students?

Instead of working to fit everything in, work to decide what the one, two, or three most important things your students need to grasp that day are. Next, brainstorm as many questions about the material as you can (when, where, who, what, and especially why). 

The "Why" questions are what keep us engaged, keep us thinking, keep us searching for the answer, they are the “hooks” that will grab your student’s attention. Look for ways within your presentation where you can engage students in dialogue about the “Why” questions. 

Take the time that is needed to review, reduce, and refine your presentations to remove distractions and unnecessary information. Your slides should contain as little as is necessary to get across the meaning of what you are saying. Depending on your material, this could mean 5 bullet points, but this shouldn’t be the norm of your slides. Useful elements such as a provocative quote, an image, or just one word placed on the screen to emphasize and remind students of the main point or idea, could have a greater impact. If most of the words (or even 1/4) you are speaking are on the slide, students will read the slide instead of listening. Some words are essential, but chances are that most of them aren’t.

Visuals can be one of the most effective aspects of your presentation. An effective, well-timed visual can help students grasp concepts more quickly, clarify muddy points, and provide a mental hook for retrieving information later. Eliminate visuals that aren’t helpful (fuzzy, blurry, or contain words that are too small to read). Focus on providing only the essentials.

Take some time to think through what you would do with your time if you weren’t presenting. Less time spent lecturing could mean more precious moments spent on active learning. Think through these questions beforehand: 

• Where could you use an image or a hands-on object instead of text on the screen? 
• Where could you use a blank slide? It might help students focus on the deeply relevant story you will tell. 
• How could you mix in some active learning? Could you use a question prompt slide and have students discuss their opinion with their neighbors? 

Following the Brevity, Clarity, Activity mantra can help your lectures grow to love active learning, and vice versa. Keep your lecture portions to 1-15 minutes. You can do more than one lecture segment in a class period, but they should be broken up by more than the occasional question or rapid note-taking. Break up your lecture segments by using Think-Pair-Share, one-minute paper responses, check for clarity or for muddiest points,

Classroom/Audience Response Systems are effective tools that can impact a presentation in a very positive way. Learn how to create presentations that will allow you to increase classroom interaction, obtain real-time feedback, drive discussion, gather demographic info, deliver quizzes, survey groups, vote and more. Learn more about Class Response Systems.