Week 7: Clear- Creating an effective Presentation

After reviewing the course material for this week, I was very excited about the upcoming presentation project. There are so many possibilities out their for presentations, but where to begin? I think one of the hardest steps most people have it actually beginning a project. This involves thinking of an idea. This reminds me of my earlier college days were I would write a paper and then title it due t not being able to think of a title before the paper was finished. But we cant take that approach in this case. We must formulate an idea. Think of things you are excited or passionate about and how it can relate to the business world. What would you want to hear when listening to someone's presentation? There are many things to consider. I know this can be challenging at first but once you have an idea, it only gets easier from there!

Make sure you map out your ideas on a piece of paper. Create a storyboard. I found a great article on creating storyboard and how some of the great people through history have worked on theirs. This will help you develop your presentation. throughout all the steps of creating a presentation, I enjoy this step the most! I have fun with drawing images and briefly describing what I will be discussing.

After creating your storyboard, you may begin putting the presentation together. There are many different types of tools to use. In the business environment it helps to include charts and graphs. But be careful not to create to much noise within your presentation. You do not want to overwhelm or confuse the audience with your slides. For example, see the below slide which is a bit much!

There is simply to much going on for the audience to be able to pay attention to you as well as the image. Instead, draw the image as you are talking or make it simply so you must explain it to the audience and they can follow it with you. For example:

You can explain to the audience what is represent where on the graph. There is plenty of material online to help you with creating a great presentation. Take a look at the "Basics of Presentation Skills."

Once you have mastered the skill of creating a great presentation, it is a very helpful tool within the work place. You can show your managers that you have a ability to convey information in a great way that others can understand. So dive into the task of completing a presentation!