BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS PRESENTATION SKILLS OF THESIS & PROJECT REPORTS Unit 16 Developed by F. Chilufya

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Outline The Need and Use of Visual a Presentation Planning Visual (slide) Presentation Developing a Visual (slide) Presentation Delivering a Visual (slide) Presentation

The Need & Use of Visual Presentation

Reports once developed must be shared to relevant persons. Modern technology has made this easy with the use of computer generated slides that are beamed on a large screen for an audience to view.

This enables the presenter of the report and the audience to view the same printed information and thus discuss its content. This discussion enables the report to be reviewed and amendments made for action/implementation.

Planning a Visual (slide) Presentation

(a) Complete Document The complete report document must be available. It must be checked for accuracy and logical flow of information. The preliminary pages and well as concluding pages must be complete too.

From the complete document, a summary must be developed. (b) Summary of Document From the complete document, a summary must be developed. Major headings and relevant sections of information in their logical order as in the main report must be included. The summary must present the same information as the main document. Reading the summary must give a complete overview of the key components of the report.

(c) Summary into Key Points From the summary, critically observe how the information can be segmented into smaller components that can fit on a slide(s). These smaller components will form the actual slides of the presentation.

Developing a Visual (slide) Presentation

MS PowerPoint is found in All Programmes under Microsoft Office (a) Create Blank Slides To create slide presentations, the computer programme to use is Microsoft PowerPoint (MS PowerPoint). It is called PowerPoint because the power of your presentation is in the points you make. Therefore do not crowd the slides with words or objects…that are not points. MS PowerPoint is found in All Programmes under Microsoft Office (click on START)

Your PC may have MS Office 2007, 2010, 2013 or 2016 Your PC may have MS Office 2007, 2010, 2013 or 2016. As the year advances, so does the application and what it is capable of doing. It is recommended for beginners to use a lesser version which is less complex in order to capture the key skills of slide development.

Steps in Creating Blank Slides Click on Start and open the file tab in the Menu. If the Menu already shows Microsoft PowerPoint, simply click on it. Otherwise click on Microsoft Office. It will give you a list of Programmes

Click on Microsoft PowerPoint and the program will open with one blank slide.

On the left is a column that gives view of the slides. The blank slide has a provision of adding a title and subtitle. It is advisable to delete these two boxes and create your own to your specifications.

To create multiple blank slides, in the Home tab, click the arrow under New Slide. Select the blank slide. Repeat this until you have adequate slides for your work.

Another way of creating blank slides is simply to copy a blank slide in the view column and keep pasting it over and over until you have adequate slides.

There are two ways to create headings on the slide: (b) Create Headings There are two ways to create headings on the slide: Either use the already default text box, which gives you pre-set font type and size, or

Or Use the Insert TEXT BOX and then type in the words. You will then need to EDIT the words as you do in Microsoft Word Tools i.e. FONT TYPE, FONT SIZE, COLOUR, etc.

(c) Insert Words Segments From segmented Key Points of your report, start to copy and past them into each slide in the logical sequence. The crucial aspect to observe is NOT to OVER CROWD one slide. Spread them evenly for easy reading by the audience.

EDIT the pasted word to enhance the FONT TYPE, FONT SIZE, FONT COLOUR and the POSITION of the words on the slide. Use Font types which a “BLOCKS”, they are easy to read by audience e.g. Arial and Calibri.

Font size 18 to 24 are visually clear. Avoid dull colours such as yellow, pink, orange, etc. Black, Blue Red and Green are quite good. Don’t over colour your words. Let colours be restricted to headings and key words only.

These images could be graphs, photographs, tables, etc. (d) Insert any Diagrams/Tables/Pictures The presentation looks appealing if you insert some graphic images in it. The key is to make sure they are relevant to the presentation and you will not spend time on them. These images could be graphs, photographs, tables, etc.

Images can be inserted by either using the INSERT tools or simply copying it from the source and paste it on the desired section.

Backgrounds can be done in several ways. Two ways you can use are:- (e) Add Backgrounds The key is to keep THE BACKGROUND IN THE BACKGROUND! Thus, it should not be prominent as to destruct the words and images you are presenting. Backgrounds can be done in several ways. Two ways you can use are:- A white background on the slides is good since it lets the words and images stand out and thus easily readable. However, for a skilled person, a selection of good backgrounds adds an appeal to the presentation.

INSERT pre-designed backgrounds in the DESIGN tool. They can be done for one selected slide or the whole presentation

They can be done for one selected slide or the whole presentation

You can also simply insert a SHAPE and colour it with a very mild colour. ORDER it to the BACK and thus all you information will be visible.

Presentations captivate the audience if they have movement. (f) Add Animations Presentations captivate the audience if they have movement. This movements is called ANIMATION and it can be for any words and images inserted onto the slide. It also includes movements of the slides themselves from one to the other (it is called transmission of the slides).

ANIMATION OF WORDS AND IMAGES Select the words or (by having the text box or image with points). Then under animation, select custom animation. A dialogue box will pop up on the right. Use it to select the desired animations. You can alter the speed of the transmission on speed.

Use it to select the desired animations. You can alter the SPEED of the transmission on speed.

2. TRANSMISSION OF SLIDES Under animation, simply select a transmission you prefer. Try to be consistent in the transmissions of slides since they have the potential of destructing the presentation. Equally do not over do it.

You can run through the slide by viewing it. (g) Viewing the Slide Show You can run through the slide by viewing it. You may either view the entire show From Beginning or From Current Slide. The option of ‘From current Slide’ is good for editing the show when you want to see how it will be viewed.

Save the slide in the usual way. (h) Saving the Presentation Save the slide in the usual way. You should remember that Microsoft PowerPoint has evolved and therefore, as you change computers, understand that certain features may be missing in lesser versions of PowerPoint. Thus you may need to use the laptop you designed the slides for final presentation.

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS PRESENTATION SKILLS OF THESIS & PROJECT REPORTS Unit 8 Developed by F. Chilufya