© Purdue University Creating Effective Presentations Developed by Jason Bowman for AAE451 School of Aeronautics & Astronautics Purdue University Based on a CIS Short Course by Mike Jacob and “Technical Presentations” by Richard Gaughan

© Purdue University Overview Basic Communication Presentations Visual Aids

© Purdue University Basic Communication Communication is the transmission of information from a sender to a receiver Information is Knowledge communicated. Data is not information !!!

© Purdue University Basic Communication Know who the receiver is Be concise. Keeps the signal-to-noise ratio high KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid

© Purdue University Presentations

© Purdue University Presentations* Understand, Plan, Prepare The audience wants you to succeed Know what your message is – 10% ruleHandouts !!! – Tell them... – give clues... *As outlined in “Technical Presentations”, OE Reports by Richard Gaughan

© Purdue University Engaging the Audience* Effective speakers – engageto occupy the attention of – entertainto cause time to pass pleasantly – impressarouse strong interest Conversely the speaker would – bore the audience – ensure a forgettably unpleasant experience *As outlined in “Technical Presentations”, OE Reports by Richard Gaughan

© Purdue University What You’re Up Against* The audience has many concerns – where to have lunch – who’s going to win tonight’s game – relationship/family issues “The more of their attention you engage, the more their minds are working with you, and the easier it is for them to hear and remember your presentation” *As outlined in “Technical Presentations”, OE Reports by Richard Gaughan

© Purdue University Keeping Audience Interest* Ideas  Concrete Images – Imagery entertains – Images are easier to remember Voice – volume, tone, rate, diction Body Language – face and hand gestures, stance *As outlined in “Technical Presentations”, OE Reports by Richard Gaughan

© Purdue University Visual Aids* Enhance your message & support your purpose Provide a framework for ideas Easy on the eyes, easy to understand, easy to remember *As outlined in “Technical Presentations”, OE Reports by Richard Gaughan

© Purdue University Memory* Short term  working The rule of 7 Consequences – 5 to 7 items on a screen – no long text – organization should be self-evident *As outlined in “Technical Presentations”, OE Reports by Richard Gaughan

© Purdue University Visual Aids

© Purdue University Layout Computer vs Transparencies Readability – Templates – Size – Colors – Fonts – Background – Figures, Graphs, & Illustrations

© Purdue University Color vs Black & White People are visually oriented Color can help communicate info Color Transparencies OK if presentation will be given multiple times Computer vs Transparencies

© Purdue University Templates Consistent look – Pictures and illustrations preferably on left Sequence – user knows where to look for info on every slide – animation and builds: upper left to lower right

© Purdue University Orientation Portrait Landscape Landscape is better for communicating visual info

© Purdue University Size 1:6 Rule Floor Test 1 6

© Purdue University Colors HotWhite, Yellow, Pink, Red – attract the eye – use sparingly and for emphasis CoolGray, Green, Brown, Blue – use for support and reference 10% (?) of the male pop has a color blindness

© Purdue University Background Colors Cool colors Less distracting Lower intensity. Other items stand out. One solid color for all slides (template)

© Purdue University Foreground Colors Hot colors High Intensity Choose one primary color, but not brightest. One color for emphasis – usually the brightest – use sparingly

© Purdue University Fonts: Serif vs Sans Serif l Serif – good with written text but not with projections Sans Serif – more visually appealing – but 1 is the number one and l is lowercase “ell”

© Purdue University Font Sizes Main Title Key Points Sub points and other text reference info or text to read later Fonts vary in phys ical size

© Purdue University Readability About 6 words (?) is enough. No more than 7 lines per slide In builds, previous lines use darker colors About 2 minutes / slide ALL UPPERCASE IS DIFFICULT TO READ

© Purdue University Graphs Good for showing % like weight and cost breakdowns Discrete Trends or Comparisons Trends

© Purdue University Tricking the Receiver Is the change large or small?

© Purdue University Legends Direct Labeling vs

© Purdue University AAE 451 Know the Audience, Know your Purpose Don’t just prepare lists of data ! Practice Keep to your allotted time

© Purdue University Longuski's Timing Rule Allow 2 minutes per page for a highly interactive presentation (e.g. thesis defense). Allow 1.5 minutes per page for a noninteractive presentation (e.g. a presentation where there will be no questions or questions only at the end) Note: count all viewgraphs including title and repeated ones.