1. 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

2. Overview
Basic Communication
Presentations
Visual Aids

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

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

5. Presentations

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

7. Engaging the Audience*
Effective speakers
engage to occupy the attention of
entertain to cause time to pass pleasantly
impress arouse strong interest
Conversely the speaker would
bore the audience
ensure a forgettably unpleasant experience
*As outlined in “Technical Presentations”, OE Reports
by Richard Gaughan

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Visual Aids

13. Layout Computer vs Transparencies Readability Templates Size Colors
Fonts
Background
Figures, Graphs, & Illustrations

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

15. Templates Consistent look Sequence
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

16. Orientation Portrait Landscape Landscape is better for
communicating visual info

17. Size 1
1:6 Rule
Floor Test 6

18. Colors Hot White, Yellow, Pink, Red Cool Gray, Green, Brown, Blue
attract the eye
use sparingly and for emphasis
Cool Gray, Green, Brown, Blue
use for support and reference
10% (?) of the male pop has a color blindness

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

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

21. Fonts: Serif vs Sans 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”

22. Font Sizes Main Title Fonts vary in physical size Key Points
Sub points and other text
reference info or text to read later

23. 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

24. Graphs Good for showing % like weight and cost breakdowns
Discrete Trends or
Comparisons
Trends

25. Tricking the Receiver
Is the change large or small?

26. Legends vs
Direct Labeling

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

28. 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.