slide presentation

slide presentation

The Art of Persuasive Slide Presentations

1. Introduction

Wayne L. Atchley begins the tutorial by defining and giving an example of “good” versus “bad” PowerPoint presentations. In a good PowerPoint presentation, the presenter explains a slide to the audience while the audience focuses their attention on the presenter and is able to understand what the presenter is explaining. The slide is only used as a visual to aid the audience’s understanding. In a bad PowerPoint presentation, or what is referred to as a “slideument,” the presenter reads verbatim what is on the slide to the audience. This causes the audience to ignore the presenter and read ahead. When the presenter finishes reading, the audience has forgotten what the presenter was attempting to explain and only understands the slide. This now defeats the point of the presenter explaining the slide. The user has the choice to choose either presentations or documents as a navigation to which approach is suited best for them. It can be noted that it is critical that the user defines the target audience as the decision may vary.

The Art of Persuasive Presentation is a tutorial for producing well-designed and effective medieval visual presentations. Written by Wayne L. Atchley, this online tutorial covers the basic step approach to constructing a good presentation. This tutorial is detailed but straightforward in such a way that it can be ideal for students or corporations that are new to making a presentation. The tutorial offers a variety of choices on each step and will leave it to the user to choose which option goes with the user the most. Whether you are a full-time sales representative needing to do a clear and simple sales pitch to a prospective client, or a student needing clarifications on a school project, this tutorial will provide a clear and simple path to making a strong presentation and a large improvement to the user’s presentation skills.

2. Structure and Organization

Indirect order – You should use this organizational pattern if you are speaking to a hostile audience. Begin with the weakest point to avoid turning the audience against you, and then end with the strongest point. This way, you will have shown that your view is valid and build to its greater validation.

Direct order – This is where you begin with your strongest point and end with your weakest. The result is that your audience will be most likely to remember your last point.

The body is the largest part of your speech, where you provide the audience with the major supporting materials. The body is the “heart” of your speech. Here are the two different ways you can organize your body:

2.2) Body

3. Preview the main points to be discussed in the rest of your speech.

2. Start with a thesis statement. In a persuasive speech, your topic and your thesis act as a persuasive tool to show your point of view is the right way.

1. Attention-getting device – This should be something that will grab the audience’s attention and make them want to listen to the rest of your speech.

2.1) Introduction

Understanding the standard way to develop a persuasion speech will enable you to organize your talk in a clear and logical manner. Persuasive speeches aim to begin with a certain point of view that is then proved with arguments. Take the time to develop an outline for each persuasive speech.

3. Engaging Visuals

It is not enough that your visuals look poor – they must look great compared to what your audience sees every single day. Second, your slides must serve as integrated visual support for the points you make. They should not stand alone as a full narrative of your speech, but should contain information crucial for your audience to understand that you provide verbally. Third, your slides must look different from what your audience will see from anyone else. In the case of many business presentations, this might mean maintaining a consistent graphic template for all your company’s presentations. But if you are a university student, a non-profit worker, or someone presenting at a casual event, there might be an opportunity to be more creative. You should strive to maintain professionalism, but regardless of your audience, you want your graphics to be distinguishable from clip art-riddled bullet point presentations. Finally, remember to take full advantage of your medium. If you are presenting on a large scale in a dark room, you should not shy away from using visuals with a lot of bold color. If you are presenting online, you might want to consider using a mix of video and audio clips. In the case of presentations, “engaging visuals” often means slides with graphics and minimal text. But no matter the medium, it is always best to show your audience something they can look at. If you are looking to persuade, it helps to back up your point with a compelling image. And in some cases, your visuals might serve as the central focus of your presentation. For example, a designer presenting a new product might show the product and how it was made in a series of visual slides, following up with a verbal explanation of why the product is superior to other products in its type.

4. Effective Delivery Techniques

It’s all about the delivery. More often than not, a successful slide presentation is a product of a well planned and thought out oral presentation. As Mark Kramer points out in his book “Questioning Techniques for Focused Results,” craft a clear and concise opening that tells your audience what you are going to talk about, why you are talking about it, and how it will benefit them. This provides clear focus for you and your audience. Your audience will grasp the outline of your presentation, making it easier for them to follow and understand your points. In The Art of Persuasive Communication he suggests presenting your take home message at the beginning and at least one more time at the end. Think about all the presentations you sat through and only understood the exact point of the presenter at the end. One or two key points are far more effective than ten. Remain topic based; only use information that relates to your key points. This allows for acquisition and retention of the information later on.

Between preparing slides and delivering a presentation, many professionals can experience the pangs of anxiety – sweaty palms, shaky voice, and racing heart. Delivering presentations is an everyday art form for almost all people. Yet, a great presenter and persuasive speaker from within is a hard act to follow. The number one question in people’s minds is where can I do to help my presentation today. We are going to journey into the web’s most up to date and comprehensive guide on improving your public speaking skills. From the novice to the master, this article will show you concrete techniques to upgrade your presentation into a high powered speech. We will tackle the most often asked question, “how can I improve my presentation today?”

5. Conclusion

If there is one key idea you should take away from this guide, it is that all facets of a presentation are aimed at the audience achieving the intended message and a change in their attitudes. This might be to buy a product, support an idea, or simply to accept a certain way of thinking. The presenter has to get the audience to see the relationship between what is said and the desired outcome. The audience has to work this out for themselves, and while the presenter can help this process along, he/she can’t force anything upon them. Forcing a change in attitude is impossible. A person will only change their attitude if they see the message as being compatible with their current attitudes or if they see the message as having a large incentive with a high probability of success. The presenter must convince the audience of these two things. In order to do this, the presenter will need relevant attitude change strategy, and a carefully chosen method of persuasion. The presenter must also remain credible in the eyes of the audience, and build this credibility. Using well planned visual aids is a surefire way of doing this. So when you are planning your next presentation, visual aids must be at the forefront of your mind. And if you follow the guidelines we have suggested, there is no doubt that you will succeed in persuading the audience and achieving your objective.

If you follow the guidelines we have suggested, you should be able to produce effective visual aids that will enable you to effectively persuade, sell your message, and achieve your objective with any audience. We have discussed how to create a variety of visual aids, and highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of each. We have also discussed the best ways to implement these visual aids into a presentation, and have given advice on what to do when technical difficulties arise. This essay has essentially been a guide for creating persuasive presentations.