1. Presentation Skills - Student Handout
A Short History of Presentations
Rhetorical Arts (Classical Antiquity ca. 500 BC)
• The art of persuasion relied on three complimentary skills:
 Ethos: Character Appeal, Credentials
 Logos: Appeal to logic, reason, facts
 Pathos: Emotional Appeal
The Slide Projector (20th Century)
• A swing towards pathos
The Digital Revolution
• The domination of logos
Anatomy of a Presentation
Speeches/Stories
• Resemble a gentle hill in pacing
• Rise to a series of delivery points (body)
Slide Presentations
• Every slide is a new wave of information
• Resembles a staccato heart monitor
What are Bullet Points for?
• Bullets are for delivering facts, not talking points
• Think about how many your audience can take away
• Your audience should not be choosing between listening and reading the slide
Before you start preparing your presentation:
Expertise
• How are you the expert?
• Think about mixture of credibility, logic and emotion required
• Be confident
Audience
• Who is your audience?
• What do they know?
• What do they want to know?
• What do they need to know?
• Why should they care?
Write
• Start with what you’re going to say
• Don’t just start typing talking points right into your presentation slides

3. Your Presentation as a Ship
• Be the captain
• Passengers don’t need bullet islands on a map
• Make memories with each slide
Tips for Getting your Presentation Started
Use a mind map to explore all the topics and their relation
Consider your Presentation Tool
• Microsoft Powerpoint
• Apple Keynote
• Google Docs Presenter
• Prezi
Analyze the presentation space
• Dual Screens
• Digital Projector
• Wireless Microphone
• Room to circulate?
• Room to break out into groups?
Engage your audience
 Polls
 Group exercises?
 Soliciting questions and ideas
 Cut out presentation if necessary
The Last Slide
 End on an invitation to discussion
 Make sure to write down comments / new information
 Leave means of contacting you such as e-mail/website