How I Create Informal PowerPoint Presentations

Have you ever had to create a PowerPoint presentation for a class? Not a public speaking class, just a regular core class, maybe science, Latin, or even a fine arts class. Usually, these types of presentations aren’t super formal, but it can still be difficult to figure out how to approach them. I want to share how I go about making these along with some of my favorite tips for presenting them.  

Setting Up 

The first thing I like to do is look at the project guidelines and rubric. What do you need to include to get a good grade? Is there a certain way the teacher wants you to set it up? And is there a limit on the time or number of slides?  

After I find out what needs to be included, I figure out how many slides I’ll need. For instance, if there are three major topics to cover, I’ll start with four slides: one for the title/introduction and one for each topic. I label the title slide with my topic, my name, and any other important information (i.e. for a Latin presentation this year, I was talking about a passage from the Georgics, so I included the book and line numbers). Then I label the rest of the slides with the topic they represent (i.e. I had to include the context, translation, and Latin text, so I labeled the first slide “context”, the next “translation”, and so on).  

Finally, don’t forget to choose an eye-catching theme that is appropriate to the topic (for in-depth science presentations, maybe don’t go with a distracting, overly colorful background).  

Filling In 

Once I set up my presentation, I like to fill in the information I need, adding more slides as necessary. For my Latin presentation, I added bullet points with the context topics I touched on. It’s super important to be careful to balance the information on your slides. The amount of writing somewhat depends on preference, but most teachers don’t want you to write your script on your slides.  

I tend to start with more writing than I need as I decide what I want to include and then I’ll take away the information I think I can memorize more easily and keep the information I know I won’t remember on my own. However, I still seem to end up with too much writing most of the time, so I’ve started keeping a paper with me that has some notes so that I can keep more information off the slides without forgetting it.  

When you can, use numerals in place of writing out numbers, and generally use as few words as you can (it might not make sense to your audience at first, but just don’t forget to expound). If diagrams, examples, or other visuals are helpful for understanding the topic, add them. Your audience likely does not know the topic nearly as well as you do, so it’s important to help them as much as possible. 

Finishing Touches 

I try to make sure I have a variety of slide setups in my presentation. I think it’s boring visually to have the exact same setup on every slide, so I like to change it up a bit (just make sure to keep the same theme- you don’t want clashing colors or confusing geometric designs).  

It’s also a good idea to include photos, illustrations, and other images, just to make the slides more visually appealing and interesting. A lot of people would rather look at images than read a lot of words, so pictures can help balance out bullet points or paragraphs.  

Another technique that can be helpful is color coding. Obviously, this only works in some cases, but it can definitely be engaging for the audience. For my Latin presentation, we had to include literary devices we found in our passages and talk about them. I chose a color for each device and then highlighted or changed the text color for the words that represented that device.  

Finally, if you are supposed to include a works cited slide, don’t forget to! Some teachers won’t require it, but if you need it, make sure you don’t overlook it.  

Presenting 

Before you start your presentation (a day or two before), make sure you are familiar with the technology you are going to have to use. You want to be as comfortable as possible with it. However, that doesn’t mean problems won’t arise. I’ve had my annotations stop working twice in a presentation and I’ve had presentations start from the end when I went into presentation mode. But because I was familiar with the programs I was using, I had ideas on how to combat the problems, or at least keep other problems from arising.  

Depending on what type of presentation you’re doing, annotations or the laser pointer can be really useful in engaging your audience. I like to use the laser pointer if I’m referencing an image or a specific part of the slide. And the annotations are useful for circling, underlining, or writing information as you explain it. I like to use a Wacom tablet to make my annotations neater and easier to do. 

Always make sure to practice your presentations to someone ahead of time as well. You probably won’t have an exact script so you want to make sure that someone who is unfamiliar with the topic can follow it and understand what you are saying. That way, you’ll be polished when presentation day comes.

This isn’t a perfect guide to presentations. I’m still learning how to do them every time I’m assigned a new one. But this style has helped me a lot and is the result of techniques I’ve picked up every time I’ve presented. Problems might still arise, but I hope my tips were helpful in getting started and figuring out a style that works for you when you are assigned presentations in your classes.