LibGuides: COM357: Professional Business Communication: Presenting

Creating Powerpoints: Selected Titles

The PowerPoint Detox by Patrick Forsyth
Call Number: Electronic Book (use link above)
Everyone knows the feeling of attending a dreary and formulaic presentation where dense lumps of text are read verbatim from the screen. With sample slides and plenty of examples reproduced in PowerPoint style, The PowerPoint Detox is a how-to book that will help readers add explanatory power, style and professionalism to their presentations.
Power Points! How to design and deliver presentations that sizzle and sell by Harry Mills
Call Number: Electronic Book (use link above)
Today's supercritical audiences demand you speak with impact and deliver your PowerPoints with flair. "Speak like Churchill, Present like Spielberg" shows readers how to seamlessly integrate their words and PowerPoints into a persuasive experience. The book is divided into two parts. Part I lays out "The Seven Steps to Presentation Success" (i.e., the "Churchill" part); and, Part II is about how to design and deliver more persuasive PowerPoints. (Amazon)
Clear and to the Point : 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations by Katja Maria Vogt
Call Number: Electronic Book (use link above)
True or False? Most PowerPoint presentations are: compelling illuminating informative clear and to the point. Answer: False. Making PowerPoint presentations that are clear, compelling, memorable, and even enjoyable is not an obscure art. In this book, Stephen Kosslyn, a renowned cognitive neuroscientist, presents eight simple principles for constructing a presentation that takes advantage of the information modern science has discovered about perception, memory, and cognition. Using hundreds of images and sample slides, he shows the common mistakes many people make and the simple ways to fix them. Other tips include why you should state your conclusion at the beginning of a presentation, when to use a line graph versus a bar graph, and how to use color correctly.

Presentation Tips

Time management. How much time does each slide take? How many slides is too many?
Slide design. Can you read the text on the background? Are the colors ok? Is the picture too big or too dominant? Are the text and images balanced?
Linking media. Did you hide the URL behind a text link? Did you pre-load any videos before you started? Did you double check to make sure a link still works?
Structure. Did you follow a coherent structure? Does each slide/point help you prove your argument? Can your audience identify your thesis?
Citation. Did you cite every quote, video, and image? Did you provide a references slide at the end? Remember a URL is not enough!
Effective slides. Remember the slides are for both you AND the audience. Don't make it powerpoint karaoke. But it should be more than just a photo album.
Media. Is the media helping you prove your thesis? Do you explain it or just show it? Is the amount of media balanced with the amount of text and explanation?

Subject Headings

Below are a few subject headings to browse the catalog. In addition to your class texts, these resources may help you strategize your presentation and pull together an effective PowerPoint.