This document provides guidance on key elements to consider when preparing an effective presentation: material and content, organization, and appropriate use of technology. It stresses the importance of knowing your audience and tailoring your presentation based on factors like their age and environment. The document also emphasizes simplicity and only including necessary information to engage the audience and get your point across without overloading them. Proper organization is also highlighted as a critical component.

2. Where to begin…
0 There are certain steps one can take in order to
establish a powerful presentation.
0 Material & content
0 Organization
0 Appropriate use of technology

3. Material in a Presentation
0 Create an effective opening
0 “An effective opening provides the audience with a brief
outline of your main points” (Part I no. 7, pg. 5). The
opening of a presentation leaves the audience with a
general impression of what is to come.
0 Know your audience
0 Knowing your audience greatly affects the way you give a
presentation. The way you would give a presentation in a
business meeting is entirely different than if in a classroom
with 4-year-olds. (Part V, no. 5, pg. 31).

4. Content!
0 Garr Reynolds explains that while content is very
important, it is what you do with the content that
affects the audience.
0 You must build on this content “into a winning story
that you’ll use to connect with your audience.” He
stresses the importance of “simplicity”, showing that a
good presentation includes what is needed to
know, and to give enough to connect to the
audience, but not overload them with information.

5. Organization
0 Organizing a presentation can simply mean to explain
only what is necessary to get your point across. Garr
Reynolds’ explains his ten steps to an organized
presentation: Garr Reynolds' Website
0 It is important when presenting that you include only
the information that is needed to get across. If you
begin to stray, your presentation can lose its focus.

6. Appropriate Technology
0 There are certain types of technology that are best
suited for different age groups, and different
environments.
0 When teaching a classroom of young children, it may
be appropriate to display a presentation on the screen
that allows them to interact, such as a Smartboard.
Use of this board allows the student to write on the
screen, and the teacher can save the work the child
has done.
0 If a presentation is to be given to an older class, a
PowerPoint, such as this, could be understood easily.

7. It all depends…
0 On the audience. Each presentation will differ
depending on whatever situation you may be
in. The number one way to connect with an
audience for a powerful speech is to
understand who you are presenting to, and
what they need to know.

8. Work Cited
0 Jukes, Ian. Bringing Down the House: Creating
Sensational Knock-Your-Socks-Off Presentations. The
InfoSavvy Group, 2005. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.
0 Lever-Duffy, Judy, and Jean B. McDonald. Teaching and
Learning with Technology. 4th ed. Boston:
Pearson, 2011. 154. Print.