Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Lecture 13: Powerful Presentations

Today Marie-Claude will give the lecture on how to make strong, professional presentations.
Image from here.

54 comments:

  1. Marie-Claude's presentation was very informative. I learned several new things. I never would have thought of powerpoint as art; I always use it in a strictly scientific way (very boring). In the future, I will add more creativity.

    Several tips and guidelines I learned include:
    When using a Mac, make sure it is compatible with a PC. Otherwise your bullets may change to something like "69".
    Also, make sure photos are clear and they stand out against the background. In addition, don't use too many photos on each slide; it takes away from the presentation.
    When starting your presentation, "hook" your audience. A hook needs to be appropriate. Can be photos, jokes, thanking your audience. You want to connect with an engage your audience.

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  2. Today Marie-Claude gave a presentation on preparing and presenting a power point. She include many great tips such as being prepared, make sure that your presentation is ready before hand which gives you time to practice as well as try it out on the computer you are going to be using. I learnt that you should try to limit the amount of text on your slides, get your information across using clear simple statements and photos to explain. Another point I found very useful was "the hook", for this you can use a picture, joke, question, etc. The hook is meant to grab the audience's attention and keep them interested in what you are going to be presenting on. Marie-Claude's presentation was very interesting and I'm sure the things I learnt today will be a great help in the future when I need to make a presentation of my own.

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  3. "Use the PowerPoint as a piece of art!"
    MC's presentation was really informative! I really enjoy hearing from her.
    There was so much information provided to the class about powerpoints, reminding us to use appropriate colours, fonts, text size and pictures. Some of this information I think people just forget about or don't think through before they create a PowerPoint that needs to be improved in order for classmates to be able to learn from it and enjoy it. It is great how she went through step by step of how to create a scientific PowerPoint! I learned a lot of useful information. Thanks MC!!

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  4. I really enjoyed the points and hints that Marie-Claude shared with us in her presentation today, I am finding these lectures very helpful in building my confidence for public speaking. I really enjoyed her example of a hook, it looked like her idea for one was going to be very affective in her presentation. The tips about things like fonts, colour scheming, and compatability with different types of computers. Her ideas about using the settings of powerpoint and the size and number of pictures were also very good points that I would have previously overlooked and therefore given a distracting presentation. Hopefully I am able to apply these ideas into my own presentation!

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  5. Marie Claude taught me so much! Lots of tips and information that will really help me in creating presentations. Powerpoint is something I have used before but I didn't think about using the different colours or texts to entice the audience. She also taught me how to keep things interesting by using a hook and asking the audience questions to keep them listening! Most importantly, CREATIVITY! Don't use the same old presentation everyone has seen before.

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  6. MC's presentation was really interesting, there were lots of suggestions on how to avoid unnecessary text in presentations and also tips on how to present findings in a manner that is easily understood.
    I find that a lot of times I am interested in the topic of a presentation to begin with but very quickly become disenchanted with the presenter and I now understand that this could be to do with the way the presentation is done!!

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  7. Marie-Claude's presentation was extremely well done. She is a fantasic presenter and really taught me how to create a good powerpoint and captivate my audience's attention. What really caught my attention was that through MC's presentation her powerpoint had only photos with very little text. By doing this, MC did not bore us be repeating her text but instead kept us on our toes because she didn't know what she was going to say. This emphasizes her point that very wordy powerpoints you simply repeat bore the audience and lose their attention. Her photos were all very high resoultion and of good quality, and each slide was colorful with large, easy-to-read text.

    MC is probably one of the best presenters that I have seen this year! You can tell she really practiced because she knew what she was talking about, was never redundant, and never had to look at notes. She really kept my attention and her slides were all interesting. I hope we see more of her!

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  8. Marie Claude gave us an in-depth presentation about delivering a successful PowerPoint today. It was very informative and taught me so much that I will definitely apply in future presentations I do!! The most valuable thing I learned was how to captivate an audience. This is done by creating a "hook" to grab attention, concise text (twitter=practice?), good quality images, and appealing colour schemes. MC's presentation was incredibly refreshing and I look forward to seeing more like it in the future!!

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  9. Marie-Claude’s presentation was very informative and helpful. She is an excellent presenter and I found it almost humbling to know that she was once very nervous to get up in front of a crowd! It shows that with practice we may all be just as good as her one day! I was wondering if her presentation will be posted on the blog as I would like to have it for future reference.

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  10. Marie gave us useful guidelines on how to make an effective powerpoint presentation. The difference between posters and powerpoints is that you have to limit your texts and use large fonts. You're allowed short sentences or phrases per point to get your message across. It's up to the presenters to elaborate on each slide. The important thing is to not lose your audience! To do that you must have a hook, you can include a video, picture, or joke etc. related to your topic to get your audience to want to listen to you. With pp's you have unlimited freedom to spice up your slides while making sure it's simple and bold. Unlike posters, it's simply easier to re-edit your slides, in case you want to improve your pp, and you can use animations to highlight certain concepts. Which is why, in my opinion, power point presentations are widely used in schools, business meetings and other gatherings. Creating a pp, is "an art", there are multiple ways to present your research!

    Naomi Porciuncula

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  11. definately very useful presentation.. I learned so much from Marie-claudes it made me realize all the mistakes that i have made during a presentation regarding the format and background colors. I personally thought that the hook was a very good idea and will definately use it in my future presentations. MC`s presentation had so many othere interesting points as well.

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  13. Great presentation!

    Marie-Claude's presentation was really helpful on how to make a scientific presentation.I could feel her passion on public speech and presentation. She taught us so many tips and details, like the title font size, the text font size, the preparation before the presentation,the background and how to make a clear, interesting,informative, simple presentation. Really learned a lot from today's lecture. Thank you so much for giving us such a great presentation.

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  14. Thoroughly enjoyed MC's presentation. You can tell that in order to be a good presenter, you have to be passionate about your topic and she clearly was. I learned lots of helpful hints in this presentation! I will definitely think about creating a 'hook' for my next presentation!

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  15. Today's presentation was really interesting! I wonder what kind of presentation is more appealing, Prezi or Powerpoint? I suppose that it all depends on the audience.

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  16. Marie-Claude's presentation was enjoyable and very interesting. The presenters of this week are really making it easy to calm nerves, make an effective presentation, and the tips are immensely helpful! It is helpful hearing that even these professional presenters were nervous before their first speeches as well, but through practice they were able to overcome and get there topics out clearly and efficiently.

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  17. MC's presentation was very helpful and provided good insight to making a presentation. She gave many tips about how to be successful and what to include and not to include. I will definitely keep in mind what she says the next time i have to present something ! Thanks Marie-Claude!

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  18. MCs' presentation today was very informative. She gives the class tips on how to make an effective powerpoint through background colours, text, text size, use of space & not to bore the audience. I like how she incorporated a little bit of her humour into her presentation; as well as sharing stories of her first-hand experience with how she dealt with long, anxious moments of presenting in front of her peers. A real useful key message i got from her lecture was, "Power-points are an art" ; use to to complement your presentation, and not be the focus of your teachings.

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  19. Awesome presentation by MC today! She told us a lot of great tips on how to create power points with good font and color choices etc. Also very interesting how you can incorporate more informal techniques like jokes and stories into your power point presentation to make your presentation better and more interesting!

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  20. Loved Mcs presentation! you use ppt basically in every class you need to present in. Learning this advise early would help those who are the early yrs of their university career (I'm in 5th yr). But everything MC said was great esp "ppt is an art!" basically anytime your presenting you have to be concise! Great presentation MC

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  21. MC's presentation was definitely useful and interesting! With so many presentations that are bound to occur in university and in my future, I will definitely keep these tips in mind. I love her hook though! It was definitely cute, and she was right, it made me wonder when a picture of her dog would pop up next.

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  22. Marie-Claude's presentation was excellent. She was very informative on how to give an outstanding presentation. Her passion for what she is presenting really shines through.

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  23. MC's lecture today is fabulous and lets me know more about using PowerPoint to make presentation. I used to do presentation by using PowerPoint a lot in high school, but I never know there are so many things I can do to make my PowerPoint more effective and professional and let my presentation be more interesting and attractive.

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  24. MC did a great job today presenting. Even though she was nervous she did'nt show it (and we all know what the signs are!).
    It was helpful to see the powerpoint presentation with good explanation about what to do and not do. I have never had to make a powerpoint before so I think MC's class will help me a lot.
    One question I forgot to ask her, is how will we know if our mac's are compatible before we get to class to present?

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  25. With PowerPoints presentations becoming the most common way of receiving information in lectures here at the UofA it is vital to learn how to make an effective PowerPoint. It is most likely that at some point we will all need to create a PowerPoint to present information. Marie-Claude went over some tips that will help us to give a successful presentation using PowerPoint and things we should avoid. One thing that stood out to me was that the slides should only accompany the complete information you wish to relay to your audience. I have watched many presentations that the presenter simply reads off the slides and they quickly lose my attention.
    The next time I create a PowerPoint slideshow I will be sure to keep that in mind. Having the slides only as a visual supporting the information I am speaking to the audience.

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  26. I found Marie-Claude's presentation about PowerPoint presentations super informative. She gave us a lot of really great guidelines to help us make our next presentation exciting for our audience. Capturing our audiences attention must happen at the beginning of our presentation but we have to maintain their attention throughout the presentation. Marie-Claude said that a good way of doing this is by asking them a question in the middle of the presentation to keep them on their toes. I really liked her story about the hook she used when she presented her research, using the pictures of her dog and incorporating her personal story made her seem really personable and enjoyable to listen to. My future PowerPoint presentations will definitely be improved thanks to the information provided by Marie-Claude today. Thanks Marie-Claude!

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  27. Lots of small details that can make or break a presentation. MC mentions a lot of these and lets us know to keep them in mind. I've never looked at Powerpoint as art, rather just assignments that my professors and teachers have made me do. But now thinking about it, these presentations are very similar to art; they're ideas, thoughts, and information on a canvas (slide). Lots of elements go into each slide such as making sure your picture does not overpower your content or having the opposite with the text overwhelming a small picture. Also, choose images that are enticing but at the same time not distracting. Good stuff in this presentation today!

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  28. MCs presentation was quite informative, and really interesting. One point that stuck with me was to have fun when giving your presentation, because it is much better than being miserable! And she is 100% correct with this. If you procrastinate putting together your powerpoint and do not practise it, you will definitely not have a good time. You will probably only feel embarrassed and uncomfortable; and maybe even 'kill' your audience with an incredibly boring presentation! Next time I have to give a presentation, that is exactly what I will do. If I am having a good time, this will rub off on the audience, leaving them with a positive impression of my presentation and most importantly, me.

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  29. MC's presentation on presentations was great, there were many things I bypassed when doing presentations that i know now i shouldn't. I loved the Hook idea she gave about the dog pictures, i found that in particular very original and interesting and definitely eye catching.

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  30. Marie-Claude's presentation was very helpful. I like being able to hear from others who have done presentation and what helps them do the best job they can do so that I can apply it to myself to see what works. I learned that it is important not to leave your presentation till the last minute and to practice practice practice. Also, don't read directly off your slides. Too much text and too many images are a bad idea. You want your audience to have to read little off your presentation but still be able to understand what you are talking about from specific images. You want your audience paying attention to you and what you are saying. Know your stuff and be informative. It is important to make your presentation easy to read and don't have distracting images. I personally like the idea of a hook. I thought it was neat how Marie-Claude tied her dog into her presentation. You also need a good story and not to be all over the place.

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  31. MC's presentation taught me a lot about how to make a power point presentation fun and captivating. Its really helpful getting tips such as hers so I don't end up boring people while presenting. I never considered pictures to be something that could make or break a presentation. Next time I have to create a power point I'll be sure to take my time creating it, and be sure to use a good balance of text and picture so they don't over power the audience or distract away from me and my speech! I love how personable Marie-Claude made her presentation by using her dog! It was a great way to make it memorable and interesting!

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  32. I have a better appreciation for the incorporation of photos in powerpoint presentations. MC was able to demonstrate how images or photos can be more descriptive and informative than text in slides, not to mention easier to understand and remember.

    MC also gave a few tips on how to make a powerpoint presentation fun and interesting. For example, use of a "hook" at the beginning of the presentation captures the audience's interest. Use of a good storyline throughout the presentation also enhances comprehension and attention.

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  33. MC's presentation was really informative and I'm looking forward to making my own presentations. Using her guidelines I'm sure I will be able to create an informative and impressive power point.

    Important tips were to keep it simple,use space wisely, use pointform, dont have to much writting or distracting images and be sure to have a contrasting background to make sure its not distracting and your writting and pictures can be seen clearly

    Thanks MC

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  34. This lecture was certainly informative! I never really thought of a powerpoint as artwork before, but now that Marie-Claude pointed it out, its true! I like how she showed how to make a professional-looking powerpoint that was also fun and nice to look at. It doesn't have to be boring. I also learned that its best to use the powerpoint as a guide, and not read about it. It is supposed to have the bear minimum amount of information, which allows for you to be the one explaining your topic, not just the powerpoint. Also, learned not to use some color combinations that I have used in the past. Thanks MC!!

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  35. MC's presentation on creating a efficient power point was very helpful! she went over a lot of the details and helped me understand what needs to be done. She also did a great job with examples, and pointers - especially like not reading off your slides (definitely guilty of that one!) We also learned how to use different colours, and how effective they can be. Thanks MC!

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  36. I learned a lot from MC's presentation. It shows us how to construct a good piece of presentation while maintaining the interest of the audience. Knowing how to corporate images, keep the balance between pictures and text, be simple and specific, among other things, will definitely make a captivating presentation.

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  37. Awesome Presentation MC!
    I learn a lot of information that is going to help me in ALES 204, and in the future. The basic tools and techniques I learn in Ales allow me to judge other presentations and presenters that I come across, and I am now equipped with tools to critically judge their presentation style, which enhances my learning. After MC's lecture, I am more aware of the common mistake some proofs and most people make when they use powerpoint. For instance, while they talk to audience, they read from their slides, or randomly move their laser across screen, which is indeed disrupting! Also, I really like the idea of having a "hook" to keep audience focus-some proofs’ really need to use that to keep students awake in class. It is a new idea for me, but I will embrace it forever. Thank you so much for giving us wealth of knowledge that not only helps us gets good mark in ALES but also bring success in future-every time we present or make presentation posters. As MC mentioned in class, Power point Presentation is a "piece of art", and because of its flexibility, there is always room for improvement! That is what I really like about it.

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  38. MC gave a focused and interactive presentation to us on Wednesday about how to present effectively, providing us with a prime example. By providing us with slides of what to do and what NOT to do and incorporating examples in to her own presentation, we were able to see the difference and how to engage our audience. I found the concept of the "hook" to be one of the most helpful hints. Plus her dog is so cute!

    Also, see my update regarding my CSL placement at:

    http://nutrjunkie.blogspot.com/

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  39. PowerPoint is already getting to be an older style of media, so it is very important to be innovative and creative with your presentations so as to keep your audience engaged. MC did a great job of explaining this in clear detail to myself and the rest of the class, using specific examples within her own presentation to demonstrate her points. My biggest peeve with PowerPoint presentations is unorganized graphics/text and slides that are too detailed and don't allow room for elaboration by the presenter and she discussed both of those things in class. Adding a "hook" to your presentation is definitely a cool idea, too. Thanks for coming in, MC!

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  40. Marie-Claude's presentation was great. She had many good tips on how to create a powerful presentation. The "hook" is key to captivating your audience. I really enjoyed the examples she used on how to execute the methods she was teaching. Smart thinking by incorporating your pet into the presentation. I know it got me hooked.

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  41. MC gives me an idea of how to do a professional power point. She includes examples of the donts in the power point, such as avoiding too much words or pictures. Since too much words will bored the audiences and too much pictures will distract audience from listening the speaker. She discussed clearly how to engage our audiences and present only the main point to them, instead of providing a lot of broad information. She reminds us to practise a lot before presenting, because practise makes perfect. I appreciate her presentation, because now I know how to make a good power point. Thankyou!

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  42. Marie-Claude has given us a very informative lecture regarding how to avoid bringing about a boring presentation. The point that impressed me the most is not to simply repeat what you have put up on your slides. Secondly, I have learned from her that we are supposed to keep the information that we selected as simple as possible cause our presentation is by no means aimed at confusing the audience, instead, we should make them feel more engaged. Lastly, we need to bear in mind all the time the word "confident" cause what we are doing is to entertain others, in that sense, there's definitely no need to be shy.

    Duo Zhi

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  43. There is no doubt sometimes our professors make some boring powerpoint which with so many info on it.How can we evade giving ppt like those?As Marie-Claude said,dont only repeat what you have mentioned on your work.You have to expand those information on your work.I think I didn`t do well in this field in the lab today.I should say more things are not on my slides.

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  44. Marie-Claude gave a great presentation. I always struggle with trying to write too much text on my powerpoint slides. She taught me a method of presenting information in a more engaging way, using pictures, diagrams, and graphs.
    I didn't realize how from the audience's perspective, reading a lot of text can be distracting to them, when they are trying to focus on what you have to say for your topic.
    I also liked the idea of putting a hook in, eg. the picture of her dog, which would wake people up who are bored by typical presentations.

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  45. MC gave a very useful presentation today and I think it will help me a lot in future preparation for my own presentation!At first, I thought we just need to have a powerpoint perfectly done and that's it, people are just focusing on what wrote. But in fact, powerpoint is just a document to support our speech. And to show confident in presentation, we should practice the night before the actual presentation. Thus we could predict how long does the speech take and what we need to talk about to catch audiences' sight. Moreover, she has told us to choose diagrams that are related to the text. Colors for text and background are also important. In conclusion, I think she has a passion in presentation and I hope I could be as successful as her!

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  46. Marie Claude did an amazing job with her presentation today. Having too much info on powerpoint slides does seem like it could be very bad indeed. The colors are important too, helping to draw people in and all. Pictures are great too. A picture is worth a thousand words, and takes up a lot less space than a thousand words too. Unrelated pictures do help keep those dozing off paying attention, because you never know when there is going to be a new dog picture up there! For real success though, practice, practice, practice and when you're done practice some more.

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  47. err, wednesday. Brain fart.

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  48. Marie Claude's presentation was really informative. Most of us will have to present at least once during our university life. I will follow the guidelines that she gave us when doing any presentation. However, that won't be enough, being ready, practice, and having fun are some of the main keys to a successful presentation.

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  49. The tips provided by MC regarding Power Point Presentation (PPP) were excellent. The use of a "hook" is important to start the connection with the audience and to grab their attention. I also agree that using less words on PPP's is better. It is much more interesting for someone in the audience to have their interest peaked by a few words or headings on the slide, and then to be satisfied by listening to the speaker provide the juicy details. Aside: I think educators who present are in a bit of balancing act in this regard. The balance is keeping the students engaged with a good PPP AND giving students what they want --i.e. long verbatim PPP that double as excellent study notes.

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  50. I thought that Marie Claude's presentation was very knowledgeable and interesting. The tips she gave us are very helpful. Some of the tips were to limit the amount of text on the slides. Keep everything clear and simple to get the point across. Another point I found very useful was "the hook" which can a picture, joke, or question can be used. The hook is meant to grab the audience's attention and keep them focused on the presentation. I hope to use many of the tips she gave us in my next presentation.

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  51. Maira Quintanilha’s presentation on how to make a good poster was very useful. I was able to incorporate the tools that she tough me into the week’s lab assignment. Tips included font size, word count, color schemes, content, software to create the poster on, ect. I also liked her comment on not wearing clothing/colors that it going to be taking away from your poster. Not many people would think about that but it actually has a huge impact on how people react to you and your poster.
    Marie-Claude’s presentation regarding how to give a proper Power Point presentation was very instructive. I had never thought about the compatibility issue between different computers until MC had brought it up during her presentation. I realized how big of an impact this can have when I sent my poster presentation from the PC that we were using in the lab to my MAC at home. The font that I was using did not exist on my MAC so when the font changed to one that worked on my MAC the poster was wrecked since everything had moved.
    Posters and Power Point presentations care very useful tools that can be used in many different ways. Thank you for the great tips!

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  52. I have never really thought about: what makes a good power-point presentation however, Marie-Claude's presentation highlighted the importance of proper preparation. First, it was recommended that one make sure that a power point is compatible between PC and MAC computers. Secondly, one should rehearse before presenting. Other important things I learned were that one should not read off their slides and that images hold more interest and create a larger impact on the audience then text. Also, the presentation should be well structured and not have random clip art or texts flying from all directions. The most important point I think Marie Claude mentioned was having a hook, which keeps the audience's attention for the majority of the presentation!

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  53. Marie-Claude's presentation on powerful power points was really insightful on how to effectively give a power point. Having her explain and give examples as to how and how not to give a power point presentation made me more confident in doing my next power point. Being clear and simple but also having stories and jokes are tools that will keep your audience captivated. I think that having a personal story attached to something you are talking about is important to correlate with your power point presentation. Maurie Claude did her presentation so well as the best example to give an awesome presentation!

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  54. Marie-Claude's presentation was very helpful and fun to listen to. She gave useful tips of what to do and what not to do in a ppt presentation. You should try to keep it basic and clear. Don't have random and too many images. Don't put too much text. You really have to consider your audience when you make your ppt slides. Your audience may not understand every detail of your presentation so try to make it more general to fit their understanding. Although animations are fun and eye-catching, it may be distracting and irrelevant to your presentation so AVOID. I also liked her use of a hook in the beginning of her presentation. It certainly caught our attention!

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