Presentation Design for Instructors

Whether you use PowerPoint, Keynote, or some other application, showing slides in class has become a standard method for lecturing in higher education. But are your presentations effective?

There are ways to make presentations more engaging for students and more effective at getting them to retain information:

• Avoid displaying lecture notes
• Don't use bulleted lists
• Use images you can talk about
• Require students to process ideas
• Stop lecturing

See the following resources for information on creating and designing effective presentations:

• Creating Presentations (PDF, 125 kb)
• Image Guidelines for Presentations (PDF, 153 kb)
• 7 Things You Should Know About Next-Generation Presentation Tools (PDF, 372 kb)

• Creating Animations in PowerPoint to Support Student Learning and Engagement: http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/CreatingAnimationsinPowerPoint/192966

• PowerPoint Basics

• Embed a YouTube Video in Powerpoint, Windows (PDF, 228 kb)