Presentations are changing.  We know more now about how to give good presentations and engage our audiences. Presentations should no longer just be about "presenting" - to truly engage your audience you must become a "storyteller".  The way you design your presentation can help you make this transition. Come and learn how to use PowerPoint in ways you may never have even thought of.  

What do presentations look like today?

TEDTalks - Great presentations on a variety of topics.  The example one below (Rivers: A 3-minute story of mixed emoticons) is very engaging for middle and high school students and is a good example of using a plethera of slides to get across your point.  

Another powerful example is The Girl Effect.  This presentation shows the power of just text.

I then show some of my favorite examples on SlideShare (many of which I've downloaded before hand). 

I end with showing the downloaded Becoming Presentation Zen which has a great demonstration of before and after slides. (don't know why but it won't embed - please click the links)

Where do you find the images?

At this point I show the below websites and show students and teachers how to acquire images from the Internet and how to properly source them.

General Images

• Flickr CC - Great site with an easy to use navigation. http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/

Primary Source Images 

• LIFE Photo Archive hosted by Google Images - "Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google." http://images.google.com/hosted/life
• The Commons collection on Flickr - The key goals of The Commons on Flickr are to firstly show you hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives, and secondly to show how your input and knowledge can help make these collections even richer. http://www.flickr.com/commons
• Library of Congress collection on Flickr - "We've been acquiring photos since the mid-1800s when photography was the hot new technology. Because images represent life and the world so vividly, people have long enjoyed exploring our visual collections. Looking at pictures opens new windows to understanding both the past and the present. Favorite photos are often incorporated in books, TV shows, homework assignments, scholarly articles, family histories, and much more.  The Prints & Photographs Division takes care of 14 million of the Library's pictures and features more than 1 million through online catalogs. Offering historical photo collections through Flickr is a welcome opportunity to share some of our most popular images more widely." http://www.flickr.com/photos

Extensions

Follow Up in Class

I always try to get back with the class/teachers after they have started creating their presentations.  I've found it is very useful to do a full class group edit on the presentations - tweaking them and making them better so that everyone can learn from the mistakes.  

Expand your Knowledge

• Watch a great presentation on How to Create a Great PowerPoint - Take 2.0 by Alvin Trusty http://vimeo.com/3137992
• Explore presentations on Slideshare slideshare.net/
• Watch some of the TED Talk presentations http://www.ted.com/

• Presentation Zen - Excellent blog with great tips for presentations.  This is

  the one shown in class

  http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2008/01/5-presentation.html

7 Steps to a Great PowerPoint Presentation

1. Do NOT use templates ever. period.
2. Show me, don’t tell me.
3. Use real images not clip art.
4. 1 and only 1 idea per slide - remember slides are free, use as many as you need.
5. Use contrast to make sure your slide is easy to read (white text on black/dark background or black text on white/light backgrounds are best)
6. Use your notes section to remind yourself of what needs to be said, then use this to make yourself notecards.
7. Use sound and animation minimally (if at all) it MUST enhance the point you are trying to make.