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CSU Global Writing Center: APA7 Visual Presentations

Visual Presentations

In this section, you'll find resources on creating visual presentations.

Creating a Visual Presentation

Visual presentation tools, like PowerPoint and Prezi, are meant to summarize your key points. When designing a presentation, focus on presenting information in a concise, organized, and visually appealing way.

Consider the following tips and strategies for designing effective presentations:

  • The text on your slides should supplement your talking points/speaker notes. Avoid using bullet points on your slides to spell out everything that you want to say. Instead, use the bullet points as an agenda for what you want to elaborate on and discuss further.
  • A helpful rule of thumb when designing slides is 6 words per bullet and 6 bullets per slide. However, please consult your instructor for their specific requirements.
  • Consider how formatting, font type and size, color, and other design elements impact the accessibility of your information. Choose fonts and colors that convey a professional tone and use formatting (bolding, italics, etc.) sparingly.
  • Make sure that you proofread your slides and use parallel structure. For example, if each bullet point begins with a verb, those verbs should be parallel: Read, Draft, and Edit, not Read, Drafting, and Edit.

Recording Your Visual Presentation

Some assignments require a recorded presentation. You can utilize the following tools and tutorials to help you create and share your video presentation.

Screencastify

Designed for Chromebooks, this screencasting tool runs as a chrome plugin. The free plan allows videos up to 10 minutes in length.
Simply create your presentation, and Record it with Screencastify.

Screencast-O-Matic

A tool with a free plan that allows users to capture their screens. You can even use a webcam to record your physical presence on a video.
Recording A Presentation with Screencast-O-Matic

Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark is a free online and mobile graphic design app. It allows users to easily create professional looking images, videos, and web pages.
Learn how to create and record your presentation inside of Adobe Spark

Powtoon

This animation tool allows the user to tell a visual story, and utilize templates to produce an animated recording in a short amount of time.

Best Practices for Presenting

Depending on your presentation style, there are a variety of strategies that can help you give a professional and engaging presentation. If your assignment requires you to record your presentation, consider the following tips and strategies for presenting:

Consider the following tips and strategies for designing effective presentations:

  • Before recording your presentation, draft speaker notes to guide your talk. Some presenters rely on the bullet points from their slides and improvise the rest. Other presenters might write out everything they want to say, word for word, and memorize it. Try out a few strategies and see what works best for you.
  • When presenting, speak clearly and at a measured pace. Avoid reading directly from your slides or your speaker notes, which will make your presentation less engaging. Instead, strike a balance between prepared and natural. Your goal as a presenter is to provide information to your audience while speaking confidently and from experience.
  • Before doing a final recording of your presentation, do a few test runs. This can help you improve your delivery, and you’ll become more comfortable with being recorded and hearing your own voice.

Sample PowerPoint Presentation

This sample presentation meets all visual and citing requirements for a PowerPoint assignment.

Consult with your instructor on whether you should use the notes function in PowerPoint or provide a separate word document with your narrative/speaker notes.

For more information about using speaker notes in PowerPoint presentations, please refer to this document.

Sample Prezi Presentation

This Prezi presentation does not contain notes. See the example speaker notes below.

Speaker Notes for Prezis

When writing speaker notes for a Prezi, you’ll need to submit a separate document along with the download of or link to your Prezi. There are no specific formatting requirements for speaker notes. Be sure to follow the instructions for your assignment regarding the minimum word count for speaker notes for each slide of your presentation.

In your speaker notes, identify which slide or frame your notes are for. Be sure to include in-text citations as necessary:

Frame 1: In contrast, minority nations and indigenous peoples push back against anti-environmentalist nationalism. Indigenous groups reiterate their sovereignty and ownership of the land when protesting the extraction of fossil fuels or natural gas, like with the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued to end construction of the pipeline, arguing that an oil spill would pose a substantial threat to their water (Friedman, 2020). In these cases, indigenous peoples oppose governments that have long denied or minimized indigenous rights and sovereignty--the same governments that wield nationalist rhetoric in an effort to promote harmful environmental policies. In an effort to prevent further environmental degradation, indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups work collectively to promote public policy and mitigate climate change, which disproportionately impacts minorities and the global south.