Academic Workshop: PowerPoint Presentation

Yesterday I attended a workshop offered by the library. The instructor taught the students about the new PowerPoint 2007. We learned everything from the different themes of a presentation to the animations that can be used during a presentation. Attending this workshop taught me about the new features that is offered in the new 2007 version rather than the 2003 version. The instructor's workshop was easy to follow and he took the time to help the students learn about the program.

What I found most interesting was that not only did we learn about the features of PowerPoint, but also different techniques when giving a PowerPoint presentation. He told us that white backgrounds or light colored backgrounds keep the audience focused and it is easy to read; rather than dark backgrounds such as black. Also, the students were taught that when making a presentation, one shouldn't add too much information; it would be overwhelming to the audience. The bullets on each slide are there for a student to add key points that will be covered in the presentation and the Notes section, which appears at the bottom of the screen is used for a speaker to remember what he or she is going to be talking about. Here, the speaker can put as much information needed for the presentation without having it appear in the presentation.

I think that this workshop is great for college students to attend because it will help students with better, more professional presentations. The instructor was very understanding and provided useful tips to having a great presentation. Overall, it was a very beneficial workshop.