Presentation Skills - Designer

Audience- Centric Design

As an educator, you are likely familiar with designing for an audience, although the audience in your classroom has probably been students.  There are some things, like making learning meaningful and designing for a variety of levels of readiness that doesn’t change whether you are designing for students or adults.  However, there are other things, like honoring experience and navigating unlearning that may have to happen with an adult audience in a much different way than with a student audience. 

Below are some new learning resources and opportunities to practice this essential presentational skill.

Resources for New Learning Questions for Reflection Potential Tasks for Skill Development


80/20 rule video by Jill Jackson

Introverts vs. Extroverts: Tips for Designing and Facilitating by Global Learning Partners

Designing Learning that Matters Edutopia article by Joshua Block

Infographic 2018: Instructional Design and Learning Trends by Danny Brennes

Teaching- Centered vs. Learning- Centered Infographic by Global Learning Partners

Adult Learning Theories Every Instructional Designer Must Know by Karla Guitierrez


What is the most impactful 20% of your practice as a presenter?  How do you know?  

Though the Infographic 2018: Instructional Design and Learning Trends largely describes current trends in HR, how does it translate to professional learning design for you as a presenter?

What are some of the major shifts we need to make when planning for adults vs. planning for students?

How might seeing yourself as a designer impact the presentations you plan and facilitate?
 


Use a simple survey to determine the most impactful parts of your presentation.   Reflect on what to keep and what to let go of  because it is not impactful for participants.

Video your next presentation.  Use a tuning protocol to self-reflect on what you noticed and will celebrate and what might be improved upon going forward.  

Take a look at your plan for your next presentation.  Engage in a Tuning Protocol and revise your presentation plan based upon new learning from this section.  

 

Engaging the Audience

Depending upon which resource you consult, we have somewhere between 7 and 15 seconds to make a first impression.  While that isn’t a long time, it is long enough to apply some of the strategies and tips provided within the resources for new learning below.  Essentially, it is how we use those seconds vs. how long they last that needs to be our focus. Being intentional about how we use our time and personalizing the content for our audience are keys to engagement.  

Below are some new learning resources and opportunities to practice this essential presentational skill.

Resources for New Learning Questions for Reflection Potential Tasks for Skill Development


How to Engage an Audience in a Presentation, Communication Coach, Alex Lyon

26 Ways to Engage Your Target Audience by Jesse Lahey

How to Engage an Audience Before, During, and After a Presentation by Ian Altman

The Importance of Modeling, blog post by Elena Aguilar via EdWeek

Beyond PowerPoint: Presentation Tools by Matt D’Angelo

10 Presentation Tools to Win Over Your Audience by Ashutosh KS
 


Which of these tips have you already tried?  

Which is one you might try?  

How will you know if it had an impact on your audience’s engagement?

What were some of your takeaways from the Inc. article by Ian Altman?  How does shifting from thinking about a presentation only as time in front of an audience to the before, during and after impact your approach as a presenter?

How might modeling serve as an engagement tool?

How might the tools you use enhance the engagement of your audience?
 


Take a look at the plan you created for your presentation.  Revise to include some of the strategies shared within the resources for new learning.

With permission, video your audience during your next presentation.  What might you learn from watching the body language of the audience?  When were they most engaged?  Least?  Most thoughtful?  Most productive?  How might you use what you learned to inform your next presentation?

Take a look at the plan for your next presentation.  What are the skills you are teaching about through your presentation?  Identify how you might be intentional about modeling those throughout your presentation

 

Impact

In The Rules of Evidence, Thomas Guskey encourages us to begin any professional learning endeavor with outcomes.  An extension of outcomes is impact.  What will be different in the lives of attendees and those they serve because they attended your presentation?  Again, as educators, we have experience planning with the end in mind.  How does that translate to adult audiences?  How might outcomes and your ability to collect evidence of those outcomes differ with an adult audience you may only see for a day or an hour?  

Below are some new learning resources and opportunities to practice this essential presentational skill.

Resources for New Learning

Questions for Reflection Potential Tasks for Skill Development


Gauge Impact with Five Levels of Data, Article by Thomas Guskey.

Donald Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation. Video for additional context

The Rules of Evidence. Article by Thomas Guskey

Does it Make a Difference? Evaluating Professional Development, Article by Thomas Guskey
 

Teacher Professional Development Evaluation Guide. Publication by Learning Forward

 

What will be different in the lives of attendees and those they serve because they attended your presentation?

How does what you are reading about impact and evaluation translate to the intentions of your presentation?

Why does maximizing your impact as a presenter matter?  How will you know when you are there?

What are concrete things you already do to determine the impact your presentation will have on intended outcomes?

 

Take a look at the Critical Levels of Professional Development Evaluation  in Guskey’s Does it Make a Difference? article.  Reflect on the levels you are currently measuring in your presentations.  How might you incorporate additional critical levels to maximize your impact as a presenter?

Check out page 15 of Learning Forward’s Teacher Professional Development Evaluation Guide.  Though it is written as a timeline, identify what types of activities you might borrow and embed within your presentation to increase its impact and longevity.  

 

Presentation Skills Toolkit Contact

Sue Schwartz
Executive Director