presentations of learning

• Covid-19 SYL Resources
• Student Led Conference
• Presentation of Learning
• SYL Stories

What is a Presentation of Learning and Why Do We Do It?

Alec patton.

A Presentation of Learning (POL) requires students to present their learning to an audience, in order to prove that they are ready to progress. Effective POLs include both academic content and the student’s reflection on their social and personal growth.  They are important rituals – literally “rites of passage” for students.

At my school, every student gives two POLs per year – one at the end of fall semester, and one at the end of the year. They happen at the same time that most schools have their final exams, and serve a similar function. However, unlike exams, POLs happen in front of an audience that includes their teachers, parents, and peers. By requiring students to present to an audience, reflect on their learning, and answer probing questions on the spot, we are helping students build skills that they will use for the rest of their life. Taking an exam, on the other hand, is a skill that students will rarely, if ever, need to utilize after they finish college.

Every team’s POL expectations are slightly different, but they all fall into one of two broad categories: “presentation” or “discussion”.

Presentation

The presentation is the “classic” version of the POL. A student gives a prepared presentation on their own, and takes questions. Designing a POL structure is a balancing act for the teacher: require students to cover too much material, and every one of your students will march in and recite a near-identical list of assignments completed and skills learned. On the other hand, make the requirements too open-ended and the POL can become an empty facsimile of reflection – or, as students have described it to me, “BS-ing”!

I once saw a POL assignment that included the phrase “it has to have some magic”, which students were free to interpret as they saw fit. It led to unpredictable and delightful presentations, and inspired more thought and extra work than any rubric could have.

The “Discussion of Learning” trades the presentation structure for a seminar structure: a small group of students facilitates their own hour-long discussion, with the teachers initially just listening, then adding questions to enrich and drive the discussion. The parents are invited in for the final fifteen minutes, when the students summarize the discussion thus far and invite the parents to participate.

In my experience, this format tends to lead to meatier, more honest reflection than presentations. Especially when students are allowed to choose their own groups, they tend to make themselves more vulnerable than in other contexts. This format also opens up a space for students whose voices aren’t always heard in the classroom. The most memorable POL I’ve ever been a part of was a discussion by a group of girls, all  them native Spanish speakers, who talked about having been made uncomfortably aware of their accents by peers, and struggling to make their voices heard within our team. It was powerful, effective, thoughtful – everything I would have wanted from a POL, but it never would have happened if the structure had been different.

Which format should I choose, and when?

Students will be best-served by experiencing both the “presentation” and “discussion” format at some point in their academic careers.

I like to end fall semester with a presentation, because individual presentations give me the clearest sense of which skills a student has successfully developed, and what they will need more help with in the coming semester. I then end the year with a discussion, because at this point I know the students very well, and in a small-group setting we can speak frankly both about their successes, and the potential problems they will face in the coming year. I end this discussion with every student setting goals for the summer and coming year that I record and email to the student and their parents, so that they leave my class with the best possible trajectory into the future.

Related Projects

The Missing Person in Traditional Parent-Teacher Conferences by Krista Gypton

“Fish Tank” at Lake Travis High School

Trigg County Shares Their Learning, What About Your County? By Michelle Sadrena Pledger

Montgomery Middle Banner Design Exhibition

Students as Teachers: A Senior Reflects on her Final Exhibitions Evening at Meridian Academy

Project-based Learning and Presentations

Transform student presentations with feedback and reflection.

To make learning during the process visible and to facilitate assessment, project-based learning culminates in a final presentation of learning. Notice I didn‘t just say presentation, but presentation of learning. There is a difference. A big difference.

During the process of PBL, students receive continuous feedback from team mates, their instructor, coaches, mentors, and others involved in the project. Presenting the final product, idea, and any other relevant artifacts created during the process is a great way to celebrate success as well as get feedback. However, for purposes of growth and learning, presentations need to be more than an introduction to the product or learning artifact.

While there are times the presentation will include sharing information, a presentation of learning isn‘t a one-way lecture. In effective presentations of learning, everyone participates: the student presenting their learning, the audience, the facilitator.

Before presentations of learning begin, share questions that the presenters and audience members should be prepared to answer. Work to establish norms for sharing feedback.

Remind everyone that effective critiques are:

• free of value judgments.
• specific, personal, and directed at one‘s work.
• founded on trust from someone respected.
• immediate enough to be useful.

Ideas for the Presenter(s)

Begin transforming presentations into presentations of learning by making this distinction to your students. Let them know that you expect their final presentation to be a presentation of their learning through the project-building process, not just a demonstration of the product they create.

Presentations of learning should include what students learned about:

• the subject matter content.
• planning, organizing, and implementing a project.
• how they learn.
• how their group functioned.
• how they work in a group.

To promote reflection, you might ask them to also share:

• what they would do differently if they had the opportunity to do this project again.
• what they will do differently when working on the next project.
• what they would change in their product/idea/design if they had more time (one day, one week, one year).

Ideas for the Audience

The audience should be expected to give feedback on the project content and delivery. The audience should also share observations, reflections, and ideas brought up as students share their learning.

Ask the audience what they learned about:

• effective presentation strategies.
• using technology purposefully.

Ask the audience to share opinions about the product/idea/design:

• What did you think about while viewing the presentation?
• How did the product/idea/design engage you?
• Why did the product/idea/design engage you?
• How could it be revised or extended?

Instructors/Facilitators

The instructor should share insights on the product, student presentations and reflections, and audience thoughts. They should also highlight issues and events that occurred for the presenter(s) during the process. Ask clarifying and open-ended questions that further group discussion.

Listen to critiques and feedback from the students and audience for insight into what the students have gained from participating in the project. This will enable instructors to reflect upon key elements to maintain in future projects and that can improve the process next time.

As students present their learning, write common themes, issues, and ideas in a place everyone can refer to when forming their own reflections and feedback.

Beyond Oral Presentations

Don't settle for making every presentation of learning an oral presentation or multimedia slide show. Students can also share projects through small group discussion, peer-to-peer meetings, or even in a mini-trade show or conference.

You may even want to separate the product presentation from the presentation of learning, since they may have competing goals. For example, if outside experts are judging a product prototype or design, the focus needs to remain on the product. The presentation of learning should take place at a different time.

Integrate Reflection

You can also promote reflection and presentation of learning by asking students to complete a written self-assessment before presenting. You might ask them to reflect on:

• new content knowledge gained while working on this project.
• their work done and contributions they made to the team‘s or project‘s success.
• obstacles and impediments to success during the project.
• their biggest takeaway from the project.

It doesn‘t take major changes to transform a presentation into a presentation of learning. Simply asking for feedback and reflection about the product AND the process will help you get there.

by Melinda Kolk

Melinda Kolk ( @melindak ) is the Editor of Creative Educator and the author of Teaching with Clay Animation . She has been helping educators implement project-based learning and creative technologies like clay animation into classroom teaching and learning for the past 15 years.

Project-based Learning Professional Development

Creative Educator can help you bring project-based learning to your school.

• What is PBL and why do it?
• Make It Matter! Move it from projects to project-based learning
• Developing the questions for project-based learning
• Write a Great Authentic Task
• It's the Process, Not the Product
• Assessing Project Work
• Formative assessment during project-based learning
• Collaboration
• PBL and Presentations of Learning

Bring project-based learning to your school

Make presentations of learning work for ELLs and primary students

Make learning fun with comics and cartoons

How to write a great authentic task

Make It Matter! Move from projects to project-based learning

More sites to help you find success in your classroom

Share your ideas, imagination, and understanding through writing, art, voice, and video.

Rubric Maker

Create custom rubrics for your classroom.

Pics4Learning

A curated, copyright-friendly image library that is safe and free for education.

Write, record, and illustrate a sentence.

Interactive digital worksheets for grades K-8 to use in Brightspace or Canvas.

Professional Learning

Digital Storytelling

21st Century Classrooms

Project-based Learning

Teaching and Learning

Informational Text

English Language Aquisition

Language Arts

Social Studies

Visual Arts

© 2024 Tech4Learning, Inc | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy

© 2024 Tech4Learning, Inc | All Rights Reserved | https://www.thecreativeeducator.com

• Our Mission

Preparing Students for PBL Presentations

Project-based learning often culminates in a presentation for an audience beyond the classroom, and students need a lot of practice to be successful.

When we think of project-based learning (PBL), one of the seminal images is that of groups of students (or individuals) presenting—to the class, to adults, to large rooms full of experts. 

It seems almost universally expected that students will present their work if they’re engaged in any experiential learning process, just as it’s assumed that students will communicate, collaborate, problem-solve, etc. And it’s tempting to go big right from the start with a complex project covering a lot of content, working in teams, culminating in a product to be presented to their classmates, the school, their parents, or the community. Go big or go home, right?

Well, before you jump into the deep end of the PBL pool, let’s consider how you’re going to make sure your students won’t sink like rocks. Sophisticated, complex projects may be exciting, but getting your students ready to do that complicated work is a whole other set of work—the really important work—that will ensure their success in the long term.

We often assume that students already have skills and dispositions (I won’t call them soft skills because they’re actually really hard) like these, which are necessary to do PBL successfully:

• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking
• Decision-making
• Creative thinking
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Organization
• Self-direction

But when we think about the reality of most kids’ lives (especially over the last few years), it’s hard to think of any opportunities they’ve had to practice these skills to any degree, let alone to the level of proficiency required for the PBL unit you may be envisioning. Your vision is at the top of the ladder, and they’re still on the ground. So let’s talk about how we get them climbing.

A Low-Stakes Start

For many students, communication is a good place to start. You may want to begin with a conversation about what effective communication looks like and sounds like (T-charts are great for creating quick references that everyone can see) and practice. Make public speaking less public and more frequent.

Practice in low-stakes, quick ways to begin with: “Take a quick look at our T-chart for communication—this is what we’re practicing. Now turn to your partner (preassigned, of course, so no one is left out), and tell them one incredibly boring fact about yourself. My example is ‘I really like mayonnaise, but Miracle Whip is nasty.’ You have 30 seconds each, and I’ll tell you when to switch. The younger of the two of you goes first, so start off with your birthdays. Go!”

After that minute has passed, take a couple more to talk about what you saw and heard related to the T-chart. What were some good examples you observed? How might our T-chart need adjusting?

A Constant Focus on Communication

As you move into the lesson for the day, keep that T-chart front and center. That skill—communication—needs to keep its arm around everything else you’re doing. At the end of class, ask students to take a minute to write about their communication that day. What did they do well? What’s a goal for tomorrow? Then, at the start of class tomorrow, give those reflections back, and ask students to take a look at that goal.

As you move into more formal presentations, repeat the process—what does an effective speaker look and sound like during a presentation? Before asking students to present anything—to their classmates, to you, to any group larger than their classmates or you—ask yourself, “Has anyone ever taught them how to speak in public?” Learning how to speak in public is a skill—you have to teach it before you can expect students to do it for any purpose (sort of like learning how to read before you read to learn). 

Name the elephant in the room: Public speaking is scary for a lot of people, and it gets a bad rap, which makes it even scarier. Be clear that you’re not going to ask more of them than they can do and that it’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure that everyone is successful (this is a good time to revisit your class norms or agreements).  

Start small. They’ve already had a lot of experience speaking informally to a partner or small group. Now have them prepare something—a response to an academic question, instructions on how to do something related to your subject area in under a minute, one aspect of the curriculum that they’ve selected, anything that you and they know they can succeed at—and present that to their partner, then to a small group.  

The choice to sit or stand at these levels will depend on your measure of their comfort. If you think some students will refuse to stand up and speak, start by having everyone do it sitting down, and then have them make the exact same presentation to the same group standing up. Next, if you think they’re ready, have them make it to a different partner and/or a different group.

A Growing Audience

Over time and with experience, students will gain confidence and skill. Then, and only then, are they ready to make that same presentation to the whole class. (You’re teaching a valuable lesson about practice here, too.)

The more public the presentation, the more risk you’re asking students to undertake. Bringing in outside experts, other classes, even parents, may simply be too much to ask of beginners, and forcing them into a situation that pushes them beyond their zones of proximal development not only is miseducative but will do serious damage to students’ trust in you as their teacher. Even if they succeed this time, they may not take a risk for you again.

By having your students focus on a single skill or disposition and practice it intentionally, in the context of your content, you’re helping them gain the building blocks for successful PBL. 

5 Steps to Create a Learning and Development Presentation

Learning and development: why is it an essential investment for your business.

A skilled, informed employee base is the beating heart of any successful business. Utilizing an effective learning and development strategy is the underlying secret to a successful team from day 1. You’ve probably heard the quote of the CFO asking the CEO “What happens if we train our employees and they leave?” to which the CEO responds ” what. happens if we don’t train our employees and they stay?” Although it’s funny, effective training is a necessary component of a functioning company. Without an effective training program, it’s unlikely that employees will be successful at their jobs, meet company expectations, or stay in their role past their initial year. On average it costs a company between $15,000 and $20,000 to hire an employee once all costs are factored in. Yet companies spend very little on training. This means that one of the largest unforeseen costs a company incurs could be due to a lack of employee training programs.

One comment that will often get brought up is that ” we should continue to training employees the way we always have.” This often means sitting a new employee next to a veteran to use their experience as a guide to learn the job. Although this may seem cost-efficient on the surface, the. true costs can pile up. These types of “watch what I do” training programs diminish the capacity of the person doing the training, can pass on bad and often unintentional habits, and are not scalable across geographic regions or during times of rapid hiring. This can be amplified by the simple fact that you are hiring for that role because there is an excess of work and all current employees are saturated, to begin with.

Learning and Development: What are the benefits and Why should I care?

To thrive in the long-term, an organization needs a strong human capital. Similar to any sports team, your business needs a veteran employee who has years of industry experience and knowledge. It needs the employee who has been. with company 5+ years and is being groomed by the company to eventually replace the veterans. Last but not least, to continue to scale, a company needs a source of new employees who will be developed into productive members of the team. With each of these employee groups there the investment an effective training programs will vary, but so will the trade-off. As an employee developed their knowledge and skills, the training they require will lessen over time. It may seem as though a cost-effective solution would be to hire industry experts who come to you already trained. Unfortunately, the trade-off is that those employee types require a higher salary, may still need some training and are more willing to jump to another company if the offer is right. This keeps leading us back to the need for an effective training program.

So aside from needing an employee training program, what are the long term benefits to the company?

• If creates a scalable system to onboard and training employees
• It reduced the demand caused by training on the company leaders
• A training program once developed is scalable to employees across different locations
• A training program can provide feedback on employees so you can see who your leaders are
• A training program can help new employees become productive faster
• A training program help increase employee retention

A learning and development program is how your business can invest in the quality of your workforce. With training tactics and established goals, this program can guide the growth of your workers in the future. At the foundation of every learning and development program, is a training curriculum broken down into a series of Learning and Development Presentations. Let’s jump into the 5 steps that you can use to create effective training programs that are able to fill a new employee with the knowledge they need to help build your company. After all, a training program comprised of little more than HR policies handbook is going to struggle to capture employees’ attention

Step 1: Create a Learning and Development Strategy

A learning and development strategy is a crucial component of any business, as it specifies the goals and requirements for the workers under your umbrella. It specifies the skills and abilities that your workforce needs to have to promote the success of your business. When push comes to shove, your business’ learning and development strategy can have a major impact on the current operations – and future growth.

To establish a Learning and Development strategy, ask these key questions:

• What are the training needs employee need to know in order to excel at their job?
• How can my employees maintain and build their skills over time?
• How can I engage my employees to inspire them to do their best work?
• How can I build a sense of community among my employees to promote retention?
• How can I build cohesion between all employees in the company?

By detailing your strategy in your learning and development plan, you’ll give your employees a complete understanding of the business’s workforce goals.

Create Knowledge Paths

Once you’ve mapped out the skills each employee needs to obtain, the first step in creating a knowledge path or learning journey for each role. By organizing the subjects that require the least amount of context at the beginning, and gradually increasing complexity as the journey progresses, also you may find that there will be some overlap in the training between roles early on. This is fantastic because it allows you to a program that may be foundational to multiple roles. An example of a program that would be applicable to multiple roles and should be delivered early on in an employee’s knowledge path is the story of your company. Developing a course that helps all employees understand your company, the value it adds to its customers, is often the first step in developing an amazing Learning and Development program. Examples of courses that would be more role-specific and come later in a knowledge path would be procedure-based courses such as software training.

Step 2: Identify Your Subject Matter Experts

The next step in developing your learning and development strategy is to identify the employees who are your subject matter experts (often referred to as SMEs). Subject Matter Experts are also often your veteran employees who are filled with industry and company knowledge. They may have done a great deal of employee training through the old training methods of “watch what I do.” It’s essential to include these employees in your employee training plan because if the information that they possess does not get recorded, their retirement can mean that years of information become lost to time.

Share your training needs with your Subject Matter Experts. They will be able to help you develop a program that is well rounded. They may even have already developed some employee training components that you can use. Ask your Subject Matter Experts to collect all of the training resources they have developed over the years and assign one of the skills identified in your employee training knowledge paths.

This approach will help you audit and also use the training documents you already have available saving you time while starting to bring your previously detailed Learning and Development strategy to life.

As you start to identify program resources you may want to use them to create a variety of different employee training formats. Here are a few different formats and the reasons why you might choose them:

• Classroom Training and workshops (face to face or over web conference) – These allow the employee to ask questions, meet leaders throughout the organization, and allow your facilitators to get employee feedback. These ar great for courses that may be shared among multiple employee roles
• Online or Elearning – This type of training is great for topics like processes, procedures. Think about anything topic where a youtube video might have helped you to learn a skill. Companies can achieve the same type of skill development through e-learning with the benefit of real-time analytics and reporting.
• One-on-one coaching – allows coaches to set up a mentorship opportunity and provide a safe environment to start practicing skills
• Articles, memos, newsletters , and other written materials – Great for updates to existing procedures or strategies

Alone and in combination, these Learning and Development formats can enhance your training program with the information and guidance needed to evolve and improve employee performance. Regardless of the learning and development format, be sure to clearly outline each approach, telling workers what to expect and how to prepare.

Step 3: Make an Effective Plan to fill Training Gaps

With a clear Learning and Development strategy and approach, and also your Subject Matter Experts help, it’s time to determine the training gaps that need to be developed. A Learning and Development plan is an ongoing effort that many companies will commit to in order to take the steps necessary to implement an effective plan. In the same sense, companies realize that even though they use their Subject Matter Experts to help them develop the content, the development of a learning management system and all the courses needed to build an organization-wide plan may require some outside help. The content for each course will need to come from inside your organization, but where possible aligning your company with an agency experienced in developing Learning and Development strategies such as PresentationGeeks can help provide you with the additional expertise and development support you need to jump-start your program. One of the first steps that you will want to take before choosing a partner to work with is to find out if they have had experience working with an organization to create a training strategy from the ground up. Learn about the challenges and also the successes they’ve had so that you can use that experience.

Just like the leader of a warrior clan heading into battle, it’s important to create your training plan with high expectations. Use your training program to set the bar for your new employees and also raise the bar for existing employees. You need to know exactly why your employees should perform these training activities and how, in doing so, they’ll strengthen your organization as a whole.

Keeping in mind that the organization of your syllabus is as important as its content. Keep the progression reasonable and don’t overwhelm your team with too much information at once. Learning is a life long activity just as the development of a learning and development program, is a process that companies make a commitment to.

Step 4: Launch your training programs

When companies launch their training programs they have rarely gotten to this point without reaching out for some help. By partnering with the right team time and also money can be saved and stress is reduced. Companies that make the choice to go it on their own can get overwhelmed and limit their chance to make a considerable step forward.

Include a variety of resources in your learning and development program is a great way to create a diverse and engaging training program. Be sure to make these resources available so that your existing employees from across the entire organization can access them easily. This is a great way to get feedback about the way things are actually happening versus how you “think” they are happening. If a course is idealistic, but not realistic the information that your new employees learn will quickly become unraveled as they start to take their seats and your existing workforce teaches them about “the way we actually do things.” Plus, knowing that these resources are at their disposal will give all employees greater confidence as they reinforce the information that they have already learned.

Although you should expect high standards for your business training plan, when looking at all the information you need to depart to newer employees, it may seem like you are never going to be ready to get started. Don’t let this overwhelm you. Start by creating courses that contain information applicable to all new employees, and also find an agency to partner with that can help build your business a customized course template and develop a visual style that is as highly engaging as the content you need to deliver.

As you start to deliver the information you’ve developed to your employees, you will notice that at first, it feels like a drop in the bucket. But just as a pebble in the ocean creates a ripple, as your program reaches more and more people, this tidal wave of information will start to inundate your workforce. Of the first 4 steps, we’ve discussed each one comes with an investment in your time and resources, but finally, this implementation step will start to show you a return on your investment. Even if your entire training program consists of general information that goes out to all new employees, now at least you’ve developed a consistent message, that can be shared with your entire employee base so that they can learn it, understand it, and share it. In fact at PresentationGeeks we recommend this as a starting point.

Q. What does running a marathon, climbing Mount Everest, and building a Learning and Development Program have in common?

A. They all start with the first step, and also a professional can help you accomplish your end goal.

Step 5: Evaluate each of the steps in your training program to make sure they are effective.

Similar to any initiative, your learning and development program should have a feedback system so that you can understand whether you are meeting your goals. How many of your newly trained employees retain the information for one month, six months, and even a year later? What do the employees think about the program? Was the information beneficial to their development as employees? Are the hiring managers noticing that the training is helpful? Are there other areas that you feel more information could be developed?

These are the kind of metrics and business’s will use to reaffirm their investment in training. The analysis will be different for each program depending on its objectives, but this type of information is the final piece of the puzzle. Although this is our 5 step all five steps create a loop. The type of metrics you want to achieve are often determined before developing the program. If there are some pain points that are leading you towards a program, these are good starting points. Write down all the pain points your business faces when it comes to training new employees, and then develop a plan that is used to instructional opportunities that will help drive these results. This is likely not the first article or even social media post you’ve read about a training model or program.

When you speak to your customer base, you may find that it’s something that they are looking into as well. We encourage as much discussion on this topic as is needed to clarify the goals of your program.

• What areas of your business do your customers feel training would be beneficial?
• What areas of your business do your customers feel you are excelling at?
• What areas of your business do your customers find that your competitors are excelling at?

A customer that knows you are actively working to improve your business and drive better results will help them see you as a good partner. Thanks to a conversation about your Learning Program, you may find that it helps to build stronger customer relationships in addition to learners out of your employees. Don’t forget to include your entire employee base in your plan. Conduct interviews with the veterans and ask them what topics they would like training on. An employee that is learning is an employee who is engaged at their job, and working hard to improves their performance.

A Final Word

A boring, lackluster learning and development program isn’t going to spark excitement and motivation among your workers. Your learning and development courses should have them inspired by their own potential and the skills that will soon be cultivated. Without thoughtful content organization, a cohesive theme, and appealing visual aids, you’ll find your audience’s engagement slipping mid-course.

Combat a lack of engagement with a modern, attractive, and well-designed presentation design . Coordinate the color scheme and font with your brand’s “look”. Offer digestible and relatable statistics. Don’t bloat your slides with information; instead package each slide with a compact, absorbable amount of content.

Dedicated to keeping your workforce cohesive, competitive, and conversant with new developments in your industry, a solid learning and development program corresponds with reliable progress in the business. Here, you’ve learned how to build a learning and development program from the ground up. From the underlying strategy to the delivery of invaluable information, this should spark your employees’ interest in the process of learning and maintaining new skills.

Author:  Ryan

Related posts.

FREE PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.

Subscribe for free tips, resources, templates, ideas and more from our professional team of presentation designers.

• Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
• Instructional Guide

Teaching with PowerPoint

When effectively planned and used, PowerPoint (or similar tools, like Google Slides) can enhance instruction. People are divided on the effectiveness of this ubiquitous presentation program—some say that PowerPoint is wonderful while others bemoan its pervasiveness. No matter which side you take, PowerPoint does offer effective ways to enhance instruction when used and designed appropriately.

PowerPoint can be an effective tool to present material in the classroom and encourage student learning. You can use PowerPoint to project visuals that would otherwise be difficult to bring to class. For example, in an anthropology class, a single PowerPoint presentation could project images of an anthropological dig from a remote area, questions asking students about the topic, a chart of related statistics, and a mini quiz about what was just discussed that provides students with information that is visual, challenging, and engaging.

PowerPoint can be an effective tool to present material in the classroom and encourage student learning.

This section is organized in three major segments: Part I will help faculty identify and use basic but important design elements, Part II will cover ways to enhance teaching and learning with PowerPoint, and Part III will list ways to engage students with PowerPoint.

PART I: Designing the PowerPoint Presentation

Accessibility.

• Student accessibility—students with visual or hearing impairments may not be able to fully access a PowerPoint presentation, especially those with graphics, images, and sound.
• Use an accessible layout. Built-in slide template layouts were designed to be accessible: “the reading order is the same for people with vision and for people who use assistive technology such as screen readers” (University of Washington, n.d.). If you want to alter the layout of a theme, use the Slide Master; this will ensure your slides will retain accessibility.
• Use unique and specific slide titles so students can access the material they need.
• Consider how you display hyperlinks. Since screen readers read what is on the page, you may want to consider creating a hyperlink using a descriptive title instead of displaying the URL.
• All visuals and tables should include alt text. Alt text should describe the visual or table in detail so that students with visual impairments can “read” the images with their screen readers. Avoid using too many decorative visuals.
• All video and audio content should be captioned for students with hearing impairments. Transcripts can also be useful as an additional resource, but captioning ensures students can follow along with what is on the screen in real-time.
• Simplify your tables. If you use tables on your slides, ensure they are not overly complex and do not include blank cells. Screen readers may have difficulty providing information about the table if there are too many columns and rows, and they may “think” the table is complete if they come to a blank cell.
• Set a reading order for text on your slides. The order that text appears on the slide may not be the reading order of the text. Check that your reading order is correct by using the Selection Pane (organized bottom-up).
• Use Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker to identify potential accessibility issues in your completed PowerPoint. Use the feedback to improve your PowerPoint’s accessibility. You could also send your file to the Disability Resource Center to have them assess its accessibility (send it far in advance of when you will need to use it).
• Save your PowerPoint presentation as a PDF file to distribute to students with visual impairments.

Preparing for the presentation

• Consider time and effort in preparing a PowerPoint presentation; give yourself plenty of lead time for design and development.
• PowerPoint is especially useful when providing course material online. Consider student technology compatibility with PowerPoint material put on the web; ensure images and graphics have been compressed for access by computers using dial-up connection.

PowerPoint is especially useful when providing course material online.

• Be aware of copyright law when displaying course materials, and properly cite source material. This is especially important when using visuals obtained from the internet or other sources. This also models proper citation for your students.
• Think about message interpretation for PowerPoint use online: will students be able to understand material in a PowerPoint presentation outside of the classroom? Will you need to provide notes and/or other material to help students understand complex information, data, or graphics?
• If you will be using your own laptop, make sure the classroom is equipped with the proper cables, drivers, and other means to display your presentation the way you have intended.

Slide content

• Avoid text-dense slides. It’s better to have more slides than trying to place too much text on one slide. Use brief points instead of long sentences or paragraphs and outline key points rather than transcribing your lecture. Use PowerPoint to cue and guide the presentation.
• Use the Notes feature to add content to your presentation that the audience will not see. You can access the Notes section for each slide by sliding the bottom of the slide window up to reveal the notes section or by clicking “View” and choosing “Notes Page” from the Presentation Views options.
• Relate PowerPoint material to course objectives to reinforce their purpose for students.

Number of slides

• As a rule of thumb, plan to show one slide per minute to account for discussion and time and for students to absorb the material.
• Reduce redundant or text-heavy sentences or bullets to ensure a more professional appearance.
• Incorporate active learning throughout the presentation to hold students’ interest and reinforce learning.

Emphasizing content

• Use italics, bold, and color for emphasizing content.
• Use of a light background (white, beige, yellow) with dark typeface or a dark background (blue, purple, brown) with a light typeface is easy to read in a large room.
• Avoid using too many colors or shifting colors too many times within the presentation, which can be distracting to students.
• Avoid using underlines for emphasis; underlining typically signifies hypertext in digital media.

Use of a light background with dark typeface or a dark background with a light typeface is easy to read in a large room.

• Limit the number of typeface styles to no more than two per slide. Try to keep typeface consistent throughout your presentation so it does not become a distraction.
• Avoid overly ornate or specialty fonts that may be harder for students to read. Stick to basic fonts so as not to distract students from the content.
• Ensure the typeface is large enough to read from anywhere in the room: titles and headings should be no less than 36-40-point font. The subtext should be no less than 32-point font.

Clip art and graphics

• Use clip art and graphics sparingly. Research shows that it’s best to use graphics only when they support the content. Irrelevant graphics and images have been proven to hinder student learning.
• Photographs can be used to add realism. Again, only use photographs that are relevant to the content and serve a pedagogical purpose. Images for decorative purposes are distracting.
• Size and place graphics appropriately on the slide—consider wrapping text around a graphic.
• Use two-dimensional pie and bar graphs rather than 3D styles which can interfere with the intended message.

Use clip art and graphics sparingly. Research shows that it’s best to use graphics only when they support the content.

Animation and sound

• Add motion, sound, or music only when necessary. When in doubt, do without.
• Avoid distracting animations and transitions. Excessive movement within or between slides can interfere with the message and students find them distracting. Avoid them or use only simple screen transitions.

Final check

• Check for spelling, correct word usage, flow of material, and overall appearance of the presentation.
• Colleagues can be helpful to check your presentation for accuracy and appeal. Note: Errors are more obvious when they are projected.
• Schedule at least one practice session to check for timing and flow.
• PowerPoint’s Slide Sorter View is especially helpful to check slides for proper sequencing as well as information gaps and redundancy. You can also use the preview pane on the left of the screen when you are editing the PowerPoint in “Normal” view.
• Prepare for plan “B” in case you have trouble with the technology in the classroom: how will you provide material located on your flash drive or computer? Have an alternate method of instruction ready (printing a copy of your PowerPoint with notes is one idea).

PowerPoint’s Slide Sorter View is especially helpful to check slides for proper sequencing and information gaps and redundancy.

PowerPoint Handouts

PowerPoint provides multiple options for print-based handouts that can be distributed at various points in the class.

Before class: students might like having materials available to help them prepare and formulate questions before the class period.

During class: you could distribute a handout with three slides and lines for notes to encourage students to take notes on the details of your lecture so they have notes alongside the slide material (and aren’t just taking notes on the slide content).

After class: some instructors wait to make the presentation available after the class period so that students concentrate on the presentation rather than reading ahead on the handout.

Never: Some instructors do not distribute the PowerPoint to students so that students don’t rely on access to the presentation and neglect to pay attention in class as a result.

• PowerPoint slides can be printed in the form of handouts—with one, two, three, four, six, or nine slides on a page—that can be given to students for reference during and after the presentation. The three-slides-per-page handout includes lined space to assist in note-taking.
• Notes Pages. Detailed notes can be printed and used during the presentation, or if they are notes intended for students, they can be distributed before the presentation.
• Outline View. PowerPoint presentations can be printed as an outline, which provides all the text from each slide. Outlines offer a welcome alternative to slide handouts and can be modified from the original presentation to provide more or less information than the projected presentation.

The Presentation

Alley, Schreiber, Ramsdell, and Muffo (2006) suggest that PowerPoint slide headline design “affects audience retention,” and they conclude that “succinct sentence headlines are more effective” in information recall than headlines of short phrases or single words (p. 233). In other words, create slide titles with as much information as is used for newspapers and journals to help students better understand the content of the slide.

• PowerPoint should provide key words, concepts, and images to enhance your presentation (but PowerPoint should not replace you as the presenter).
• Avoid reading from the slide—reading the material can be perceived as though you don’t know the material. If you must read the material, provide it in a handout instead of a projected PowerPoint slide.
• Avoid moving a laser pointer across the slide rapidly. If using a laser pointer, use one with a dot large enough to be seen from all areas of the room and move it slowly and intentionally.

Avoid reading from the slide—reading the material can be perceived as though you don’t know the material.

• Use a blank screen to allow students to reflect on what has just been discussed or to gain their attention (Press B for a black screen or W for a white screen while delivering your slide show; press these keys again to return to the live presentation). This pause can also be used for a break period or when transitioning to new content.
• Stand to one side of the screen and face the audience while presenting. Using Presenter View will display your slide notes to you on the computer monitor while projecting only the slides to students on the projector screen.
• Leave classroom lights on and turn off lights directly over the projection screen if possible. A completely dark or dim classroom will impede notetaking (and may encourage nap-taking).
• Learn to use PowerPoint efficiently and have a back-up plan in case of technical failure.
• Give yourself enough time to finish the presentation. Trying to rush through slides can give the impression of an unorganized presentation and may be difficult for students to follow or learn.

PART II: Enhancing Teaching and Learning with PowerPoint

Class preparation.

PowerPoint can be used to prepare lectures and presentations by helping instructors refine their material to salient points and content. Class lectures can be typed in outline format, which can then be refined as slides. Lecture notes can be printed as notes pages  (notes pages: Printed pages that display author notes beneath the slide that the notes accompany.) and could also be given as handouts to accompany the presentation.

Multimodal Learning

Using PowerPoint can help you present information in multiple ways (a multimodal approach) through the projection of color, images, and video for the visual mode; sound and music for the auditory mode; text and writing prompts for the reading/writing mode; and interactive slides that ask students to do something, e.g. a group or class activity in which students practice concepts, for the kinesthetic mode (see Part III: Engaging Students with PowerPoint for more details). Providing information in multiple modalities helps improve comprehension and recall for all students.

Providing information in multiple modalities helps improve comprehension and recall for all students.

Type-on Live Slides

PowerPoint allows users to type directly during the slide show, which provides another form of interaction. These write-on slides can be used to project students’ comments and ideas for the entire class to see. When the presentation is over, the new material can be saved to the original file and posted electronically. This feature requires advanced preparation in the PowerPoint file while creating your presentation. For instructions on how to set up your type-on slide text box, visit this tutorial from AddictiveTips .  

Write or Highlight on Slides

PowerPoint also allows users to use tools to highlight or write directly onto a presentation while it is live. When you are presenting your PowerPoint, move your cursor over the slide to reveal tools in the lower-left corner. One of the tools is a pen icon. Click this icon to choose either a laser pointer, pen, or highlighter. You can use your cursor for these options, or you can use the stylus for your smart podium computer monitor or touch-screen laptop monitor (if applicable).  

Just-In-Time Course Material

You can make your PowerPoint slides, outline, and/or notes pages available online 24/7 through Blackboard, OneDrive, other websites. Students can review the material before class, bring printouts to class, and better prepare themselves for listening rather than taking a lot of notes during the class period. They can also come to class prepared with questions about the material so you can address their comprehension of the concepts.

PART III: Engaging Students with PowerPoint

The following techniques can be incorporated into PowerPoint presentations to increase interactivity and engagement between students and between students and the instructor. Each technique can be projected as a separate PowerPoint slide.

Running Slide Show as Students Arrive in the Classroom

This technique provides visual interest and can include a series of questions for students to answer as they sit waiting for class to begin. These questions could be on future texts or quizzes.

• Opening Question : project an opening question, e.g. “Take a moment to reflect on ___.”
• Think of what you know about ___.
• Turn to a partner and share your knowledge about ___.
• Share with the class what you have discussed with your partner.
• Focused Listing helps with recall of pertinent information, e.g. “list as many characteristics of ___, or write down as many words related to ___ as you can think of.”
• Brainstorming stretches the mind and promotes deep thinking and recall of prior knowledge, e.g. “What do you know about ___? Start with your clearest thoughts and then move on to those what are kind of ‘out there.’”
• Questions : ask students if they have any questions roughly every 15 minutes. This technique provides time for students to reflect and is also a good time for a scheduled break or for the instructor to interact with students.
• Note Check : ask students to “take a few minutes to compare notes with a partner,” or “…summarize the most important information,” or “…identify and clarify any sticking points,” etc.
• Questions and Answer Pairs : have students “take a minute to come with one question then see if you can stump your partner!”
• The Two-Minute Paper allows the instructor to check the class progress, e.g. “summarize the most important points of today’s lecture.” Have students submit the paper at the end of class.
• “If You Could Ask One Last Question—What Would It Be?” This technique allows for students to think more deeply about the topic and apply what they have learned in a question format.
• A Classroom Opinion Poll provides a sense of where students stand on certain topics, e.g. “do you believe in ___,” or “what are your thoughts on ___?”
• Muddiest Point allows anonymous feedback to inform the instructor if changes and or additions need to be made to the class, e.g. “What parts of today’s material still confuse you?”
• Most Useful Point can tell the instructor where the course is on track, e.g. “What is the most useful point in today’s material, and how can you illustrate its use in a practical setting?”

Positive Features of PowerPoint

• PowerPoint saves time and energy—once the presentation has been created, it is easy to update or modify for other courses.
• PowerPoint is portable and can be shared easily with students and colleagues.
• PowerPoint supports multimedia, such as video, audio, images, and

PowerPoint supports multimedia, such as video, audio, images, and animation.

Potential Drawbacks of PowerPoint

• PowerPoint could reduce the opportunity for classroom interaction by being the primary method of information dissemination or designed without built-in opportunities for interaction.
• PowerPoint could lead to information overload, especially with the inclusion of long sentences and paragraphs or lecture-heavy presentations with little opportunity for practical application or active learning.
• PowerPoint could “drive” the instruction and minimize the opportunity for spontaneity and creative teaching unless the instructor incorporates the potential for ingenuity into the presentation. 

As with any technology, the way PowerPoint is used will determine its pedagogical effectiveness. By strategically using the points described above, PowerPoint can be used to enhance instruction and engage students.

Alley, M., Schreiber, M., Ramsdell, K., & Muffo, J. (2006). How the design of headlines in presentation slides affects audience retention. Technical Communication, 53 (2), 225-234. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/43090718

University of Washington, Accessible Technology. (n.d.). Creating accessible presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint. Retrieved from https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/powerpoint/  

Selected Resources

Brill, F. (2016). PowerPoint for teachers: Creating interactive lessons. LinkedIn Learning . Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/PowerPoint-tutorials/PowerPoint-Teachers-Create-Interactive-Lessons/472427-2.html

Huston, S. (2011). Active learning with PowerPoint [PDF file]. DE Oracle @ UMUC . Retrieved from http://contentdm.umuc.edu/digital/api/collection/p16240coll5/id/78/download

Microsoft Office Support. (n.d.). Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities. Retrieved from https://support.office.com/en-us/article/make-your-powerpoint-presentations-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-6f7772b2-2f33-4bd2-8ca7-ae3b2b3ef25

Tufte, E. R. (2006). The cognitive style of PowerPoint: Pitching out corrupts within. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press LLC.

University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Medicine. (n.d.). Active Learning with a PowerPoint. Retrieved from https://www.unmc.edu/com/_documents/active-learning-ppt.pdf

University of Washington, Department of English. (n.d.). Teaching with PowerPoint. Retrieved from https://english.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-powerpoint

Vanderbilt University, Center for Teaching. (n.d.). Making better PowerPoint presentations. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/making-better-powerpoint-presentations/

Suggested citation

Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2020). Teaching with PowerPoint. In Instructional guide for university faculty and teaching assistants. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide

Phone: 815-753-0595 Email: [email protected]

Connect with us on

Facebook page Twitter page YouTube page Instagram page LinkedIn page

Create Your Course

The 7 main types of learning styles (and how to teach to them), share this article.

Understanding the 7 main types of learning styles and how to teach them will help both your students and your courses be more successful.

When it comes to learning something new, we all absorb information at different rates and understand it differently too. Some students get new concepts right away; others need to sit and ponder for some time before they can arrive at similar conclusions.

Why? The answer lies in the type of learning styles different students feel more comfortable with. In other words, we respond to information in different ways depending on how it is presented to us.

Clearly, different types of learning styles exist, and there are lots of debates in pedagogy about what they are and how to adapt to them.

For practical purposes, it’s recommended to ensure that your course or presentation covers the 7 main types of learning.

In this article, we’ll break down the 7 types of learning styles, and give practical tips for how you can improve your own teaching styles , whether it’s in higher education or an online course you plan to create on the side.

Skip ahead:

What are the 7 types of learning styles?

How to accommodate different types of learning styles online.

• How to help students understand their different types of learning styles

How to create an online course for all

In the academic literature, the most common model for the types of learning you can find is referred to as VARK.

VARK is an acronym that stands for Visual, Auditory, Reading & Writing, and Kinesthetic. While these learning methods are the most recognized, there are people that do not fit into these boxes and prefer to learn differently. So we’re adding three more learning types to our list, including Logical, Social, and Solitary.

Visual learners

Visual learners are individuals that learn more through images, diagrams, charts, graphs, presentations, and anything that illustrates ideas. These people often doodle and make all kinds of visual notes of their own as it helps them retain information better. 

When teaching visual learners, the goal isn’t just to incorporate images and infographics into your lesson. It’s about helping them visualize the relationships between different pieces of data or information as they learn. 

Gamified lessons are a great way to teach visual learners as they’re interactive and aesthetically appealing. You should also give handouts, create presentations, and search for useful infographics to support your lessons.

Since visual information can be pretty dense, give your students enough time to absorb all the new knowledge and make their own connections between visual clues.

Auditory/aural learners

The auditory style of learning is quite the opposite of the visual one. Auditory learners are people that absorb information better when it is presented in audio format (i.e. the lessons are spoken). This type of learner prefers to learn by listening and might not take any notes at all. They also ask questions often or repeat what they have just heard aloud to remember it better.

Aural learners are often not afraid of speaking up and are great at explaining themselves. When teaching auditory learners, keep in mind that they shouldn’t stay quiet for long periods of time. So plan a few activities where you can exchange ideas or ask questions. Watching videos or listening to audio during class will also help with retaining new information.

Reading and writing (or verbal) learners

Reading & Writing learners absorb information best when they use words, whether they’re reading or writing them. To verbal learners, written words are more powerful and granular than images or spoken words, so they’re excellent at writing essays, articles, books, etc. 

To support the way reading-writing students learn best, ensure they have time to take ample notes and allocate extra time for reading. This type of learner also does really well at remote learning, on their own schedule. Including reading materials and writing assignments in their homework should also yield good results.

Kinesthetic/tactile learners

Kinesthetic learners use different senses to absorb information. They prefer to learn by doing or experiencing what they’re being taught. These types of learners are tactile and need to live through experiences to truly understand something new. This makes it a bit challenging to prepare for them in a regular class setting. 

As you try to teach tactile learners, note that they can’t sit still for long and need more frequent breaks than others. You need to get them moving and come up with activities that reinforce the information that was just covered in class. Acting out different roles is great; games are excellent; even collaborative writing on a whiteboard should work fine. If applicable, you can also organize hands-on laboratory sessions, immersions, and workshops.

In general, try to bring every abstract idea into the real world to help kinesthetic learners succeed.

Logical/analytical learners 

As the name implies, logical learners rely on logic to process information and understand a particular subject. They search for causes and patterns to create a connection between different kinds of information. Many times, these connections are not obvious to people to learn differently, but they make perfect sense to logical learners. 

Logical learners generally do well with facts, statistics, sequential lists, and problem-solving tasks to mention a few. 

As a teacher, you can engage logical learners by asking open-ended or obscure questions that require them to apply their own interpretation. You should also use teaching material that helps them hone their problem-solving skills and encourages them to form conclusions based on facts and critical thinking. 

Social/interpersonal learners 

Social or interpersonal learners love socializing with others and working in groups so they learn best during lessons that require them to interact with their peers . Think study groups, peer discussions, and class quizzes. 

To effectively teach interpersonal learners, you’ll need to make teamwork a core part of your lessons. Encourage student interaction by asking questions and sharing stories. You can also incorporate group activities and role-playing into your lessons, and divide the students into study groups.  

Solitary/intrapersonal learners 

Solitary learning is the opposite of social learning. Solitary, or solo, learners prefer to study alone without interacting with other people. These learners are quite good at motivating themselves and doing individual work. In contrast, they generally don’t do well with teamwork or group discussions.

To help students like this, you should encourage activities that require individual work, such as journaling, which allows them to reflect on themselves and improve their skills. You should also acknowledge your students’ individual accomplishments and help them refine their problem-solving skills. 

Are there any unique intelligence types commonly shared by your students? Adapting to these different types of intelligence can help you can design a course best suited to help your students succeed.

Launch your online learning product for free

Use Thinkific to create, market, and sell online courses, communities, and memberships — all from a single platform.

How to help students understand their different types of learning styles 

Unless you’re teaching preschoolers, most students probably already realize the type of learning style that fits them best. But some students do get it wrong.

The key here is to observe every student carefully and plan your content for different learning styles right from the start.

Another idea is to implement as much individual learning as you can and then customize that learning for each student. So you can have visual auditory activities, riddles for logical learners, games for kinesthetic learners, reading activities, writing tasks, drawing challenges, and more.

When you’re creating your first course online, it’s important to dedicate enough time to planning out its structure. Don’t just think that a successful course consists of five uploaded videos.

Think about how you present the new knowledge. Where it makes sense to pause and give students the time to reflect. Where to include activities to review the new material. Adapting to the different learning types that people exhibit can help you design an online course best suited to help your students succeed.

That being said, here are some tips to help you tailor your course to each learning style, or at least create enough balance. 

Visual learners 

Since visual learners like to see or observe images, diagrams, demonstrations, etc., to understand a topic, here’s how you can create a course for them: 

• Include graphics, cartoons, or illustrations of concepts 
• Use flashcards to review course material 
• Use flow charts or maps to organize materials 
• Highlight and color code notes to organize materials 
• Use color-coded tables to compare and contrast elements 
• Use a whiteboard to explain important information
• Have students play around with different font styles and sizes to improve readability 

Auditory learners prefer to absorb information by listening to spoken words, so they do well when teachers give spoken instructions and lessons. Here’s how to cater to this learning type through your online course: 

• Converse with your students about the subject or topic 
• Ask your students questions after each lesson and have them answer you (through the spoken word)
• Have them record lectures and review them with you 
• Have articles, essays, and comprehension passages out to them
• As you teach, explain your methods, questions, and answers 
• Ask for oral summaries of the course material 
• If you teach math or any other math-related course, use a talking calculator 
• Create an audio file that your students can listen to
• Create a video of you teaching your lesson to your student
• Include a YouTube video or podcast episode for your students to listen to
• Organize a live Q & A session where students can talk to you and other learners to help them better understand the subject

Reading and writing (or verbal) learners 

This one is pretty straightforward. Verbal learners learn best when they read or write (or both), so here are some practical ways to include that in your online course:

• Have your students write summaries about the lesson 
• If you teach language or literature, assign them stories and essays that they’d have to read out loud to understand
• If your course is video-based, add transcripts to aid your students’ learning process
• Make lists of important parts of your lesson to help your students memorize them
• Provide downloadable notes and checklists that your students can review after they’ve finished each chapter of your course
• Encourage extra reading by including links to a post on your blog or another website in the course
• Use some type of body movement or rhythm, such as snapping your fingers, mouthing, or pacing, while reciting the material your students should learn

Since kinesthetic learners like to experience hands-on what they learn with their senses — holding, touching, hearing, and doing. So instead of churning out instructions and expecting to follow, do these instead: 

• Encourage them to experiment with textured paper, and different sizes of pencils, pens, and crayons to jot down information
• If you teach diction or language, give them words that they should incorporate into their daily conversations with other people
• Encourage students to dramatize or act out lesson concepts to understand them better 

Logical learners are great at recognizing patterns, analyzing information, and solving problems. So in your online course, you need to structure your lessons to help them hone these abilities. Here are some things you can do:

• Come up with tasks that require them to solve problems. This is easy if you teach math or a math-related course
• Create charts and graphs that your students need to interpret to fully grasp the lesson
• Ask open-ended questions that require critical thinking 
• Create a mystery for your students to solve with clues that require logical thinking or math
• Pose an issue/topic to your students and ask them to address it from multiple perspectives

Since social learners prefer to discuss or interact with others, you should set up your course to include group activities. Here’s how you can do that:

• Encourage them to discuss the course concept with their classmates
• Get your students involved in forum discussions
• Create a platform (via Slack, Discord, etc.) for group discussions
• Pair two or more social students to teach each other the course material
• If you’re offering a cohort-based course , you can encourage students to make their own presentations and explain them to the rest of the class

Solitary learners prefer to learn alone. So when designing your course, you need to take that into consideration and provide these learners a means to work by themselves. Here are some things you can try: 

• Encourage them to do assignments by themselves
• Break down big projects into smaller ones to help them manage time efficiently
• Give them activities that require them to do research on their own
• When they’re faced with problems regarding the topic, let them try to work around it on their own. But let them know that they are welcome to ask you for help if they need to
• Encourage them to speak up when you ask them questions as it builds their communication skills 
• Explore blended learning , if possible, by combining teacher-led classes with self-guided assignments and extra ideas that students can explore on their own.

Now that you’re ready to teach something to everyone, you might be wondering what you actually need to do to create your online courses. Well, start with a platform.

Thinkific is an intuitive and easy-to-use platform any instructor can use to create online courses that would resonate with all types of learning styles. Include videos, audio, presentations, quizzes, and assignments in your curriculum. Guide courses in real-time or pre-record information in advance. It’s your choice.

In addition, creating a course on Thinkific doesn’t require you to know any programming. You can use a professionally designed template and customize it with a drag-and-drop editor to get exactly the course you want in just a few hours. Try it yourself to see how easy it can be.

This blog was originally published in August 2017, it has since been updated in March 2023. 

Althea Storm is a B2B SaaS writer who specializes in creating data-driven content that drives traffic and increases conversions for businesses. She has worked with top companies like AdEspresso, HubSpot, Aura, and Thinkific. When she's not writing web content, she's curled up in a chair reading a crime thriller or solving a Rubik's cube.

• The 5 Most Effective Teaching Styles (Pros & Cons of Each)
• 7 Top Challenges with Online Learning For Students (and Solutions)
• 6 Reasons Why Creators Fail To Sell Their Online Courses
• The Advantages and Disadvantages of Learning in Online Classes in 2023
• 10 Steps To Creating A Wildly Successful Online Course

Related Articles

Why is activating prior knowledge important for learning.

Taking your students prior knowledge into account when designing online courses is integral to success. Learn how here.

The Ultimate Online Course Launch Checklist (Free Guide + Templates)

Get a checklist of everything you need to do before, during, and after you launch your online course to make sure it's a smash success.

How Jonathan Levi Built a Successful Online Course Business Teaching Speed Readi...

An in-depth case study of how Thinkific customer Jonathan Levi built a successful online course business teaching speed reading and memory skills online.

Try Thinkific for yourself!

Accomplish your course creation and student success goals faster with thinkific..

Download this guide and start building your online program!

It is on its way to your inbox

Center for Teaching

Making better powerpoint presentations.

Print Version

Baddeley and Hitch’s model of working memory.

Research about student preferences for powerpoint, resources for making better powerpoint presentations, bibliography.

We have all experienced the pain of a bad PowerPoint presentation. And even though we promise ourselves never to make the same mistakes, we can still fall prey to common design pitfalls.  The good news is that your PowerPoint presentation doesn’t have to be ordinary. By keeping in mind a few guidelines, your classroom presentations can stand above the crowd!

“It is easy to dismiss design – to relegate it to mere ornament, the prettifying of places and objects to disguise their banality. But that is a serious misunderstanding of what design is and why it matters.” Daniel Pink

One framework that can be useful when making design decisions about your PowerPoint slide design is Baddeley and Hitch’s model of working memory .

As illustrated in the diagram above, the Central Executive coordinates the work of three systems by organizing the information we hear, see, and store into working memory.

The Phonological Loop deals with any auditory information. Students in a classroom are potentially listening to a variety of things: the instructor, questions from their peers, sound effects or audio from the PowerPoint presentation, and their own “inner voice.”

The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad deals with information we see. This involves such aspects as form, color, size, space between objects, and their movement. For students this would include: the size and color of fonts, the relationship between images and text on the screen, the motion path of text animation and slide transitions, as well as any hand gestures, facial expressions, or classroom demonstrations made by the instructor.

The Episodic Buffer integrates the information across these sensory domains and communicates with long-term memory. All of these elements are being deposited into a holding tank called the “episodic buffer.” This buffer has a limited capacity and can become “overloaded” thereby, setting limits on how much information students can take in at once.

Laura Edelman and Kathleen Harring from Muhlenberg College , Allentown, Pennsylvania have developed an approach to PowerPoint design using Baddeley and Hitch’s model. During the course of their work, they conducted a survey of students at the college asking what they liked and didn’t like about their professor’s PowerPoint presentations. They discovered the following:

Characteristics students don’t like about professors’ PowerPoint slides

• Too many words on a slide
• Movement (slide transitions or word animations)
• Templates with too many colors

Characteristics students like like about professors’ PowerPoint slides

• Graphs increase understanding of content
• Bulleted lists help them organize ideas
• PowerPoint can help to structure lectures
• Verbal explanations of pictures/graphs help more than written clarifications

According to Edelman and Harring, some conclusions from the research at Muhlenberg are that students learn more when:

• material is presented in short phrases rather than full paragraphs.
• the professor talks about the information on the slide rather than having students read it on their own.
• relevant pictures are used. Irrelevant pictures decrease learning compared to PowerPoint slides with no picture
• they take notes (if the professor is not talking). But if the professor is lecturing, note-taking and listening decreased learning.
• they are given the PowerPoint slides before the class.

Advice from Edelman and Harring on leveraging the working memory with PowerPoint:

• Leverage the working memory by dividing the information between the visual and auditory modality.  Doing this reduces the likelihood of one system becoming overloaded. For instance, spoken words with pictures are better than pictures with text, as integrating an image and narration takes less cognitive effort than integrating an image and text.
• Minimize the opportunity for distraction by removing any irrelevant material such as music, sound effects, animations, and background images.
• Use simple cues to direct learners to important points or content. Using text size, bolding, italics, or placing content in a highlighted or shaded text box is all that is required to convey the significance of key ideas in your presentation.
• Don’t put every word you intend to speak on your PowerPoint slide. Instead, keep information displayed in short chunks that are easily read and comprehended.
• One of the mostly widely accessed websites about PowerPoint design is Garr Reynolds’ blog, Presentation Zen . In his blog entry:  “ What is Good PowerPoint Design? ” Reynolds explains how to keep the slide design simple, yet not simplistic, and includes a few slide examples that he has ‘made-over’ to demonstrate how to improve its readability and effectiveness. He also includes sample slides from his own presentation about PowerPoint slide design.
• Another presentation guru, David Paradi, author of “ The Visual Slide Revolution: Transforming Overloaded Text Slides into Persuasive Presentations ” maintains a video podcast series called “ Think Outside the Slide ” where he also demonstrates PowerPoint slide makeovers. Examples on this site are typically from the corporate perspective, but the process by which content decisions are made is still relevant for higher education. Paradi has also developed a five step method, called KWICK , that can be used as a simple guide when designing PowerPoint presentations.
• In the video clip below, Comedian Don McMillan talks about some of the common misuses of PowerPoint in his routine called “Life After Death by PowerPoint.”

• This article from The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights a blog moderated by Microsoft’s Doug Thomas that compiles practical PowerPoint advice gathered from presentation masters like Seth Godin , Guy Kawasaki , and Garr Reynolds .

Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story , by Jerry Weissman, Prentice Hall, 2006

Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery , by Garr Reynolds, New Riders Press, 2008

Solving the PowerPoint Predicament: using digital media for effective communication , by Tom Bunzel , Que, 2006

The Cognitive Style of Power Point , by Edward R. Tufte, Graphics Pr, 2003

The Visual Slide Revolution: Transforming Overloaded Text Slides into Persuasive Presentations , by Dave Paradi, Communications Skills Press, 2000

Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck: And How You Can Make Them Better , by Rick Altman, Harvest Books, 2007

Teaching Guides

• Online Course Development Resources
• Principles & Frameworks
• Pedagogies & Strategies
• Reflecting & Assessing
• Challenges & Opportunities
• Populations & Contexts

Quick Links

• Services for Departments and Schools
• Examples of Online Instructional Modules

Home Blog Education Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Getting the perfect presentation design is just a step toward a successful presentation. For the experienced user, building presentation skills is the answer to elevating the power of your message and showing expertise on any subject. Still, one can ask: is it the same set of skills, or are they dependable on the type of presentation?

In this article, we will introduce the different types of presentations accompanied by the skillset required to master them. The purpose, as always, is to retain the audience’s interest for a long-lasting and convincing message.

Table of Contents

The Importance of Presentation Skills

Persuasive presentations, instructional presentations, informative presentations, inspirational presentations, basic presentation skills, what are the main difficulties when giving a presentation, recommendations to improve your presentation skills, closing statement.

Effective communication is the answer to reaching business and academic goals. The scenarios in which we can be required to deliver a presentation are as diverse as one can imagine. Still, some core concepts apply to all presentations.

 We define presentation skills as a compendium of soft skills that directly affect your presentation performance and contribute to creating a great presentation. These are not qualities acquired by birth but skills you ought to train and master to delve into professional environments.

You may ask: is it really that evident when a presenter is not prepared? Here are some common signs people can experience during presentations:

• Evasive body language: Not making eye contact with the audience, arms closed tightly to the body, hands in pockets all the time.
• Lack of interest in the presenter’s voice: dull tone, not putting an effort to articulate the topics.
• Doubting when asked to answer a question
• Irksome mood

The list can go on about common presenter mistakes , and most certainly, it will affect the performance of any presented data if the lack of interest by the presenter is blatantly obvious.  Another element to consider is anxiety, and according to research by the National Institute of Mental Health, 73% of the population in the USA is affected by glossophobia , which is the fear of public speaking, judgment, or negative evaluation by other people.

Therefore, presentation skills training is essential for any business professional who wants to achieve effective communication . It will remove the anxiety from presentation performance and help users effectively deliver their message and connect with the audience.

Archetypes of presentations

Persuasive presentations aim to convince the audience – often in short periods – to acquire a product or service, adhere to a cause, or invest in a company. For business entrepreneurs or politicians, persuasive presentations are their tool for the trade.

Unless you aim to be perceived as an imposter, a proper persuasive presentation has the elements of facts, empathy, and logic, balanced under a well-crafted narrative. The central pillar of these presentations is to identify the single factor that gathered your audience: it could be a market need, a social cause, or a revolutionary concept for today’s society. It has to be something with enough power to gather critiques – both good and bad.

That single factor has to be backed up by facts. Research that builds your hypothesis on how to solve that problem. A deep understanding of the target audience’s needs , concerns, and social position regarding the solution your means can offer. When those elements are in place, building a pitch becomes an easy task. 

Graphics can help you introduce information in a compelling format, lowering the need for lengthy presentations. Good presentation skills for persuasive presentations go by the hand of filtering relevant data and creating the visual cues that resonate with what your audience demands.

One powerful example of a persuasive presentation is the technique known as the elevator pitch . You must introduce your idea or product convincingly to the audience in a timeframe between 30 seconds and less than 2 minutes. You have to expose:

• What do you do 
• What’s the problem to solve
• Why is your solution different from others 
• Why should the audience care about your expertise

For that very purpose, using engaging graphics with contrasting colors elevates the potential power of your message. It speaks professionalism, care for details, and out-of-the-box thinking. Knowing how to end a presentation is also critical, as your CTAs should be placed with care.

Therefore, let’s resume the requirements of persuasive presentations in terms of good presentation skills:

• Identifying problems and needs
• Elaborating “the hook” (the element that grabs the audience’s attention)
• Knowing how to “tie” your audience (introducing a piece of information related to the hook that causes an emotional impact)
• Broad knowledge of body language and hand gestures to quickly convey your message
• Being prepared to argue a defense of your point of view
• Handling rejection
• Having a proactive attitude to convert opportunities into new projects
• Using humor, surprise, or personal anecdotes as elements to sympathize with the audience
• Having confidence
• Be able to summarize facts and information in visually appealing ways

You can learn more about persuasive presentation techniques by clicking here .

In the case of instructional presentations, we ought to differentiate two distinctive types:

• Lecture Presentations : Presentations being held at universities or any other educative institution. Those presentations cover, topic by topic, and the contents of a syllabus and are created by the team of teachers in charge of the course.
• Training Presentations : These presentations take place during in-company training sessions and usually comprise a good amount of content that is resumed into easy-to-take solutions. They are aimed to coach employees over certain topics relevant to their work performance. The 70-20-10 Model is frequently used to address these training situations.

Lecture presentations appeal to the gradual introduction of complex concepts, following a structure set in the course’s syllabus. These presentations often have a similar aesthetic as a group of professors or researchers created to share their knowledge about a topic. Personal experience does tell that course presentations often rely on factual data, adequately documented, and on the theoretical side.

An example of a presentation that lies under this concept is a Syllabus Presentation, used by the teaching team to introduce the subject to new students, evaluation methods, concepts to be learned, and expectations to pass the course.

On the other hand, training presentations are slide decks designed to meet an organization’s specific needs in the formal education of their personnel. Commonly known as “continuous education,” plenty of companies invest resources in coaching their employees to achieve higher performance results. These presentations have the trademark of being concise since their idea is to introduce the concepts that shall be applied in practice sessions. 

Ideally, the training presentations are introduced with little text and easy-to-recognize visual cues. Since the idea is to summarize as much as possible, these are visually appealing for the audience. They must be dynamic enough to allow the presenter to convey the message.

Those key takeaways remind employees when they revisit their learning resources and allow them to ruminate on questions that fellow workers raise. 

To sum up this point, building presentation skills for instructional presentations requires:

• Ability to put complex concepts into simpler words
• Patience and a constant learning mindset
• Voice training to deliver lengthy speeches without being too dense
• Ability to summarize points and note the key takeaways
• Empathizing with the audience to understand their challenges in the learning process

The informative presentations take place in business situations, such as when to present project reports from different departments to the management. Another potential usage of these presentations is in SCRUM or other Agile methodologies, when a sprint is completed, to discuss the advance of the project with the Product Owner.

As they are presentations heavily dependent on data insights, it’s common to see the usage of infographics and charts to express usually dense data in simpler terms and easy to remember. 

Informative presentations don’t just fall into the business category. Ph.D. Dissertation and Thesis presentations are topics that belong to the informative presentations category as they condense countless research hours into manageable reports for the academic jury. 

Since these informational presentations can be perceived as lengthy and data-filled, it is important to learn the following professional presentation skills:

• Attention to detail
• Be able to explain complex information in simpler terms
• Creative thinking
• Powerful diction
• Working on pauses and transitions
• Pacing the presentation, so not too much information is divulged per slide

The leading inspirational platform, TEDx, comes to mind when talking about inspirational presentations. This presentation format has the peculiarity of maximizing the engagement with the audience to divulge a message, and due to that, it has specific requirements any presenter must meet.

This presentation format usually involves a speaker on a stage, either sitting or better standing, in which the presenter engages with the audience with a storytelling format about a life experience, a job done that provided a remarkable improvement for society, etc.

Empathizing with the audience is the key ingredient for these inspirational presentations. Still, creativity is what shapes the outcome of your performance as people are constantly looking for different experiences – not the same recipe rephrased with personal touches. The human factor is what matters here, way above data and research. What has your experience to offer to others? How can it motivate another human being to pursue a similar path or discover their true calling?

To achieve success in terms of communication skills presentation, these inspirational presentations have the following requirements:

• Focus on the audience (engage, consider their interests, and make them a part of your story)
• Putting ego aside
• Creative communication skills
• Storytelling skills
• Body language knowledge to apply the correct gestures to accompany your story
• Voice training
• Using powerful words

After discussing the different kinds of presentations we can come across at any stage of our lives, a group of presentation skills is standard in any type of presentation. See below what makes a good presentation and which skills you must count on to succeed as a presenter.

Punctuality

Punctuality is a crucial aspect of giving an effective presentation. Nothing says more about respect for your audience and the organization you represent than delivering the presentation on time . Arriving last minute puts pressure on the tech team behind audiovisuals, as they don’t have enough preparation to test microphones, stage lights, and projector settings, which can lead to a less powerful presentation Even when discussing presentations hosted in small rooms for a reduced audience, testing the equipment becomes essential for an effective presentation.

A solution for this is to arrive at least 30 minutes early. Ideally, one hour is a sweet spot since the AV crew has time to check the gear and requirements for your presentation. Another benefit of this, for example, in inspirational presentations, is measuring the previous presenter’s impact on the audience. This gives insights about how to resonate with the public, and their interest, and how to accommodate your presentation for maximum impact.

Body Language

Our bodies can make emotions transparent for others, even when we are unaware of such a fact. Proper training for body language skills reduces performance anxiety, giving the audience a sense of expertise about the presented topic. 

Give your presentation and the audience the respect they deserve by watching over these potential mistakes:

• Turning your back to the audience for extended periods : It’s okay to do so when introducing an important piece of information or explaining a graph, but it is considered rude to give your back to the audience constantly.
• Fidgeting : We are all nervous in the presence of strangers, even more, if we are the center of attention for that moment. Instead of playing with your hair or making weird hand gestures, take a deep breath to center yourself before the presentation and remember that everything you could do to prepare is already done. Trust your instincts and give your best.
• Intense eye contact : Have you watched a video where the presenter stared at the camera the entire time? That’s the feeling you transmit to spectators through intense eye contact. It’s a practice often used by politicians to persuade.
• Swearing : This is a no-brainer. Even when you see influencers swearing on camera or in podcasts or live presentations, it is considered an informal and lousy practice for business and academic situations. If you have a habit to break when it comes to this point, find the humor in these situations and replace your swear words with funny alternatives (if the presentation allows for it). 

Voice Tone plays a crucial role in delivering effective presentations and knowing how to give a good presentation. Your voice is a powerful tool for exposing your ideas and feelings . Your voice can articulate the message you are telling, briefing the audience if you feel excited about what you are sharing or, in contrast, if you feel the presentation is a burden you ought to complete.

Remember, passion is a primary ingredient in convincing people. Therefore, transmitting such passion with a vibrant voice may help gather potential business partners’ interest.  

But what if you feel sick prior to the presentation? If, by chance, your throat is sore minutes before setting foot on the stage, try this: when introducing yourself, mention that you are feeling a bit under the weather. This resonates with the audience to pay more attention to your efforts. In case you don’t feel comfortable about that, ask the organizers for a cup of tea, as it will settle your throat and relax your nerves.

Tech Skills

Believe it or not, people still feel challenged by technology these days. Maybe that’s the reason why presentation giants like Tony Robbins opt not to use PowerPoint presentations . The reality is that there are plenty of elements involved in a presentation that can go wrong from the tech side:

• A PDF not opening
• Saving your presentation in a too-recent PowerPoint version
• A computer not booting up
• Mac laptops and their never-ending compatibility nightmare
• Not knowing how to change between slides
• Not knowing how to use a laser pointer
• Internet not working
• Audio not working

We can come up with a pretty long list of potential tech pitfalls, and yet more than half of them fall in presenters not being knowledgeable about technology.

If computers aren’t your thing, let the organization know about this beforehand. There is always a crew member available to help presenters switch between slides or configure the presentation for streaming. This takes the pressure off your shoulders, allowing you to concentrate on the content to present. Remember, even Bill Gates can get a BSOD during a presentation .

Presentations, while valuable for conveying information and ideas, can be daunting for many individuals. Here are some common difficulties people encounter when giving presentations:

Public Speaking Anxiety

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, affects a significant portion of the population. This anxiety can lead to nervousness, trembling, and forgetfulness during a presentation.

Lack of Confidence

Many presenters struggle with self-doubt, fearing that they may not be knowledgeable or skilled enough to engage their audience effectively.

Content Organization

Organizing information in a coherent and engaging manner can be challenging. Presenters often grapple with how to structure their content to make it easily digestible for the audience. Artificial Intelligence can help us significantly reduce the content arrangement time when you work with tools like our AI Presentation Maker (made for presenters by experts in presentation design). 

Audience Engagement

Keeping the audience’s attention and interest throughout the presentation can be difficult. Distractions, disengaged attendees, or lack of interaction can pose challenges.

Technical Issues

Technology glitches, such as malfunctioning equipment, incompatible file formats, or poor internet connectivity, can disrupt presentations and increase stress.

Time Management

Striking the right balance between providing enough information and staying within time limits is a common challenge. Going over or under the allotted time can affect the effectiveness of the presentation.

Handling Questions and Challenges

Responding to unexpected questions, criticism, or challenges from the audience can be difficult, especially when presenters are unprepared or lack confidence in their subject matter.

Visual Aids and Technology

Creating and effectively using visual aids like slides or multimedia can be a struggle for some presenters. Technical competence is essential in this aspect.

Language and Articulation

Poor language skills or unclear articulation can hinder effective communication. Presenters may worry about stumbling over words or failing to convey their message clearly.

Maintaining appropriate and confident body language can be challenging. Avoiding nervous habits, maintaining eye contact, and using gestures effectively requires practice.

Overcoming Impersonal Delivery

In virtual presentations, maintaining a personal connection with the audience can be difficult. The absence of face-to-face interaction can make it challenging to engage and read the audience.

Cultural and Diversity Awareness

Presenting to diverse audiences requires sensitivity to cultural differences and varying levels of familiarity with the topic.

In this section, we gathered some tips on how to improve presentation skills that can certainly make an impact if applied to your presentation skills. We believe these skills can be cultivated to transform into habits for your work routine.

Tip #1: Build a narrative

One memorable way to guarantee presentation success is by writing a story of all the points you desire to cover. This statement is based on the logic behind storytelling and its power to connect with people .

Don’t waste time memorizing slides or reading your presentation to the audience. It feels unnatural, and any question that diverts from the topic in discussion certainly puts you in jeopardy or, worse, exposes you as a fraud in the eyes of the audience. And before you ask, it is really evident when a presenter has a memorized speech. 

Build and rehearse the presentation as if telling a story to a group of interested people. Lower the language barrier by avoiding complex terms that maybe even you aren’t fully aware of their meaning. Consider the ramifications of that story, what it could lead to, and which are the opportunities to explore. Then, visualize yourself giving the presentation in a natural way.

Applying this technique makes the presentation feel like second nature to you. It broadens the spectrum in which you can show expertise over a topic or even build the basis for new interesting points of view about the project.

Tip #2: Don’t talk for more than 3 minutes per slide

It is a common practice of presenters to bombard the audience with facts and information whilst retaining the same slide on the screen. Why can this happen? It could be because the presenter condensed the talk into very few slides and preferred to talk. The reality is that your spectators won’t retain the information you are giving unless you give visual cues to help that process. 

Opt to prepare more slides and pace your speech to match the topics shown on each slide. Don’t spend more than 3 minutes per slide unless you have to introduce a complex piece of data. Use visual cues to direct the spectators about what you talk about, and summarize the principal concepts discussed at the end of each section.

Tip #3: Practice meditation daily

Anxiety is the number one enemy of professional presenters. It slowly builds without you being aware of your doubts and can hinder your performance in multiple ways: making you feel paralyzed, fidgeting, making you forget language skills or concepts, affecting your health, etc.

Meditation is an ancient practice taken from Buddhist teachings that train your mind to be here in the present. We often see the concepts of meditation and mindfulness as synonyms, whereas you should be aware that meditation is a practice that sets the blocks to reach a state of mindfulness. For presenters, being in the here and now is essential to retain focus, but meditation techniques also teach us to control our breathing and be in touch with our body signals when stress builds up. 

The customary practice of meditation has an impact on imagination and creativity but also helps to build patience – a skill much needed for connecting with your audience in instructional presentations.

Having the proper set of presentation skills can be quite subjective. It goes beyond presentation tips and deepens into how flexible we can be in our ability to communicate ideas.

Different presentations and different audiences shape the outcome of our efforts. Therefore, having a basic understanding of how to connect, raise awareness, and empathize with people can be key ingredients for your career as a presenter. A word of advice: success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes dedication and patience to build communication skills . Don’t condition your work to believe you will be ready “someday”; it’s best to practice and experience failure as part of the learning process.

Like this article? Please share

Business Presentations, Presentation Approaches, Presentation Skills Filed under Education

Related Articles

Filed under Business • May 17th, 2024

How to Make a Transition Plan Presentation

Make change procedures in your company a successful experience by implementing transition plan presentations. A detailed guide with PPT templates.

Filed under Business • April 22nd, 2024

Setting SMART Goals – A Complete Guide (with Examples + Free Templates)

This guide on SMART goals introduces the concept, explains the definition and its meaning, along the main benefits of using the criteria for a business.

Filed under PowerPoint Tutorials • April 1st, 2024

How to Add Subscript and Superscript in PowerPoint

Using subscript and superscript in PowerPoint shouldn’t be a challenge. Learn how to properly use these two special type symbols with this guide.

Leave a Reply

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

How to Present to an Audience That Knows More Than You

• Deborah Grayson Riegel

Lean into being a facilitator — not an expert.

What happens when you have to give a presentation to an audience that might have some professionals who have more expertise on the topic than you do? While it can be intimidating, it can also be an opportunity to leverage their deep and diverse expertise in service of the group’s learning. And it’s an opportunity to exercise some intellectual humility, which includes having respect for other viewpoints, not being intellectually overconfident, separating your ego from your intellect, and being willing to revise your own viewpoint — especially in the face of new information. This article offers several tips for how you might approach a roomful of experts, including how to invite them into the discussion without allowing them to completely take over, as well as how to pivot on the proposed topic when necessary.

I was five years into my executive coaching practice when I was invited to lead a workshop on “Coaching Skills for Human Resource Leaders” at a global conference. As the room filled up with participants, I identified a few colleagues who had already been coaching professionally for more than a decade. I felt self-doubt start to kick in: Why were they even here? What did they come to learn? Why do they want to hear from me?

• Deborah Grayson Riegel is a professional speaker and facilitator, as well as a communication and presentation skills coach. She teaches leadership communication at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and has taught for Wharton Business School, Columbia Business School’s Women in Leadership Program, and Peking University’s International MBA Program. She is the author of Overcoming Overthinking: 36 Ways to Tame Anxiety for Work, School, and Life and the best-selling Go To Help: 31 Strategies to Offer, Ask for, and Accept Help .

Partner Center

• SHIFT Development
• SHIFT Deploy
• SHIFT Reporter
• SHIFT Ecosystem
• Custom eLearning Development
• Enhanced AI Services
• LMS Platforms
• Big Data & Analytics
• Infrastructure
• Pharmaceutical
• Our Customers
• Resource Library

SHIFT's eLearning Blog

Our blog provides the best practices, tips, and inspiration for corporate training, instructional design, eLearning and mLearning.

• eLearning tips

10 Inspiring SlideShare Presentations Every eLearning Professional Should See

• eLearning (270)
• eLearning tips (116)
• corporate training (56)
• SHIFT news (38)
• Instructional & Graphic Design (36)
• eLearning design (34)
• instructional design (24)
• mobile learning (22)

Enjoy these awesome presentation, learn and get inspired...

1) Tweak Your Slides: Ten Design Principles for Educators (Version 3.0)

Learners often "buy e-learning" with their eyes and if they don't find it attractive it won't motivate them to learn. Good news is that by following some simple and practical design principles your eLearning screens can look great. Designing your material, then, has a lot to do with sticking to the essentials and arranging them properly.   We personally love how actionable tips are provided in this presentation. 

2) 5 Reasons Typography is Powerful

Everybody knows that typography can be incredibly powerful. It can change the entire look and feel of your eLearning courses. It's use will set the mood and tone of your material. 

What is the typography you’re using saying about your course? This presentation has some awesome takeaways about how to use some of the basic principles of typography not only to achieve readability but also to bring interest. Remember to call upon the 5 points when designing your eLearning courses. 

3) 16 eLearning Quotes to Inspire You

For many, the simplest ideas in the form of a short quote can help them think more clearly. That's why we've curated a list of what we think are some of the best eLearning or education quotes. You'll find thoughts from people like Elliot Massie, Dr. Michael Allen, to historical figures like Henry Ford. 

We hope you get the dosis of inspiration from these famous eLearning industry professionals: 

4) Brain Rules for Presenters

The brain is our primary tool for learning. It's seat of thought, memory,  consciousness and emotion. So it only makes sense to explore it before attempting to design our eLearning courses. By understanding how the learner’s brain functions, course developers are better able to create material that works with the brain and not contradict it. 

In 131 slides, Garr Reynols breaks down what he believes are the main takeaways and quotes from the book " Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School " . This is a must-see  presentation of how to do a brain-friendly, learning-maximised presentation or eLearning course.

5) Great Presentations Are Like Ads

Getting learners to focus on your material is difficult. Efficient course developers make focusing with the material easier by making it fun, attractive and engaging. Much like advertisements, effective eLearning designs manage to grab the learner's attention while piquing their curiosity for more information. 

Just putting words on a screen sucks! Learners get easily bored when you bombard them with numbers, heavy paragraphs, and too much factual information. Avoid this by getting more creative and experimental. Apply the 3 R's of advertising to eLearning!

6) 5 Killer Ways to Open Up Your Next Presentation

Great beginnings of the best novels or TV series or whatnot never fail at making people curious. By working on a great course introduction, you’re tapping people’s innate capability of curiosity and giving them an opportunity to learn something new.  Begin with a story, an offer, or an interesting fact as if you are meeting someone for the first time. If your opening slides are good, learners will happily read your introductory material.

Without doubt, s uccessful eLearning courses that people complete from start to finish share one crucial element: a solid introduction. Below are some indispensable tips to creating one.

7) Introduction to Slide Design: 7 Rules for Creating Effective Slides

Design is too often overlooked by course developers, or otherwise misunderstood – some eLearning designers think that as long as their course "looks good," it's enough. But design affects the way a learner takes in information, so giving a bit more thought to the visual layout of the screens of your course is an important part of eLearning best practices. Follow these simple rules and see the difference they make.

8) How To Use Colors Wisely

"Color Matters. It always has, and it always will." Every shade and stroke of color, or the lack of it, creates its own message. Colors  are powerful in that they elicit emotions, latent ones included. That means that too many colors can overwhelm the learner, making it hard to focus on the course material.  So choosing them wisely can effectively deliver the emotional reaction you expect from your audience.  

This Slideshare presentation gives us three valuable tips on how to use colors effectively in your presentations or eLearning courses: 

9) 20 Eye-Opening Stats You Probably Didn't Know About Mobile Learning

Still not sure about implementing Mobile Learning? Consider these eye-opening statistics published by different organizations such as ASTD, iPass, Towards Maturity and Ambient Insight. Data from their most recent surveys reveal some interesting facts that you might be interested in. 

SHIFT collected these facts about mobile learning to make the case for why everyone needs to take notice of the power of mobile in the learning industry.

10) Design for Usability

Jakob Nielsen defines usability as a "quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use." Basically, its a necessary condition for survival. If your eLearning course or web site is difficult to use, people leave. Is that simple.

A course that provides learners with the right content it’s useful, but if it takes a lot of effort and thinking to actually find the content doesn't work.  It should be too obvious where to click, how to search and how to navigate so that users won’t waste time and get impatient. Definitely take a second to flip through the presentation, as you'll learn a great lesson.

Share other awesome and inspiring presentations with us! 

Karla Gutierrez

Topics: eLearning , eLearning tips

Subscribe and Get The Latest News

Lists by topic.

• Industry Trends (17)
• mLearning (15)
• brain learning (6)
• eLearning Events (5)
• eLearning benefits (5)
• Project Management (4)
• adult learning (4)
• eLearning strategy (4)
• writing for eLearning (4)
• brandon hall awards (3)
• color psychology (3)
• creativity (3)
• eLearning infographics (3)
• eLearning trends (3)
• effective eLearning (3)
• online training (3)
• productivity (3)
• workplace learning trends (3)
• bite-sized learning (2)
• eLearning interactivity (2)
• eLearning storyboard (2)
• eLearning tools (2)
• elearning scenarios (2)
• freebies (2)
• infographics (2)
• microlearning (2)
• storytelling (2)
• visual design (2)
• Learning Games (1)
• beneficios eLearning (1)
• brain-based learning (1)
• client relationships (1)
• competency-based learning (1)
• compliance eLearning (1)
• design thinking (1)
• design trends (1)
• e-learning templates (1)
• eLearning 101 (1)
• eLearning ROI (1)
• eLearning articles (1)
• eLearning best practices (1)
• eLearning books (1)
• eLearning budget (1)
• eLearning courses (1)
• eLearning history (1)
• eLearning ideas (1)
• eLearning inspiration (1)
• eLearning marketing tips (1)
• eLearning mistakes (1)
• eLearning statistics (1)
• eLearning stock photos (1)
• eLearning terms (1)
• eLearning video (1)
• elearning challenges (1)
• elearning demo (1)
• elearning implementation (1)
• elearning leaders (1)
• elearning templates (1)
• engaging eLearning (1)
• free images for elearning (1)
• gamification (1)
• how we read online (1)
• interactive elearning (1)
• key success factor for eLearning (1)
• learning analytics (1)
• learning events (1)
• metrics (1)
• millennials (1)
• modern eLearning courses (1)
• motivation (1)
• online courses (1)
• online learning (1)
• procedure training (1)
• rapid prototyping (1)
• responsive elearning (1)
• successful elearning (1)
• training (1)
• usability (1)
• usability elearning (1)
• visual communication (1)
• writing tips (1)

Related Posts

6 strategies to promote transfer of learning in the workplace.

We are in the midst of a skills revolution. Rapid changes demand that learning not only be quick but deeply relevant. With the challenge of "information overload," where too much data can overwhelm learners, it becomes essential to focus and streamline training efforts.

• Silvia Rojas
• 16 min read
• Tue, May 14, 2024 @ 03:33 PM

3 Strategies to Boost Engagement in Your eLearning Programs

In today's eLearning environment, success metrics have evolved beyond simply ticking off course completions. Today, the true measure lies in the depth of a learner's engagement with the content. This shift in focus recognizes that being logged in isn’t the same as being tuned in.

• 14 min read
• Fri, May 10, 2024 @ 12:12 PM

Factors That Affect the Transfer of Learning in the Workplace

Have you ever noticed that despite spending a lot on training programs, you're not seeing the expected improvements in workplace performance? This is a common frustration in the world of corporate learning and development. We invest in these training programs aiming to boost skills and productivity, but too often, the new knowledge and skills don't translate into better performance on the job.

• Diana Cohen
• Sun, May 05, 2024 @ 11:11 AM

We combine best-in class technology, strategy and future-proof business solutions to bring your content to life, faster!

Technologies

• Content Development
• Terms & Conditions

© Copyright 2023 Aura Interactiva

Got any suggestions?

We want to hear from you! Send us a message and help improve Slidesgo

Top searches

Trending searches

11 templates

67 templates

21 templates

environmental science

36 templates

9 templates

holy spirit

It seems that you like this template, e-learning presentation, premium google slides theme and powerpoint template.

New and interesting technologies are being used for teaching. This means that you don’t need to be at school or at the university to take courses. If you need to prepare a webinar or you must give a presentation to talk about e-learning and these kind of advances in education, this new template by Slidesgo is the way to go!

If you’re a teacher, connecting with your students is what’s important, and you can achieve this with a professional design. To begin with, you’ll find some flat linear bicolor illustrations with wavy backgrounds, a style that is always trendy in design. As pictures and images are worth a thousand words, try to make the most of them. However, text is also essential, so let’s talk about the typography. Titles use a sans-serif typeface that works very well for digital screens. Body text also uses a sans-serif font, but this one has a modern look, which is a good added value for your presentation. But that’s not all. We know that numeric data is also key to stating your point, and that’s why we’ve decided to add graphs, timelines, maps and icons. Everything in this template is editable, making it the perfect choice for a custom presentation to suit your needs. What are you waiting for to download it?

Features of this template

• 100% editable and easy to modify
• 17 different slides to impress your audience
• Available in five colors: orange, blue, yellow, purple, and green
• Contains easy-to-edit graphics and maps
• Includes 1000+ icons and Flaticon's extension for customizing your slides
• Uses illustrated concepts from Storyset : editable color, different backgrounds, animated illustrations
• Designed to be used in Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint
• 16:9 widescreen format suitable for all types of screens
• Includes information about fonts, colors, and credits of the free and premium resources used

What are the benefits of having a Premium account?

What Premium plans do you have?

What can I do to have unlimited downloads?

Combines with:

This template can be combined with this other one to create the perfect presentation:

Don’t want to attribute Slidesgo?

Gain access to over 24300 templates & presentations with premium from 1.67€/month.

Are you already Premium? Log in

Available colors

Original Color

Related posts on our blog

How to Add, Duplicate, Move, Delete or Hide Slides in Google Slides

How to Change Layouts in PowerPoint

How to Change the Slide Size in Google Slides

Related presentations.

Premium template

Unlock this template and gain unlimited access

Register for free and start editing online

Improving support for mental health ED presentations

17 May 2024

The number of mental health patients presenting to emergency departments has risen dramatically says Dr Silke Kuehl.

Almost one in five emergency department presentations are by mental health clients, and more needs to be done to improve services, a University of Otago, Wellington, study has found.

Published in today’s New Zealand Medical Journal, Department of Public Health researchers used 2017/18 ED data from Wellington Regional Hospital to compare ED presentations of mental health clients and non-clients to identify areas in need of improvement.

Lead author Dr Silke Kuehl, Affiliate Researcher with the Department of Psychological Medicine, who has a 20-year background of emergency and mental health nursing, says the number of people trying to access mental health and/or addiction services has risen dramatically both here and overseas, leaving health services struggling to meet demand.

“Given the high number of presentations by mental health clients to ED, it seems that mental health services were unable or unsuitable to meet their often-complex needs,” she says.

Of the more than 49,000 presentations, 18 per cent were by clients of mental health services. Compared to other presenters, mental health clients were often younger, female, and Māori ; they also required more urgent care, waited longer, and were often/predominantly admitted under the emergency department.

The researchers found many attended for mental health concerns, pain, or trauma, but current ED data does not identify self-harm behaviour.

“These people are vulnerable to unequal treatment, physical illness, adverse health outcomes and premature mortality.

“This study is important because if we know more about the characteristics of mental health clients presenting to ED and how ED manages to provide care, we can discover any service or data gaps and determine if any improvements are required,” Dr Kuehl says.

The researchers believe improving how mental health data is captured, along with enhancing systems and processes, are needed to ensure ED staff can better meet the often-complex needs of mental health patients.

“Optimal ED management requires a holistic approach and close links with mental health and community services. Along with this, improved capturing of ED mental health data and monitoring is needed to help guide service improvement initiatives.

“By assessing mental health clients' wellbeing and addressing their unmet needs, future ED presentations would likely reduce, which is a win-win for all.”

Publication details:

Almost one in five emergency department presentations are by mental health clients: a secondary data analysis

Silke Kuehl, Abigail Freeland, James Stanley, Ruth Cunningham

New Zealand Medical Journal (2024 May 17; 137 (1595)

MSU Extension 4-H Dairy Cattle Production & Management

Virtual Learning Showcase – Dairy Classes and Tips

May 17, 2024 - Michigan State University Extension

4-H youth have worked so hard on their 4-H dairy projects. In cases where lactating dairy cows and those in the last two months of their pregnancy can’t be seen in person, online judging is a great opportunity for youth to share what they have learned and receive feedback from a judge to help them think about their goals and plans for next year.

The document provides recommendations for fair managers to consider regarding what number of photos and length of videos to permit for virtual entries. It has been compiled based on information received from judges, industry professionals and other state Extension services. This list is provided in accordance with MDARD’s department system for county fairs. 

Virtual Learning Showcase Class Structure Guidelines for Dairy Cattle

Recommendations for virtual showcase entries.

• The focus should be on the animal, not the exhibitor. However, at some point in the video, there should be a shot of the exhibitor and the animal with the exhibitor's face visible.
• Show all views and angles of the animal.
• Animals must be clean.
• Fit animals as if they were going into the live show ring
• Appropriate show attire must be worn (per local fair rules and guidelines).
• No preview awards, banners, etc. may be in the background of the video. Belt buckles can be worn.
• Youth should not state their name, club, breeder or any details about their project. No talking is permitted in the submitted video unless allowed per project.
• All videos should be continuous. Videos should be no more than 4GB and submitted in the horizontal 16x9 (1080 pixel) aspect ratio. (Simply rotate your phone sideways to “landscape mode”).
• Do not alter the raw video by placing overlay, etc.

DOWNLOAD FILE

Tags: 4-h , 4-h dairy , avian influenza , dairy , dairy cattle , msu extension

new - method size: 1 - Random key: 0, method: personalized - key: 0

You Might Also Be Interested In

Dairy Farm Visit

Published on November 24, 2020

Dos and Don'ts: Staying Healthy Around Animals

Published on September 26, 2019

Basics of Biosecurity

4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl

4-h dairy health day, 2024 michigan dairy expo and michigan 4-h youth dairy days, accessibility questions:.

For questions about accessibility and/or if you need additional accommodations for a specific document, please send an email to ANR Communications & Marketing at [email protected] .

• avian influenza,
• dairy cattle,
• msu extension,
• 4-h dairy cattle

• Faculty / Administrators

Boston University School of Theology

745 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215

BUSTH Announces Faculty Publications and Presentations for May 2024

The School of Theology is pleased to announce the following faculty publications and scholarly presentations for May 2024:

“Chaplaincy Education: Exploring Creative Collaboration,” Journal of Pastoral Theology 34, no. 1 (2024): 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1080/10649867.2024.2342047

Rebecca Copeland (presentation)

Edward L. Mark Lecture at Harvard-Epworth UMC on April 28, 2024: “Entangled Being, Unoriginal Sin, & Recovering the Christian Practice of Repentance for Systemic Evils”

“ The Social Gospel: The Heart of Progressive Christianity. ” at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City on May 5 th , 2024.

“From Service to Solidarity: On the (Im)Possibilities of Liberative Service-Learning,” Religion & Education (2024), 1–19. doi:10.1080/15507394.2024.2346055

Sandage, S.J., & Stein, L.B. (2024). Mindfulness and other virtues in the development of intercultural and interreligious competence. Mindfulness. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-024-02372-z

Lifemaking: Political Philosophy for Human Flourishing in African Perspective. State University of New York Press, 2024.

Kálábárí Témétéín Ékwen (Bantu Edition). Noirledge Publishing, 2024.

The Mind of African Strategists: A Study of Kalabari Management Practice. Paperworth Books Limited, 2024.

“Religious Studies Whither and Why: Deeper Move into the Sacred,” Religious Studies Review, Vol. 50, no. 1 (April 2024): 43-47.

Benno van den Toren, Joseph Bosco Bangura, and Richard Seed, Is Africa Incurably Religious? Secularization and Discipleship in Africa. Missiology: An International Review, 52 (2), 234-235. https://doi.org/10.1177/00918296241227732

Presentation for the “Feast of Creation and the Mystery of Creation” Conference in Assisi, Rome, March 14-17.

“Sabbath Stillness: Thoughts of a Lingering God,” Spiritus: A Journal in Christian Spirituality 24 (2024): 146-159. https://doi.org/10.1353/scs.2024.a924578

• Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

View all posts

• The Student Experience
• Financial Aid
• Degree Finder
• Undergraduate Arts & Sciences
• Departments and Programs
• Research, Scholarship & Creativity
• Centers & Institutes
• Geisel School of Medicine
• Guarini School of Graduate & Advanced Studies
• Thayer School of Engineering
• Tuck School of Business

Campus Life

• Diversity & Inclusion
• Athletics & Recreation
• Student Groups & Activities
• Residential Life

English and Creative Writing

Department of english and creative writing.

• [email protected] Contact & Department Info Mail
• Undergraduate
• Modified Major
• Transfer Credit
• Creative Writing Concentration
• Past Honors
• Course Group I
• Course Group II
• Course Group III
• Course Group IV
• Courses - No Course Group
• Creative Writing Courses
• Courses (No Major Credit)
• Foreign Study Courses
• Independent Study and Honors
• The Historical Philosophy of W.E.B. Du Bois
• Creative Writing Prizes
• Department Prizes
• Undergraduate Fellowships
• Foreign Study
• London Foreign Study Program
• News & Events
• News & Events
• Illuminations
• Robert Hayden
• Black Nature Conference
• Sanborn Tea

Search form

2024 english and creative writing honors thesis presentations.

Please join the Department of English and Creative Writing for this year's English and creative writing honors thesis presentations, Tuesday, May 28 - Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Sanborn Library.

Please join the Department of English and Creative Writing for this year's English and creative writing honors thesis presentations, Tuesday, May 28 - Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Sanborn Library. These presentations will also be available virtually. Please register at dartgo.org/engl-cw-honors .

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

12:30 p.m. Introduction   12:45 p.m. Elle Muller Haunted Halls and Misnamed Monsters: Displacement and Erasure in Hrólfs Saga Kraka and Beowulf   1:00 p.m. Kennedy Hamblen Soft Mechanics: Hallucinogenic Media from De Quincey to Burroughs   1:15 p.m. Jea Mo Letters from Hanseong Street   1:30 p.m. Elizabeth Lee Grooves of Enactment: Bob Dylan's Planet Waves and the Philosophy of Recording   1:45 p.m. Isabella Macioce Everything Is a Love Poem   2:00 p.m. Ophelia Woodland Landmarks: A First Approach

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

1:00 p.m. Introduction   1:15 pm. Eliza Holmes The Madwoman Reimagined: Narration and the Diagnostic Process in Victorian Gothic Fiction   1:30 p.m. Maria Amador The Museum of Everyday Life   1:45 p.m. Kat Arrington Please Watch Me When I'm Alone So I Don't Stop Existing   2:00 p.m. Elijah Oaks A Paralytic History: Narratives of the Late South   2:15 p.m. Edgar Morales Out in the Field, There Are No More Fences   2:30 p.m. Zhenia Dubrova What Remains: Stories

Thursday, May 30, 2024

10:00 a.m. Introduction   10:15 a.m. Grace Schwab Counsel and Consequence: Intergenerational Models of Womanhood in the Novels of Jane Austen   10:30 a.m. Arielle Feuerstein "Remember who the enemy is": Liminality as a Tool for Revolution in The Hunger Games   10:45 a.m. Laurel Lee Pitts Good Neighbors   11:00 a.m. Heather Damia In a Woman's Hide: Supernatural Gender in Shakespeare's History Plays   11:15 a.m. Jiyoung Park Post Office 4640   11:30 a.m. Michaela Benton Wounded Lives: Trauma, Survival, and Slavery in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Octavia Butler's Kindred .

Presentation Details

Q3 fy24 earnings presentation, quick links.

• Annual report

Contact Stride Investor Relations

Investor Email Alerts

To opt-in for investor email alerts, please enter your email address in the field below and select at least one alert option. After submitting your request, you will receive an activation email to the requested email address. You must click the activation link in order to complete your subscription. You can sign up for additional alert options at any time.

At Stride Inc., we promise to treat your data with respect and will not share your information with any third party. You can unsubscribe to any of the investor alerts you are subscribed to by visiting the ‘unsubscribe’ section below. If you experience any issues with this process, please contact us for further assistance.

By providing your email address below, you are providing consent to Stride Inc. to send you the requested Investor Email Alert updates.

Email Alert Sign Up Confirmation

Investor support.

For more investor information please contact us .

Other Helpful Links

• Annual reports
• Investor FAQ

Lifelong Solutions

• Stride Career Prep
• K12 Tuition-Free Online Public Schools
• K12 Private Academy
• The Keystone School
• Stride Learning Solutions

Meet Stride

• Mission & Vision
• Leadership & Board
• Careers at Galvanize

*K12 Inc.'s corporate name change to Stride, Inc. will be effective December 16. Stride will trade on the NYSE under the symbol "LRN."

Copyright @ 2020 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. K12 is a registered trademark of K12 Inc. The K12 logo and other marks referenced herein are trademarks of K12 Inc. and its subsidiaries, and other marks are owned by third parties.

In August and September 2020, we issued an aggregate of $420,000,000 principal amount of our 1.125% convertible senior notes due 2027, which we refer to as our “convertible notes.” The convertible notes are convertible in certain circumstances into consideration that consists, at our election, of shares of our common stock, cash or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock. As permitted by the indenture governing the notes, we have irrevocably elected that all future conversions of the notes will be settled pursuant to combination settlement. Generally, under this settlement method, the conversion value will be settled in cash up to the principal amount being converted, and any excess of the conversion value over the principal amount will be settled, at our election, in cash or shares of our common stock.

Stride trades on the NYSE under the symbol LRN.  Copyright © 2020 Stride, Inc. All rights reserved. The Stride word mark, logo and other marks referenced herein are trademarks of Stride, Inc. and its subsidiaries, and other company names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Privacy Policy     |    Accessibility     |    IP Policy     |    Terms of Use     |    Download Adobe Reader

The world is getting “smarter” every day, and to keep up with consumer expectations, companies are increasingly using machine learning algorithms to make things easier. You can see them in use in end-user devices (through face recognition for unlocking smartphones) or for detecting credit card fraud (like triggering alerts for unusual purchases).

Within  artificial intelligence  (AI) and  machine learning , there are two basic approaches: supervised learning and unsupervised learning. The main difference is that one uses labeled data to help predict outcomes, while the other does not. However, there are some nuances between the two approaches, and key areas in which one outperforms the other. This post clarifies the differences so you can choose the best approach for your situation.

Supervised learning  is a machine learning approach that’s defined by its use of labeled data sets. These data sets are designed to train or “supervise” algorithms into classifying data or predicting outcomes accurately. Using labeled inputs and outputs, the model can measure its accuracy and learn over time.

Supervised learning can be separated into two types of problems when  data mining : classification and regression:

• Classification  problems use an algorithm to accurately assign test data into specific categories, such as separating apples from oranges. Or, in the real world, supervised learning algorithms can be used to classify spam in a separate folder from your inbox. Linear classifiers, support vector machines, decision trees and  random forest  are all common types of classification algorithms.
• Regression  is another type of supervised learning method that uses an algorithm to understand the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Regression models are helpful for predicting numerical values based on different data points, such as sales revenue projections for a given business. Some popular regression algorithms are linear regression, logistic regression, and polynomial regression.

Unsupervised learning  uses machine learning algorithms to analyze and cluster unlabeled data sets. These algorithms discover hidden patterns in data without the need for human intervention (hence, they are “unsupervised”).

Unsupervised learning models are used for three main tasks: clustering, association and dimensionality reduction:

• Clustering  is a data mining technique for grouping unlabeled data based on their similarities or differences. For example, K-means clustering algorithms assign similar data points into groups, where the K value represents the size of the grouping and granularity. This technique is helpful for market segmentation, image compression, and so on.
• Association  is another type of unsupervised learning method that uses different rules to find relationships between variables in a given data set. These methods are frequently used for market basket analysis and recommendation engines, along the lines of “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” recommendations.
• Dimensionality reduction  is a learning technique that is used when the number of features (or dimensions) in a given data set is too high. It reduces the number of data inputs to a manageable size while also preserving the data integrity. Often, this technique is used in the preprocessing data stage, such as when autoencoders remove noise from visual data to improve picture quality.

The main distinction between the two approaches is the use of labeled data sets. To put it simply, supervised learning uses labeled input and output data, while an unsupervised learning algorithm does not.

In supervised learning, the algorithm “learns” from the training data set by iteratively making predictions on the data and adjusting for the correct answer. While supervised learning models tend to be more accurate than unsupervised learning models, they require upfront human intervention to label the data appropriately. For example, a supervised learning model can predict how long your commute will be based on the time of day, weather conditions and so on. But first, you must train it to know that rainy weather extends the driving time.

Unsupervised learning models, in contrast, work on their own to discover the inherent structure of unlabeled data. Note that they still require some human intervention for validating output variables. For example, an unsupervised learning model can identify that online shoppers often purchase groups of products at the same time. However, a data analyst would need to validate that it makes sense for a recommendation engine to group baby clothes with an order of diapers, applesauce, and sippy cups.

• Goals:  In supervised learning, the goal is to predict outcomes for new data. You know up front the type of results to expect. With an unsupervised learning algorithm, the goal is to get insights from large volumes of new data. The machine learning itself determines what is different or interesting from the data set.
• Applications: Supervised learning models are ideal for spam detection, sentiment analysis, weather forecasting and pricing predictions, among other things. In contrast, unsupervised learning is a great fit for anomaly detection, recommendation engines, customer personas and medical imaging.
• Complexity:  Supervised learning is a simple method for machine learning, typically calculated by using programs like R or Python. In unsupervised learning, you need powerful tools for working with large amounts of unclassified data. Unsupervised learning models are computationally complex because they need a large training set to produce intended outcomes.
• Drawbacks: Supervised learning models can be time-consuming to train, and the labels for input and output variables require expertise. Meanwhile, unsupervised learning methods can have wildly inaccurate results unless you have human intervention to validate the output variables.

Choosing the right approach for your situation depends on how your data scientists assess the structure and volume of your data, as well as the use case. To make your decision, be sure to do the following:

• Evaluate your input data:  Is it labeled or unlabeled data? Do you have experts that can support extra labeling?
• Define your goals:  Do you have a recurring, well-defined problem to solve? Or will the algorithm need to predict new problems?
• Review your options for algorithms:  Are there algorithms with the same dimensionality that you need (number of features, attributes, or characteristics)? Can they support your data volume and structure?

Classifying big data can be a real challenge in supervised learning, but the results are highly accurate and trustworthy. In contrast, unsupervised learning can handle large volumes of data in real time. But, there’s a lack of transparency into how data is clustered and a higher risk of inaccurate results. This is where semi-supervised learning comes in.

Can’t decide on whether to use supervised or unsupervised learning?  Semi-supervised learning  is a happy medium, where you use a training data set with both labeled and unlabeled data. It’s particularly useful when it’s difficult to extract relevant features from data—and when you have a high volume of data.

Semi-supervised learning is ideal for medical images, where a small amount of training data can lead to a significant improvement in accuracy. For example, a radiologist can label a small subset of CT scans for tumors or diseases so the machine can more accurately predict which patients might require more medical attention.

Machine learning models are a powerful way to gain the data insights that improve our world. To learn more about the specific algorithms that are used with supervised and unsupervised learning, we encourage you to delve into the Learn Hub articles on these techniques. We also recommend checking out the blog post that goes a step further, with a detailed look at deep learning and neural networks.

• What is Supervised Learning?
• What is Unsupervised Learning?
• AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning vs. Neural Networks: What’s the difference?

To learn more about how to build machine learning models, explore the free tutorials on the  IBM® Developer Hub .

Get the latest tech insights and expert thought leadership in your inbox.

The Data Differentiator: Learn how to weave a single technology concept into a holistic data strategy that drives business value.

Get our newsletters and topic updates that deliver the latest thought leadership and insights on emerging trends.