Powerful Presentations : Developing practical guidebook for students

Abstract

Throughout centuries, public speeches have been one of the most powerful tools to make a change in the world. Nowadays, in digitally rich cultures, they have even more potential and broader reach. Presentations have become a widely-adopted learning and teaching and default business communication tool. However, regardless criticality of presentations in people’s private and profes-sional lives, their quality often leaves much to be desired and seeks more attention. University environment, where hundreds of PowerPoint Presentations take place every day, is not an excep-tion

Therefore, the main purpose of the thesis was to research the topic of effective presenting, partic-ularly in academic context. The objective was to identify and address students’ points of interest and challenges when performing at public. It was necessary to draw attention to the problem of poor presentations and suggest new insights to change students’ attitude towards it. These goals were achieved through the survey among students, deep research of topic related sources and creation of a student’s guidebook.

The guidebook represents a practical component of the thesis. Derived from the author’s passion for public speaking and life experiences, the guidebook, in a creative and short format, aims to shift people’s opinion about presenting in public, give food for thought and practical solutions to the most common challenges. The guidebook makes no pretense of substituting specialized sources but plays a complementary and inspirational role.