Assertion-Evidence slide structure is a better way to design PowerPoint slides

1. Assertion-Evidence slide structure is a better way to design PowerPoint slides Read Chapter 21, “Making Oral Presentations.” The example slides in this presentation are from an article written by a former UHD Professor titled, “Creating Marketing Slides for Engineering Presentations.” The principles discussed in the article are presented in the video, titled, “The Assertion-Evidence Slide Structure for PowerPoint Slide Design” by Robert Yale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNW84FUe0ZA Use Assertion-Evidence Slide Structure as you design your PowerPoint presentation for this class. You should envision yourself as giving your presentation to the person or persons who are the intended readers of your proposal. They have read your proposal and asked you to come in to present your ideas in a formal setting. After your presentation, they will accept your idea, reject your idea, or take your idea into consideration and maybe undertake their own study to better determine the benefits of your ideas or the feasibility of your claims. Assertion-Evidence, also referred to as Claim-Support, is ideal for scientific presentations but is gaining popularity across disciplines because it can be used to explain features (what it is made of, how long it lasts) and benefits (what the customer gains by using the product or service) of purchasing a product or embracing proposal.

2. Assertion-Evidence slides structure encourage presenters to meet the needs of their listeners Your presentation should have a title slide, an overview slide, a few content slides, and a summary or takeaway slide. Depending on your topic, you may want to structure your presentation using Introduction-Method-Research-and-Discussion structure, although you would still use the assertion-evidence slide design strategy. You can use a company slide if it fits your scenario, but your presentation will not be long enough to need section slides as seen in the example in this presentation. Plan to send about one minute per slide. The slides for your presentation should be clean. Notice the example presentation in the book on pages 589-592 have white backgrounds. The listeners concentrate on the words, not the colors or patterns on the slide template. The title on each slide should be a complete sentence (left justified) and should make an assertion or a claim. Listeners read the titles so you want them to be rewarded for their engagement. For example, if the title of a slide is “Cost” then the listener does not learn much. But if the title is “After an initial investment in ABC machines, you will save money through our guarantee repair program,” then the reader is presented with a claim for which they can see a benefit. The content of the slide supports the claim or offers evidence of the benefit made or asserted in the title.

3. Many PowerPoint presentations are cursed Typical PowerPoint slide* The slide does not mention the customer’s need mention how the idea or product features produce a benefit for the customer make the explicit assertion (claim) for later reference encourage the listener to engage the content *The “typical” PPT slide has only forgettable phrases and facts. No effort is made to engage the listener. Compare this strategy to the one on the next slide.

4. The sentence headlines (slide titles) are key to a successful presentation The sentence headline is two lines makes a claim states the customer benefit has you-attitude Note: On this slide, the words “benefit,” “feature,” and “advantage” are added for teaching purposes. They are not part of the real slide.

5. The title slide should have four elements The title slide announces the content of the presentation provides a pertinent image contains the company name or your name contains the date The title slide should not include information about the class

6. The company slide is only used in this class if you are acting on behalf of a real or fictional company The company slide has a two-line title introduces the project leaders, with titles introduces the team members, with titles adds credibility contains relevant, positive image photographs and/or “action” photographs* *Note: Those are not real engineers in the picture - one is a professor and the other is a secretary - but they both look like they know what they are doing and the scene is relevant.

7. The overview slide tells a reader what to expect The overview slide has a two-line title has you-attitude presents images of the section slides that the audience will see later in the presentation

8. Section slides are more common in longer presentations This section slide is a single line but a complete sentence exemplifies how a simple graphic and minimal text can provide a sentence headline and visual evidence

9. Try to emphasize “you-attitude” in the content slides Two-line title You-attitude emphasizes the customer’s need (you, the listener) states a benefit that is made possible by the product’s features and advantages

10. Notice how the content engages the listener, not by filling the slide with text but by anticipating questions Two-line title You-attitude emphasizes the customer’s need arouses the audience’s emotion addresses the technical buyer’s question, “Do the proposed approaches and qualifications meet our specifications?”

11. Notice how the content engages the listener, not by filling the slide with text but by anticipating questions Two-line title You-attitude emphasizes the customer’s need arouses the audience’s emotion addresses the non-technical buyer’s questions, “Are they credible?”; “Do they understand our local needs?”; and “Is this cost effective?”

12. The summary slide complements the overview slide The summary slide has two lines has you-attitude makes the final claim restates the benefits that match the explicit needs stated by the customer in the Request for Proposals