Professional Presentation Guidelines
Select a company you may want to own in the future, that you mentioned in your introduction, and prepare a professional presentation to investors justifying the use of either variable or absorption costing (you select one) for your company. You want to justify the method you selected as to why it provides the most useful information to the management of this company. Provide specific related examples in your PowerPoint and provide one slide using Excel to justify your selection in numerical terms.
Presentation Requirements: Create 5-10 slide a PowerPoint Presentation (be sure one slide is your Excel example) The first slide must contain your name, date, and course information The last slide is your reference list Proper APA format on citations and references Minimum of 1 scholarly source.
PowerPoint Presentation Do’s and Don’ts
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| Text Keep slide concise Font size should range between 18 – 48, depending upon importance Use fonts that are easy to read Use Uppercase for the first letter in each line Use statements, not sentences Use keywords to help focus the audience | Text Don’t include too many details and data Don’t crowd the information Don’t use flashy or curvy letters Don’t use all uppercase Don’t use abbreviations or acronyms (some leeway here depending upon audience) Don’t use punctuation marks for bulleted items |
| Color Limit the use of color to 2 to 4 shades Use colors that stand out (I prefer light background and dark font) *Colors projected from an overhead will look different from your computer screen | Color Avoid multiple color schemes Don’t use dark background and dark font |
| Images, Shapes, Charts, & Graphs Include images that standout Use only 1-2 images per slide Use shapes or SmartArt to illustrate complete topics Use graphs and charts that show relationships, comparisons, and change Verbally discuss each image, shape, graph, and chart | Images, Shapes, Charts, & Graphs Don’t overuse graphics Don’t use low quality graphics Avoid meaningless graphics |
| Transitions Use some transitions to make a greater impact Keep transitions to a minimum Use the same transition | Transitions Avoid flashy transitions Avoid using random transitions |
| Practice Know your topic Use a data projector to review your presentation Is it easy to read on the screen?Is there too much information on each slide?Are there too many/too few graphics?Are there any distracting elements?Are all the fonts the same, color, size, etc.?Give the presentation to a volunteer audience Ask others for feedback | Practice Don’t read your material directly from the screen (put notes in the Notes section and print them out, but don’t read them) Avoid unnecessary pauses and filler words (um, okay, like, you know, cool, etc.) |
| Other Presentation Pointers Be passionate about your topic Keep eye contact with the audience and move around (if possible)Engage the audience every few minutes by asking a question or asking for comments Slow down, speak slower than usual and add pauses for emphasis Use spell checker on all your slides and have another person proofread it Project a confident body language and image (dress for the part) | Other Presentation Pointers Don’t read word-for-word from your script or notes Avoid monotony by using variation and adding in some surprises |