This resource is available to U of M faculty, staff, and departmental accounts.
Background
This visually rich presentation coupled with a succinct narrative tells the story of the University of Minnesota—who we are, what we do, and where we're headed—for external audiences. This presentation can be used as is or customized by campuses, administrative units, colleges, and departments.
It conveys how the U of M is a vibrant community that is driven to discover solutions to the world's most challenging problems while training the next generation of leaders for Minnesota, the nation, and the world.
PowerPoint Best Practices
Below are some of the do's and don’ts for engaging audiences with the speaker and delivering information that people are likely to remember:
- Slides are not a teleprompter: Avoid reading your slides to the audience.
- Keep it short: The formal presentation should be under 10 minutes; studies show that attention wanes for anything longer.
- ‘Wow, now I understand’: The most effective slides reinforce or highlight the presenter’s message.
- Be inspiring: The presenter and the slides should be provocative enough to capture people’s full attention.
Watch Todd Reubold’s video “Top Tips for Superstar Presentations.”
How to Use This Presentation
While this PowerPoint is meant to be a stand-alone product, it is also designed so that colleges, schools, and units can easily customize the presentation for their specific audiences.
This can be done by subtracting individual slides or even entire sections or “chapters” that aren’t as germane for a particular audience, and/or adding sections or chapters specific to the presenter’s needs.
For the adapted presentations to be most effective, the editing should appear seamless. Text and image treatment should be similar, and new slides should embody—when possible—the guidelines for effective presentations listed above.
To help users tailor their presentations and keep them up to date, UR will:
- provide the appropriate fonts to the creator of the custom version,
- update systemwide data and slides at least yearly to retain accuracy.
Notes:
- Each unit will be responsible for crafting their custom messages and facts.
- This is a presentation that requires preparation on behalf of the presenter.