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Tips & Presentation Technologies to Use & Tips for a Great Presentation

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Table of Contents

Introduction to the use of presentation technology.

This guide is designed with a diverse array of audiences in mind — from business professionals and educators to public speakers and trainers. Our goal is to navigate you through the intricacies of available technologies you can use in your presentations, aiding you not only in choosing the right technology for your needs but also in the application of that technology to its fullest potential. We’ll explore a variety of software options like Microsoft PowerPoint, real-time essential hardware selections, and strategies for engaging your audience, ensuring clarity of your message, and much more.

Embracing the tips, tools, and techniques we cover, including the use of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and even considering hologram technology, you’ll be ready to augment your speaking game. This will help in engaging your audience like never before and ensuring a successful presentation. Whether you’re preparing for a strategic business pitch, an educational seminar, or any other scenario where you need to shine, this guide will serve as your comprehensive resource for using technology to advance your presentations. We aim not just to make your presentation better but also to highlight the future of the presentation world.

Choosing the Right Presentation Software

In the quest for delivering a powerful presentation, the choice of software serves as your digital canvas — a crucial platform where your ideas can take shape and captivate your audience. Not all presentation tools are created equal, and selecting the best one for your needs depends on your specific objectives, context, and proficiency with technology. Below, we dive into some of the technology used in presentations, showcasing major players in the presentation software field.

Microsoft PowerPoint: The Tried-and-True Standard

Microsoft PowerPoint , the cornerstone of presentation tools, remains the perennial favorite for a vast array of users. Its robust features cater to beginners and seasoned presentation artists, offering customizable templates and seamless multimedia integration. As PowerPoint was released, it quickly became the powerhouse of traditional slide-based presentations.

Features and Benefits:

  • Versatility: Easily shift between simple designs for quick presentations and elaborate layouts for more intricate projects.
  • Integration: Part of the Microsoft Office Suite, it boasts smooth integration with Excel, Word, and other applications, making it a staple for business presentations.
  • Widespread Use: PowerPoint’s familiarity across industries ensures compatibility and audience comfort, essential for a successful presentation.
  • Advanced Features: For the detail-oriented, PowerPoint provides master slides, sophisticated animation options, and complex charting tools, enabling creators to deliver presentations that keep the audience engaged.

Google Slides: Collaboration Made Simple

Google Slides shines when collaboration and flexibility are key. It thrives on simplicity and real-time collaboration, allowing team members to work concurrently on a presentation, regardless of their location.

Collaborative Aspects:

  • Accessibility: It’s accessible from any device, offering flexibility for teams distributed in different locations.
  • Real-Time Editing: Adjust content on the fly with your team’s real-time feedback.
  • Commenting and Suggested Edits: Facilitates a streamlined review process, enhancing the presentation flow.
  • Ease of Use: Its user-friendly interface simplifies the presentation creation process, even for novices.

Prezi: A Unique Approach to Presenting

For those seeking to move beyond the conventional slide-by-slide narrative, Prezi presents an engaging alternative. Its dynamic zooming function allows for a presentation that unfolds on a single, vast canvas, offering a narrative that’s both spatial and compelling.

Unique Approach to Presenting:

  • Engagement: The immersive experience of Prezi’s zooming feature can more effectively seize your audience’s attention.
  • Spatial Freedom: Navigate content in a non-linear fashion, breaking free from the constraints of traditional presentations.
  • Creativity: Prezi allows for a visually and conceptually unfolding presentation narrative.
  • Online Format: As a cloud-based tool, Prezi ensures easy accessibility and sharing, similar to the collaborative advantages seen with Google Slides.

While these tools highlight the possibilities within the realm of presentation technology, your final choice should consider your audience, the content of your presentation, and your comfort level with technology. Exploring more than one platform allows for versatility and adaptability across different presentation scenarios. Remember, the optimal software is the one that effectively communicates your message and meets your presentation objectives. In the sections to come, we’ll explore the hardware that can augment your presentation, strategies for clear voice projection, and visual tactics to maintain and amplify audience engagement.

Essential Presentation Hardware for the Presenter

use of presentation technology 2

While the software forms the digital foundation of your presentation, the hardware you use underpins its actual delivery, profoundly influencing both performance and audience experience. Compatibility between your needs, budget, and presentation venue is more crucial than chasing after the most expensive or advanced technologies. Here’s an overview of some indispensable hardware selections.

Selecting a Powerful Enough Laptop

Your laptop often acts as the central command for your presentation. It’s essential to have a laptop with enough processing power to smoothly run your presentation software, particularly when using rich media like high-resolution images or videos. A laptop with robust memory (minimum 8GB RAM), a capable processor (Intel i5 or AMD equivalents), and ample storage is advisable. Furthermore, verify that your laptop has the necessary ports (HDMI or VGA) to connect easily to different display systems.

The Best Portable Projectors on the Market

In scenarios lacking a pre-existing projector, a portable projector can be invaluable. Modern projectors bring features such as high-definition resolution, compact size, and diverse connectivity options. Renowned choices include the Anker Nebula Capsule for its transportability, the Epson PowerLite 1781W Wireless WXGA 3LCD Projector for its excellent display quality, and the Apeman Mini for those on a tighter budget.

The Necessity of Reliable HDMI Cables

The HDMI cable might be a small component, but its role is significant. It’s the lifeline between your laptop and the display unit, whether that’s a projector, TV, or monitor. Always come prepared with a quality HDMI cable that is long enough for your presentation space. Cables with gold-plated connectors and thick shielding help mitigate data loss and ensure the highest possible video quality.

Selecting the correct hardware is pivotal to a smooth presentation, but remember, the equipment alone doesn’t create an impactful presentation. The subsequent sections will cover the strategies for utilizing this hardware to its fullest, ways to assure audio clarity, crafting visually engaging slides, fostering audience interaction, and staying prepared for any technical issues that may arise.

Ensuring Audio Clarity

microphone on audio equipment

“Sound is the vocabulary of nature,” Pierre Schaeffer once pointed out, highlighting the importance of clear audio in delivering effective presentations. Your voice paints vivid imagery in your listeners’ minds, thereby cementing your message effectively. Ensuring that your voice is audible to every attendee is critical. Let’s explore various microphone options that can enhance the clarity of your audio and provide guidelines for each.

Wired Microphones

Despite less mobility compared to wireless versions, wired microphones usually offer superior sound clarity and reliability. Due to their low susceptibility to interference, they are ideal for areas prone to signal disruption or crucial presentation settings. Remember to check the cable length and your movement range beforehand to ensure that the wire doesn’t constrain your presentation.

Wireless Microphone Setup and Troubleshooting

Wirelessness affords freedom from cables, enabling unrestrained movement — a key advantage of wireless microphones. Their utility shines when your presentation entails significant movement on the stage. Choices range from handheld to headset mics, contingent on your preferences. Because they operate on radio frequencies, interference occasionally disrupts their functionality. Ensure to test your wireless microphone before your presentation to guarantee lucid signal reception.

Lavalier Microphones and When to Use Them

Often referred to as lapel mics, lavalier microphones are miniaturized microphones that attach to your clothing. Lapel mics extend portability and provide hands-free convenience, making them optimal for presentations requiring extensive hand movements, such as demonstrations or product presentations. However, they usually capture less vocal resonance compared to handheld or headset mics. Yet, through judicious positioning and sound checks, they can produce clear and consistent audio output.

Remember that a microphone’s role goes beyond amplifying your voice — it’s about ensuring clarity. Regardless of the type you pick, always conduct sound checks well ahead to determine the ideal volume and EQ settings for the room.

With your audio now assured, the stage is set for you to enhance your presentation visually. In the upcoming section, we will delve into the principles of creating visually arresting slides to captivate your audience and underscore your spoken message.

Creating Visually Engaging Slides

slide presentation creation

Your voice sets the scene, but your slides bring it to life. Visuals can make or break your presentations, acting as powerful tools to engage, explain, and persuade your audience. The key to effective slides lies not in their complexity, but in their clarity and relevance. Here are some guiding principles for creating visually engaging slides that complement your message and leverage the use of technology to capture your audience’s attention.

Keep It Simple

The most impactful slides are often the simplest. Aim for clean, clutter-free designs that focus on your key message. Use minimal text — ideally no more than six words per line and six lines per slide. This encourages brevity and helps your audience focus on your verbal delivery. The use presentation technology wisely to keep the slide content accessible and engaging.

High-Quality Images and Videos

Incorporate high-resolution images and crisp, impressive videos to make your presentation memorable. Ensure the media you choose is directly relevant to your topic and is of high quality to avoid distractions. Technologies you can use, like VR (Virtual Reality) or AR (Augmented Reality), can augment your presentation and make abstract concepts tangible.

Leverage Color and Fonts Wisely

Choose colors and fonts that enhance readability and mood. A consistent color scheme and legible fonts can significantly impact the audience’s perception and engagement.

Effective Data Visualization

Use graphs and charts to present complex data. Visualizations should be clear and straightforward, utilizing tools like Microsoft PowerPoint or Tableau for crafting impactful graphs.

Consistency is Key

Ensure a consistent design theme across all slides, using templates for uniform colors, fonts, and layouts. This consistency aids in maintaining a professional look and enhancing the presentation flow.

Transition and Animation: Use Sparingly

Transition and animations should be used sparingly to avoid distracting the audience. They should serve to emphasize key points or smoothly move between topics.

Embracing the Future with Emerging Technologies

augmented reality on ipad

Understanding and integrating emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and hologram technology can redefine the way we deliver presentations. These technologies that lead the future of the presentation world promise an engaging, interactive presentation experience. For instance, AR technology can be used to augment real-time data onto physical objects, making the presentation immersive.

Choosing the right technology and applying it effectively can help in creating a successful presentation. Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint , Keynote, and tools like Microsoft Teams for virtual presentations, or Radartouch and Myo armband for interacting with your slides, are technologies you can use to deliver an impactful message. Moreover, the use of smartphones, Leap Motion, and other devices enhances technology’s role in presentations, enabling presenters to control slides, animations, or data displays in real-time.

Finally, in the era where the future of the presentation world leans heavily towards virtual presentations and interactive elements, staying updated with the technologies that lead the future — from VR and AR, Leap Motion to hologram technology — is crucial. These tools not only keep the audience engaged but also allow you to share your vision in a vivid, memorable way. Whether you’re presenting online or in person, make your presentation shine by using images, videos, and data visualization smartly while choosing the right technology to truly captivate and communicate with your audience.

When you integrate these principles and technologies into your approach, you can ensure that your presentations are not just seen and heard, but experienced and remembered. Remember, the successful use of technology in presentations can transform how your message is received and understood, setting the stage for a future where presentations are more engaging, interactive, and impactful than ever before.

Preparing for Technical Difficulties

man fixing a technical difficulty

“No plan survives contact with the enemy,” Helmuth von Moltke famously stated, which translates well into the realm of presentations: no presentation survives intact after encountering technical issues… unless you’re prepared. Developing a troubleshooting mindset and equipped with a thorough checklist can dramatically reduce the chances of your presentation being derailed by technical difficulties.

Developing a Troubleshooting Mindset

Adopting a troubleshooting mindset means expecting the unexpected and knowing how to remain calm and think on your feet. Familiarity with your presentation technology is key, allowing you to quickly identify and solve common problems that might arise. Remember, your audience will take cues from you—if you handle technical issues calmly and professionally, they’re more likely to remain engaged.

Checklists for Pre-Presentation Setup

A pre-presentation checklist is your assurance against technical glitches. Here’s a basic outline you might adapt:

  • Equipment Check : Verify that your laptop, projector, microphone, and any other devices you’ll use are working correctly.
  • Connectivity Test : Ensure you have a stable internet connection if your presentation relies on online content. Check wi-fi signals if applicable.
  • Presentation Backup : Always have a backup of your presentation on a USB drive or accessible online storage, like Dropbox or Google Drive .
  • Software Check : Confirm that any software needed for your presentation is up-to-date and functioning. This includes your presentation software and any apps for audience interaction.
  • Audio-Visual Check : Test audio levels and visual settings in the actual presentation environment, ideally at the same time of day your presentation is scheduled.
  • Power Supply : Ensure you have easy access to power outlets and your devices are fully charged or plugged in.
  • Preparation for Online Presentation : For virtual presentations, verify the functionality of key presentation tools such as webcams, microphones, and screen sharing features. Testing video conferencing software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams beforehand is crucial.

Creating a custom checklist that matches your specific needs and going through it before every presentation can mitigate the most common technical issues. This preparation ensures a smooth experience, not just for you but also for your audience, by minimizing disruptions and maintaining engagement.

Having walked through essential preparations to safeguard against technological hiccups, let’s next discuss how you can optimize your presentation environment to maximize comfort and engagement.

Advanced Technology Tips

panel discussion at tech conference using presentation technology

Today, delivering a presentation can be an exhilarating experience thanks to the fusion of traditional methods and new-age technology. Understanding how to seamlessly integrate diverse tools, from classic whiteboards and flip charts to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), allows presenters to offer a dynamic, immersive experience. Let’s explore how you can leverage this technology spectrum to its fullest potential to enhance your presentations.

Incorporating Cloud Storage into Your Workflow

Cloud storage platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive provide safety nets that prevent loss of work and enhance accessibility. These platforms are indispensable for several reasons:

  • Accessibility: Access your presentation anywhere, on any device, and deliver a presentation without physical constraints.
  • Backup: Using cloud storage ensures your work has a reliable backup, reducing the risk of technical mishaps.
  • Collaboration: They promote real-time collaboration, making it a breeze to work in tandem with colleagues regardless of geographical barriers.

Adopting cloud storage is a fundamental step that technology enables, offering a secure and flexible base for your presentation preparations.

Bridging Classic and Emerging Technologies

While it’s essential to embrace emerging tech, it’s equally important to integrate tried-and-true aids such as overhead projectors, whiteboards, and flip charts. These tools offer a tangibility that modern technology can’t replicate, providing a balance that caters to varied audience preferences.

Immersive Experiences with AR and VR

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are transforming the art of presentation by introducing a layer of immersion that simply wasn’t possible with traditional tools:

  • AR for Enhanced Engagement: AR brings interactive, 3D models right into the physical space, allowing audiences to engage with the content in real-time.
  • VR for Complete Immersion: VR, on the other hand, creates a fully immersive environment, perfect for simulations or walk-throughs, making complex data or environments more accessible and understandable.

Employing AR and VR requires thoughtful integration, ensuring that the technology complements rather than overpowers the core message of your presentation.

Design Tools to Enhance Visuals

High-quality graphics are essential, and tools such as Canva , Adobe Spark , or PowerPoint’s own Designer feature can help in crafting visuals that resonate with your audience. Keep in mind:

  • Design Consistency: Maintain consistency with fonts, colors, and style.
  • Simplicity over Clutter: Utilize visuals to underscore your message, not overshadow it.
  • High-Resolution Images: Choose quality over quantity, particularly when displaying on large screens or through projectors.

Recording and Revisiting Your Presentation

Recording presentations not only helps in self-evaluation but also in extending your reach through content repurposing. Here’s how you can fully utilize this aspect:

  • Self-Review: Identify areas of improvement by watching your recordings.
  • Constructive Criticism: Share your recordings with a trusted circle for feedback.
  • Second Life as Content: Repurpose recordings as educational content on various digital platforms.

Tools such as OBS Studio or Zoom can assist in creating both high-quality records for professional use and simple recordings for quick reviews.

When you capitalize on both the classic and futuristic tech, your presentations can transcend traditional limits and provide a more enriched and engaging experience. From the tried-and-true whiteboard explanations to transporting your audience to virtual landscapes, these advanced technology tips are designed to take your presentation skills into a new dimension, ensuring you leave a lasting impact.

Final Insights

Every presentation is an opportunity to inspire, inform, and connect. When you implement the strategies and tips outlined in this guide, you’re not just prepared to present; you’re ready to captivate and make a lasting impact.

Now is the time to put these insights into action. Start by revisiting your current presentations and identifying areas for improvement or experimentation. Dive into new technologies or platforms you haven’t yet explored. Most importantly, continue seeking feedback and refining your approach.

For further guidance, consider joining presentation skills workshops, reaching out to professional mentors, or a talent management agency like ours, and even engaging with online communities dedicated to presentation mastery. Remember, the journey to becoming an exceptional presenter is ongoing, and every step you take builds your skills and confidence.

Let’s transform how you communicate. Take the first step today!

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  • Rahul Awati

What is presentation software?

Presentation software, also known as graphics presentation applications or presentation graphics programs, is a category of software used to create content where information is often represented in a graphical or visual way. A variety of presentation software is available to help tell a story or support written information using pictures, charts, graphs and other visual elements.

Types of presentation software

There are two main types of presentation software: business presentation software and general multimedia authoring tools.

Business presentation software products generally emphasize ease of learning and use, particularly for nontechnical and business users. However, they can include more advanced functions for experienced users. Most business presentation applications let users include visual elements like images , and sometimes audio and video.

General multimedia authoring software lets users create sophisticated presentations that might include photos, icons , audio narrations, transitions, animations and video sequences. Some presentations products combine ease of use and sophisticated features.

Key features in presentation software

Presentation software often includes templates to create visually rich presentations and slide decks. Templates can be easily edited to match user requirements or company brand guidelines. The software usually includes a search feature to discover these templates, as well as approved layouts and previous presentations.

Cloud-based presentation applications generally include shared workspaces and team folders that let multiple people securely collaborate, provide inputs, set status updates, and add comments and reactions. Users can also share presentations, project plans, conference keynotes, sales decks and more in real time. Versioning capabilities might be included so authorized users can manage version history, recover previous versions and view current progress.

Many vendors offer a centralized library of images, photos, icons and animations, and regularly update these libraries so customers can access the visual elements for their presentations. Some applications also integrate with external image sources like Unsplash, Giphy and Brandfetch, so business users can find additional digital assets such as images, logos, fonts and colors.

Other vendors' presentation software integrates with external video sites like YouTube or Vimeo, enabling users to embed video to support the deck's story or main message. Still other graphics applications include audio and data capabilities so users can add narrations to content and integrate data from Google Analytics , Google Sheets and other sources to accompany and strengthen the text.

Some applications include a built-in designer that implements predefined design rules and guardrails. Once content is added to the software, the designer converts notes, data and more into visually rich slides. The slides automatically adapt to the rules, so users don't have to make manual adjustments to change text font and resize images, for example. In addition, the software might include intuitive editing options and smart formatting capabilities to let users make quick edits and finalize a presentation.

The best presentation software includes support for brand esthetics. The application updates every slide and deck with the brand's specific fonts, colors, logos, themes and templates to create consistent brand presentations with the approved brand style. In most cases, style themes are customizable so company logos, colors, fonts and icon styles can be added to the presentation theme and updated as needed.

example of a PowerPoint presentation slide

Artificial intelligence in presentation software

Presentation software products have evolved with more advanced capabilities and intuitive options for edits, sharing and collaboration. Sophisticated applications also include conversational AI engines so users can automatically generate new presentations quickly.

Depending on the software's capabilities, the AI engine may create the first draft of the presentation based on a user's description and needs.

Some AI-powered presentation products include smart templates that can quickly edit the autogenerated software and adapt the content to a user's or brand's story. The application might also include a designer bot that takes design inputs from the (human) user in natural language and generates unique images.

Common applications of presentation software

Presentation software is especially useful to create presentations and decks that include some combination of text, animations, images, video, audio and transitions. These might include creative briefs, pitch decks, moodboards , competitor analyses, proposals, bulletins, project reports, annual reviews, marketing plans and meeting discussions.

All these presentations can be displayed in a slideshow format. Built-in templates, content libraries and editing tools accelerate the design process, regardless of the presentation's purpose or intended audience.

Popular presentation software products

Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most popular presentation software applications available today. It includes numerous user-friendly features for design, sharing and collaboration, object insertion, slideshows, text formatting, audio and video.

Other popular products include Lotus Freelance Graphics, Google Slides , Prezi, Slidebean, Canva and Keynote. Most of these products offer PC and Mac versions. In addition, many are free to download and use, while others come in free, paid or freemium versions.

Presentation software might include different features and capabilities. Organizations and users must assess their requirements, technical stack, audience type and budget before making a purchase.

For example, a geographically dispersed team might be better suited to a cloud-based application that supports borderless collaboration than a desktop application that can't be accessed from outside the enterprise network . Similarly, a marketing plan might require more visual elements while an investor update might require more graphs or charts. The software that is ultimately selected should satisfy these specific requirements.

For more on this topic, learn how to create a successful presentation .

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One thing to be mindful of is the technology for your presentations. Have you thought much about presentation technology and its evolution over time? This article will explore the importance of technology for a presentation. It will also consider the technology's background and modern uses, along with some examples and types of presentation technology.

Importance of Technology For a Presentation

You may be wondering, why is technology so important when we do presentations?

The technology you use for presentations allows you to share information with your audience effectively. It's a way to connect with your audience and provide them with interesting information to keep them engaged. Without technology, presentations lose appeal as they are less interactive.

It is essential to be aware that people learn in different ways through various stimuli. For example, some people take in information more effectively when they read it. Others may rely on more visual-based things such as images, diagrams, videos, etc. Still others may simply prefer to listen to you speak. You can use presentation technology to appeal to your audience through text, visuals, sound, and more quickly and easily, allowing the audience to gain a deeper understanding of your presentation topic.

Technology can also help guide you through your topic. For example, if you have some words or images on a slide, this can help you remember what to talk about and keeps your presentation flowing smoothly.

Presentation Technology Background

What did the world of presentations look like before internet software? Before the creation of well-known software such as PowerPoint, there were different ways to make a presentation. These methods took more time and involved more than simply creating slides on a laptop!

One of the first ways to present was through the use of chalkboards, whiteboards, and paper flip charts, like the one shown below:

Presentation Technology Old fashioned flipchart StudySmarter

Although they may not be considered technology, using boards and flipcharts was still a way for people to present extra information to the audience. They could write or draw pictures/graphs to visually aid the presentation and help to get their intentions across to the audience more clearly. Paper flip charts, chalkboards, and whiteboards may still be used occasionally, but there is less need for them now that everything has been digitalized!

The slide projector was one of the first pieces of technology used for presentations. A slide projector is a machine that shows photographic slides. It does this by shining a light through a photograph made into a slide, which creates a bigger image on a screen. Also used was the carousel slide projector, a type of slide projector that stores slides in a rotary tray and creates a slideshow by projecting slide photographs.

The use of slide projectors was then upgraded to the use of overhead projectors, something more familiar to people today. This is a machine that is used to make writing or images on a sheet appear on a wall or screen, like the one shown below:

Presentation Technology Image of an overhead projector

Before easy digital presentation production, this was an excellent way to relay information to students. Teachers could present a "transparency," as it was called, of a worksheet and use dry-erase markers to fill out the sheet along with students.

Modern Presentation Technology

In modern society, presentation technology is much more prevalent and accessible due to the internet and social media. Not only do we have instant access to information, but we also have many ways to share it with others. Modern presentation technology allows us to present information quickly and efficiently - unlike many years ago when presenting took more time and effort! Most presentations nowadays are created using digital presentation software. The first of this modern software was PowerPoint.

The first official version of PowerPoint was released by Microsoft in 1990. It is the most commonly used presentation software, with around 500 million users worldwide. So why is PowerPoint so appealing? Here are a few reasons:

  • Allows people to convert their ideas into easily understandable text and visuals.
  • Allows people to customize their slides and add information in various ways, such as embedding audio/video or drawing animations.
  • Easily accessible and can be used anywhere (even without an internet connection).
  • It is collaborative, meaning multiple people can work on the same presentation - this is especially useful for group projects.

Although PowerPoint is commonly used, it does not appeal to everyone! Some alternatives include:

  • Apple Keynote - created in 2003
  • Google Slides - introduced in 2006
  • Prezi - founded in 2009

Presentation Technology Types

Presentations can have different purposes, depending on the type you want to give. It is important to consider the purpose of your presentation, as this will determine how you present your information to the audience. There are four main types of presentations.

1. Informative

The purpose of an informative presentation is to give the audience information. This type of presentation relies on facts and stats. It is vital that you research well; try not to include inaccurate or unreliable information.

2. Instructional

The purpose of an instructional presentation is to give the audience instructions. This type of presentation focuses on guiding the audience and showing them how to do something. It can be useful to provide clear images and diagrams or step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow.

3. Arousing

The purpose of an arousing presentation is to generate intrigue amongst the audience and appeal to their emotions. This type of presentation usually focuses more on current events, such as societal/political issues.

4. Persuasive

T he purpose of a persuasive presentation is to convince your audience of a particular point of view. This presentation should have a clear argument and allow you to express your opinion. Try not to be too biased; consider the perspectives of others too.

Presentation Technology Slide Types

Information can be presented to an audience via technology in a variety of different ways. Because of this, there are different types of presentation slides to consider when making a presentation.

The three main types of presentation slides are text, visual, and mixed.

Text Slides

Text slides involve words/texts, such as extracts or quotes.

What NOT to do :

Be careful not to cram too much information onto one slide! Presentation slides should be clear and easy to follow. If too much is on one slide, it could be distracting, or the audience may not be able to take everything in.

Space out the information so it is easier to comprehend. One way to do this is to use bullet points and summarize the key points instead of writing out larger paragraphs of text. For example:

Presentation Technology Text slide example StudySmarter

Visual Slides

Visual slides involve images/diagrams or videos. This also includes photos, illustrations, graphs, charts, etc.

What NOT to do:

Include too many images on a slide, making it look cluttered and distracting the audience.

Including around 1 - 2 images/diagrams is preferable as this will give the audience a focal point and maintain their interest. It may be as simple as this:

Presentation Technology Visual slide example StudySmarter

Mixed Slides

Mixed slides use both words and visuals together. For example, you can use captions, labels, or small text boxes to explain an image or add the extra necessary information (such as keywords or ideas).

Presentation Technology Examples

You may be wondering, what are some examples of a good digital presentation? How can you differentiate between a good and a bad presentation?

Here are a few examples of what makes a good digital presentation:

1. Easy to Understand

Keep the slides simple! Make sure not to include too much information, as this could be confusing. Instead, stick to key points and summaries. You can always expand on these points as you talk; just use the presentation as a reminder of what you will discuss!

2. Eye-Catching but Consistent

Make sure your slides aren't too dull for the audience! A presentation is a great way to catch the audience's attention and keep their interest. You could experiment with design templates to make your slides look more visually attractive, but make sure you stick to a consistent color scheme and style. Too many different styles could make the presentation look messy.

Presentation Technology Presentation slides StudySmarter

3. An Appropriate Number of Slides

If you include too many slides, this could make the audience lose interest. On the other hand, if you don't include enough slides, your presentation will lack substance, and you may run out of things to talk about. A good rule of thumb is to include approximately one slide for every minute you plan to speak to keep the information moving. For example, a 20-minute presentation would have around 15-20 slides.

Presentation Technology Topics

It is important to be aware that the topic of a presentation will influence how you will use the technology to get your message across.

If you were to present the number of native vs. non-native English speakers, you would create more statistic-based visuals. This could include creating charts or graphs to help the audience visualize the numbers.

If you were to do a presentation about phonetics and the place/manner of articulation, using images to show the parts of the mouth and how we use different parts to pronounce different letters would be beneficial.

If you were to do a presentation about a particular novel, include some quotes or extracts to make it clear to the audience what you are referring to and highlight the novel's main themes.

Presentation Technology - Key Takeaways

  • Presentation technology provides information to your audience, connects them, and keeps them engaged. It can also help guide you through your topic.
  • One of the first pieces of technology used for presentations was the slide projector.
  • The first modern presentation software was PowerPoint, officially released in 1990.
  • Examples of presentation technology are Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, Google Slides, and Prezi.
  • The three main types of presentation slides are text, visual and mixed.
  • Fig. 2 - OHP-sch.JPG (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OHP-sch.JPG) by mailer_diablo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mailer_diablo/A) is licensed by GFDL (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License)

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Frequently Asked Questions about Presentation Technology

What is a technology-based presentation?

A technology-based presentation refers to a presentation that relies on technology to get the message across to the audience.

What are the 4 types of presentation?

The 4 main types of presentation are:

How technology can be used to enhance a presentation?

Technology can keep the audience engaged in a presentation and focused on your topic. It can be a visual aid to help guide your speech and send a clear message to the audience.

What is the importance of technology?

Technology helps to make information more accessible and easy to digest. Now that everything is becoming digitalized, technology allows people to instantly have access to a wide variety of information that we can all learn from.

What technology can be used for a presentation?

Technology that can be used for a presentation includes:

Microsoft PowerPoint

Google Slides

Apple Keynote 

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

  • Carmine Gallo

presentation tech definition

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

presentation tech definition

  • Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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6 presentation skills and how to improve them

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What are presentation skills?

The importance of presentation skills, 6 presentation skills examples, how to improve presentation skills.

Tips for dealing with presentation anxiety

Learn how to captivate an audience with ease

Capturing an audience’s attention takes practice. 

Over time, great presenters learn how to organize their speeches and captivate an audience from start to finish. They spark curiosity, know how to read a room , and understand what their audience needs to walk away feeling like they learned something valuable.

Regardless of your profession, you most likely use presentation skills on a monthly or even weekly basis. Maybe you lead brainstorming sessions or host client calls. 

Developing effective presentation skills makes it easier to contribute ideas with confidence and show others you’re someone to trust. Although speaking in front of a crowd sometimes brings nerves and anxiety , it also sparks new opportunities.

Presentation skills are the qualities and abilities you need to communicate ideas effectively and deliver a compelling speech. They influence how you structure a presentation and how an audience receives it. Understanding body language , creating impactful visual aids, and projecting your voice all fall under this umbrella.

A great presentation depends on more than what you say. It’s about how you say it. Storytelling , stage presence, and voice projection all shape how well you express your ideas and connect with the audience. These skills do take practice, but they’re worth developing — especially if public speaking makes you nervous. 

Engaging a crowd isn’t easy. You may feel anxious to step in front of an audience and have all eyes and ears on you.

But feeling that anxiety doesn’t mean your ideas aren’t worth sharing. Whether you’re giving an inspiring speech or delivering a monthly recap at work, your audience is there to listen to you. Harness that nervous energy and turn it into progress.

Strong presentation skills make it easier to convey your thoughts to audiences of all sizes. They can help you tell a compelling story, convince people of a pitch , or teach a group something entirely new to them. And when it comes to the workplace, the strength of your presentation skills could play a part in getting a promotion or contributing to a new initiative.

To fully understand the impact these skills have on creating a successful presentation, it’s helpful to look at each one individually. Here are six valuable skills you can develop:

1. Active listening

Active listening is an excellent communication skill for any professional to hone. When you have strong active listening skills, you can listen to others effectively and observe their nonverbal cues . This helps you assess whether or not your audience members are engaged in and understand what you’re sharing. 

Great public speakers use active listening to assess the audience’s reactions and adjust their speech if they find it lacks impact. Signs like slouching, negative facial expressions, and roaming eye contact are all signs to watch out for when giving a presentation.

2. Body language

If you’re researching presentation skills, chances are you’ve already watched a few notable speeches like TED Talks or industry seminars. And one thing you probably noticed is that speakers can capture attention with their body language. 

A mixture of eye contact, hand gestures , and purposeful pacing makes a presentation more interesting and engaging. If you stand in one spot and don’t move your body, the audience might zone out.

two-women-talking-happily-on-radio-presentation-skills

3. Stage presence

A great stage presence looks different for everyone. A comedian might aim for more movement and excitement, and a conference speaker might focus their energy on the content of their speech. Although neither is better than the other, both understand their strengths and their audience’s needs. 

Developing a stage presence involves finding your own unique communication style . Lean into your strengths, whether that’s adding an injection of humor or asking questions to make it interactive . To give a great presentation, you might even incorporate relevant props or presentation slides.

4. Storytelling

According to Forbes, audiences typically pay attention for about 10 minutes before tuning out . But you can lengthen their attention span by offering a presentation that interests them for longer. Include a narrative they’ll want to listen to, and tell a story as you go along. 

Shaping your content to follow a clear narrative can spark your audience’s curiosity and entice them to pay careful attention. You can use anecdotes from your personal or professional life that take your audience along through relevant moments. If you’re pitching a product, you can start with a problem and lead your audience through the stages of how your product provides a solution.

5. Voice projection

Although this skill may be obvious, you need your audience to hear what you’re saying. This can be challenging if you’re naturally soft-spoken and struggle to project your voice.

Remember to straighten your posture and take deep breaths before speaking, which will help you speak louder and fill the room. If you’re talking into a microphone or participating in a virtual meeting, you can use your regular conversational voice, but you still want to sound confident and self-assured with a strong tone.

If you’re unsure whether everyone can hear you, you can always ask the audience at the beginning of your speech and wait for confirmation. That way, they won’t have to potentially interrupt you later.

Ensuring everyone can hear you also includes your speed and annunciation. It’s easy to speak quickly when nervous, but try to slow down and pronounce every word. Mumbling can make your presentation difficult to understand and pay attention to.

microphone-presentation-skills

6. Verbal communication 

Although verbal communication involves your projection and tone, it also covers the language and pacing you use to get your point across. This includes where you choose to place pauses in your speech or the tone you use to emphasize important ideas.

If you’re giving a presentation on collaboration in the workplace , you might start your speech by saying, “There’s something every workplace needs to succeed: teamwork.” By placing emphasis on the word “ teamwork ,” you give your audience a hint on what ideas will follow.

To further connect with your audience through diction, pay careful attention to who you’re speaking to. The way you talk to your colleagues might be different from how you speak to a group of superiors, even if you’re discussing the same subject. You might use more humor and a conversational tone for the former and more serious, formal diction for the latter.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to presenting. Maybe you’re confident in your use of body language, but your voice projection needs work. Maybe you’re a great storyteller in small group settings, but need to work on your stage presence in front of larger crowds. 

The first step to improving presentation skills is pinpointing your gaps and determining which qualities to build upon first. Here are four tips for enhancing your presentation skills:

1. Build self-confidence

Confident people know how to speak with authority and share their ideas. Although feeling good about your presentation skills is easier said than done, building confidence is key to helping your audience believe in what you’re saying. Try practicing positive self-talk and continuously researching your topic's ins and outs.

If you don’t feel confident on the inside, fake it until you make it. Stand up straight, project your voice, and try your best to appear engaged and excited. Chances are, the audience doesn’t know you’re unsure of your skills — and they don’t need to.

Another tip is to lean into your slideshow, if you’re using one. Create something colorful and interesting so the audience’s eyes fall there instead of on you. And when you feel proud of your slideshow, you’ll be more eager to share it with others, bringing more energy to your presentation.

2. Watch other presentations

Developing the soft skills necessary for a good presentation can be challenging without seeing them in action. Watch as many as possible to become more familiar with public speaking skills and what makes a great presentation. You could attend events with keynote speakers or view past speeches on similar topics online.

Take a close look at how those presenters use verbal communication and body language to engage their audiences. Grab a notebook and jot down what you enjoyed and your main takeaways. Try to recall the techniques they used to emphasize their main points, whether they used pauses effectively, had interesting visual aids, or told a fascinating story.

woman-looking-at-video-from-tablet-while-cooking-dinner-presentation-skills

3. Get in front of a crowd

You don’t need a large auditorium to practice public speaking. There are dozens of other ways to feel confident and develop good presentation skills.

If you’re a natural comedian, consider joining a small stand-up comedy club. If you’re an avid writer, participate in a public poetry reading. Even music and acting can help you feel more comfortable in front of a crowd.

If you’d rather keep it professional, you can still work on your presentation skills in the office. Challenge yourself to participate at least once in every team meeting, or plan and present a project to become more comfortable vocalizing your ideas. You could also speak to your manager about opportunities that flex your public speaking abilities.

4. Overcome fear

Many people experience feelings of fear before presenting in front of an audience, whether those feelings appear as a few butterflies or more severe anxiety. Try grounding yourself to shift your focus to the present moment. If you’re stuck dwelling on previous experiences that didn’t go well, use those mistakes as learning experiences and focus on what you can improve to do better in the future.

Tips for dealing with presentation anxiety 

It’s normal to feel nervous when sharing your ideas. In fact, according to a report from the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, public speaking anxiety is prevalent in 15–30% of the general population .

Even though having a fear of public speaking is common, it doesn’t make it easier. You might feel overwhelmed, become stiff, and forget what you were going to say. But although the moment might scare you, there are ways to overcome the fear and put mind over matter.

Use these tactics to reduce your stress when you have to make a presentation:

1. Practice breathing techniques

If you experience anxiety often, you’re probably familiar with breathing techniques for stress relief . Incorporating these exercises into your daily routine can help you stop worrying and regulate anxious feelings. 

Before a big presentation, take a moment alone to practice breathing techniques, ground yourself, and reduce tension. It’s also a good idea to take breaths throughout the presentation to speak slower and calm yourself down .

2. Get organized

The more organized you are, the more prepared you’ll feel. Carefully outline all of the critical information you want to use in your presentation, including your main talking points and visual aids, so you don’t forget anything. Use bullet points and visuals on each slide to remind you of what you want to talk about, and create handheld notes to help you stay on track.

3. Embrace moments of silence

It’s okay to lose your train of thought. It happens to even the most experienced public speakers once in a while. If your mind goes blank, don’t panic. Take a moment to breathe, gather your thoughts, and refer to your notes to see where you left off. You can drink some water or make a quick joke to ease the silence or regain your footing. And it’s okay to say, “Give me a moment while I find my notes.” Chances are, people understand the position you’re in.

men-giving-conference-sitting-on-a-chair-with-microphone-presentation-skills

4. Practice makes progress

Before presenting, rehearse in front of friends and family members you trust. This gives you the chance to work out any weak spots in your speech and become comfortable communicating out loud. If you want to go the extra mile, ask your makeshift audience to ask a surprise question. This tests your on-the-spot thinking and will prove that you can keep cool when things come up.

Whether you’re new to public speaking or are a seasoned presenter, you’re bound to make a few slip-ups. It happens to everyone. The most important thing is that you try your best, brush things off, and work on improving your skills to do better in your next presentation.

Although your job may require a different level of public speaking than your favorite TED Talk , developing presentation skills is handy in any profession. You can use presentation skills in a wide range of tasks in the workplace, whether you’re sharing your ideas with colleagues, expressing concerns to higher-ups, or pitching strategies to potential clients.

Remember to use active listening to read the room and engage your audience with an interesting narrative. Don’t forget to step outside your comfort zone once in a while and put your skills to practice in front of a crowd. After facing your fears, you’ll feel confident enough to put presentation skills on your resume.

If you’re trying to build your skills and become a better employee overall, try a communications coach with BetterUp. 

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Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

8 tips to improve your public speaking skills

The significance of written communication in the workplace, 9 signs that you’re being pushed out of your job, the 11 tips that will improve your public speaking skills, what is an entrepreneur understanding the different types and examples of entrepreneurship, get smart about your goals at work and start seeing results, goal-setting theory: why it’s important, and how to use it at work, the importance of good speech: 5 tips to be more articulate, empathic listening: what it is and how to use it, how to write a speech that your audience remembers, impression management: developing your self-presentation skills, 30 presentation feedback examples, your guide to what storytelling is and how to be a good storyteller, how to give a good presentation that captivates any audience, 8 clever hooks for presentations (with tips), how to make a presentation interactive and exciting, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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4.6 Presentations

Presentations are an interesting genre, since they can cover a variety of genres and purposes. Presentations provide the opportunity to present information in a multimodal format, and often require you to condense information for a broad audience. Within the very broad genre of “presentation” many genres fall with more specific conventions and constraints. Some examples include:

  • Conference presentations
  • Less formal meeting or business presentations (internal)

As technology continues to develop, you might consider other genres under the umbrella of “presentations,” including:

  • Youtube videos

In this section, we talk about the specific genre of presentations, but we also focus on taking complex information (such as gathered in a formal report) and reworking, condensing, and remixing that information into a presentation, a website, a poster or infographic, or a podcast.

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Just like with the other common genres that we’ve discussed so far, presentations are developed for a specific audience. So, you need to consider how your audience might best receive the information that you are working to communicate. Presentations are a great way to reach an audience, and as a communicator you get to explore various communication modes and approaches. As with anything else, what might work for one audience would not work for another audience; think back to the different ways to communicate the process of conducting a Covid-19 nasal test. Each example was effective, but only in the context of their intended audience.

Technical presentations are a specific genre that often take the complex, lengthy information included in a formal report and condenses and translates that information in a way that includes visual and audio communication modes. Consider why it is useful to present information in various ways (as a formal report and as a 5-10 minute presentation). How might presenting information in various ways or formats increase accessibility? How might developing a presentation work towards equity of information access?

When creating a presentation, the principles of universal design are important things to keep in mind. One example might be adding captions if you create a presentation that has any audio component. The captions are essential for any audience members who are hearing impaired, AND they make it easier to absorb content and understand the audio for your entire audience. Remember that universal design means that accessibility of information is an essential part of your presentation: do not think about accessibility after you’ve created your content, but work it in from the beginning and throughout your process.

Technical presentations

Technical presentations can vary quite a bit in length and content, depending on your purpose, audience, and context (remember that the rhetorical situation is always relevant!). Generally speaking, a technical presentation will:

  • Condense a longer text, such as a formal report
  • Summarize the most important, useful, or meaningful information from that text
  • Use visuals, text, and audio together in order to tell a story

Most often, presentations work to inform, to persuade, or both. All the things that we’ve discussed so far are important to consider when you create a presentation, including plain language, document design, and considering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Just as with any other genre, to create an effective presentation, you must understand your audience.

Google Slides

These are only 3 of many free tutorials available online.

When creating effective presentation slides, be sure that you balance the amount of information on each slide. Consider how your audience is interacting with these slides: they are not likely sitting down with so much time to carefully read through each one. Rather, they may only have a minute to take in all the content. So, less is often better than putting too much text on any one slide. It’s also important to use a variety of visual modes–such as graphics and images–along with text.

The text that you choose should summarize key points, and the images should reinforce or illustrate those points. Do not make your audience take in large blocks of text. Instead, summarize key questions, data points, findings, and conclusions. Show them examples that help to illustrate these important points, but do not overwhelm them. You cannot include everything in a presentation that you would include in a lengthy report. Rather, you must choose the most important pieces so that your audience has a clear idea of what you want them to take away from your project.

When planning and creating audio, be sure that you do not simply read the text from our slides. Instead, you can use the audio portion of your presentation to further explain key concepts. Give your reader a bit more detail, but do not overwhelm them. A presentation works to create a narrative or tell a story. The audio and text should complement each other, but not be exactly the same (if you’ve ever attended a presentation where the presenter read each slide out loud, you know how uninteresting that can be!).

Finally, consider accessibility when you design your presentation. Create closed captions or subtitles when recording audio, and be sure to incorporate the principles of universal design. Try to imagine how to make information accessible to your audience in regards to your text, your use of language and terminology, your use of visuals and graphics, and your use of audio.

Message titles

On way to create stronger, more memorable presentations is through the use of  message titles  rather than  subject titles  for each slide. It’s important to use strong titles, and a message title delivers a full message to your reader. A subject title is briefer and less specific. An example of the difference between a message title and subject title might be:

Subject title: 

Covid-19 prevention

Message title: 

How can I protect myself from Covid-19?

A message title is generally more effective for audiences because it provides more information. Further, delivering a full message helps audiences to retain the information presented in that slide and it frames what you cover in that section of your presentation. Remember that audiences must  listen  to your presentation and  read  your slides at the same time. Subject titles provide information, but message titles helps audiences place that information into a more specific framework. A message title delivers your message in a more complete way.

Condensing and remixing

While most formal reports use some sort of presentation software and rely on a combination of slides (which contain visuals and text) and audio (which may be spoken live as you present to an audience or may be recorded ahead of time), there are other ways to remix and present information in a condensed and useful way. As technology develops, so does the presentation genre. For example, podcasts, videos, or websites might be useful in place of a technical presentation, again depending on the audience, purpose, and context.

If you are enrolled in WRIT 3562W, you are not asked to create a podcast or website; however, you may come across such genres and want to use them as sources in your own report. And, you will likely want to (or be asked to!) create a website or podcast someday. So how can you begin to take information presented in something like a formal report and revise, translate, and remix it for a completely different medium?

First, consider the rhetorical situation and reflect on your own experiences as a website user or a podcast listener. Which websites do you like best? Which podcasts do you enjoy? Then, do some reflection and analysis and consider the following questions:

  • When interacting with a website, what features are most important to you? How are you typically interacting with content (do you want to be able to search for something specific, do you want something easy to skim, do you want to deeply read all the text, etc.)?
  • Think of the easiest to navigate website you’ve visited recently; what specific features made it easy to navigate? How did it use text, images, alignment, repetition, contrast, colors, language to help you know how to find and understand information?
  • Think of the most difficult to navigate website that you’ve ever visited; what made it difficult? What specific features can you identify or isolate that made it hard to find information?
  • Consider your favorite podcast; how does the creator(s) organize the content and present information clearly? How long does it take to listen to? What environment do you usually listen to podcasts in (your car, at home, using headphones, on a speaker while you cook dinner…). What specific features can you identify or isolate that make it enjoyable?

These types of reflection questions help you to make decisions about the texts that you create. They are useful when considering conventions or strengths of specific genres, AND they are useful when you have to create a genre that is completely new to you. Remember that analyzing the rhetorical situation and genre conventions together make it manageable as you approach any new communication task.

Throughout this text, we’ve discussed technical communication as rhetorical, as always concerned with diversity, equity, and inclusion, how we define or set the boundaries for technical communication, and the conventions of common genres. As you continue your education and practice as a technical communicator, or as you approach any new communication situation, keep doing the work of analysis and reflection. Consider how each act of communication engages a specific audience for a specific purpose. Even the most seemingly objective genres require you to make choices: what information do you include, whose voices and experiences do you elevate, how do you take in feedback and revise your texts, how do you approach research in a way that reduces bias and incorporates marginalized experiences–these are all important pieces of the communication process. As technical communication continues to develop and evolve, and as technology and genres also change, keep these considerations in mind.

Activity and Reflection: Presenting information 

Together or with a partner, find a presentation (you can search YouTube for technical presentations or Ted Talks). Reflect on the following questions to perform a  rhetorical analysis  on the presentation:

  • Who is the target audience for this presentation? How can you tell?
  • What is the main purpose or goal of the presentation? How can you tell?
  • What did you like about the presentation (be specific)? What features make it effective?
  • What would you change, and why?
  • How does the presentation use  text  and audio  together to deliver a message? How do these elements complement each other?

Introduction to Technical and Professional Communication Copyright © 2021 by Brigitte Mussack is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Blog Beginner Guides 8 Types of Presentations You Should Know [+Examples & Tips]

8 Types of Presentations You Should Know [+Examples & Tips]

Written by: Krystle Wong Aug 11, 2023

Types of Presentation

From persuasive pitches that influence opinions to instructional demonstrations that teach skills, the different types of presentations serve a unique purpose, tailored to specific objectives and audiences.

Presentations that are tailored to its objectives and audiences are more engaging and memorable. They capture attention, maintain interest and leave a lasting impression. 

Don’t worry if you’re no designer —  Whether you need data-driven visuals, persuasive graphics or engaging design elements, Venngage can empower you to craft presentations that stand out and effectively convey your message.

Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface, extensive presentation template library and customizable design options make it a valuable tool for creating slides that align with your specific goals and target audience. 

Click to jump ahead:

8 Different types of presentations every presenter must know

How do i choose the right type of presentation for my topic or audience, types of presentation faq, 5 steps to create a presentation with venngage .

presentation tech definition

When it comes to presentations, versatility is the name of the game. Having a variety of presentation styles up your sleeve can make a world of difference in keeping your audience engaged. Here are 8 essential presentation types that every presenter should be well-acquainted with:

1. Informative presentation

Ever sat through a presentation that left you feeling enlightened? That’s the power of an informative presentation. 

This presentation style is all about sharing knowledge and shedding light on a particular topic. Whether you’re diving into the depths of quantum physics or explaining the intricacies of the latest social media trends, informative presentations aim to increase the audience’s understanding.

When delivering an informative presentation, simplify complex topics with clear visuals and relatable examples. Organize your content logically, starting with the basics and gradually delving deeper and always remember to keep jargon to a minimum and encourage questions for clarity.

Academic presentations and research presentations are great examples of informative presentations. An effective academic presentation involves having clear structure, credible evidence, engaging delivery and supporting visuals. Provide context to emphasize the topic’s significance, practice to perfect timing, and be ready to address anticipated questions. 

presentation tech definition

2. Persuasive presentation

If you’ve ever been swayed by a passionate speaker armed with compelling arguments, you’ve experienced a persuasive presentation . 

This type of presentation is like a verbal tug-of-war, aiming to convince the audience to see things from a specific perspective. Expect to encounter solid evidence, logical reasoning and a dash of emotional appeal.

With persuasive presentations, it’s important to know your audience inside out and tailor your message to their interests and concerns. Craft a compelling narrative with a strong opening, a solid argument and a memorable closing. Additionally, use visuals strategically to enhance your points.

Examples of persuasive presentations include presentations for environmental conservations, policy change, social issues and more. Here are some engaging presentation templates you can use to get started with: 

presentation tech definition

3. Demonstration or how-to presentation

A Demonstration or How-To Presentation is a type of presentation where the speaker showcases a process, technique, or procedure step by step, providing the audience with clear instructions on how to replicate the demonstrated action. 

A demonstrative presentation is particularly useful when teaching practical skills or showing how something is done in a hands-on manner.

These presentations are commonly used in various settings, including educational workshops, training sessions, cooking classes, DIY tutorials, technology demonstrations and more. Designing creative slides for your how-to presentations can heighten engagement and foster better information retention. 

Speakers can also consider breaking down the process into manageable steps, using visual aids, props and sometimes even live demonstrations to illustrate each step. The key is to provide clear and concise instructions, engage the audience with interactive elements and address any questions that may arise during the presentation.

presentation tech definition

4. Training or instructional presentation

Training presentations are geared towards imparting practical skills, procedures or concepts — think of this as the more focused cousin of the demonstration presentation. 

Whether you’re teaching a group of new employees the ins and outs of a software or enlightening budding chefs on the art of soufflé-making, training presentations are all about turning novices into experts.

To maximize the impact of your training or instructional presentation, break down complex concepts into digestible segments. Consider using real-life examples to illustrate each point and create a connection. 

You can also create an interactive presentation by incorporating elements like quizzes or group activities to reinforce understanding.

presentation tech definition

5. Sales presentation

Sales presentations are one of the many types of business presentations and the bread and butter of businesses looking to woo potential clients or customers. With a sprinkle of charm and a dash of persuasion, these presentations showcase products, services or ideas with one end goal in mind: sealing the deal.

A successful sales presentation often has key characteristics such as a clear value proposition, strong storytelling, confidence and a compelling call to action. Hence, when presenting to your clients or stakeholders, focus on benefits rather than just features. 

Anticipate and address potential objections before they arise and use storytelling to showcase how your offering solves a specific problem for your audience. Utilizing visual aids is also a great way to make your points stand out and stay memorable.

A sales presentation can be used to promote service offerings, product launches or even consultancy proposals that outline the expertise and industry experience of a business. Here are some template examples you can use for your next sales presentation:

presentation tech definition

6. Pitch presentation

Pitch presentations are your ticket to garnering the interest and support of potential investors, partners or stakeholders. Think of your pitch deck as your chance to paint a vivid picture of your business idea or proposal and secure the resources you need to bring it to life. 

Business presentations aside, individuals can also create a portfolio presentation to showcase their skills, experience and achievements to potential clients, employers or investors. 

Craft a concise and compelling narrative. Clearly define the problem your idea solves and how it stands out in the market. Anticipate questions and practice your answers. Project confidence and passion for your idea.

presentation tech definition

7. Motivational or inspirational presentation

Feeling the need for a morale boost? That’s where motivational presentations step in. These talks are designed to uplift and inspire, often featuring personal anecdotes, heartwarming stories and a generous serving of encouragement.

Form a connection with your audience by sharing personal stories that resonate with your message. Use a storytelling style with relatable anecdotes and powerful metaphors to create an emotional connection. Keep the energy high and wrap up your inspirational presentations with a clear call to action.

Inspirational talks and leadership presentations aside, a motivational or inspirational presentation can also be a simple presentation aimed at boosting confidence, a motivational speech focused on embracing change and more.

presentation tech definition

8. Status or progress report presentation

Projects and businesses are like living organisms, constantly evolving and changing. Status or progress report presentations keep everyone in the loop by providing updates on achievements, challenges and future plans. It’s like a GPS for your team, ensuring everyone stays on track.

Be transparent about achievements, challenges and future plans. Utilize infographics, charts and diagrams to present your data visually and simplify information. By visually representing data, it becomes easier to identify trends, make predictions and strategize based on evidence.

presentation tech definition

Now that you’ve learned about the different types of presentation methods and how to use them, you’re on the right track to creating a good presentation that can boost your confidence and enhance your presentation skills . 

Selecting the most suitable presentation style is akin to choosing the right outfit for an occasion – it greatly influences how your message is perceived. Here’s a more detailed guide to help you make that crucial decision:

1. Define your objectives

Begin by clarifying your presentation’s goals. Are you aiming to educate, persuade, motivate, train or perhaps sell a concept? Your objectives will guide you to the most suitable presentation type. 

For instance, if you’re aiming to inform, an informative presentation would be a natural fit. On the other hand, a persuasive presentation suits the goal of swaying opinions.

2. Know your audience

Regardless if you’re giving an in-person or a virtual presentation — delve into the characteristics of your audience. Consider factors like their expertise level, familiarity with the topic, interests and expectations. 

If your audience consists of professionals in your field, a more technical presentation might be suitable. However, if your audience is diverse and includes newcomers, an approachable and engaging style might work better.

presentation tech definition

3. Analyze your content

Reflect on the content you intend to present. Is it data-heavy, rich in personal stories or focused on practical skills? Different presentation styles serve different content types. 

For data-driven content, an informative or instructional presentation might work best. For emotional stories, a motivational presentation could be a compelling choice.

4. Consider time constraints

Evaluate the time you have at your disposal. If your presentation needs to be concise due to time limitations, opt for a presentation style that allows you to convey your key points effectively within the available timeframe. A pitch presentation, for example, often requires delivering impactful information within a short span.

5. Leverage visuals

Visual aids are powerful tools in presentations. Consider whether your content would benefit from visual representation. If your PowerPoint presentations involve step-by-step instructions or demonstrations, a how-to presentation with clear visuals would be advantageous. Conversely, if your content is more conceptual, a motivational presentation could rely more on spoken words.

presentation tech definition

6. Align with the setting

Take the presentation environment into account. Are you presenting in a formal business setting, a casual workshop or a conference? Your setting can influence the level of formality and interactivity in your presentation. For instance, a demonstration presentation might be ideal for a hands-on workshop, while a persuasive presentation is great for conferences.

7. Gauge audience interaction

Determine the level of audience engagement you want. Interactive presentations work well for training sessions, workshops and small group settings, while informative or persuasive presentations might be more one-sided.

8. Flexibility

Stay open to adjusting your presentation style on the fly. Sometimes, unexpected factors might require a change of presentation style. Be prepared to adjust on the spot if audience engagement or reactions indicate that a different approach would be more effective.

Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and the best type of presentation may vary depending on the specific situation and your unique communication goals. By carefully considering these factors, you can choose the most effective presentation type to successfully engage and communicate with your audience.

To save time, use a presentation software or check out these presentation design and presentation background guides to create a presentation that stands out.    

presentation tech definition

What are some effective ways to begin and end a presentation?

Capture your audience’s attention from the start of your presentation by using a surprising statistic, a compelling story or a thought-provoking question related to your topic. 

To conclude your presentation , summarize your main points, reinforce your key message and leave a lasting impression with a powerful call to action or a memorable quote that resonates with your presentation’s theme.

How can I make my presentation more engaging and interactive?

To create an engaging and interactive presentation for your audience, incorporate visual elements such as images, graphs and videos to illustrate your points visually. Share relatable anecdotes or real-life examples to create a connection with your audience. 

You can also integrate interactive elements like live polls, open-ended questions or small group discussions to encourage participation and keep your audience actively engaged throughout your presentation.

Which types of presentations require special markings

Some presentation types require special markings such as how sales presentations require persuasive techniques like emphasizing benefits, addressing objections and using compelling visuals to showcase products or services. 

Demonstrations and how-to presentations on the other hand require clear markings for each step, ensuring the audience can follow along seamlessly. 

That aside, pitch presentations require highlighting unique selling points, market potential and the competitive edge of your idea, making it stand out to potential investors or partners.

Need some inspiration on how to make a presentation that will captivate an audience? Here are 120+ presentation ideas to help you get started. 

Creating a stunning and impactful presentation with Venngage is a breeze. Whether you’re crafting a business pitch, a training presentation or any other type of presentation, follow these five steps to create a professional presentation that stands out:

  • Sign up and log in to Venngage to access the editor.
  • Choose a presentation template that matches your topic or style.
  • Customize content, colors, fonts, and background to personalize your presentation.
  • Add images, icons, and charts to enhancevisual style and clarity.
  • Save, export, and share your presentation as PDF or PNG files, or use Venngage’s Presentation Mode for online showcasing.

In the realm of presentations, understanding the different types of presentation formats is like having a versatile set of tools that empower you to craft compelling narratives for every occasion.

Remember, the key to a successful presentation lies not only in the content you deliver but also in the way you connect with your audience. Whether you’re informing, persuading or entertaining, tailoring your approach to the specific type of presentation you’re delivering can make all the difference.

Presentations are a powerful tool, and with practice and dedication (and a little help from Venngage), you’ll find yourself becoming a presentation pro in no time. Now, let’s get started and customize your next presentation!

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7 Steps to Delivering a Technical Presentation

June 21, 2021 - Dom Barnard

So you want to share the fruits of your technical labor with a presentation? Perhaps, you’re an engineer, a maker, a coder, or a designer, and you’re looking to discuss a research study, explain a process, or demonstrate a product.

Regardless of the agenda,  speaking to a group  can be intimidating. However, there are steps you can take to deliver an effective technical presentation that gets your point across and appeals to the audience.

Whether you’re presenting in person or via  web conferencing software , the following tips and best practices will help you be prepared, feel more confident, and set up the tools you need to conduct your presentation without any issues.

Know your subject matter

A great presentation isn’t about reading a bunch of slides – your attendees are capable of reading much faster on their own.

If you are going to pack your slides with dozens of details and bullet points, you might as well ditch the slides and write an article instead. It’s difficult for the audience to listen to a presenter and read a lot of information at the same time.

Your job as a presenter is to be the expert that your attendees expect you to be. Keep your slides simple and minimal. In fact, 91% of people say that  well-designed slides  help  boost their confidence  when giving a presentation.

Remember that your slides are not the star of the show, you are. Help your audience understand and make sense of what they are reading in your slides. To do this, make sure you are using a  suitable structure  for your presentation.

You can do these things only when you’re well-versed in what you’re presenting. The slides are supposed to be your outline, or simply a table of contents to remind you what to cover during the presentation.

Know your audience

Knowing your audience  is crucial for any presentation, but it’s even more important for a technical one. If your audience is as experienced and comfortable with the topic of your presentation as you are, then you don’t want to dumb it down to the extent that it bores them.

On the other hand, you don’t want to give a complex presentation to an audience with no clue of what you’re talking about.

There may also be times when your attendees are people with different levels of technical skill, experience, and interests. Then your job is to make sure that the content of your presentation is relevant and doesn’t alienate any of those segments.

Presentation relevance

Image Source:  Digital Clarity Group

To understand how technical you need to be, consider what your audience might already know and how much is required for them to understand to meet your goal.

If your objective is to acquire funding, for instance, your audience will be more interested in financial benefits than the technical details of your product. The idea is to meet the needs of your audience, not to fuel your passion for engineering.

Configure your IDE

Since you’re delivering a technical presentation, there may be instances where you’ll want to walk your audience through your development environment, code scripts, software demos, or other technical components.

However, you may have adjusted how things look on the screen according to what’s the most convenient for your usual workflow. And what’s good for working in your day-to-day routine may not render well as you go full screen in presentation mode.

Visual studio IDE

If the attendees can’t decipher what’s on the screen, they’ll get confused and will find it hard to focus on your talk. So it’s important that you customize whatever you’re going to show in your presentation such that it’s easily readable and viewable.

There are several steps you can take to make this happen. First of all, don’t use dark backgrounds. Light-colored backgrounds are easy on the eyes. Second, adjust your font styles and sizes to make sure they’re big enough.

And finally, learn to zoom in on specific areas as required, depending on whether you’re using a  Windows PC  or a  Mac system .

Practice Presentation Skills

Improve your public speaking and presentation skills by practicing them in realistic environments, with automated feedback on performance. Learn More

Minimize distractions

Nothing is more annoying than to keep getting disruptive notifications or popups from in the middle of your presentation. These can be from your operating system (Windows or Mac), or apps such as Slack, Email, Twitter, and more.

At times, these notifications can be personal, embarrassing, or contain confidential information that you don’t want your audience to see.

Therefore, it’s best to make sure in advance that there are no unpleasant surprises. Before you get up to give your presentation, turning off your notifications can go a long way.

This will also reduce the number of processes running on your machine and free up available resources. As a result, the resource-intensive programs that are part of your presentation will run a lot smoother. Here’s how to turn off  notifications for Windows ,  Google Chrome , and  Mac .

Get the right equipment

If you want to be a master presenter, you should have the proper tools for the job. The basics include a desktop or laptop machine with good configuration, a big display screen, presentation software (usually MS Powerpoint or Keynote), and a clicker/pointer device.

A clicking device, like the  Logitech Wireless Presenter , can help you switch slides from wherever you are in the room, point to a specific part of a slide, and add an overall professional touch to your presentation.

In addition, you should have any cables (HDMI, VGA, USD, etc) and adapters required to connect the devices you are going to use for the presentation.

Conrad delock adapter

Conrad Delock USB 3.0 Network adapter

If you have no idea about what will be available at your presentation venue, then carry one piece of each of the commonly used cables and adapters. You’ll thank us later.

Rehearse in advance

Practice your slides and your demo multiple times before the presentation, even if you have presented the exact same thing in the past. Do not make any assumptions about your actual presentation environment based on your practice environment.

Technologies and situations change, and you may find things that catch you off guard. Run through everything at least once the night before just to be sure.

Practice presentations in VR

Practice your presentations with  interactive exercises .

Even better if you can record yourself during these rehearsal presentations and watch the recordings later to find areas of improvement.

Also, if you’re relying on downloading or doing something in front of the audience that may require a high-speed internet connection, don’t assume you’ll have access to such a network during your presentation. Download and install whatever you need ahead of time.

Finally, enjoy the experience

You’re giving a technical presentation, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring, or that you have to be serious all the time as you talk.

It’s okay to have fun, crack some jokes,  tell a story ,  ask a rhetorical question  or invite participation from the audience when presenting. In fact, a study showed that presentations that don’t let the audience participate see a  drop of 14%  in engagement.

Don’t worry too much about things going wrong. See every presentation as a dialogue with your attendees and an opportunity to learn and be a better presenter. If you are enjoying yourself, so will your audience.

PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is included in the standard Office suite along with Microsoft Word and Excel . The software allows users to create anything from basic slide shows to complex presentations.

PowerPoint is often used to create business presentations, but can also be used for educational or informal purposes. The presentations are comprised of slides, which may contain text, images, and other media, such as audio clips and movies. Sound effects and animated transitions can also be included to add extra appeal to the presentation. However, overusing sound effects and transitions will probably do more to annoy your audience than draw their attention. (Yes, we have all heard the car screeching noise enough times for one lifetime.)

Most PowerPoint presentations are created from a template, which includes a background color or image, a standard font , and a choice of several slide layouts. Changes to the template can be saved to a "master slide," which stores the main slide theme used in the presentation. When changes are made to the master slide, such as choosing a new background image, the changes are propagated to all the other slides. This keeps a uniform look among all the slides in the presentation.

When presenting a PowerPoint presentation, the presenter may choose to have the slides change at preset intervals or may decide to control the flow manually. This can be done using the mouse , keyboard , or a remote control. The flow of the presentation can be further customized by having slides load completely or one bullet at a time. For example, if the presenter has several bullet points on a page, he might have individual points appear when he clicks the mouse. This allows more interactivity with the audience and brings greater focus to each point.

PowerPoint presentations can be created and viewed using Microsoft PowerPoint. They can also be imported and exported with Apple Keynote, Apple's presentation program for the Macintosh platform. Since most people prefer not to watch presentations on a laptop , PowerPoint presentations are often displayed using a projector. Therefore, if you are preparing a PowerPoint presentation for a room full of people, just make sure you have the correct video adapter.

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Best presentation software of 2024

Perfect slideshows for speeches, talks, and presentations

A person setting up files to import into Powerpoint.

  • Best overall
  • Best for media
  • Best unique
  • Best for branding
  • Best for marketing
  • Best for themes
  • How we test

We list the best presentation software, to make it simple and easy to make and manage slideshow presentations to display to an audience.

Presentation software runs at the heart of business sales, management, and development, so it's important to ensure you have the best presentation software for your needs. This is especially when looking to share ideas, concepts, and workflows, and the ability to present these in a simple and understandable way is essential.

However, while presentation software has been traditionally limited to text and images, it has widened its ability to work with different media such as video and audio. 

Therefore it's important for the best presentation software to not simply be easy and simple to use, but also be able to support additional media so that presentations can be more engaging, lively, and ultimately serve their purpose in educating and updating their intended audience.

Below we've listed the best presentation software currently on the market.

We've also listed the best free presentation software .

The best office software in the world is: Microsoft 365

The best office software in the world is: Microsoft 365 There are many different office software suites out there, but Microsoft Office remains the original and best, offering an unsurpassed range of features and functionality that rivals just can't match.

Even better, Microsoft 365 - previously branded as Office 365 - is a cloud-based solution which means you can use it on any computer, mobile device, or smartphone, without having to worry about compatibility. All your files are saved in the cloud and synced between devices, so you can begin work on a document at home or in the office, then continue working on it on the go.

You can sign up to Microsoft 365 here .

The best presentation software of 2024 in full:

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Best presentation software overall

Microsoft PowerPoint website screenshot

1. PowerPoint

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

For most people, Microsoft 's PowerPoint remains the original and best of all the presentation software platforms out there. While other companies have managed to catch up and offer rival products worthy of consideration, the fact is that PowerPoint's familiar interface and ubiquitous availability means it remains a favorite for the majority of people.

On the one hand, it's long been a staple of the hugely popular Microsoft Office suite, meaning that for most users this is going to be the first - and last - presentation software they are going to need to use.

Additionally, Microsoft has made PowerPoint, along with their other office products, available as free apps (with limited functionality) on both iOS and Android for mobile use, meaning it's even harder to avoid them. And this is before we even consider the inclusion of PowerPoint in Microsoft's cloud-based Microsoft 365.

It does everything necessary that you'd expect of presentation software, allowing you to add text and media to a series of slides, to accompany a talk and other presentations. There are easy-to-use templates included to help spice things up a little, but even a general user with little experience of it is likely to find themselves able to use PowerPoint without much trouble at all.

Overall, it's hard to go wrong with PowerPoint, and although Microsoft 365 has a nominal cost, the apps are free to use even if they do have more limited functionality.

Read our full Microsoft PowerPoint review .

Our Microsoft discount codes can help you save on your next purchase.

  • ^ Back to the top

Best presentation software for media

SlideDog website screenshot

2. SlideDog

Reasons to avoid.

It’s all too easy to end up creating a presentation that’s unappealing, and the last thing you want to do is make the audience fall asleep. SlideDog lets you combine almost any type of media to create a rich presentation that’s sure to keep the viewers’ peepers open, avoiding the ‘cookie cutter’ look that makes presentations seem dull.

Marketed as a web-based multimedia presentation tool, it gives you the ability to combine PowerPoint presentations, graphics, PDF files, Prezi presentations, web pages, pictures, videos, and movie clips. You can drag these into custom playlists and display them to your audience with ease.

You’re able to remotely control your presentations and playlists from your smartphone, the web, or a secondary computer, and there’s also the option to share slides in real-time. Audience members can even view your slide from their own devices by clicking a link. That’s a handy feature if you’re looking to create an immersive presentation experience.

SlideDog is probably the cheapest of the presentation software featured, with a free account that will cover the essential features. However, for live sharing and premium support, you need to upgrade.

Read our full SlideDog review .

Best unique presentation software

Prezi website screenshot

Prezi is one of the more unique presentation tools. Instead of presenting your graphics and text in a slide-to-slide format, you can create highly visual and interactive presentation canvases with the goal of “emphasizing the relationship between the ideas”.

Presentations can also be tailored to the specific audience, as this is a flexible platform that’s capable of skipping ahead, or veering off into a side topic, without having to flip through all the slides to get to a particular bit.

For business users, there are a variety of handy tools available. By downloading Prezi , you can build and edit presentations with your colleagues in real-time, which is perfect for companies with teams based around the globe.

When you have created a presentation you’re happy with, you can present it live (in HD) and send a direct link to viewers. There are some analysis tools here, too – you can see who’s accessed your presentation, which parts of it, and for how long. The app is available for Mac and Windows devices.

Read our full Prezi review .

Best presentation software for branding

CustomShow website screenshot

4. CustomShow

Branding says a lot about a business, and it’s something firms need to get right from day one – from a good logo to a suitable font. CustomShow is business presentation software that puts all these elements of branding first.

Using the system, you can design and present customized, branded presentations that reflect your company and the products you offer, featuring the aforementioned logo and custom fonts. As well as this, you get a slide library and analytics to ensure your presentations are a success.

What’s more, you can import presentations into the software, and use it to tweak them further. There’s also integration with SalesForce , and because the platform is cloud-based, you can access your presentations on computers, tablets, and smartphones. 

Considering the focus on branding, this offering could be good for marketing and sales teams, and it's used by major companies such as HBO and CBS Interactive.

Best presentation software for marketing

ClearSlide website screenshot

5. ClearSlide

Just like CustomShow, ClearSlide has a niche focus for companies. The platform is targeted at firms looking to generate successful marketing campaigns, pushing sales via presentations (and more), not least through a range of analytics and metrics to work for sales and marketing.

With the product, you can upload a range of files, including PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF, and Excel. ClearSlide is integrated with other platforms, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and Salesforce.

This system is pretty complex and may offer too many irrelevant features for some businesses, but you can create customized content that reflects your company and the message you’re trying to get out to customers. There are also some good metrics and analysis features, and you can sign up for a free trial before making any decisions.

The real strength of ClearSlide comes from its focus on sales and marketing data, not least being able to track user engagement alongside other metrics.

Best presentation software for themes

Haiku Deck website screenshot

6. Haiku Deck

Any presentation app will allow you to personalize your slides to at least some extent, but Haiku Deck goes one step further than the competition. It comes with a wide range of themes suited to different needs, and you also get access to 40 million free images from the Creative Commons collection.

When it comes to creating a presentation, you have the option to do so on the web, which means your presentation is accessible across a range of mobile devices as well as desktops. Regardless of the device used, you’re able to select from a variety of different fonts, layouts, and filters to make the perfect presentation.

The great thing about these various customization options is that they’re categorized into different industries and use cases. For instance, you’ll find themes for teaching, cooking, real estate, and startups. Most of the features require you to be online, but hopefully, you’ll have a sturdy net connection wherever you go.

Other presentation software to consider

Google Slides  is part of the Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) office platform intended as an online alternative to Microsoft Office. It may seem a little limited by comparison to PowerPoint, but as it's browser-based that means cross-platform compatibility. Additionally, it allows for collaborative work, and Google Slides really works well here. On top of the fact that it integrates with the rest of the Google Workspace apps, not least Google Drive, and you have a contender. 

Zoho Show  is another of the many, many tools and apps that Zoho has made available for business use. It also operates in the cloud so it's accessible to any device with a browser, and it also allows for collaborative work. You can also easily share the link for users to download, or provide a live presentation online. The updated version has a simpler and easier to use interface and comes with a free version and a paid-for one with expanded features.

Evernote  is normally thought of as just note-taking software, but it does provide the option to create a presentation you can share online or with an audience. In that regard, it's a little more limited than the other options in not being dedicated presentation software. However, as an easy and handy way to pull together a presentation quickly, it could serve as a backup or last-minute option, especially if Evernote is already being commonly used by you.

LibreOffice Impress  is part of the open-source suite offered as a free alternative to Microsoft Office, and comes with a powerful array of tools and editing options for your presentation, not least working with 3D images. It's supported by a large community, so it's easy to find an array of additional templates. If there is a limitation it's that it's software you download and install rather than web-based, but any presentations created should be easily portable to the web if needed.

Adobe Spark  does things a bit differently, as rather than just use images it's geared toward video as well. This makes for potentially more powerful multimedia presentations, especially as Adobe also has a big selection of photos and images available for its users. There is a free tier for core features but requires a subscription for custom branding, personalized themes, and support.

Slides  comes with a lot of features in an easy-to-use interface, and involves setting up presentations using drag and drop into an existing grid. It's also internet-based so there's no software to download, and it only requires a browser to use and access. 

Presentation software FAQs

Which presentation software is best for you.

When deciding which presentation software to download and use, first consider what your actual needs are, as sometimes free platforms may only provide basic options, so if you need to use advanced tools you may find a paid platform is much more worthwhile. Additionally, free and budget software options can sometimes prove limited when it comes to the variety of tools available, while higher-end software can really cater for every need, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may require for your presentation needs.

How we tested the best presentation software

To test for the best presentation software we first set up an account with the relevant software platform, whether as a download or as an online service. We then tested the service to see how the software could be used for different purposes and in different situations. The aim was to push each software platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.

Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar .

We've also featured the best alternatives to Microsoft Office .

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Presentation

  • Written By Gregg Rosenzweig
  • Updated: June 4, 2024
We’re here to help you choose the most appropriate content types to fulfill your content strategy. In this series, we’re breaking down the most popular content types to their basic fundamentals so you can start with a solid foundation — simple definitions, clarity on formats, and plenty of examples.

What is a Presentation?

A communication device that relays a topic to an audience in the form of a slide show, demonstration, lecture, or speech, where words and pictures complement each other.

Why should you think of presentations as content?

The beauty of content creation is that almost anything can become a compelling piece of content . It just depends on the creativity used to convert it and the story that brings it to life.

presentation tech definition

The long and short of it

Although the length of a presentation in terms of time can depend on the overall approach (Are you talking a lot? Are you referring to the screen in detail or not?), consider the number of informational content slides when tallying the overall presentation length. For instance, don’t include title slides in your tally when conveying length to a content creator.

A general guide to presentation length:

  • Short Form (5 content slides)
  • Standard Form (10 content slides)
  • Long Form (20+ content slides)

Popular use cases for presentations…

Let’s consider TED Talks for a minute: one of the best examples (bar none) of how words, pictures, and a narrative can make people care about something they otherwise might not.

These “talks” pre-date podcasts and blend a compelling use of language and imagery in presentation format to spread ideas in unique ways.

TED Talks have been viewed a billion-plus times worldwide (and counting) and are worth considering when it comes to how you might use video-presentation content to connect with your customers in creative, cool, new ways.

Business types:

Any company that has a pitch deck, executive summary, sales presentation, or any kind of internal document can repurpose them into external-facing content pieces — without pain.

Presentation Examples – Short Form

Here are some short-form examples with curated to help inspire you.

presentation tech definition

Presentation Examples – Standard Form

presentation tech definition

Presentation Examples – Long Form

presentation tech definition

Understanding Content Quality in Examples

Our team has rated content type examples in three degrees of quality ( Good, Better, Best ) to help you better gauge resources needed for your content plan.

In general, the degrees of content quality correspond to our three content levels ( General, Qualified, Expert ) based on the criteria below. Remember though, multiple variables determine the cost, completion time, or content level for any content piece with a perceived degree of quality.

presentation tech definition

How to Get Exceptional Content That Elevates

If you want to impress your clients, co-workers, or leadership team with your next presentation or product demonstration, to might want to consider working with proven content creators.

At ClearVoice, we have a Talent Network of 4000+ professionals across 200+ industries. That means we can find creators with the exact skill sets and expertise you need to create content that gets results.

Talk to a content specialist today to start the conversation.

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We will keep you up-to-date with all the content marketing news and resources. You will be a content expert in no time. Sign up for our free newsletter.

Elevate Your Content Game

Transform your marketing with a consistent stream of high-quality content for your brand.

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A quick guide to building effective technical presentations.

presentation tech definition

As an expert in a technical field, you will occasionally be called upon to give a presentation on your work to people who are not very familiar with your field, such as your company's sales and marketing team. You need to be aware of the proper communication techniques to be able to place highly technical facts before your listeners in a manner they can understand.

Here is a quick guide to building an effective technical presentation:

1. know your audience.

There are a few questions you will need to ask yourself before your technical presentation to determine the type of presentation to prepare. How familiar is the audience with the subject? Are they experts or novices in the field? What style of presentation are they used to sitting through? Will they understand technical terms or do you need to use simpler language? Do they respond better to a lecture or a more interactive learning session?

Once the answers to these questions have been determined, you can set about creating a technical presentation that caters specifically to the tastes and preferences of your audience.  

2. Limit Your Subject

Determine beforehand how technical your presentation needs to be in order to get the point across. Only go as deeply into the subject as required, and avoid throwing in terms and references which have nothing to do with the subject at hand.

3. Make an Outline

Now it's time to break down the presentation into smaller chunks that focus on one point at a time. With technical presentations, it is useful to have three sections to a presentation. The first section identifies the main subject and provides a summary of its broad definition and why it has become the subject of the presentation.

The second section goes more deeply into the main subject and provides the minute technical details which the audience needs to understand about the topic. The final section offers a solution or resolution to the problem presented through the presentation. You can also add in a course of action that is being taken or should be taken in the near future at the end of the technical presentation.

4. Use Visual Aids

powerpoint-presentation-orange.png

When dealing with technical jargon, don't just depend on your speech to get the point across to the listeners. Ensure that they truly grasp the meaning of your words with the help of visual aids. Creating a PowerPoint presentation is the most useful tool in this regard since it will allow you to add graphs, statistics, and animation to your technical presentation. But you can also make use of handmade models, working prototypes and other visual aids in your presentation.   

5. Approach the Subject from Different Angles

Don't focus only on your work in relation to the subject. Try to present a comprehensive view of the topic which also includes its sales, marketing, and business side. Remember that the audience likely has a different relationship to the subject matter than you do, so try to include content relating to the subject from their point of view as well.  

6. Be Prepared for Questions

Finishing your lecture won't be the end of your technical presentation. There is almost always a question and answer session afterward during which the audience will ask you for greater details about the information presented. Do your homework beforehand to prepare for any questions that might be asked.

Keeping these points in mind will help ensure that your knowledge is presented in an attractive and easily understandable manner which will create a positive impression and provide a useful, comprehensive and enlightening technical presentation to the audience. 

At Bliley, we often collaborate on projects and presentations. Learn about our favoriate collaboration tools here . What applications do you use to collaborate or prepare presentations? We'd love to hear from you!

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The 5 differences between a pitch and a presentation.

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Persuade me. If you can.

“Tell me a little bit about yourself.”

“Pitch me your business idea.”

“Why should I do business with you?”

Where, exactly, does the story begin? In order to pitch your ideas - or your job skills - effectively, it’s important to understand the fundamental differences between a presentation and a pitch. Because a pitch is more than just an informational presentation. Beyond the constructs of the various TV shows, like Shark Tank , a pitch doesn’t necessarily inform. A good pitch compels . In other words, a pitch inspires action.

Persuasion Creates Opportunity, inside Your Pitch

That’s right, “inspires”. Because if all you want to do is instruct, like an informational presentation, that’s not a pitch. True, your audience might get smarter. But are you getting any richer? What does “good” look like, when it comes to your pitch? Maybe it looks like a new job . A new promotion. Or a new initiative that’s delivered (persuasively) by none other than you. Would you invest in that pitch?

Consider these five key differences between a presentation and a pitch:

  • You Don’t Have to Go it Alone : it’s easy to fall into the trap that you’re alone on an island when it comes to your pitch - and that’s why you better talk fast, right? Wrong. A presentation is about information. A pitch is about connection . Slow down, and stop trying to lift the world by yourself. Instead, connect your message to the people you wish to influence most: your investors, your potential new employer, your boss. Stop focusing on yourself and consider the puts and takes for the person right in front of you. You may not be facing off with Mr. Wonderful, but if you can find a way to connect to your audience, you’re making wonderful progress. How does your pitch impact the person you’re trying to influence? Are you clear on their outcomes, not just your own?
  • Outcomes, Not Obstacles : there are four words that need to be a part of any persuasive conversation or pitch. Here they are: “I’ve thought this through”. Thinking things through means looking beyond the details. Zoom out and see if you see the big picture - have you thought things through? After all, a pitch is persuasive. It’s not a how-to. You’re not there to instruct, you’re there to inspire. Thinking things through points towards outcomes . What is the outcome of your business idea? What’s the outcome of you being hired by this firm? Stop focusing on your past experience and knowledge (Your background and resumé won’t disappear, when you make this shift). Turn your experience into outcomes for your audience. That way, you create an experience for your investor (or potential employer). Sharing outcomes starts by answering this simple question: “What’s the biggest promise you can keep?”
  • What’s Your Log Line? Brant Pinvidic has sold over 300 different vehicles to various studios in Hollywood, including reality TV shows like Pawn Stars and Bar Rescue . In his book, The 3-Minute Rule, he explains how it can be useful to have a “log line”. He defines a log line as “the single most valuable element of your offering...in a single sentence or phrase.” He explains how he sold the idea of The Biggest Loser, the most successful show his company has produced so far: “Overweight contestants compete to lose weight; the winner is the biggest loser.” Simplicity wins, when it comes to your pitch.
  • Use Leadership Language - Not Just Description: If you want a pitch that’s a winner, consider the difference between language that describes and language that creates. The language of description is all around us - in news reports, white papers and web pages. The language of creation, however, focuses on what we might be able to make, build or do together. Leadership language emphasizes creation: creating partnerships, opportunities, options and outcomes. Which do you think is more important in a pitch, description or creation? If an investor can take a quiz on your business idea, describe it, and earn an “A”, you might just be the biggest loser. Because if your audience is smarter, but they’re not co-creating a new solution with you, what have you won? Do you want to get a grade, or to get paid?
  • Close Like You Know: a compelling pitch is, at its core, is a series of “yeses”. A pitch always finds a way to “yes”. How do you know if your pitch is going well? When you hear these three words from your audience: tell me more . Can you share ideas that are inarguable? Ideas and concepts that inspire agreement instead of inviting argument? These paths lead to yes. And then, at the end of your pitch, offer the easiest thing in the world to say “yes” to. And what is the easiest thing in the world to say “yes” to? No, it’s not free beer. It’s an invitation . What is the invitation you can offer? An invitation that’s logical and actionable and measurable. An invitation to co-create the next step - the step that just might get you into the winner’s circle. Or that new job you’ve been hoping for.

You don’t have to watch Shark Tank in order to see the value in a persuasive conversation. That’s right: a pitch is simply a conversation, if it’s done right. A conversation that’s compelling, clear and guided, so that your audience sees your vision. A vision that’s presented in a way that makes people say “yes”. Using the language of creation, a pitch builds to a “tell me more”, based on a story that gets your audience involved and connected with your vision. So, if you’re looking for a new job, or a new way to get your ideas across, consider how you might be able to create the one thing that every pitch needs: a connection to your audience. Instead of focusing intently on your background, your struggle, or your hero’s journey, consider instead how you can make your audience the hero. That kind of language just might help you create what’s missing. So, you’re invited to change the conversation - and change your results - whenever you’re ready to win.

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The Definition of a Slide (or Slides) in a PowerPoint Presentation

  • Brock University

Presentation software such as PowerPoint generates a series of slides to accompany a human presenter or to be recorded as a stand-alone presentation. A slide is a single screen of a presentation, and every presentation is composed of several slides. Depending on the subject matter, the  best presentations may consist of 10 to 12 slides to get a message across, but more may be needed for complex subjects.

Slides keep an audience's attention during a presentation and provide additional supporting information in textual or graphic format. 

Selecting Slide Formats in PowerPoint

When you open a new PowerPoint presentation file, you are presented with a large selection of slide templates that you can choose from to set the tone for your presentation. Each template has a series of related slides in the same theme, color, and font choice for different purposes. You can choose a template and use only the additional slides that work for your presentation.

The first slide of a presentation is usually a title or introductory slide. It typically consists of text only, but it can include graphic elements or images as well. Subsequent slides are chosen based on the information to be transmitted. Some slides contain images, or charts and graphs.

Transitions Between Slides

Slides follow one after another during a presentation, either at a set time or when the presenter advances the slides manually. PowerPoint includes a large number of transitions you can apply to slides. A transition controls the appearance of one slide as it transitions to the next. Transitions include one slide morphing into another, a fade of one to another, and all sorts of special effects such as page curls or animated motion.

Although transitions add extra interest to a slide presentation, overdoing them by applying a different spectacular effect to each slide tends to look unprofessional and may even distract the audience from what the speaker is saying, so use transitions judiciously.

Enhancing a Slide

Slides can have sound effects attached to them. The sound effects list includes cash register, crowd laughing, drum roll, whoosh, typewriter and many more. 

Adding motion to an element on a slide – a line of text or an image – is called animation. PowerPoint comes with a large selection of stock animations you can use to generate movement on a slide. For example, you can choose a headline and have it zoom in from the margin, spin around 360 degrees, flip in one letter at a time, bounce into position or one of many other stock  animation effects .

As with transitions, don't use so many special effects that the audience is distracted from the content of the slide. 

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What is a Pitch Deck? Examples, Tips and Templates

What is a Pitch Deck? Examples, Tips and Templates

Written by: Mahnoor Sheikh

what is a pitch deck - header wide

A pitch deck is a brief presentation that gives potential investors or clients an overview of your business plan, products, services and growth traction.

As an entrepreneur, you probably know this: your company or idea needs financing.

Oftentimes, this financing will come from external sources—i.e. people who aren’t friends or family. This means that you’ll need to communicate your ideas to potential financiers in a way that gets them excited about investing in your business.

In other words, you’ll need a pitch deck .

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit pitch deck templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

presentation tech definition

Table of Contents

What is a pitch deck, what’s included in a pitch deck presentation, 8 real-life pitch decks to know, the dos and don'ts of pitch decks, how to create a pitch deck in 3 easy steps, pitch deck faqs, looking for presentation software.

  • A pitch deck is a visual presentation that tells the story of a business to persuade and engage potential investors.
  • The most common pitch deck slides are introduction, problem, solution, market size and opportunity, product, traction, team, competition, financials and use of funds.
  • Learn from the eight real-life pitch deck examples to get inspired about creating your own.
  • Visme helps you create pitch deck presentations to secure funding in just three steps: choose a template, customize it and download or present it.
  • Sign up for Visme's free online presentation software and start customizing your pitch deck templates now.

A pitch deck, also known as a start-up or investor pitch deck, is a presentation that helps potential investors learn more about your business.

As strange as it sounds, the primary goal of a pitch deck is not to secure funding—it’s to make it to the next meeting.

Surprised? Wait, let me explain!

Securing funding is a multi-step process. A good, informative pitch deck is the first rung on the ladder. You’ll want to present investors with an idea that intrigues them and gets them to engage with you.

Build relationships with customers and drive sales growth

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Build relationships with customers and drive sales growth

What is a Pitch Deck Presentation?

A pitch deck presentation usually consists of several slides that help you tell a compelling story about your business . You can put one together using a generic software like PowerPoint or use a modern tool like Visme to create an out-of-the-box presentation.

What is an Investor Deck?

An investor deck is a presentation entrepreneurs prepare when seeking financing rounds from investors. It presents valuable information about the business, which is critical when seeking financing or looking to convince the best investors.

When faced with busy executives who won't sit through a presentation, opt for a startup one pager as an alternative. It'll help you grab their interest faster and secure a meeting where you can share your pitch.

Interested in learning more about creating compelling investor decks? Read this article and take advantage of our professional design templates to get started.

It’s tempting to dump information onto investors. As a founder, every part of your business is important to you. But the best pitch decks are ones that are short and easy to follow.

A good rule of thumb is to include no more than 19 slides in a pitch deck.

There are many different opinions about the components of a pitch deck. But when we looked at some successful startup pitch decks out there, we noticed 10 key slides included in most of the presentations.

what is a pitch deck - types of slides infographic

Create beautiful infographics using this drag-and-drop tool! Sign up. It's free.

Let’s take a look at each of these slides in detail.

1 Introduction

The first slide of your pitch deck is also the most important one. It’s your chance to make a great first impression, so make sure you don’t let this opportunity go.

Keep the introduction slide short and sweet—tell people who you are and why you’re here.

You can also use this slide to communicate the value proposition of your business . Try to articulate it in a single phrase or sentence, like:

“We make video games for doctors.”

“We make Happy Meals for adults.”

“We’re Sephora for pets.”

You get the point.

A good value proposition will make your audience sit up straight and want to listen to the rest of your presentation.

presentation tech definition

Image Source

If your business idea doesn’t solve an actual problem, what are you doing?

You should identify a problem your target audience faces, a gap that the market is currently not addressing.

A good problem slide will identify two or three problems your product will tackle without being long-winding. Keep the text focused so that investors will have an easy time following.

Airbnb’s ‘problem slide’ from their original pitch desk is a great example.

what is a pitch deck - problem slide airbnb

In this slide, identify a concise and clear solution that investors can easily follow. This is an important slide that makes your product deck captivating.

Airbnb’s solution slide highlights how they aim to solve each of the three problems they pointed out earlier in big and bold letters.

In this slide, identify a concise and clear solution that investors can easily follow.

Airbnb’s solution slide highlights how they aim to solve each of three problems they pointed out earlier in big and bold letters.

what is a pitch deck - solution slide airbnb

Avoid making grand statements like “we are the only ones doing this.” Most people in the room will probably know multiple companies trying to address the problem you’ve identified.

Another good strategy is to offer multiple possible solutions to the problem presented and then move on to the one you have chosen and why. This shows investors your dedication and research.

Instead of uniqueness, focus your presentation on your research, drive, commitment and capability in solving the problem.

But make sure you don’t put all of that on your slide. Keep it simple and to the point, and let these guidelines shape your entire presentation.

Airbnb Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by Airbnb that you can customize for your own startup.

Customize now!

pitch deck template - airbnb airsns

Customize this pitch deck template to make it your own! Edit and Download Now

Visme's AI Writer is a game-changer for crafting pitch decks. It provides clear, concise information, making sure your pitch deck impresses every audience. Just explain the tool about what you want write and it will take care of the rest.

4 Market Size and Opportunity

When creating a sales pitch structure, be sure to include a summary of your market research.

The market will determine if you get your funding or not. If you are operating in a small market, investors might find that the potential ROI is too small or too risky to fund you.

Using sources from your research, a solid market slide will graph out past market growth and future potential market growth so that investors can easily see what the potential of your product is.

A good example of a market size slide is from Lunchbox’s pitch deck.

Notice how the slide clearly shows the market size and identifies the opportunity in measurable numbers.

Create a powerful pitch deck in minutes!

  • Choose from hundreds of ready-to-use templates
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This is the part where you show off the actual product or service your business is selling.

If it’s a physical product, add professional photos of your product from different angles. You can also include exploded or cutaway views that highlight the materials and features of your product.

If your product is an app, online tool or service, consider adding screenshots that show off its most unique features.

Dandelion Energy's product slide includes a comprehensive explanation of their product in a concise and easy-to-understand manner with an illustrated graphic.

presentation tech definition

To take things further, you can also do a physical demo of your product in the middle of your presentation. Or embed a video or link into your slide to do a virtual demo.

TouristEye Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by TouristEye that you can customize for your own startup.

pitch deck template - touristeye traveler connect

This slide should be all about the growth of your business—the numbers of sales you’ve made, the major goals you’ve achieved till now and the next steps.

Most startups include a hockey stick growth chart in the traction slide of their pitch deck.

This slide in Buffer’s pitch deck is a great example of how you can show off your current achievements to investors.

what is a pitch deck - traction slide buffer

The traction slide plays a crucial role in crafting a compelling pitch deck for investors as it reduces risk in their eyes. They want to see proof that your business idea or solution has what it takes to be profitable.

Buffer Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by Buffer that you can customize for your own startup.

pitch deck template - buffer buffit

Customize this pitch deck template to make it your own!

  • Add your own text, images, logo and more
  • Customize anything to fit your brand image and content needs

Your pitch deck outline will include your core team members. The investor is interested in the drive of these people and what makes them unique enough to see this project to its success.

Under each core team member, consider including bullets, descriptions or titles that show why they are central to your mission.

Here’s an example of a team slide from Teton AI's pitch deck.

presentation tech definition

Keep the members here limited to your core team. Advisors need not be included.

8 Competition

Utilize the competition slide to visually illustrate your competitors and communicate the factors that make your startup special.

Airbnb has a great slide in this regard.

what is a pitch deck - competition slide airbnb

Notice how they use affordability and ease of access as the driving force setting their business apart from other travel or listing companies.

Buzzfeed also does great by showing how they offer more than what their competition can. They use their plan to reach across the aisle and offer the services of multiple competitors as their selling point.

what is a pitch deck - competition slide buzzfeed

Buzzfeed Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by Buzzfeed that you can customize for your own startup.

pitch deck template - buzzfeed newbuzz

9 Financials

The financials slide in your pitch deck is one that investors spend the most time looking over.

Your pitch deck outline should contain your company’s projected growth over the next three to five years, along with details about your business model and finances.

Enlive’s pitch deck does a good job at showcasing their income statement projection in this slide.

what is a pitch deck - financials income statement slide enlive

Create engaging data visualizations for your presentations!

  • Upload an Excel file or sync with live data from Google sheets
  • Choose from 16+ types of charts, from bar and line graphs to pyramid and Mekko charts
  • Customize anything, from backgrounds and placement of labels to font style and color

The use of colors and a bar chart makes the financials easier to understand and definitely look more interesting than a boring spreadsheet full of numbers.

A lot of this information is not set in stone. No one can accurately predict where you’ll be in the next three years, but investors expect to see you outline your plan and show that you have the financial knowledge to reach it.

You can also explain your economic plan here. This includes your operating structure and distribution channels as well as your plan to make money.

10 Investment and Use of Funds

Before you wrap up, don’t forget to tell investors what you need from them.

But instead of just asking for a certain amount of funding, also let them know what you plan to do with the money.

When you justify your ask, it helps build trust and lets investors take you seriously.

Here’s a no-nonsense investment slide from Intercom’s original pitch deck as an example.

what is a pitch deck - investment use of funds slide intercom

Remember to be strategic here. Let your investors know the amount you are asking for, but keep it real. You don’t want to lose out on a big investment simply by aiming too high. Cover your bases.

Intercom Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by Intercom that you can customize for your own startup.

pitch deck template - intercom comms

While there’s no universal structure for creating pitch decks, make sure your pitch deck outline contains the slides we’ve highlighted.

When it comes to choosing pitch deck dimensions, you can either use the 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 aspect ratio. When emailing your pitch, ensure the file size isn’t larger than 10MB.

Learning from real examples is like getting advice from experts. By looking at what has worked for other businesses, you can better understand how you should design your own pitch deck.

So, here are some good pitch decks and examples that real-life companies have used recently to secure funding.

1. Finix ($126M)

Finix's pitch deck presents a tailored solution for businesses to manage payments, emphasizing their platform's efficiency and scalability. It effectively visualizes their unique value proposition, revenue model and market opportunity with a sleek and professional design that reflects their purpose well.

2. Softr ($15.7M)

Softr's deck uses aesthetic consistency with clear visuals to highlight their no-code platform's functionalities. Their compelling narrative includes discussion on market trends, competitive differentiation and growth plans, capturing the essence of their vision.

3. Lunchbox ($72.1M)

Lunchbox is a restaurant technology platform that enhances the customer experience by offering online ordering, loyalty programs, and other digital solutions to streamline operations.

They've cleverly included lots of additional visual elements like icons, illustrations, charts and data visuals in their presentation. Everything in their deck shows how they mix food and technology together.

If you want to elevate your pitch deck's visual appeal using unique and high-quality graphics, like this example, Visme's AI image generator is there to help.

It can help you generate any graphic in different formats, like icons, illustrations, drawings, abstracts and more. Use the tool to generate a high-quality graphic to emphasize your pitch deck content.

4. Plum ($82.4M)

With its sleek, minimalist design, Plum's pitch deck establishes its mission to automate wealth management effectively. Their slides are rich with data on target markets, growth strategies and financial projections, reflecting their drive to democratize personal finance. Also, they limited their slides to 9 and still managed to cover enough.

5. Teton AI ($6.4M)

presentation tech definition

Teton's pitch deck features a clean and professional design, aligning with its focus on cutting-edge AI technology in healthcare. They've used Venn diagrams, charts, shapes and high-quality, relevant images to emphasize their deep learning and computer vision products.

6. Vue Storefront ($38.9M)

presentation tech definition

Vue Storefront's pitch deck smartly incorporates its brand color – a refreshing green scheme. This not only aligns with their brand identity but also infuses vibrancy and a distinctive sense of innovation into the design.

They used boxes for text organization to convey clarity and structure, making information easily digestible.

7. Party Round ($7M)

Party Round, with a recent funding of $7 million, is dedicated to simplifying the fundraising process for founders.

This pitch deck is smartly designed with a balanced layout that quietly hints at automation and user-friendliness. The use of big letters boldly captures attention, while adding 3D design elements adds a layer of dynamism, creating a visually engaging presentation that stands out.

8. Dandelion Energy ($134.5M)

presentation tech definition

The color choice of Dandelion Energy's pitch deck aligns with the company's focus on sustainable energy, evoking warmth and eco-friendliness. The deck incorporates visual elements such as bar graphs, images, and an illustration to vividly explain how their geothermal product works.

Now that you’re clear on what a pitch deck is and what a good one contains, let’s take a look at some common dos and don’ts for creating and giving powerful pitch presentations.

But before that, make sure you watch the video below on the top pitch deck design tips for creating the perfect startup pitch.

When Designing 

Do use bullet points on slides..

Remember that this is a presentation with a short time span. Make your sales pitch deck brief and to the point.

Don’t overwhelm your audience with a lot of text. Explain the things you want to explain in detail but don’t cram them onto your slides.

DON’T stuff your slides with text.

As you can see from the examples above, it’s best to have bullets, not paragraphs, on slides.

Furthermore, use large font sizes, lots of visuals and a readable color scheme. This will help you put together an engaging and informative presentation.

DO include your contact details.

Make sure you include your contact information at the end of your presentation to let your audience know who to reach out to for queries.

Here is the contact slide from Facebook’s 2004 pitch deck.

what is a pitch deck - contact slide facebook

This slide also allows your business to have a ‘face’ and encourages investors to look this person up.

DON’T add too many team members.

In your Team slide, stick to core members. Too many executives can overwhelm; your investors want to know who is piloting the ship.

When Presenting

Do tell a story..

Make sure you present your audience with an engaging narrative that allows them to feel why your business is tackling the problem it is and how this will affect them.

DON’T focus on only the stats.

Without a cohesive narrative and a bigger picture dealing with the why of your business and what it will bring to your customers, all your stats sound dry and boring.

Make sure a purposeful narrative runs throughout your presentation, not just at the beginning. The stats are important, especially financial stats, but they aren’t the only important thing.

DO elaborate and minimize as you see fit.

What is on the slides is important, but so is how you present it.

As you’re speaking, gauge your audience, their interests in the particulars of your business, and what they most care about. Then, tailor your company pitch deck to their needs.

DON’T just read from the slides.

Tailor your presentation to keep your audience engaged and never just recite what is written on your slides.

Remember, investors can read. The reason this is a presentation and not an email is so you can engage with them.

Creating a startup pitch deck doesn’t need to be difficult. If you’re short on time, you can use a design tool like Visme to put one together in literally just a few minutes.

No more starting from scratch and creating slides one by one. You can simply use ready-made templates and replace the placeholder content with your own.

Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Choose a template.

To get started, sign in to your Visme dashboard and choose a pitch deck template that fits well with your content and type of business.

There are hundreds of presentation templates in Visme’s library, and they’re all fully customizable.

What is a Pitch Deck - Visme's template library

Customize your favorite pitch deck template! Edit and Download

You can also mix and match slides of a similar style using our presentation themes.

Step 2: Customize.

When you find a pitch deck template you like, click on Edit to start customizing it inside the Visme editor.

You can change anything and everything to fit your content needs. The editor is easy-to-use with drag-and-drop functionality. You can use it even without any prior design experience.

Change colors, fonts and images. Swap icons for relevant ones using our free icon library. Add and customize data visualizations to make boring numbers more interesting. Insert animations and links, embed videos, and more.

You can also add, remove or rearrange slides as you see fit. Use Dynamic Fields to keep your personal, company and other key information accurate and consistent throughout your presentation.

The entire customization process will barely take you an hour if you just replace the placeholder content with your own.

Step 3: Download or share.

What is a Pitch Deck - Download your pitch deck

You can download your pitch deck in image or PDF format, or as a PowerPoint file.

Generate a link to share it privately with specific people, like in an email. You can also publish your presentation on the web so it can show up in search results on Google.

What is a Pitch Deck - share your pitch deck

You can also embed the pitch presentation on your company website using a responsive code. Once you’ve shared your deck, you can start tracking analytics to see how many people viewed it or have taken action.

Running out of time? You can generate a complete and captivating AI pitch deck in minutes using Visme's AI presentation maker .

Just describe the type of presentation you want the tool to create and Visme's Chatbot will suggest different template styles. Once you've chosen the most relevant template for your presentation, you can wait for the tool to create the design.

After that, you can preview, regenerate, or open your project in the Visme editor. Once you're sold on the template design, you can further customize it using the wide range of design tools and assets available in Visme's pitch deck maker.

Here are some frequently asked questions that will help you clear any doubts about creating your pitch deck.

Q1. What should you avoid in a pitch deck?

When developing a pitch deck, you should take care of several pitfalls to deliver an effective and impactful presentation:

  • Avoid using unnecessary jargon and complex terminologies to keep your explanation simple and clear.
  • Don't overcrowd a single slide with too much information, as it can make it hard for your viewers to grasp the key elements.
  • Ensure to include the unique aspects of your product or service that set it apart from others in the market.
  • While you need to recognize your competitors, highlight what makes your venture different and, perhaps, more appealing.
  • Be realistic with your revenue predictions; overly optimistic numbers can cause investors to doubt your credibility.

Q2. How long should a pitch deck be?

The ideal pitch deck should be about 10 to 15 slides long. Each slide should discuss critical business aspects, like problem statement, market size, solution, business model, etc. However, the number of slides may change based on your business complexity and target audience.

Q3. What is the difference between a pitch deck and a business plan?

A pitch deck and a business plan are both critical for startups but serve different purposes:

Pitch Deck: A pitch deck is a brief presentation to give your audience (typically potential investors, partners, or customers) a quick overview of your business plan. It's generally used during face-to-face or online meetings and should be engaging, concise and to the point.

Business Plan: A business plan, on the other hand, is a formal document that details the tactics and strategies you intend to employ to start and grow your business. It covers minute aspects such as your business model, detailed market analysis, organizational structure, cash flow projections, etc.

Q4. What is the best software for creating a pitch deck?

It depends on your business, but you’ll generally want to choose software that blends the ease of use with cutting-edge functionalities. In that case, Visme is the best software for creating a pitch deck with advanced features like data visualization tools , presenter notes , presenter studio , animated graphics and more.

Q5. Cost of making a pitch deck?

The cost of making a professional pitch deck can vary depending on whether you hire a designer or do it yourself. Hiring a designer to create a custom deck from scratch could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.

However, tools like Visme allow you to easily create high-quality decks without design experience or costs. Visme offers free online presentation software with hundreds of professionally designed templates for pitch decks and other types of presentations.

Q6. What types of investment pitch decks are there?

There is no universally accepted classification of investment pitch decks into specific types, but they vary based on the nature of the business or the purpose of the pitch.

However, there are a few common types or themes of pitch decks that companies often use:

  • Pre-Seed Pitch Deck: This pitch deck serves the purpose of securing initial funding to shape and refine a business concept. This deck outlines the problem, solution, market potential, basic financials and team.
  • Seed Pitch Deck: Crafted to attract funding for the launch and early development of the business. It builds upon the pre-seed deck by offering more details on market validation, product development, and initial traction.
  • Series A/B/C Pitch Deck: This type of pitch deck is for seeking significant funding rounds for growth and expansion. They provide comprehensive information on market leadership, financial performance, scaling strategies, competitive landscape and potential exit plans.

Q7. What is the difference between a pitch deck and a presentation?

A pitch deck is a type of presentation designed specifically to propose an idea, product, solution or opportunity to potential clients, investors or partners. A presentation, on the other hand, is a content format composed of slides, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be used for pitching purposes.

Q8. What should not be included in a pitch deck?

A pitch deck should not include irrelevant information, unrealistic financial projections, unverified claims, technical jargon and overly complex data or slides. You should also steer clear of presenting negative information like potential risks or challenges without offering mitigation strategies or solutions.

A powerful pitch deck can help you secure the funding you need to make your business idea a reality. This article will give you the confidence you need to design and present a killer investor pitch deck .

If you want to learn more about pitch decks and giving great presentations, check out some of the resources below.

  • 17 Pitch Deck Templates Inspired By Real-Life Startups and Businesses
  • 15 Expert Tips for Giving a Powerful Business Presentation
  • Presentation Success Formula: How to Start Strong and End Powerfully

You can also watch this video on how to structure your presentation to keep your audience hooked till the very end.

If you're looking for an easy-to-use, professional presentation software to help you make a powerful pitch deck, Visme can be just what you're looking for.

You can browse through fully designed pitch deck templates that are inspired by real-life pitch decks of successful companies, such as Airbnb, Buffer and more.

Each template is customizable, so you can easily plug in your own content, graphics and brand assets, and download it in PowerPoint or PDF format, or publish it online.

Ready to create your very own pitch deck? Sign up on Visme for a free account and take it for a test drive!

Create captivating pitch decks in minutes using Visme

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About the Author

Mahnoor Sheikh is the content marketing manager at Visme. She has years of experience in content strategy and execution, SEO copywriting and graphic design. She is also the founder of MASH Content and is passionate about tea, kittens and traveling with her husband. Get in touch with her on LinkedIn .

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Enhancing the Memory Of Learners: Everything You Need to Know

Iss astronaut’s stunning time-lapse includes the milky way, kamala harris says trump ‘disrespected sacred ground’ just for a ‘political stunt’ at arlington national cemetery, timeseries indexing at scale, daily horoscope: september 2, 2024, how to watch the nfl online for free in the uk, how to unblock xhamster for free, price drop: get 1tb of cloud storage for life for just £53 in september, home learning schedules for young children: everything you need to know, why is the internet starting spooky season early, the definition of a slide (or slides) in a powerpoint presentation.

PowerPoint is a widely used software application that allows users to create visual presentations for various purposes. One of the most commonly used features in PowerPoint presentations is slides. In this article, we will define what a slide is and its significance in a presentation.

In its simplest definition, a slide is a vertical space on a PowerPoint presentation where the users can add text, images, charts, graphics, animations, and other multimedia elements. These elements can be arranged in various manners depending on the presentation’s theme, style, and objectives.

Slides serve as the primary building blocks of a PowerPoint presentation. They are designed to hold the essential information and ideas that the presenter wants to communicate to the audience, making them a vital component of the overall presentation. Each slide is prepared to be visually appealing and attention-grabbing to keep the viewers engaged throughout the presentation.

The number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation can vary significantly, depending on its purpose, content, and duration. For example, a short presentation might have only a handful of slides, while a more detailed and extended presentation might have upwards of dozens or even hundreds of slides.

When creating a PowerPoint presentation, it is crucial to understand that the slide’s content must be concise, clear, and relevant to the topic. The overall structure and layout of the slides should be intuitive and easy to navigate. A well-organized and visually appealing presentation can help the presenter communicate their message successfully.

Another essential aspect of creating PowerPoint slides is the use of different transitional effects, such as slide transitions, animations, or sound effects, that make the transition from one slide to another visually fluid, engaging, and professional.

In conclusion, a slide in a PowerPoint presentation is a vertical space that holds text, images, charts, graphs, animations, and other multimedia elements. Slides are the key building blocks of PowerPoint presentations, designed to capture the audience’s attention and convey the essential information effectively. By creating well-structured and visually engaging slides, presenters can deliver their message effectively and leave an impact on their viewers.

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Whole Person Health: What It Is and Why It's Important

.header_greentext{color:greenimportant;font-size:24pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.header_bluetext{color:blueimportant;font-size:18pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.header_redtext{color:redimportant;font-size:28pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2fimportant;font-size:28pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.header_purpletext{color:purpleimportant;font-size:31pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.header_yellowtext{color:yellowimportant;font-size:20pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.header_blacktext{color:blackimportant;font-size:22pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.header_whitetext{color:whiteimportant;font-size:22pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2fimportant;}.green_header{color:greenimportant;font-size:24pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.blue_header{color:blueimportant;font-size:18pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.red_header{color:redimportant;font-size:28pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.purple_header{color:purpleimportant;font-size:31pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.yellow_header{color:yellowimportant;font-size:20pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.black_header{color:blackimportant;font-size:22pximportant;font-weight:500important;}.white_header{color:whiteimportant;font-size:22pximportant;font-weight:500important;} what is whole person health.

Whole person health involves looking at the whole person—not just separate organs or body systems—and considering multiple factors that promote either health or disease. It means helping and empowering individuals, families, communities, and populations to improve their health in multiple interconnected biological, behavioral, social, and environmental areas. Instead of just treating a specific disease, whole person health focuses on restoring health, promoting resilience, and preventing diseases across a lifespan.

Multilevel Whole Person Health Framework

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Health and disease are not separate, disconnected states but instead occur on a path that can move in two different directions, either toward health or toward disease.

On this path, many factors, including one’s biological makeup; some unhealthy behaviors, such as poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress, and poor sleep; as well as social aspects of life—the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age—can lead to chronic diseases of more than one organ system. On the other hand, self-care, lifestyle, and behavioral interventions may help with the return to health.

Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and degenerative joint disease, can also occur with chronic pain, depression, and opioid misuse—all conditions exacerbated by chronic stress. Some chronic diseases increase the immediate and long-term risks with COVID-19 infection. Understanding the condition in which a person has lived, addressing behaviors at an early stage, and managing stress can not only prevent multiple diseases but also help restore health and stop the progression to disease across a person’s lifespan.

.header_greentext{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_bluetext{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_redtext{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_purpletext{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_yellowtext{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_blacktext{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_whitetext{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;}.Green_Header{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Blue_Header{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Red_Header{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Purple_Header{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Yellow_Header{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Black_Header{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.White_Header{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;} Is whole person health being used now in health care?

Some health care systems and programs are now focusing more on whole person health.

.header_greentext{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_bluetext{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_redtext{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_purpletext{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_yellowtext{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_blacktext{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_whitetext{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;}.Green_Header{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Blue_Header{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Red_Header{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Purple_Header{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Yellow_Header{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Black_Header{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.White_Header{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;} U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Whole Health Approach

The VA’s Whole Health System of Care and Whole Health approach aims to improve the health and well-being of veterans and to address lifestyle and environmental root causes of chronic disease. The approach shifts from a disease-centered focus to a more personalized approach that engages and empowers veterans early in and throughout their lives to prioritize healthy lifestyle changes in areas like nutrition, activity, sleep, relationships, and surroundings. Conventional testing and treatment are combined with complementary and integrative health approaches that may include acupuncture, biofeedback, massage therapy, yoga, and meditation.

.header_greentext{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_bluetext{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_redtext{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_purpletext{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_yellowtext{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_blacktext{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_whitetext{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;}.Green_Header{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Blue_Header{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Red_Header{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Purple_Header{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Yellow_Header{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Black_Header{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.White_Header{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;} U.S. Department of Defense Total Force Fitness Program

The Total Force Fitness program arose within the U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System in response to the need for a more holistic approach—a focus on the whole person instead of separate parts or only symptoms—to the demands of multiple deployments and the strains on the U.S. Armed Forces and their family members. The focus extends the idea of total fitness to include the health, well-being, and resilience of the whole person, family, community, and U.S. military.

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Established in 2020, the Whole Health Institute’s Whole Health model helps people identify what matters most to them and build a plan for their journey to whole health. The model provides tools to help people take good care of their body, mind, and spirit, and involves working with a health care team as well as tapping into the support of family, friends, and communities.

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The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has incorporated a whole person health approach into its health care system by focusing on integrating physical, behavioral, and social health. The state has taken steps to encourage collaborative behavioral health care and help resolve widespread inequities in social conditions, such as housing and nutritious food access.

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The Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease is an intensive cardiac rehabilitation program that has been shown to reverse the progression of coronary heart disease through lifestyle changes, without drugs or surgery. The program is covered by Medicare and some health insurance companies. The program’s lifestyle changes include exercise, smoking cessation, stress management, social support, and a whole-foods, plant-based diet low in total fat. The program is offered by a team of health care professionals who provide the support that individuals need to make and maintain lasting changes in lifestyle.

.header_greentext{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_bluetext{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_redtext{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_purpletext{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_yellowtext{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_blacktext{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_whitetext{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;}.Green_Header{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Blue_Header{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Red_Header{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Purple_Header{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Yellow_Header{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Black_Header{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.White_Header{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;} What does research show about whole person health?

A growing body of research suggests the benefits of healthy behaviors, environments, and policies to maintain health and prevent, treat, and reverse chronic diseases. This research includes several large, long-term epidemiological studies—such as the Framingham Heart Study, Nurses’ Health Study, and Adventist Health Studies—that have evaluated the connections between lifestyle, diet, genetics, health, and disease.

There is a lack, however, of randomized controlled trials and other types of research on multicomponent interventions and whole person health. Challenges come with conducting this type of research and with finding appropriate ways to assess the evidence. But opportunities are emerging to explore new paths toward reliable and rigorous research on whole person health.

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Yes, NCCIH plans to fund research on whole person health . (Details can be found in the NCCIH Strategic Plan FY 2021–2025: Mapping a Pathway to Research on Whole Person Health . )

By deepening the scientific understanding of the connections that exist across the different areas of human health, researchers can better understand how conditions interrelate, identify multicomponent interventions that address these problems, and determine the best ways to support individuals through the full continuum of their health experience, including the return to health.

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Nccih clearinghouse.

The NCCIH Clearinghouse provides information on NCCIH and complementary and integrative health approaches, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature. The Clearinghouse does not provide medical advice, treatment recommendations, or referrals to practitioners.

Toll-free in the U.S.: 1-888-644-6226

Telecommunications relay service (TRS): 7-1-1

Website: https://www.nccih.nih.gov

Email: [email protected] (link sends email)

Know the Science

NCCIH and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide tools to help you understand the basics and terminology of scientific research so you can make well-informed decisions about your health. Know the Science features a variety of materials, including interactive modules, quizzes, and videos, as well as links to informative content from Federal resources designed to help consumers make sense of health information.

Explaining How Research Works (NIH)

Know the Science: How To Make Sense of a Scientific Journal Article

Understanding Clinical Studies (NIH)

A service of the National Library of Medicine, PubMed® contains publication information and (in most cases) brief summaries of articles from scientific and medical journals. For guidance from NCCIH on using PubMed, see How To Find Information About Complementary Health Approaches on PubMed .

Website: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

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  • Aggarwal M, Ornish D, Josephson R, et al. Closing gaps in lifestyle adherence for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. American Journal of Cardiology. 2021;145:1-11.
  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Decision Memo for Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation (ICR) Program—Dr. Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease (CAG-00419N). Accessed at https://www.cms.gov/ on April 26, 2021.
  • Deuster PA, O’Connor FG. Human performance optimization: culture change and paradigm shift. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2015;29(suppl 11):S52-S56.
  • Gaudet T, Kligler B. Whole health in the whole system of the Veterans Administration: how will we know we have reached this future state? Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2019;25(S1):S7-S11.
  • Malecki HL, Gollie JM, Scholten J. Physical activity, exercise, whole health, and integrative health coaching. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America. 2020;31(4):649-663.
  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. NCCIH Strategic Plan FY 2021–2025: Mapping a Pathway to Research on Whole Person Health. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health website. Accessed at https://www.nccih.nih.gov/about/nccih-strategic-plan-2021-2025 on May 14, 2021.
  • North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services website. Healthy Opportunities and Medicaid Transformation. Accessed at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/healthy-opportunities/healthy-opportunities-pilots/healthy on April 26, 2021.
  • Military Health System website. Total Force Fitness. Accessed at https://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Total-Force-Fitness on April 26, 2021.
  • Tilson EC, Muse A, Colville K, et al. Investing in whole person health: working toward an integration of physical, behavioral, and social health. North Carolina Medical Journal. 2020;81(3):177-180.
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website. Whole Health. Accessed at https://www.va.gov/wholehealth/ on April 26, 2021.
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website. Whole Health Library. Accessed at  https://www.va.gov/wholehealthlibrary/ on April 26, 2021.
  • Vodovotz Y, Barnard N, Hu FB, et al. Prioritized research for the prevention, treatment, and reversal of chronic disease: recommendations from the Lifestyle Medicine Research Summit. Frontiers in Medicine (Lausanne). 2020;7:585744.
  • Whitehead AM, Kligler B. Innovations in care: complementary and integrative health in the Veterans Health Administration Whole Health System. Medical Care. 2020;58(9S)(suppl 2):S78-S79.

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  • Alborzkouh P, Nabati M, Zainali M, et al. A review of the effectiveness of stress management skills training on academic vitality and psychological well-being of college students. Journal of Medicine and Life. 2015;8(4):39-44.
  • Bisht K, Sharma K, Tremblay M-È. Chronic stress as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease: roles of microglia-mediated synaptic remodeling, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Neurobiology of Stress. 2018;9:9-21.
  • Buettner D, Skemp S. Blue Zones: lessons from the world’s longest lived. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2016;10(5):318-321.
  • Chen T-L, Chang S-C, Hsieh H-F, et al. Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on sleep quality and mental health for insomnia patients: a meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2020;135:110144.
  • Conversano C, Orrù G, Pozza A, et al. Is mindfulness-based stress reduction effective for people with hypertension? A systematic review and meta-analysis of 30 years of evidence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(6):2882.
  • Katz DL, Karlsen MC, Chung M, et al. Hierarchies of evidence applied to lifestyle medicine (HEALM): introduction of a strength-of-evidence approach based on a methodological systematic review. BMC Medical Research Methodology. 2019;19(1):178.
  • Kruk J, Aboul-Enein BH, Bernstein J, et al. Psychological stress and cellular aging in cancer: a meta-analysis. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2019;2019:1270397.
  • Levesque C. Therapeutic lifestyle changes for diabetes mellitus. Nursing Clinics of North America. 2017;52(4):679-692.
  • Ni Y, Ma L, Li J. Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in people with diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 2020;52(4):379-388.
  • Ornish Lifestyle Medicine website. The Ornish Reversal Program: Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation. Accessed at https://www.ornish.com/intensive-cardiac-rehab/ on April 26, 2021.
  • Schneiderman N, Ironson G, Siegel SD. Stress and health: psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. 2005;1:607-628.
  • Seal KH, Becker WC, Murphy JL, et al. Whole Health Options and Pain Education (wHOPE): a pragmatic trial comparing whole health team vs primary care group education to promote nonpharmacological strategies to improve pain, functioning, and quality of life in veterans—rationale, methods, and implementation. Pain Medicine. 2020;21(suppl 2):S91-S99.
  • Tamashiro KL, Sakai RR, Shively CA, et al. Chronic stress, metabolism, and metabolic syndrome. Stress. 2011;14(5):468-474.
  • Whayne TF Jr, Saha SP. Genetic risk, adherence to a healthy lifestyle, and ischemic heart disease. Current Cardiology Reports. 2019;21(1):1.
  • Whole Health Institute website. Accessed at https://www.wholehealth.org/ on May 19, 2021.

Acknowledgments

NCCIH thanks Mary Beth Kester, M.S., and Helene M. Langevin, M.D., NCCIH, for their review of this publication.

This publication is not copyrighted and is in the public domain. Duplication is encouraged.

NCCIH has provided this material for your information. It is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your health care provider(s). We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with your health care provider. The mention of any product, service, or therapy is not an endorsement by NCCIH.

Related Topics

NCCIH Strategic Plan FY 2021–⁠2025 Mapping a Pathway to Research on Whole Person Health

Methodological Approaches for Whole Person Research Workshop

Transforming Veterans’ Health: Implementing a Whole Health System of Care

Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health: What’s In a Name?

The University of Chicago The Law School

Abrams environmental law clinic—significant achievements for 2023-24, protecting our great lakes, rivers, and shorelines.

The Abrams Clinic represents Friends of the Chicago River and the Sierra Club in their efforts to hold Trump Tower in downtown Chicago accountable for withdrawing water illegally from the Chicago River. To cool the building, Trump Tower draws water at high volumes, similar to industrial factories or power plants, but Trump Tower operated for more than a decade without ever conducting the legally required studies to determine the impact of those operations on aquatic life or without installing sufficient equipment to protect aquatic life consistent with federal regulations. After the Clinic sent a notice of intent to sue Trump Tower, the State of Illinois filed its own case in the summer of 2018, and the Clinic moved successfully to intervene in that case. In 2023-24, motions practice and discovery continued. Working with co-counsel at Northwestern University’s Pritzker Law School’s Environmental Advocacy Center, the Clinic moved to amend its complaint to include Trump Tower’s systematic underreporting each month of the volume of water that it intakes from and discharges to the Chicago River. The Clinic and co-counsel addressed Trump Tower’s motion to dismiss some of our clients’ claims, and we filed a motion for summary judgment on our claim that Trump Tower has committed a public nuisance. We also worked closely with our expert, Dr. Peter Henderson, on a supplemental disclosure and on defending an additional deposition of him. In summer 2024, the Clinic is defending its motion for summary judgment and challenging Trump Tower’s own motion for summary judgment. The Clinic is also preparing for trial, which could take place as early as fall 2024.

Since 2016, the Abrams Clinic has worked with the Chicago chapter of the Surfrider Foundation to protect water quality along the Lake Michigan shoreline in northwest Indiana, where its members surf. In April 2017, the U. S. Steel plant in Portage, Indiana, spilled approximately 300 pounds of hexavalent chromium into Lake Michigan. In January 2018, the Abrams Clinic filed a suit on behalf of Surfrider against U. S. Steel, alleging multiple violations of U. S. Steel’s discharge permits; the City of Chicago filed suit shortly after. When the US government and the State of Indiana filed their own, separate case, the Clinic filed extensive comments on the proposed consent decree. In August 2021, the court entered a revised consent decree which included provisions advocated for by Surfrider and the City of Chicago, namely a water sampling project that alerts beachgoers as to Lake Michigan’s water quality conditions, better notifications in case of future spills, and improvements to U. S. Steel’s operations and maintenance plans. In the 2023-24 academic year, the Clinic successfully litigated its claims for attorneys’ fees as a substantially prevailing party. Significantly, the court’s order adopted the “Fitzpatrick matrix,” used by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia to determine appropriate hourly rates for civil litigants, endorsed Chicago legal market rates as the appropriate rates for complex environmental litigation in Northwest Indiana, and allowed for partially reconstructed time records. The Clinic’s work, which has received significant media attention, helped to spawn other litigation to address pollution by other industrial facilities in Northwest Indiana and other enforcement against U. S. Steel by the State of Indiana.

In Winter Quarter 2024, Clinic students worked closely with Dr. John Ikerd, an agricultural economist and emeritus professor at the University of Missouri, to file an amicus brief in Food & Water Watch v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . In that case pending before the Ninth Circuit, Food & Water Watch argues that US EPA is illegally allowing Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, more commonly known as factory farms, to pollute waterways significantly more than is allowable under the Clean Water Act. In the brief for Dr. Ikerd and co-amici Austin Frerick, Crawford Stewardship Project, Family Farm Defenders, Farm Aid, Missouri Rural Crisis Center, National Family Farm Coalition, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and Western Organization of Resource Councils, we argued that EPA’s refusal to regulate CAFOs effectively is an unwarranted application of “agricultural exceptionalism” to industrial agriculture and that EPA effectively distorts the animal production market by allowing CAFOs to externalize their pollution costs and diminishing the ability of family farms to compete. Attorneys for the litigants will argue the case in September 2024.

Energy and Climate

Energy justice.

The Abrams Clinic supported grassroots organizations advocating for energy justice in low-income communities and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities in Michigan. With the Clinic’s representation, these organizations intervened in cases before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), which regulates investor-owned utilities. Students conducted discovery, drafted written testimony, cross-examined utility executives, participated in settlement discussions, and filed briefs for these projects. The Clinic’s representation has elevated the concerns of these community organizations and forced both the utilities and regulators to consider issues of equity to an unprecedented degree. This year, on behalf of Soulardarity (Highland Park, MI), We Want Green, Too (Detroit, MI), and Urban Core Collective (Grand Rapids, MI), Clinic students engaged in eight contested cases before the MPSC against DTE Electric, DTE Gas, and Consumers Energy, as well as provided support for our clients’ advocacy in other non-contested MPSC proceedings.

The Clinic started this past fall with wins in three cases. First, the Clinic’s clients settled with DTE Electric in its Integrated Resource Plan case. The settlement included an agreement to close the second dirtiest coal power plant in Michigan three years early, $30 million from DTE’s shareholders to assist low-income customers in paying their bills, and $8 million from DTE’s shareholders toward a community fund that assists low-income customers with installing energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy, and battery technology. Second, in DTE Electric’s 2023 request for a rate hike (a “rate case”), the Commission required DTE Electric to develop a more robust environmental justice analysis and rejected the Company’s second attempt to waive consumer protections through a proposed electric utility prepayment program with a questionable history of success during its pilot run. The final Commission order and the administrative law judge’s proposal for final decision cited the Clinic’s testimony and briefs. Third, in Consumers Electric’s 2023 rate case, the Commission rejected the Company’s request for a higher ratepayer-funded return on its investments and required the Company to create a process that will enable intervenors to obtain accurate GIS data. The Clinic intends to use this data to map the disparate impact of infrastructure investment in low-income and BIPOC communities.

In the winter, the Clinic filed public comments regarding DTE Electric and Consumers Energy’s “distribution grid plans” (DGP) as well as supported interventions in two additional cases: Consumers Energy’s voluntary green pricing (VGP) case and the Clinic’s first case against the gas utility DTE Gas. Beginning with the DGP comments, the Clinic first addressed Consumers’s 2023 Electric Distribution Infrastructure Investment Plan (EDIIP), which detailed current distribution system health and the utility’s approximately $7 billion capital project planning ($2 billion of which went unaccounted for in the EDIIP) over 2023–2028. The Clinic then commented on DTE Electric’s 2023 DGP, which outlined the utility’s opaque project prioritization and planned more than $9 billion in capital investments and associated maintenance over 2024–2028. The comments targeted four areas of deficiencies in both the EDIIP and DGP: (1) inadequate consideration of distributed energy resources (DERs) as providing grid reliability, resiliency, and energy transition benefits; (2) flawed environmental justice analysis, particularly with respect to the collection of performance metrics and the narrow implementation of the Michigan Environmental Justice Screen Tool; (3) inequitable investment patterns across census tracts, with emphasis on DTE Electric’s skewed prioritization for retaining its old circuits rather than upgrading those circuits; and (4) failing to engage with community feedback.

For the VGP case against Consumers, the Clinic supported the filing of both an initial brief and reply brief requesting that the Commission reject the Company’s flawed proposal for a “community solar” program. In a prior case, the Clinic advocated for the development of a community solar program that would provide low-income, BIPOC communities with access to clean energy. As a result of our efforts, the Commission approved a settlement agreement requiring the Company “to evaluate and provide a strawman recommendation on community solar in its Voluntary Green Pricing Program.” However, the Company’s subsequent proposal in its VGP case violated the Commission’s order because it (1) was not consistent with the applicable law, MCL 460.1061; (2) was not a true community solar program; (3) lacked essential details; (4) failed to compensate subscribers sufficiently; (5) included overpriced and inflexible subscriptions; (6) excessively limited capacity; and (7) failed to provide a clear pathway for certain participants to transition into other VGP programs. For these reasons, the Clinic argued that the Commission should reject the Company’s proposal.

In DTE Gas’s current rate case, the Clinic worked with four witnesses to develop testimony that would rebut DTE Gas’s request for a rate hike on its customers. The testimony advocated for a pathway to a just energy transition that avoids dumping the costs of stranded gas assets on the low-income and BIPOC communities that are likely to be the last to electrify. Instead, the testimony proposed that the gas and electric utilities undertake integrated planning that would prioritize electric infrastructure over gas infrastructure investment to ensure that DTE Gas does not over-invest in gas infrastructure that will be rendered obsolete in the coming decades. The Clinic also worked with one expert witness to develop an analysis of DTE Gas’s unaffordable bills and inequitable shutoff, deposit, and collections practices. Lastly, the Clinic offered testimony on behalf of and from community members who would be directly impacted by the Company’s rate hike and lack of affordable and quality service. Clinic students have spent the summer drafting an approximately one-hundred-page brief making these arguments formally. We expect the Commission’s decision this fall.

Finally, both DTE Electric and Consumers Energy have filed additional requests for rate increases after the conclusion of their respective rate cases filed in 2023. On behalf of our Clients, the Clinic has intervened in these cases, and clinic students have already reviewed thousands of pages of documents and started to develop arguments and strategies to protect low-income and BIPOC communities from the utility’s ceaseless efforts to increase the cost of energy.

Corporate Climate Greenwashing

The Abrams Environmental Law Clinic worked with a leading international nonprofit dedicated to using the law to protect the environment to research corporate climate greenwashing, focusing on consumer protection, green financing, and securities liability. Clinic students spent the year examining an innovative state law, drafted a fifty-page guide to the statute and relevant cases, and examined how the law would apply to a variety of potential cases. Students then presented their findings in a case study and oral presentation to members of ClientEarth, including the organization’s North American head and members of its European team. The project helped identify the strengths and weaknesses of potential new strategies for increasing corporate accountability in the fight against climate change.

Land Contamination, Lead, and Hazardous Waste

The Abrams Clinic continues to represent East Chicago, Indiana, residents who live or lived on or adjacent to the USS Lead Superfund site. This year, the Clinic worked closely with the East Chicago/Calumet Coalition Community Advisory Group (CAG) to advance the CAG’s advocacy beyond the Superfund site and the adjacent Dupont RCRA site. Through multiple forms of advocacy, the clinics challenged the poor performance and permit modification and renewal attempts of Tradebe Treatment and Recycling, LLC (Tradebe), a hazardous waste storage and recycling facility in the community. Clinic students sent letters to US EPA and Indiana Department of Environmental Management officials about how IDEM has failed to assess meaningful penalties against Tradebe for repeated violations of the law and how IDEM has allowed Tradebe to continue to threaten public and worker health and safety by not improving its operations. Students also drafted substantial comments for the CAG on the US EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule improvements, the Suppliers’ Park proposed cleanup, and Sims Metal’s proposed air permit revisions. The Clinic has also continued working with the CAG, environmental experts, and regulators since US EPA awarded $200,000 to the CAG for community air monitoring. The Clinic and its clients also joined comments drafted by other environmental organizations about poor operations and loose regulatory oversight of several industrial facilities in the area.

Endangered Species

The Abrams Clinic represented the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) in litigation regarding the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) failure to list the Kirtland’s snake as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The Kirtland’s snake is a small, secretive, non-venomous snake historically located across the Midwest and the Ohio River Valley. Development and climate change have undermined large portions of the snake’s habitat, and populations are declining. Accordingly, the Clinic sued the Service in the US District Court for the District of Columbia last summer over the Service’s denial of CBD’s request to have the Kirtland’s snake protected. This spring, the Clinic was able to reach a settlement with the Service that requires the Service to reconsider its listing decision for the Kirtland’s snake and to pay attorney fees.

The Clinic also represented CBD in preparation for litigation regarding the Service’s failure to list another species as threatened or endangered. Threats from land development and climate change have devastated this species as well, and the species has already been extirpated from two of the sixteen US states in its range. As such, the Clinic worked this winter and spring to prepare a notice of intent (NOI) to sue the Service. The Team poured over hundreds of FOIA documents and dug into the Service’s supporting documentation to create strong arguments against the Service in the imminent litigation. The Clinic will send the NOI and file a complaint in the next few months.

Students and Faculty

Twenty-four law school students from the classes of 2024 and 2025 participated in the Clinic, performing complex legal research, reviewing documents obtained through discovery, drafting legal research memos and briefs, conferring with clients, conducting cross-examination, participating in settlement conferences, and arguing motions. Students secured nine clerkships, five were heading to private practice after graduation, and two are pursuing public interest work. Sam Heppell joined the Clinic from civil rights private practice, bringing the Clinic to its full complement of three attorneys.

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Positive energy districts: fundamentals, assessment methodologies, modeling and research gaps.

presentation tech definition

1. Introduction

State of the art on positive energy districts, 2. methodology.

  • Setting: a café-like environment with small, round tables, tablecloths, colored pens, sticky notes and any interaction tool available.
  • Welcome and Introduction: the host offers a welcome, introduces the World Café process, and sets the context.
  • Small-Group Rounds: three or more twenty-minute rounds of conversations occur in small groups. Participants switch tables after each round, with one person optionally remaining as the “table host” to brief newcomers.
  • Questions: each round starts with a context-specific question. Questions may remain constant or be built upon each other to guide the discussion.
  • Harvest: participants share their discussion insights with the larger group, often visually represented through graphic recording.
  • Objectives of the workshop and preparation. The first step of the World Café approach is to identify the main objectives. For this workshop, there was the need to investigate the current landscape of PED research, as well as to have a benchmark and collect feedback on the current research activities within Annex 83. Questions were structured in order to frame the current state-of-the-art understanding of the topic. A mapping of the potential different stakeholders in the PED design and implementation process was carried out at this stage. As a result, municipalities, community representatives, energy contractors, real estate companies and commercial facilitators, as well as citizens, were identified as main target groups. Later, the follow-up discussions were built around these main actors. Further, the mapping of the stakeholders’ involvement was carried out for better understanding the complexity of relationships, roles and synergies as well as the impact on the design, implementation and operation stages of PEDs.
  • Positive Energy Districts’ definitions and fundamentals ( Section 3.1 ).
  • Quality-of-life indicators in Positive Energy Districts ( Section 3.2 ).
  • Technologies in Positive Energy Districts: development, use and barriers ( Section 3.3 ).
  • Positive Energy Districts modeling: what is further needed to model PEDs? ( Section 3.4 ).
  • Sustainability assessment of Positive Energy Districts ( Section 3.5 ).
  • Stakeholder engagement within the design process ( Section 3.6 ).
  • Tools and guidelines for PED implementation ( Section 3.7 ).

3.1. Positive Energy Districts Definitions and Fundamentals

3.2. quality-of-life indicators in positive energy districts, 3.3. technologies in positive energy districts: development, use and barriers, 3.4. positive energy districts modeling: what is further needed to model peds, 3.5. sustainability assessment of positive energy districts, 3.6. stakeholder engagement within the design process, 3.7. tools and guidelines for ped implementation, 4. conclusions, author contributions, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Click here to enlarge figure

Question #1Question #2Question #3

What are the essential PED DNAs? Can generic PED
archetypes be created based on them?
What are the categories of quality-of-life indicators
relevant for PED development?
How would you use a database tool to learn about PED development process (e.g.,
using static information for
dynamic decision-making)?



Which future technologies would you expect to be adopted in PEDs and cities?What can be the challenges and the barriers in the future (regarding e.g., control, smart solutions, modeling,
technologies) to PED development and diffusion?
What is your expectation for urban and district energy
modeling? How can models help to shape PEDs and cities?

What is the impact of
stakeholders in the PED
design/decision process, what are their interests and how are stakeholders likely to be involved in the overall process?
What costs do you expect to bear and what revenues do you expect to realize from the PED implementation? Which aspects should be included in the organizational/business models?What would you prioritize in terms of energy aspects or
efficiency and social
implications of living in a PED? Which aspects are more relevant for you?


Annex 83 together with other PED initiatives is developing a database of PEDs and PED-Labs: what would be your main interest in consulting the database?Having the outcomes from PED guidelines analysis, what information would be the most interesting for you to see?Who can benefit from the PED research studies and Annex 83 results? Which stakeholders are interested?
CategoriesKey Characteristics
Facts and FiguresPhysical sizes/population size
Geographical location
Climate
Density
Built form
Land use
Energy demand
Renewable energy potential
TechnologiesRenewable energy supplies
Energy-efficiency measures
Energy distribution (e.g., co-generation, district network)
Energy storage
Mobility solutions
Quality of LifeUser comfort
Social-economic conditions
Health impacts (e.g., air pollution, noise pollution)
Accessibility to green space
Accessibility to services (e.g., bike lane,
public transportation)
Local value/sense of community
OthersRegulations/Policies
Stakeholder involvement
Local targets and ambitions
Local challenges
Impacts of PEDs
TypeQuality Categories
TangibleIndoor and outdoor
environmental quality
Physical quality and comfort of the environment
Security and safety
Level and accessibility of servicingPublic and active transport facilities including walkability, energy services (access to affordable energy including access to energy efficiency), sustainable waste management
Access to daily life amenities including education, culture, sports, coworking and study places, provisions for children, but even common gardens or community kitchens
Aesthetic quality
Functional mix
Future-proofness
Acceptable cost of life (affordability, inclusivity)
Equity and just transition
Functional links to realizing circularity and reducing emissions
Citizen engagementInvolvement in decision-making
Social diversity in participation
Access to greeneryThe possibility to reconnect with nature
Sufficient open space
Information flowFrom creating awareness over enhancing knowledge and literacy up to capacity of control
Transparency on energy flows and information for the end prosumer
Insight in applicable PED solutions and in healthy lifestyles
IntangibleSense of well-being
Quality of social connections
Sense of personal achievement
Level of self-esteem
Sense of community
Degree of cooperation and engagement for the common interest
Time spent with friends (outdoor)
Budget available at the end of the month to spend freely
Not being aware or realizing of living in a PED
Technology GroupsSolutions
Energy efficiencyNew energy-efficient buildings and building retrofitting.
Nature-based solutions (natural sinks) and carbon capture solutions (CCS)
Efficient resource management
Efficient water systems for agriculture (smart agriculture, hydroponics, agrivoltaics, etc.)
Organic photovoltaics and a circular approach (second life materials, like batteries)
Energy flexibilityHardwareStorage (long-term and short-term)
Monitoring systems (sensors, smart meters, PLCs *, energy management systems, etc.)
Vehicle to grid
Heat pumps
Electronic devices like IoT * technologies
Buildings fully automated with real time monitoring behind-the-meter and automated actions
Cybersecurity, data rights and data access
Demand management and remote control of devices
SoftwareEdge computing
Machine learning
Blockchain
Digital twins
5G
City management platform and platforms for city planning (space, refurbishment, climate change, etc.)
E-mobilityPromotion of shared vehicles over individual car use, lift sharing, and alternative ways (like micromobility) to collective transports
Soft mobilityPromotion of a lifestyle that require less use of cars, i.e., “soft mobility” solutions like low emission zones or banning the entrance of some type of car (e.g., Singapore and Iran have policies in place to allow only certain car groups to drive freely in certain periods)
E-vehicle charging stations and vehicle-to-grid solutions
Low-carbon generationPhotovoltaics
Energy communities
Electrification of heating and cooling (H&C) using heat pumps, district heating networks utilizing waste heat, or solar thermal technologies
Virtual production
Fusion technology
Challenges and BarriersKey Topics
Capacity building and
policy issues
Political and legal barriers
Regulatory frameworks and policy constraints
Tailored legislation
Bridging the knowledge gap
Inadequate data sharing practices
Securing sufficient financial resources
Lack of clear regulations defining PED classification
Active involvement of policymakers
Widespread dissemination of knowledge
Collaborative data-sharing efforts
Securing adequate funding
Establishing supportive policies and regulations
Social challenges and
considerations
Cultural barriers
Access to affordable and sustainable energy for all
Building social agreements and fostering collaboration
Energy literacy
Addressing personal behavior acceptance
Transition strategy for inclusivity
Social inclusion and trust-building
Data sharing and privacy concerns
Overcoming public opposition and promoting knowledge dissemination
Financial barriersLong-term storage investment and space competition
Insufficient investment
High upfront costs
Allocation of costs among stakeholders
Incentives for participation
Addressing investment challenges for different stakeholders
Accounting for battery costs
Data managementData standardization
Data security measures and protocols
Sustainability and maintenance of data infrastructure
Privacy regulations and data anonymization techniques
Sustainable business models and ownership structuresStandardization of control technologies and replication strategies
Grid management approaches
Deep penetration of sustainable technologies
Implementation of predictive models
Long-term maintenance activities and resident data collection
Balancing diverse requirements
Addressing grid operation challenges
Managing multiple independent energy districts
Inclusivity strategies for digital technology reliance
Managing production peaks and defining the role of buildings and districts
Effective management strategies for grid congestion and
stability
Categories of InnovationInnovation TypesPossible Revenues/Advantages
in PED Business
Model/Governance
Possible Costs/Drawbacks in PED Business
Model/Governance
ConfigurationProfit ModelProviding thermal comfort
instead of a certain amount of thermal energy to inhabitants
Misconducts or rebound effect
NetworkInclusion of the PED into larger projects and international
networks, possibility of
co-financing and knowledge sharing
Misalignment or delay of the PED project to the original timeline due to constrains related to international activities and networking
StructureParticipation of the real estate companies/investors in the development and management of the energy infrastructure and EV mobility services as well as building managementLack of knowledge, involvement in activities out of the usual business of investors
Free or almost free thermal
energy supply from “waste
energy” sources
Failure of the network due to unliteral decisions of a member in ceasing the provision of
energy
ProcessInvolvement of future inhabitants in the design phase of the energy community since the early stage, to share the sense of belonging and ownershipReluctancy of inhabitants to participate in additional expenses or being involved in “entrepreneurial” activities or bored by the participation in boards and governance structures
OfferingProduct PerformanceInvestors and companies
involved in the PED
development take profit from their role of frontrunner
placing them before the
competitors or entering in new market niches
Hi-tech BA and BEM systems may result costly in O&M, because of digital components, cloud and computing services, rapid aging of technology
Product SystemIncluding EV available for PED users may generate new incomes and reduce the need
of individual cars. The
integration of EV in the
energy system may offer
“flexibility services”
Lack of knowledge, involvement in activities out of the usual business of investors/real estate companies.
Low interest of users in participating to the flexibility market, because of discomfort (unexpected empty battery of the EV)
ExperienceServicesProvision of high tech and high-performance buildings, with outstanding energy performances (lower heating/cooling costs) and sophisticated Building Automation and Energy Management systemsSophisticated Building Automation and Energy Management systems may result “invasive” to users, asking for continuous interaction with complicate systems, or leaving them not enough freedom to choose (e.g., opening the windows is not possible to achieve some energy performance)
ChannelThe PED is promoted as a rewarding sustainable investment, this allows the city to attract more clean investments (public funds, investment funds, donors), speeding up the energy transitionThe communication of the characteristics of the PED is not done in the proper way
BrandGold class rated buildings may have an increased value on the market, resulting in higher selling and rental costs, occupancy rate. The high architectural quality is appreciated by the marketThe Branding/certification of the PED is not recognized by the market as an added value.
The development of the PED takes longer as expected.
Technology failures during the implementation or operation phase create a bad reputation and discourage future similar activities
Customer EngagementThe PED is available as a
digital twin, users are engaged via a dedicated app, allowing interaction, communication, reporting, monitoring of bills, etc.
The PED is perceived by users (e.g., social housing tenants) as a hassle and not responding to their needs, because they have not been involved in the identification of peculiar traits since the beginning
CategoryBeneficiaries
Citizens and communitiesCitizens, inhabitants, residents, general public, local communities and neighborhoods, municipalities and provinces, energy communities, and socially disadvantaged groups.
City decision-makers and plannersCity decision-makers, city planners, local authorities, policy-makers, public administrations, politicians, local and national governments.
ResearchScientists, publishers, and research organizations.
Private companies and technology developersPrivate companies of RES technologies, ICT companies, start-ups and new companies, entrepreneurs, technology developers and other companies involved in local development (tech development and evaluation).
Energy providersEnergy providers, grid operators.
Education stakeholdersStudents and teachers.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)NGOs and other civil society groups
CategoryComments
StrategiesMost comments dealt with the strategies on how to achieve PEDs, that should focus on success factors of PED initiatives, technologies and stakeholders rather than a standardized approach
ReferencesUseful information, special attention to Liwen Li, planning principles for integrating community empowerment into zero-carbon transformation
DefinitionsHelp to reduce uncertainty
BoundariesEnergy balance calculations, mobility, definition (of buildings)
FinanceFinancial mechanisms, support schemes
Citizen engagementFrom engagement to empowerment
ManagementProcess management, organizing involvement, information provision
PolicyIncentives, regional policies
Flexibility/Grid interactionTimesteps, credit system
FormDissemination through video and other forms (not only written information)
CategoryComments
Lessons learnedSpecial reference to real life implementation
ResultsData analysis and potential research on the field
Metadata as the useful information that can the real goal of consultation
Benchmarking to compare PEDs
Need to normalize results depending on a number of factors (size, location…) to really compare different initiatives
Privacy and data protection
Sets of technologies and solutions-
Economic parametersAs a way to benchmark the different PED technologies
Citizen engagement Energy poverty
Prosumers
From engagement to empowerment
Definition and boundariesNeed to standardize and have a reference framework to establish the energy balance
Contact personsIt is very valuable to have a contact address to ask more about the initiative
Regulatory frameworkDrivers and Enablers
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Share and Cite

Kozlowska, A.; Guarino, F.; Volpe, R.; Bisello, A.; Gabaldòn, A.; Rezaei, A.; Albert-Seifried, V.; Alpagut, B.; Vandevyvere, H.; Reda, F.; et al. Positive Energy Districts: Fundamentals, Assessment Methodologies, Modeling and Research Gaps. Energies 2024 , 17 , 4425. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17174425

Kozlowska A, Guarino F, Volpe R, Bisello A, Gabaldòn A, Rezaei A, Albert-Seifried V, Alpagut B, Vandevyvere H, Reda F, et al. Positive Energy Districts: Fundamentals, Assessment Methodologies, Modeling and Research Gaps. Energies . 2024; 17(17):4425. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17174425

Kozlowska, Anna, Francesco Guarino, Rosaria Volpe, Adriano Bisello, Andrea Gabaldòn, Abolfazl Rezaei, Vicky Albert-Seifried, Beril Alpagut, Han Vandevyvere, Francesco Reda, and et al. 2024. "Positive Energy Districts: Fundamentals, Assessment Methodologies, Modeling and Research Gaps" Energies 17, no. 17: 4425. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17174425

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