Effective Presentations 有效的演示
Presentations are an important part of school and business life. Students are often required to prepare presentations that are presented to their peers, and in a professional career an employee is often required to prepare presentations for their managers. These professional presentations are often about a budget or project that needs to be approved. Professionals also give presentations showing the progress of a project that they are working on. Finally, companies may also prepare presentations for other companies or prospective clients about their products of services.
演示在学校和商业生活中扮演重要的角色。在学校里学生经常会被要求向其同学做各种演示。在职场中职员也不得不向其经理做各种演示，这些演示通常是关于预算或是需要被批准的项目，也可以是职员们正在做的项目。一些公司也常常会给其他公司或顾客做些演示来介绍他们的产品或服务。
In a brief summary, effective presentation skills are very important life skills. Presentations will often require an individual to work in a team which also builds other important skills such as team work and interpersonal skills. Creating good presentations also requires you to be effective at gathering and sorting information. Creating an effective presentation requires you to think critically, develop your self confidence, and improve your public speaking skills. These are all important skills that you need to develop in life.
演示是生活中的一个非常重要的技能。通常演示需要个人参与到团队里，共同提高小组协作能力及人际关系。这就要求你很有效率地去收集信息并加以分类。创建有效的演示要求批判思维、提高自信和加强公众演讲能力，这也都是生活里重要的技能。
Before You Start 开始前
Preparation is important when creating a great presentation. Ask yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish with this presentation?” Once you know what your presentation will be about, you will need to decide on what information you will need to gather; however, a great presentation is not defined by how much information you can gather. A great presentation is defined by what you do with the information after you gather it.
在进行演示之前准备工作是非常重要的。要清楚：“在这个演示里我将能完成什么？”一旦你自己知道了演示的内容是关于什么的，接下来就可以决定搜集什么样的信息了。但是一个好的演示并不在于你能搜集多少信息，而在于你能用这些信息干什么。
When organizing the information for your presentation you should ask yourself “am I giving my audience something unique, or could they find this information themselves in 30 minutes on a computer?” If you are only going to copy information that you find on the internet you should “STOP” immediately. Do not waste your time, or the time of your audience.
问自己“我会给观众带来一些独一无二的信息吗？他们能在30分钟内自己发现信息吗？”如果你只是想把在网上找到的信息粘贴复制下来的话，“千万不可以”。不要浪费你自己的时间以及观众的时间。
Great presentations must be simple and extraordinary at the same time. This is because the presenter did 3 very important things. They collected important information, then they reduced it down to what they thought was the most important ideas, and then they provided a unique presentation that kept the attention of the audience.
好的演示必须是简洁又独特的。因为演示者做了3件重要的事：首先搜集信息；其次截取他们认为重要的信息；最后提供一个独特的能抓住观众眼球的演示。
The next time you need to prepare a presentation there are 3 golden rules that you need to think of: Collect, Reduce, and Reset.
下次当你要做演示的时候请时刻记住这3个法宝：收集、截取和重获注意力.
Collect Ideas 收集想法
You will need to do research to collect information on your topic. Although research is important, too much research can also be a bad thing. It’s easy for people to spend too much time on their research. Don’t get stuck on the research phase of your presentation. Beware of the “curse of too much knowledge”.
需要收集关于你的话题的信息。尽管收集信息很重要，但是收集过多也不好。通常人们都会话很多时间去搜集，但千万不要无休止地收集信息陷入这一环节而无法前进了，“物极必反，过多无效”。
Collecting too much information will often lead to the assumption that everyone understands the basics about your topic. Assumptions are problematic as they result in the presenter creating a presentation that is too detailed for the audience to understand. In most circumstances your audience will know very little about the topic in-which you are presenting. If they were experts on the topic they would not need to attend your presentation; therefore it is important to spend your time refining your own understanding of the core concepts.
收集太多的信息会出现一个误区，认为每个观众都懂得与你话题相关的基本概念，从而导致演示太详细而使观众听不懂，其实他们是什么都不知道。因为如果他们都是专家的话也都没必要来听你的演示了。所以一定要仔细认真地提炼核心的信息。
DON’T ASSUME THAT YOUR AUDIENCE KNOWS THE BASICS ABOUT YOUR TOPIC.
不要认为观众已然了解演示的基本内容
Then ask yourself questions like:
接下来向你自己问这些问题：
How are these ideas connected? How can I make this topic easier to understand? What do I need to do to make the ideas clearer? Do I need to find or make supporting graphics?
这些想法该怎样连接起来？能不能让其更容易理解？要使这些想法更清晰我还需要什么？我要做一个图表吗？”
After you gather your information you will need to organize it. What is important? What can be excluded? How do different ideas connect with one another? How will you arrange you ideas so that one idea connects with the next idea. If you don’t do this your presentation will most likely become an ineffective assortment of random facts.
收集信息之后就要把这些信息进行分类了。哪些是重要的？哪些是可以删除的？一个想法该怎样与另一个连结起来？怎样编排信息使每个信息之间相互联系起来。如果不这样做，那么整个演示将会杂乱无章而且取不到任何效果。
Research first! Create your presentation second. DO NOT work on your presentation while doing research. Its very easy to copy and paste information directly into your presentation if you are making your presentation while you are doing your research.
所以先收集再做演示。不要在收集的时候同时做演示内容。否则很容易直接把信息复制粘贴到演示里。
Reduce to Only the Best Ideas 只截取好的想法
This is the most important step in creating an effective presentation. The majority of your time should be spent on this phase of your presentation. Reduce all your ideas and research down to the most important concepts that you want to present.
这是创建演示的最重要一步，也是最耗时的一个环节。从所收集到的信息中截取你将会演示出来的重要的信息。
Keep in mind that even though you are mostly likely to create a pretension on the computer using a pen and paper often helps when planing your presentation. When you create a presentation you can sketch a “Mind Map” to help you link ideas together. If you cannot connect an idea with other ideas then the concept may not be important to your presentation topic. Keep in mind that some ideas or concepts might be interesting or important, but that concept may not be relevant to your presentation.
即使你是要在电脑上做演示，但是在设计演示的时候笔和纸还是很重要的。当你想创建演示时，试着在脑中建造一个“思维图”来把信息连接起来。如果你无法把一个信息与其他信息连接起来的话，也许它就是一个不重要的信息。记住：有些信息虽然很有趣或重要，但是却和你的演示没有任何关系。
You can use techniques other than “Mind Maps” to help you plan your presentation. You can try writing ideas in big letters on “Flash Cards”. Then layout the “Flash Cards” on a large table or stick them on a wall. Rearrange the flash cards and group similar ideas together. Then once you are done step back so you can see all your “Flash Cards”. Look at all your ideas. Are there any “Flash Cards” that you think you should remove? Then once you have done this try and find a logical order for the remaining idea groupings.
除了构建“思维图”来帮助你设计演示，还可以使用其他的技巧。比如说你可以把你的灵感大大地写在“卡片”上。然后把这些“卡片”放在一张大桌子上或贴在墙上，移动“卡片”把类似的想法放在一起。然后往后退几步这样你就能看见所有的写有你想法的“卡片”，进行观察，是否还有需要移动的卡片？然后试着为剩下的卡片找到一个逻辑顺序。
It can be difficult to plan a presentation on the computer, and it takes practice to do it well. Regardless of the technique you use, planing your presentation will always be important.
在电脑上设计演示通常会难很多，所以要多多练习。不管你用哪一个技巧，设计还是非常重要。
Quality Of Ideas 思想素质
When selecting ideas for your presentation you should assess the quality of each idea. There are 3 levels of ideas. Use only the best ideas from what you have collected.
当在选择信息的时候要注意每一个信息的质量。有3中不同等级的信息。只选用最好的信息。
- Low Grade Ideas are basic facts.
低等的信息是一些基本的事实。
- Medium Grade Ideas are more elaborate and show relationships.
中等的信息比较详实，能说明一些关系。
- High Grade Ideas are more complex and exploratory. These ideas involve analysis and critical thinking and engage peoples interests.
高等的信息更为复杂且具有说明性。这些信息包括分析、批判性的想法而且能抓住人们的兴趣。
Only select ideas or concepts if you think that they are High Grade Ideas. Select your top 3 ideas to work with. If you try to present too many ideas your presentation will become too complex or rushed.
只选用你认为是高等的信息。选择位于前3的信息。如果选取过多的信息，那么你的演示将会非常复杂而且很时间很匆忙。
Why only 2 or 3 core ideas?
为什么只选用2或3个想法呢？
Miller’s research paper “Magical Number 7” from 1956 determined that a person’s working memory was limited to 7 different ideas; however more recent research in cognitive load theory determined that people can only retain 3 to 4 new ideas at a time. According to new research by Cowan in 2001 and Wieman in 2007 the optimal number of ideas to introduce at a single time is 4 (+/- 1). So why only present 2 or 3 ideas when many people can remember up to 4 new ideas or concepts? In essence you want people to remember what you present, so it is important to leave your audience some leeway. Covering too many ideas in a presentation is not worth the risk.
1956年Miller的研究“神奇的数字7”表明一个人的工作记忆仅限于7个不同的信息。但是现代的认知负荷理论表明人一次只能承受3到4个信息。根据2001年Cowan的研究和2007年Wieman的研究，介绍新的概念时最佳的数量是4+/-1.既然人们能接受4个概念那为什么指选取2或3个想法呢？因为你向让你的观众记住你所演示的，那就给观众更过的空间，而没有必要囊括太多的概念。
Present 2 or 3 ideas really well. Use short phrases, and repeat critical information often, and use iconic images to help the audience remember.
演示2到3个概念是很好的。用简短的词组，多次重复，使用形象的图片帮助观众记忆。
Reset Attention 重获注意力
Everyone gets bored sooner or later. We are all limited by our attention spans; however sometimes you will be required to make presentations that last longer than the average persons attention span. Many professional training seminars will last for several hours; therefore as a presenter you need to reset your audiences attention throughout your presentation.
每个人迟早都会感觉无聊。我们的注意力都是有限的。但是有时你的演示时间会超过人们的注意力范围。许多专业的培训演示会持续几个小时。作为一个演示者你需要重新捕获观众的注意力。
According to research done by John Biggs in 2001 a presenter is limited by the attention span of their audience. Biggs concluded that：
2001年John Biggs的研究表明：观众的注意力决定了演示者。他总结到：
- Sustained and unchaining low-level activities lowers concentration.
持续的、低水平的而无联系的活动降低注意力。
- The attention span of an average audience or student under unchanging conditions can be maintained for 10-15 minutes. After this time the ability for the learner to concentrate rapidly decreases.
在条件不变的情况下观众或学生的注意力能持续10到15分钟。之后其集中注意力的能力和学习的能力将快速下降。
- A short rest period, or a change in activity, after 15 minutes is beneficial in reseting an audiences attention. Doing something that resets the attention of the audience after 15 minutes often results in a restoration of attention comparable to the original engagement levels of the audience at the start of presentation.
想重新获得观众的注意力，15分钟之后来一个简短的休息或改变一下活动是很有帮助的。15分钟之后做一些来重获观众的注意力的事常常能让观众回到一开始投入其中的状态。
The easiest way to rest the audience’s attention is to have planned breaks every 10 to 15 minutes. Breaks do not necessarily mean a period of rest. Integrate High-Grade audience activities into your breaks. Audience activities are a great way to review the ideas you just presented and to make sure that your audience has retained the core ideas that you have presented.
重获观众注意力最简单的方法是每10到15分钟来一个插曲。插曲并不一定就意味着休息。把一些高等的观众互动活动融入进来。互动活动可以很好的帮助复习刚来演示的内容从而确认观众对刚才的演示已抓住了核心概念
Examples of High-Grade Audience Activities：
高等的观众互动活动：
- Have a Debate
辩论 - Challenge a Theory
挑战一个理论 - Solve a Case Study
解决一个案例研究 - Create a Case Study
创建一个案例研究 - Create a Short Exam or Test
创建小测试 - Act out a scenario (Role Play)
角色扮演
Keep your audience engaged. If you need to present for longer than 15 minutes, plan some activities to reset your audiences attention.
始终让你的观众参与其中。如果你的演示超过15分钟，那么准备一些活动来重新抓获观众的注意力。
Conclusion 结论
A great presentation, like any great display of skill, will look easy when done by a professional. This does not mean that it is easy to make a great presentation though. You can bet that the presenter spent a long time preparing the presentation, and rehearsed it many times, each time refining it until they were satisfied.
一个好的演示当其被完成时就像很多技巧的展示一样看起来是很简单的，但并不是说做一个好的演示是一份容易的差事。你会发现他们是花了很长时间去准备这个演示，并且进行多次排练，每次都加以修改完善直到他们满意为止。
Keep in mind that when you present in front of audience, you are teaching others. This is regardless of if you are a student, or a business professional presenting a product which you are selling. When you are presenting you are teaching others. Perhaps you are teaching your classmates about something that you have researched, or you are a business professional teaching clients about what your company or products can do for them.
记住当你在观众面前做演示时，你是在教他们，无论你只是个学生或是一位想要为公司出售产品的商人。当你在演示时你就是在教授。也许你是在向你的同学演示你所研究的东西，或者是商人在向顾客做的介绍产品用途的专业性演示。
The following is quoted from Ken Bain’s research from 2004 on effective presenting.
以下引语是2004年Ken Bain对有效演示的一个研究。
“Great teachers are not simply great speakers or discussion leaders; they are, more fundamentally, special kinds of scholars and thinkers, leading intellectual lives that focus on learning, both theirs and their students. Their attention to the details of performance stems from a concern for the learners, and their focus is on the nature and processes of learning rather than on the performance of the instructor.” (Bain. 2004, p. 134)
“伟大的老师并不简简单单地只是伟大的演讲家或辩论家；更具体地说，他们是特殊的学者和思想家，引导其学徒专注于学习。他们对演示细节的注意源于对学习者的考虑，他们的重心在于学习的过程和本质而不是该执教的演讲表现。” 第134页
“Despite some popular beliefs to the contrary, personality played little or no role in successful teaching.” (Bain. 2004, p. 137)
“尽管有很多人不同意以下观点，但是在成功的演示中个性的确没有多大或没有作用。” 第137页
Professional Reference 专业引用
Don’t forget that copying information is not allowed anywhere in the world. Respect the Copy Right Laws of the country you are studying in. If you copy information from a professional source you must give the author credit for their work. This is called citing a source and is required by schools, universities, and in a professional career.
牢记世界各地都是禁止抄袭的。请尊重版权法。如果引用专业的资料必须给出说明。这也就是所谓的引用，在学校、大学和专职工作里是必须要求的。
To help create a proper reference or citation within a document please visit the Knight Cite citation engine at:
要想在文档中创建适当的引用请访问下面网页
http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/
Works Cited In This Document 该文档中的引用
Citations should be listed in alphabetical order. This will be required in University.
按照字母顺序列出引用。在大学里也是这样要求的。
Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, USA: Harvard Press, Print.
Biggs, J. (2001). Teaching for quality learning at university. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press. Page 101-103, Print.
Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and brain Sciences, 24, Page 87-185, Print.
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, Page 81-97, Print.
Wieman. C (2007). A scientific approach to science education – Research On Learning, Issue 39:5, Page 9 -15, Print.
Course Navigation
Go to the next lesson
Go to the previous lesson