Visual Presentation Skills

How material is presented greatly influences how much the participant actually learns about the topic. Presenting to design professional requires a command of visual communications.

When putting together a presentation, do you consider:

• What is the ideal balance of image vs. text on a PowerPoint slide?
• How much information is too much for a single slide?
• Do features like animations and builds add to a presentation’s visual interest, or are they gimmicks to be avoided?

This highly interactive roundtable will examine a sampling of various attendees’ PowerPoint slides, and attendees will be asked for candid, constructive feedback.

If you would like to have a few of your slides included in the critique, please email 1-3 slides in a PowerPoint file (not the whole presentation) to Beth Winkler at administration@csichicago.org by March 20.

Are you fed up with poor presentation visuals? We extend a special invitation to architects and other visually gifted individuals to attend and provide valuable feedback on the slides we view.

Interactive session led by: 


Registration required by Tuesday, March 19.  Limited seating available on a first come basis. Complimentary to members and non-members.

Continuing Education: 1.0 AIA CES LU

Learning Objectives: 

1. Attendees will evaluate sample PowerPoint slides and discuss their effectiveness at communicating educational material related to design and construction in a visually interesting way.
2. Attendees will discuss alternatives to PowerPoint as tools to communicate visually for the purpose of educating architects and designers and conveying information to clients.
3. Attendees will hear feedback from architects and other visual experts on positive and negative aspects of the sample slides presented.
4. Attendees will review AIA guidelines for effective CES presentations, and discuss innovative techniques for visual presentations that meet those guidelines.