Resources for Presenters


If you’re presenting at Made in Millersville, there’s a good chance that it’s your first time speaking to an audience outside of the classroom. On this page, you will find resources that provide tips about public speaking, creating visual aids, designing posters, and more.


Did You Miss the Workshops? Catch Up Here!

November 15, 2016: MiM 101 (recording)

March 3, 2017: Present Like a Pro (recording)

March 23, 2017: Present Like a Pro (recording)


Presenting and Speaking

Sample Made in Millersville Reviewers’ Form. Each presentation at MiM will be attended by two professional reviewers who will provide feedback regarding content and delivery. (Some specifics may change this year.)

Public Speaking Rubric (Millersville). Developed by Dr. Lisa Schreiber, this rubric includes evaluation criteria for organization, effective visual aids, audience engagement, and more.

Oral Presentation Rubric (CWU). This rubric from Central Washington University outlines basic standards for oral presentations including organization, reasoning, and delivery.

TED Talk: “Talk nerdy to me.” Melissa Marshall, a Communications professor at Penn State University, explains how to present “complex scientific ideas to a general audience” in less than five minutes.

10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skills (Harvard Division of Continuing Education). Marjorie North, Communications instructor, shares public speaking advice on Harvard’s Language of Business blog.


Slides and Visuals

A Guide to PowerPoint Presentations (Chryst Writing Center, Millersville). This handout provides general tips for designing effective PowerPoint slides.

Designing an Effective PowerPoint Presentation: Quick Guide (Purdue OWL). This resource provides a step-by-step guide to creating PowerPoints (especially good for first-time PowerPoint users). Click the “Media File” or download the free PowerPoint viewer to view the guide.

PowerPoint: Guides, Tips, and Help (Dartmouth). Developed by Dartmouth Libraries, this page includes guidelines about font size, organization, colors, and more.

10 Tips for Better Slide Decks. Aaron Weyenberg, UX (User Experience) Lead at TED, highlights best practices for communicating your ideas through slides. Weyenberg is the lead designer for TED Talk Keynote presentations.

Free Presentation Tools (Don’t have PowerPoint? Try one of these!):

*Note: Most sites require you to create an account; however, it’s free and only takes a minute!

Google Slides. Easily design presentations using Google’s cloud-based version of PowerPoint. Available online or as an Android/iPhone app. Slides are downloadable as PDFs, PPTs, and several other files types. Includes collaborative editing abilities.

Haiku Deck. Create attractive and effective slides using high-quality Creative Commons photos. Haiku Deck includes an automatic text-size feature to encourage minimal text. Available as a web app or an iPad/iPhone app.

Prezi. Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software which features an “infinite canvas” that allows users to zoom in and out of details rather than create separate slides. Presentations must be created online but can be downloaded when finished for offline viewing. Includes collaborative editing abilities.

Zoho Show. Similar to Google Slides, Zoho Show is a cloud-based tool that allows for collaborative editing and downloading of slides in multiple formats (PDF, PPT, etc.).


Poster Design and Creation

The maximum size for posters at Made in Millersville is 42″(H)x55″(W). If you are a student in the College of Science and Technology, use the poster templates provided by your professor. If you are an Art, Humanities, Social Sciences, or Education student, we suggest a 36″(H)x48″(W) poster size. Ask your faculty adviser if there are any best practices for creating posters in your field of study. See the links below for general templates, instructions, and more.

Sample Poster Templates. This site provides standard templates for creating a poster in PowerPoint, including a 36″x48″ template. Each template includes an embedded guide which describes how to add text, photos, graphs, and more. Please note: Your poster does not need to be an exact match of the template.

Guide to Designing and Printing a Research Poster (Dartmouth). This page from Dartmouth includes step-by-step instructions for creating a poster in PowerPoint and a downloadable sample template for a 36″x48″ poster.

Poster Samples (Univ. of Texas). This page features several example posters with notes about their strengths and weaknesses. View the links on the left-hand side for more poster-related information.

Making an Academic Poster Presentation (NAU). This guide from Northern Arizona University highlights basic elements of a poster presentation including content, design, and how to prepare an elevator speech.

The Digital Learning Studio in McNairy Library has obtained a large-format printer for Made in Millersville poster presenters. Student employees will be available to help with printing – please visit here for more information on printing! Stay tuned for more details!