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Presentation Resources

Giving presentations is vital part of academic and professional work. This collection of resources will help you develop strong skills in public speaking, slide design, and storytelling for presentations so that you can communicate information more clearly and confidently to your audience.

Public Speaking

The Purdue Presentation Center focuses on helping students improve oral presentations and delivery. It offers support with organizing content, designing visuals, and practicing both in-person and virtual presentations.

Toastmasters at Purdue is a public speaking club that helps students and professionals build confidence, improve communication, and develop leadership skills. Through structured speeches, peer feedback, and supportive practice, members gain valuable experience in presenting ideas clearly and effectively.

How to Do a Presentation - 5 Steps to a Killer Opener The video by Jason Teteak breaks down how to start a presentation with confidence and clarity. It covers how to introduce yourself, share your credentials, hook your audience, outline your agenda, and build credibility—all essential for academic and professional settings.

How to Give a Great Presentation - 7 Presentation Skills and Tips to Leave an Impression The video by Dana Blouin shares seven essential tips for delivering impactful presentations. It covers strategies like knowing your audience, using visuals effectively, and building confidence through practice—all explained in a clear, engaging, and student-friendly style.

7 Public Speaking Tips for Beginners The video presented by Alexander Lyon offers clear, actionable tips like organizing your message, simplifying notes, using eye contact, and designing effective slides. It’s especially helpful for students who are new to public speaking or presenting in English.

Purdue OWL - Public Speaking and Presentations The page  offers practical advice for improving public speaking skills in academic and professional settings. It emphasizes understanding your audience, establishing credibility, and organizing your message around a few key points to communicate effectively and confidently.

TED is a great resource for anyone looking to see powerful public speaking in action. Its collection of talks features skilled speakers who demonstrate effective communication, storytelling, and stage presence. TED Talks on public speaking offer practical tips and inspiration to help viewers become more confident and engaging speakers.

Slide Design and Visual Communication

Assertion-Evidence Approach The videos and resources on this site demonstrate how to create more effective scientific and technical presentations using the assertion-evidence approach. Instead of relying on bullet points, this method emphasizes clear, complete-sentence headlines supported by visual evidence, helping presenters communicate more clearly and confidently.

How to Create a Better Research Poster in Less Time This video presents a new, simplified design for academic posters that emphasizes clarity, visual impact, and quick communication of key findings. It encourages researchers to move away from dense text and toward more engaging, reader-friendly layouts.

Life After Death by Powerpoint The video is a comedic take by Don McMillan that humorously highlights common PowerPoint mistakes, like cluttered slides and bad fonts, offering a fun lesson on what not to do in presentations.

Purdue OWL - Visual Rhetoric This resource introduces the fundamentals of visual rhetoric, focusing on how images, layout, and design elements communicate meaning. It explores concepts like visual literacy, effective presentation design, and the rhetorical impact of visual choices in various contexts.  It emphasizes design principles and links to helpful tools like Canva and Piktochart.

Storytelling for Presentations

Give me 9min, and I'll improve your storytelling skills by 176% In the video, Philipp Humm—TEDx speaker, storytelling coach, and bestselling author—shares simple yet powerful techniques to instantly improve your storytelling. He explains how to structure stories, create emotional impact, and connect with audiences in a way that makes presentations more memorable and persuasive.

Storytelling Guide This toolkit from The Practice Space offers a clear, beginner-friendly approach to crafting and sharing personal stories. It includes step-by-step guidance on identifying story themes, structuring narratives, and delivering them with confidence. Designed for youth and adults alike, the resource emphasizes storytelling as a tool for self-expression, leadership, and building community voice.

Storytelling Principles and Exercises This resource from the University of Colorado presents storytelling principles and exercises adapted from Bobette Buster’s book Do Story: How to Tell Your Story So the World Listens. It emphasizes key elements such as emotional truth, structure, and personal voice, and includes practical activities to help users craft compelling, authentic stories. Designed for educators and communicators, it encourages storytelling as a powerful tool for connection and impact.

The Art of Storytelling - 5 Mistakes Most People Make In the video, Dominic Colenso—communication coach, keynote speaker, and bestselling author—outlines five common storytelling mistakes presenters make: data dumping, skipping emotional tension, making yourself the hero, ending without a clear takeaway, and failing to hook the audience early. It offers practical fixes for each, helping you craft presentations that are more engaging, memorable, and audience-centered.

Transform Your Presentations with These Storytelling Tips In the video, Carl Kwan—video marketing expert, YouTuber, and founder of Kwan Multimedia—shares five essential storytelling techniques to enhance your presentations: know your audience, start with a strong hook, use a clear story structure, include vivid sensory details, and practice your delivery. These tips help presenters create more engaging, memorable, and audience-focused presentations.

What is a Story? | Matthew Dicks | TEDxBerkshires In the talk, Matthew Dicks—acclaimed storyteller, educator, and communication strategist—breaks down the essential elements of great storytelling. He challenges the traditional “beginning, middle, and end” model, offering instead a practical, actionable framework that anyone can use to become a better storyteller. Through personal anecdotes and expert insights, Dicks shows how storytelling builds connection, fosters self-understanding, and even promotes healing.