Hello! I’m Sheila B Robinson, aea365’s Lead Curator and sometimes Saturday contributor and I’m getting excited about my presentations at Evaluation 2018! I’m thinking about what content to share, what I want my participants to know, how I will present, what my slides will look like…so much to consider! That’s why I love p2i!
Rad Resource: AEA’s Potent Presentations Initiative (p2i) exists for the explicit purpose of helping evaluators improve their presentation skills, both at conferences and in individual evaluation practice. Potent Presenters think about three key components of a compelling presentation: Message, Design, and Delivery, and our free resources are largely organized around these areas. The p2i website features a p2i Presentation Tools & Guidelines page with downloadable checklists and worksheets, along with webinars and slides, and did I mention that they are all free?
Lesson Learned: Study successful presenters. P2i got its start back in 2012 with Stephanie Evergreen, data visualization and presentations expert, and has continued to grow over the years, with several people contributing to the effort, including me! The three key components and inspiration for much of the original content and came from a study of a dozen well-known AEA presenters – the “Dynamic Dozen” – who had the highest feedback scores from pre-conference professional development, AEA Summer Institute workshops, and Coffee Break Webinars.
Get a pulse from current presenters. As current p2i coordinator, I’m always on the lookout for ideas for new content. In a recent effort to catalyze ideas I asked evaluators to participate in a brief, informal survey about presenting to help inform our future work. The survey asked about people’s past and future presentation work and what might help them improve their practice. I shared the link to “You, the Presenter: What Would Help You Up Your Game?” in an aea365 post and on EvalTalk, and 190 people responded! The results are quite informative, and I shared them over several months in the AEA monthly newsletter in my p2i column.
Rad Resources:
- Start with our Presentation Preparation Checklist to guide you along a well-paced schedule to a prepared and calm session
- Check out the Poster Presentations page for additional guidance and tools for posters
- Our newest resources, my own contributions to the p2i collection, are the Audience Engagement Strategy Book that will help you learn interactive strategies to integrate into your sessions, and the Guidelines for Handouts tool that offers a number of strategies and sample template for creating handouts that complement your session.
Are you presenting at #Eval18 or another conference or event? It’s a great time to check out AEA’s Potent Presentations Initiative and download free resources to supercharge your next presentation!
Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.