Check www.kerileebeasley.com for more information, or connect with Keri-Lee on Twitter at @klbeasley

The first key to engaging presentations is to find great photos. Approximately 85% of people are visual learners, so selecting great visuals is extremely important. Images help your audience process information more quickly, and retain it better too.

One of the reasons I love using Haiku Deck for presentations is because of the in-built creative commons licensed image search.

You search for a keyword, then images come up which are creative commons licensed.

**Please note** as always, talk to your students about what to do if they come across an inappropriate image. They may accidentally find something unsuitable, and will need steps to follow if this does happen.

Another alternative is Photos for Class, which is a creative commons licensed search site, which is safe search approved and has automatic citation

Of course we want our students to be creators! My colleague Dave Caleb, is the brains behind the following tips. We have taught these to students as young as K1, all the way up. Honestly, knowing these skills will improve your own photography immensely too!

One of the easiest things you can do to improve your photography is to change your perspective. Most people take shots at their eye level. To mix it up, use a bird’s eye view - get up high! Now you don’t need to climb ladders to achieve this - just hold your device up high, stand on a desk, or go up some stairs, as in this example.

Alternatively, get down low and shoot from a worm’s eye view. This achieves a nice depth of focus (blurred background) and can help make your photos more interesting.

You don’t need to show the whole object for people to know what it is. Get up close and focus on the details. A door handle, a shoe, the keyboard of a laptop. Zoom with your feet, rather than the slider.

Dave tells me that the most obvious difference between a professional photographer and an amateur photographer is in their backgrounds. Distracting backgrounds (such as in a classroom) can be improved by moving either the subject or the items in the background (e.g. water bottles, books etc). This matters a lot when taking photos for presentations, as you need space for keywords/headings

An easy tool on the iPad to take better photos is to turn on the photo grid. Go to Settings > photos & camera > Grid.
Place interest points in the intersections of the lines. Line up the horizon with one of the thirds. Avoid putting your subject in the centre.

Download Dave's FREE eBook with more great tips for students from the iTunes Bookstore here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/stories-through-the-lens/id1039622883?mt=1...

The temptation to fill a slide with text is always there - people think if they spell their message out on their slides, then people will be sure to take in the information presented. But this is extremely counter-productive. People can listen to you, or they can read your slides. They can’t do both. As Garr Reynolds says, “If your slides can stand by themselves, why the heck are you up there in front of them?”
If your slides are designed to be PRESENTED, then you should only use KEYWORDS. If your slides are designed to be read, and not presented, then you are creating what Nancy Duarte refers to as SlideDocs. This is not what I am presenting about today, but by all means check out slidedocs.com for more details.

All good presentation software has a note function built in to it. In Haiku Deck, you can add Public or Private notes. Encourage students to put their dialogue here, rather than on their slides.

Numbers, statistics, charts and data all help convey a message visually.

By way of example…

Percentages are a great way of sharing statistics. Accompany those with images, and you can have a very powerful impact.

Step 5 is to Practice.

When creating presentations with students, we often fail to factor in time for rehearsal. The reality is, you can’t just complete a presentation and then deliver it. That’s not how life works.

The old adage “Practice makes perfect” certainly applies here. Encourage students to practice their presentation. Once the slides are created, a large part of the effectiveness of a presentation comes down to delivery. A speaker needs to connect with the audience. Videoing a rehearsal is an excellent (and objective) way to observe things like eye contact, fiddling, any repetitive movements, expression and tone of voice.

So there you have it.
My 5 Top Tips to make Better Student Presentations.