Powerful Presentations
Next opening: 2025
There's no one-size-fits-all approach to data visualization.
Graphs are supposed to be formatted differently for reports, one-pagers, dashboards, and presentations. Here's what my old presentations looked like: tiny text, mismatched images, and disorganized content. Yikes...
Transform into a Powerful Presenter
Over the past decade, I've delivered hundreds of presentations for thousands of people in 30+ states and a dozen countries. Ask me anything about:
- speaking at conferences,
- developing multi-day workshops,
- delivering keynote speeches,
- being interviewed on podcasts, and
- presenting virtually over Zoom, YouTube, or through online courses.
What's Included
I'm going to transform you into the powerful presenter that your organization needs. Here's what's included to make that happen.
- 77 bite-sized video lessons that you can watch anytime (the equivalent of my two-day Powerful Presentations workshop)
- Step-by-step process to deliver data-driven presentations that engage audiences
- TWO 1:1 Consultations with me as rewards for completing 25% and 50% of the lessons
- Your Turn activities after every lesson to post your own work and get the instructor's feedback
- Office Hours sessions throughout 2024
- Powerful Presentations ebook with our checklists and case studies
- Private Data Vizards community of fellow participants
- Captions on all videos
- Certificates of Completion to help build your resume
- Weekly emails to cheer you on
- Lifetime access so you don't feel rushed
- Examples from a variety of industries (public health, juvenile justice, museums, and more)
- Behind-the-scenes PowerPoint magic tricks guaranteed to make your jaw drop
- Bonus mini course, Course Creation, on designing, recording, and selling online courses
Step-by-Step Process
77 Bite-Sized Video Lessons to Watch Anytime
You'll get lifetime access to 77 video lessons--the equivalent of a two-day training. You can watch these lessons anytime around your own schedule.
Step-by-Step Process
We’ll walk through the Powerful Presentations Ripple Effect, a step-by-step process for ensuring that your data actually informs decisions.
Here's what you'll master inside each module.
Module 0: Welcome & Materials
3 lessons, 27 min
You'll see the differences between Death by PowerPoint versus Powerful Presentations; get a preview of what's inside this course; and download the ebook.
Module 1: Slidedocs vs. Slidedecks
7 lessons, 3 hr 3 min
In the first module, you'll master critical presentation lingo: differentiating between slidedocs (standalone documents) and slidedecks (presentation slides).
Sample activities:
- Slidedocs vs. Slidedecks: Post a screenshot of a recent slide that you made. Is your example currently more of a slidedoc or a slidedeck? Which one should it be?
- Slidedocs: Transform one of your slides into a slidedoc. Follow the 5 characteristics. Post before/after screenshots and describe your changes.
- Slidedecks: Transform one of your slides into a slidedeck. Follow the 5 characteristics. Post before/after screenshots and describe your changes.
Module 2: Message
17 lessons, 5 hr 12 min
In Message, you'll practice my top eight techniques for crafting a message that's tailored to your audience, like bucketizing your findings, writing the takeaway tweet in advance, incorporating action-oriented activities, and designing a visual framework.
Sample activities:
- Brainstorm and Bucketize: Brainstorm a long list of everything that might go into your presentation. What are the 3-5 buckets for your presentation?
- Create a Visual Framework: What type of framework fits your topic the best? (Step-by-step process? Pyramid? Cycle?) Comment and reflect on your thought process. Create a visual framework using shapes, SmartArt, or Diagrammer. Post a screenshot here and comment about your thought process. Use your visual framework to (1) Provide an overview, (2) Introduce buckets, (3) Reinforce buckets with mini frameworks, and (4) Establish consistency across the slidedoc.
- Open with Intention: Share a draft of your opening story. Post a screenshot of your presentation agenda.
- Plan the Activities and Call-to-Action Closing: Share an example of an activity you’ve used. Comment and provide context: How long was your presentation? When did the activity take place? How did it go?
- Decide How the Audience Should Feel: Plan in advance: I want my audience to feel _____. I want my audience to think _____. I want my audience to do _____.
- Write the Takeaway Tweet in Advance: What’s the takeaway tweet for one of your upcoming presentations?
- Collect & Use Audience Feedback: What are the most useful feedback questions you’ve encountered? How have you used that feedback to improve future presentations?
- Kill Your Darlings: Go through your outline or existing slides. Decide what to keep. Comment about your decision-making process.
Module 3: Design
20 lessons, 5 hr 57 min
In Design, you'll apply your brand colors, fonts, photographs, and icons; you'll create color-coded divider slides; and follow my checklist of 15+ Ideas for visuals to ensure that every slide has a powerful visual.
Sample activities:
- Brand with Custom Colors: Locate your color codes. Set up your Theme Colors. Post a screenshot here.
- Brand with Custom Fonts: Locate your official fonts. Install custom fonts if needed. Set up your Theme Fonts. Post a screenshot here.
- Brand with Photos: Find out if your organization has custom photos. Or, collect stock photos. Post a screenshot here.
- Brand with Icons: Find out if your organization has custom icons or other visuals. Or, collect stock icons. Post a screenshot here.
- Match the Aspect Ratio to the Screen/Page: Time permitting: Match the aspect ratio to the screen or page. Time crunched: Just use widescreen for everything. Post a screenshot here.
- Match the Background Color to the Room Lighting: Time permitting: Match the background color to the room lighting. Time crunched: Just use dark text against a white background for everything. Post a screenshot here.
- Create Color-Coded Divider Slides: Create one of the four types of Divider Slides. Post a screenshot here.
- Set Up the Slide Master: Tweak your organization’s existing Slide Master. Or, create your own Slide Master to save time. Post a screenshot here.
- Aim for 1+ Visual Per Slide: Open a recent slidedeck. How many slides had visuals? Post your numbers here (e.g., 3 of 8 slides had visuals).
- 15 Ideas for Body Slides: Open a recent slidedeck. How many different types of visuals did you use? My challenge for you: Double that number in your next slideshow!
- Bullet Points into Graphs and Photos: Open a text-heavy slide. Add one of the visuals from the checklist.
Module 4: Storyboarding
10 lessons, 4 hr 5 min
Finally, you'll storyboard your graphs--which means explaining your complicated datasets one piece at a time.
Module 5: Public Speaking & Tech Tips
17 lessons, 5 hr 26 min
You'll fine-tune 10 aspects of public speaking, like:
- using microphones for in-person and virtual talks--or not;
- making "eye contact" with the webcam;
- adjusting the lighting on stage and in virtual talks (so we don't have to worry about our appearance);
- using our hands to help explain the patterns in our data;
- avoiding scripts (so we don't sound robotic) and what to do instead; and
- my go-to technique for removing filler words (like, um, so).
You'll also get a behind-the-scenes tour of my home recording studio.
Module 6: Case Studies
4 lessons, 3 hr 36 min
Want ideas for applying these techniques to your own projects? You'll get to see case studies from previous course participants.
Office Hours
Want me to review your draft slides? Have a how-to tech question? Submit your drafts, screenshots, and questions to Office Hours. You'll be invited to all the live Office Hours scheduled for 2024 -- that's 25+ sessions together!
Sample topics addressed during Office Hours:
- "How would you transform this dense table--3 years' of data for a dozen different types of cars--into a graph or two for a slideshow?"
- "I'm interested to know your process for transferring a chart from Excel into PowerPoint or Word. Everything I have tried results in a blurry image."
- "For someone that is starting in data viz in Evaluation (as in, has less than a year in) and hopes to be self-employed really really really bad, do you think hiring a business coach is a good idea to start? How did know you had enough data viz experience in order to be self-employed?"
- "How do you make bump charts in Excel?"
Additional Support
Two 1:1 Consultations with Me
As a reward for completing 25% and 50% of the lessons, you'll be invited to 1:1 consultations with me. You'll pick my brain about anything and everything dataviz-wise. Much more cost-efficient than hiring me separately, too!
"Your Turn" Activities After Every Lesson
You'll learn a little by watching lessons... but you'll learn a lot by actively applying what you've learned to your own projects.
After every lesson, you'll be prompted to post your own work. This is a great opportunity to get the instructor's feedback and learn from colleagues from similar industries.
Guest Speakers
You'll hear from three guest speakers: speaking coach Heather Sager, evaluator and All-American debater Isaac Castillo, and PowerPoint MVP Dave Paradi.
Powerful Presentations Ebook
You'll get a license for our 80-page ebook, which includes all of our presentations checklists and cheat sheets.
Captions on All Videos
By popular demand, all of our lessons have been captioned.
Data Vizards Community
This is a great place to connect with colleagues, post drafts, and get feedback from each other.
Monday Messages to Cheer You On
I know you’re going to skip straight to the juicy magic tricks, but I’m going to email you on Mondays around 11 am EST and pretend like we’re working through the course one module at a time.
Bonus! Mini Course
Course Creation
You'll also get access to a bonus mini course on planning for, recording, and selling online courses. And, you'll get access to launch debriefs where I share the numbers behind my own courses.
Course Creation is normally $297/participant, but it's included in the 2023 Powerful Presentations registration as a special gift for people who are curious about teaching online.
What Participants Are Saying
9,000+ participants from around the globe have already taken the leap into better reports, slideshows, dashboards, and infographics by participating in our online courses.
Here's how those researchers, evaluators, professors, and scientists are describing this course.
"I’ve just finished the
Powerful Presentations course, and not only have my presentation skills and
setup improved, but so have my slides. There are so many great tips and tricks
I could highlight, but I will keep it to my three favorites:
color coding, increasing readability, and storyboarding.
The best part is, they don’t take that much extra time! These are simple changes that take your slidedecks to a new level and allow you to really impress your audience.”
- Kelsey Waterson, Evaluator, Centerstone Research Institute
"A client asked me to report the results at their meeting and I used so many of your suggestions in the slidedeck, it was the most impressive PowerPoint I have ever made. But as the meeting progressed, they were running out of time, [but] luckily, I had also created a slidedoc and was able to share that document. I have never been so grateful that I had signed up for your class!"
- Kristin Wright
"I registered for the course because although I have advanced graphic design skills, I still thought I could make more effective presentations by working through the course’s sequential lessons of message, design and delivery. The course was great!"
- Elizabeth Dove, Professor, University of Montana
About the Instructor
Your Instructor
Ann K. Emery is an internationally-acclaimed speaker who equips organizations to get their data out of dusty spreadsheets and into real-world conversations.
Each year, she delivers over 100 keynotes, workshops, and webinars with the aim of equipping organizations to visualize data more effectively.
She has been invited to speak in 30 states and 11 countries; 9,000 people have enrolled in her online training academy; and she has consulted to 200 organizations, including the United Nations, Centers for Disease Control, and Harvard University.
She earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a Master’s degree from George Mason University.
After traveling full-time as a digital nomad, Ann now resides in Florida along with her husband and five children.