PowerPoint Critique

I believe all the PowerPoint presentations given in class were unique and incredibly informative. I learned something new from every single presentation, and there were often times when I wanted to know more about the subject.  Personally, I chose a topic within the subject of neuroscience because I find neuroscience extremely fascinating. The complexities of the nervous system and specifically the brain are really intriguing to me and I always want to discover more.  Particularly, I decided to discuss the medical case study of Phineas Gage not only because it was an interesting story to share, but also because of the significant impacts it had on neuroscience research regarding the brain’s role in behavior. Certain aspects of my PowerPoint I admired included the overall setup of the title slide, my use of images, and my transitions and animations. I actually worked hard on my title slide because it involved the incorporation of sound, animations with the words, and an animated graphic. It took some time for me to first choose an appropriate sound and then coordinate the sound with the exact timing of the title words animation. Moreover, I spent a good amount of time creating the animated graphic and was ultimately proud that I did it successfully. Creation of animated graphics with Photoshop is a new skill that I learned and will continue to apply in future presentations. Finally, I liked the images I chose because I believe they communicated my message clearly; I also enjoyed the animations and transitions I used throughout the presentation because they created a sense of unity and flow between the slides. Another skill I learned was how to embed a YouTube video into the presentation, which was very helpful to know. If I had to change anything, I would probably include another video to express my point and possibly add subtle background music during my presentation.

Although all of the presentations were wonderful, my two favorite ones were Kayleigh’s on Mutualisms and Coevolution and Arielle’s on Monsanto. Kayleigh had amazing animations and transitions all throughout her presentation, enhancing its overall quality. I loved how she explained the process of pollination and the development of mutualisms by using a series of images with transitions. It was a smart idea because most people are visual learners and thus they are more likely to absorb the information if it is presented through images and graphics. In addition, her topic was really interesting and made me realize the importance of the relationship many plants and their pollinators share. Arielle had an awesome presentation layout and presented her topic equally well. She spoke clearly and her knowledge of the subject revealed how much she cared about it. Specifically, I loved the title slide because it embodied a perfect combination of music, animation, transition, and images. It had such a powerful impact. Furthermore, I enjoyed the videos Arielle showed and felt they conveyed her point successfully. At the end of her presentation I wanted to go and research more on Monsanto and other companies that exhibited similar roles.  After witnessing all these great presentations in class, I have much more faith in PowerPoint as a presentation tool and believe that it can truly be effective if utilized correctly.