Mastering PowerPoint: How to Deliver Standout Presentations

PowerPoint presentations can transform your classes into something truly special. They bring lessons to life with striking visuals, keep your teaching on point, cater to visual learners, and reinforce the concepts that matter most. But a great slide deck—simple, uncluttered, and easy on the eyes—is just the start. The real magic happens in how you set it up and deliver it. In this blog, we’ll share essential tips to help you master PowerPoint, ensuring your presentations are seamless, engaging, and unforgettable.

Tech Setup

Before your first class, set up your equipment and run a practice session to get comfortable with it.

Gather Your Materials

The key to a flawless presentation is reliable technology. Start with a reliable laptop loaded with your PowerPoint file. (If you are using a cloud-based program, like Google Slides, double-check that your wi-fi connection is strong.) Ensure your device is fully charged and bring a power cord as a backup. 
 
You’ll also need a projector to share your PowerPoint with the class, and you will need to ensure that you can properly connect your laptop to the projector. Some laptops can connect to a display screen via Bluetooth, but other times you will need to use a USB, VGA, or HDMI cable to connect your laptop to your display screen.

Set Up Your Space

To reduce stress, give yourself ample time to set up your space before the class begins, especially if this is your first time teaching in the space. Before class, power on both your laptop and projector, and do all the necessary connecting between the two devices. Then, do a quick test run to confirm everything’s working smoothly. Catching any glitches early beats troubleshooting mid-class.

Tips for Delivering Your PowerPoint

Follow these tips from experts to get the most out of your PowerPoint. 

Practice

Practicing your presentation ahead of time helps you nail your pacing, catch any awkward transitions, and boost your confidence for a smooth delivery when it matters.  This is usually done a few times before class, but if you have time to sneak in a quick run-through before your clients arrive, you can practice in the classroom. After practicing, it is common to do some fine-tuning of your presentation.

Don't Let the PowerPoint Take Over

Your PowerPoint can be a helpful guide and a great visual aid, but you should not read verbatim from your slides, or only focus on your slides while teaching. Let your slides open up discussion and be springboards to help you gather and expand your own thoughts.

Make Your Slides Interactive

While PowerPoint slides are great for presenting information in simple, memorable ways, that’s not all they are for. They can be used to make your lesson more interactive as well. For example, you can use PowerPoint slides to ask your students questions, spark small group discussion, or ask your students to do some brainstorming.

Take Breaks

Having too many PowerPoint slides—and racing through them—is not ideal. You want each slide to be meaningful and you want to move through the slides at a pace that feels comfortable and natural. It can also be useful to put some blank slides in the mix to allow for pauses in your presentation, so that it doesn’t feel too slide-heavy. Taking breaks in your lesson to allow your students to stretch, eat a snack, or just take a mind-break, is also essential. It may be a helpful strategy to pause mid-presentation and practice a mindfulness or relaxation technique with the class.

Get the Class Moving

Besides taking breaks to rest and recharge, adding a few movement breaks can be helpful too. These movement breaks can include elements tailored for pregnant women, like positions, movements, and stretches useful during pregnancy or labor and birth. The goal is to keep your students energized and focused.

The Bottom Line

If this is your first time using PowerPoint, you might feel unsure and intimidated, but the truth is that PowerPoint is a user-friendly program, and once you’ve mastered setting up your slides, the delivery of them is fairly straightforward. PowerPoint presentations are fabulous ways to enhance your teaching, and help your lessons come to life. Remember that it’s okay to stumble at first, as you are learning to use PowerPoint, but practice makes perfect, and before you know it, you will be a PowerPoint whiz.

To make the process even easier, consider using Plumtree Baby’s teaching resources, which have all these tips and more built right in. Our comprehensive curriculums and professionally designed, ready-to-go PowerPoint presentations are tailored for childbirth education, helping you deliver engaging lessons with confidence from the start.

Wendy Wisner, Freelance Writer and Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)

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