Tutorial on Creating and Delivering an Assertion-Evidence Presentation
Increased Audience Understanding, Improved Speaker Confidence

​Step 1. Learn the key principles. 

1. Build your talk on messages (not topics). 
2. Support these messages with visual evidence (not bullet lists).
3. Explain this evidence by fashioning words on the spot. 

A talk built on key messages is more focused than a talk built on topics. Moreover, audiences understand visual evidence more readily than they do bullet lists. Third, a speaker who fashions sentences on the spot (after planning and practice) is much more engaging and appears much more confident than a speaker who reads bullet lists. Using these principles, the assertion-evidence structure makes your presentation more focused and better understood. In addition, you will project more confidence. For evidence of these claims, please see our research page.

Step 2. Download one of our templates to create slides
​for an assertion-evidence talk.
Before opening our PowerPoint template on your computer, you should first write down the main messages on your next talk (please note that a message is a complete sentence). These messages should tell a coherent and compelling story about your work. Then using one of our templates, have each message serve as a sentence headline for the slides. Support those headlines with visual evidence and place secondary details into the notes pages of the slides. For instructions on how to use one of the templates, please see Christine Haas's tutorial on the lower right.

Step 3. To boost your confidence, practice delivering
​your assertion-evidence talk.
Because no bullet lists occur in an assertion-evidence talk, this type of presentation demands more preparation from you. In essence, you flesh out the story of your work by explaining the visual evidence. This increased role for you as a speaker increases your credibility because rather than reading from the slide, you show ownership of the content. One tip is to use the notes page of each slide as a place for your speaking notes and reference citations. Not only will these notes pages help you in the preparation but you can distribute the notes pages as an effective handout. Another tip is to seek feedback on a practice run of the talk from a colleague.