PSB Presentation Skills

Style guides like APA offer guidance on citing tables (e.g., charts, graphs, etc.) and figures (e.g., photos, images, etc.) in research essays, but don't have specific rules around presentation slide decks.

Watch the video below to learn the basics about citing images found online using APA Style. For more information, check out the links below the video to learn more about citing tables and images from other sources:

During an oral presentation, it's important to tell your audience where information, ideas, or words came from as you say it.

Your audience can't check your in-text citations or reference list easily in the middle of a live presentation, and it's difficult to tell which ideas are yours and which ideas came from another person. It's important to introduce your source before you present the information so your audience has more context about the original source and how you used it to build your argument.

Watch the video below to learn more about how to cite sources in a speech or during a presentation:

Verbal Citation Examples

• According to [Author Name], a professor of [Field of Study] at [University Name]…
• [Author Name], author of the [Publication Year] study, [Article Title], argues that…
• [Author Name], a journalist writing for the prestigious [Newspaper Name], offers this example…

Using a Direct Quote

Tell your audience what you're quoting by clearly marking the beginning and ending of the quote using one of the following options:

1. Pause slightly after introducing the source (e.g., using one of the examples above), then read the quote expressively so that the quote sounds like a second voice. Pause again after the quote to indicate you are switching back to your own voice.
2. Say "Quote" immediately before you start reading the quote, and then say "Endquote" right after you've finished reading the quote.
3. If you're presenting in-person, you can use "air quote" by holding up one or both of your hands and moving your pointer and index finers up and down quickly, as if you were drawing quotation marks in the air.

Footnotes in research essays can be used for a few different reasons, including:

• Providing more context or background information for readers;
• Noting copyright permissions if you needed permission to use material that falls outside of Fair Dealing;
• Adding citations or parenthetical information to avoid breaking up slide text.

APA Style does not recommend using footnotes for citations or parenthetical information in research essays, but there are no rules about their use in presentation slide decks. Check with your professor first if you'd like to use footnotes in your slide deck.

Below is an example of a slide deck that includes a footnote with a parenthetical citation, a footnote that includes the full reference, and a reference list that would appear on the last slide of your presentation:

Check out the video below to learn how to add footnotes in a PowerPoint slide deck: