Minimalist Design in Academic Presentations: Impacts on Structured Speech Delivery among Malaysian Undergraduates

Wan Najmiyyah Wan Md Adnan, Aileen Farida Mohd Adam, Mohd Suhaimi Sulaiman, Nooryuhanis Hashim

Abstract


Many students find it challenging to produce engaging slides that complement their speech delivery. While previous research focused more on traditional presentation method that rely on the use of lengthy slides and heavy texts, the impact of minimalist presentation design in structured speech remained underexplored. Hence, the study examines how minimalist design in academic presentation influences students’ structured speech delivery, the common challenges they faced, and the strategies to make better presentation designs that help with structured speech delivery. A mixed-methods approach was used for the study, which included rubric-based evaluation of student slides and a post-presentation survey. The sample consisted of 40 undergraduate students enrolled in an English for Informative Speech course at a Malaysian university. Findings indicate that minimalist visual designs significantly improve speech clarity, audience engagement and language performance, with students generally adhere to the visual design principles. However, students faced challenges in designing and template selection, balancing visual-text balance, content organisation, and creativity and resourcefulness. To address this, the study proposes SPARKLE strategies, a set of structured guidelines for minimalist presentation design in structured speech presentation. This emphasises the pedagogical benefits of minimalist presentation design in academic presentation. Future research should explore broader contexts of visual-based delivery across diverse disciplines and cultural settings and its long-term impact on students’ academic presentation skills.


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