The law is saturated with information and one of the ways to organize these is to create a legal powerpoint presentation. Websites such as Canva or Google Slides make it easier for us to come up with these powerpoint presentations because they already have templates ready. But how about presentations specifically for the legal field?
Why Legal PowerPoint Presentations Matter in Law School and Beyond
Legal powerpoint presentations mainly address the issue of unorganized thoughts and information. With the volume of cases and legal provisions we are expected to read and learn, oftentimes, having a case companion such as a powerpoint presentation helps. Aside from this, legal powerpoint presentations also help with the following:
1. Memory Retention
Aside from common study techniques, legal powerpoint presentations are overlooked materials in studying. Because of its highly visual interface, powerpoint presentations tend to catch your attention especially for those concepts that are highlighted during your class sessions.
2. Interactive Learning
Legal powerpoint presentations also encourage active learning where it can be created using questions pertaining to the legal concept at hand.
For instance, if the exam is on Succession, problems on how to divide the inheritance can be formed in such a way that allows the reader to solve the computations on their own.
3. Arguments Organization
Good arguments create a solid foundation for a strong case and being able to articulate them is very important. Here is where legal powerpoint presentations come in such that instead of presenting your arguments in a block of text/paragraphs, you can divide them into bullet points or numbers.
Key Elements of a Legal PowerPoint Presentation
While there is not strict format to follow for legal powerpoint presentations, don’t forget to take the following into consideration:
Simplicity and Credibility of Content
The main purpose of a legal powerpoint presentation is to organize your thoughts and legal arguments and as such, it must necessarily be easy to understand. Use bullets instead of paragraphs and phrases instead of sentences. In that manner, your audience (as well as yourself) can easily recall the legal information.
Aside from this, as guardians of the law, citing jurisprudence and legal provisions to back up your statements is very important. If possible, link the reliable website (i.e. Supreme Court Library) where you obtained your information from.
Structure that Supports Legal Argument
Aside from keeping your presentation easy to understand, it must also follow a structural hierarchy to guide you and your audience. For instance, titles and headings can contain your main point in a large/bold font whereas normal text can be smaller in font containing further explanation to your titles/headings.
Aside from this, you can also be guided by the following suggested flow:
- Introduction
Provide background information as to the case at hand. Introduce parties or main laws you are going to cite.
- Legal Issues
Put these in question format for ease of reference.
- Arguments
Write all your arguments in a cohesive manner. Start with your strongest contention and end with your hypotheticals if present.
- Conclusion
Frame this with your legal issues in mind. The conclusion must be responsive to the questions you initially posed.
Professional Visuals and Formatting
One of the advantages of using a powerpoint presentation is tapping into visual learning. To use this to your advantage, consider the following:
- Font
Keep the font at a size that is easy to read even from the farthest corner of the room. Aside from this, you also have to pick fonts that are easy to read, pleasing to the eyes, and professional. Some common examples are Arial, Garamond, and Proxima Nova which are all available on Canva.
- Presentation Colors
While you are free to pick whatever color you will use, keep in mind that darker toned colors exude more professionalism than lighter, brighter ones. Aside from this, avoid using more than 3 different colors in your presentation to keep people from getting distracted.
- Visuals and Charts
Only use visuals and charts if highly necessary. You can use flowcharts for legal concepts that have procedures such as in Remedial Law and you can also use tables if, for instance, you are talking about taxation rates. If you are uncertain in creating your own powerpoint presentation Canva/Google Slides have paid and free templates for you to accomplish.
Step-by-Step Guide: Creating a Legal PowerPoint Presentation
Legal powerpoint presentation making is a necessary skill especially in a digitally-dependent world we have today. Thus, you can learn how to accomplish such a task by following the steps below:
Research and Outline
First and foremost, start with researching your assigned topic/issue. In order to do this more efficiently, you can consult legal AI tools such as Digest AI or explore online case libraries. Using these platforms ensure that the information you present are updated and accurate.
After dumping all your research material in one document, organize them according to headings and how each are related to the other.
Designing the Slides
Now that you’ve got your outline, all you have to do is organize them further into powerpoint format. Remember to use bullet points and put your citations every time you make a claim/statement to make your presentation more credible.
As an additional, you can also use diagrams or flow charts for procedural legal presentations.
Practicing Delivery
After rechecking your legal powerpoint presentation content, practice your presentation over and over again until you can answer all questions about it.
To present a legal case specifically, start with the facts of the case at hand followed by the issues you aim to resolve at the end of your presentation. Organize your arguments well leading up to your desired conclusion. Aside from that, practice your eye contact, hand gestures, and most importantly, your facial expressions when delivering certain information.
Online Tools for Legal Powerpoint Presentations
To help make this task easier to accomplish, you can consult several online tools such as:
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Canva
Canva has both free and paid features including powerpoint presentations, fonts, and transitions. What’s good about canva is that its templates are already complete with elements and colors such that all you have to do is paste your information in the template and you’re good to go.
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Zotero
With numerous citations in your presentation, Zotero is a free and easy-to-use tool which collects, organizes, and cites your sources. It makes the tedious task of formatting citations much easier.
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Digest AI
Legal research takes up most of the time in creating a legal powerpoint presentation thus having a reliable legal AI tool like Digest AI helps in cutting down the time needed and more time for practicing and perfecting your presentation.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Legal PowerPoint Presentations
A well-researched legal powerpoint presentation is nothing if it has the following mistakes:
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No legal citations
Always check if your statements in the presentation are backed up by legal bases such as case law or legal provisions. If necessary, link the website you got the information from.
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Unprofessional Design
Minimize pictures or visuals that are irrelevant to your presentation. While a photo may help catch the attention of your listeners, this dilutes the professionalism of your legal powerpoint presentation.
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Difficult to Understand
Avoid using blocks of text and consistently highlight, bold, or underline phrases that are essential to your point.
Final Thoughts
Having a legal powerpoint presentation that has structure and clarity makes the presentation itself much easier to deliver thus you should consider using ready-made templates online as well as legal research platforms such as Digest PH to make powerpoint presentations more efficient.