Hello! I’m Sheila B. Robinson, Ed.D of Custom Professional Learning, LLC. I’m an educator, consultant, and program evaluator with a passion for professional learning. I design and facilitate professional development courses on program evaluation, survey design, data visualization, and presentation design. My book, Designing Quality Survey Questions, was published by Sage Publications in 2018.

I’m an active American Evaluation Association member and currently Lead Curator and content writer for AEA365 Tip-A-Day By and For Evaluators, their daily blog on program evaluation, and Coordinator of the Potent Presentations Initiative (p2i). I’m Chair of both AEA’s Professional Development Workgroup, and Awards Committee. I’m also past Chair and Program Chair of the Pre-K12 Educational Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TIG).

I have taught graduate courses on program evaluation and professional development design and evaluation at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education where I received my doctorate in Educational Leadership and Program Evaluation Certificate. 

The Potent Presentations Initiative (p2i) is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and exists for the explicit purpose of helping evaluators improve their presentation skills, both at conferences and in individual evaluation practice. Potent Presenters think about three key components of a compelling presentation: Message, Design, and Delivery, and our free resources are largely organized around these areas.

P2i got its start back in 2012 with Stephanie Evergreen, data visualization and presentations expert, and has continued to grow over the years, with several people contributing to the effort, including me! Initial identification of the three key components and inspiration for much of the early content and came from a study of a dozen highly regarded AEA presenters dubbed the “Dynamic Dozen,” who had the highest feedback scores from pre-conference professional development and Summer Institute workshops, and Coffee Break Webinars.

Our p2i website features a p2i Presentation Tools & Guidelines page with free, downloadable checklists and worksheets, along with webinars and slides on Message, Design, and Delivery. Check out the Poster Presentations page for additional guidance and tools for posters. And our Presentation Preparation Checklist is a perennial favorite that guides you along a well-paced schedule to a prepared and calm session. Our newest resources are the Audience Engagement Strategy Book and Guidelines for Handouts tool, my contributions to the p2i collection. Up next will be a resource dedicated to helping you use images in presentations.

As current p2i coordinator, I’m always on the lookout for ideas for new content, and engage with an advisory team a few times per year for input. In a recent effort to catalyze ideas I asked evaluators to participate in a brief, informal survey about presenting to help inform our future work. The survey asked about people’s past and future presentation work and what might help them improve their practice. I shared the link to “You, the Presenter: What Would Help You Up Your Game?” in an aea365 post and on EvalTalk, and 190 people responded! The results are quite informative, and I’ve been sharing them monthly in my p2i column in the AEA monthly newsletter.

Are you getting ready to submit a proposal to present at a conference? Have you been hired by an organization to give a presentation? Or, do you have an upcoming presentation you need to make to your colleagues? It’s a great time to check out AEA’s Potent Presentations Initiative and download free resources to supercharge your next presentation!