¶ … professional-looking worksheet? Why spend so much time with styles and formats and creating borders? Does it make worksheets and workbooks easier to read and follow, or just clutter them up with unnecessary fluff? Have you ever seen or used a worksheet that had too much formatting or was formatted in a way that was difficult to follow?

Some formatting can be helpful. The use of boldface, bullet points, and especially numbers (as in 'there are five things every employee should remember) can all serve to highlight key points. So can mnemonics like 'remember the 3 ps.' Contrasting fonts can be useful, if used consistently, as can some colored fonts, such as red lettering to highlight something dangerous, or what not to do. But hard-to-read calligraphy scripts, 'pretty' borders that do not serve a purpose, and non-serious, strange or relatively meaningless colors like purple, pale pink, or lilac, can act as a distraction.

Q2. Why is it important to understand your audience and its needs before preparing a presentation? How would a presentation differ if the audience was mostly teenagers as opposed to a presentation to an audience that is mostly adults?

Making a presentation to an audience, even a silent audience, is never a monologue -- rather it is a dialogue, even if the audience members are only responding in their own minds. It is necessary to anticipate the audience's likely internal responses, including the audience's level of interest and possible objections. The presentation must be comprehensible and relevant. The vocabulary must be tailored to the age group of the listeners. This does not just mean simplifying words for a younger audience: it also means making use of familiar pop cultural references so as to be persuasive. This gives the audience a sense the speaker is on 'the same page' as itself, and the speaker understands its concerns. Particularly with a bored or unwilling audience, dynamism and an extra effort is demanded on the part of the speaker, to show why the topic is required knowledge. Finally, the venue is important, too. A large auditorium may require a more formal, projected and structured speech, while a conference room requires a more informal and interactive style.