How to Make a Good Presentation

By Irina Koksharova

Introduction
It is vitally important to be able to communicate your thoughts and ideas effectively, using a variety of tools and media. You will need to develop and use this skill throughout your years in university; when you attend job interviews and especially when you start working in the big wide world.

Pros and cons of an outline

There are various opinions on whether a presentation should have an outline or not: Some believe that an outline is not necessary, as the presentation is a rather short event to be outlined. On the other hand, the outline is beneficial for both the presenter and the audience because of the following reasons.

Pros and cons of an outlne

Presenter: Helps logically arrange ideas both while preparing the presentation and making it Audience: Makes the structure of the presentation more transparent and logical Facilitates the perception of the presentation

Outline
Where to start? Preparations Parts of a presentation Attention Practical tips Conclusion References

Where to start?
The material of your presentation should be concise, to

the point and tell an interesting story. Choose an interesting and initiating topic:

If you are not thrilled about the topic why should others be?
Who? the presentation target group What? the essence of the presentation Why? the aim of the presentation How? the method of research used So what? the outcomes of the research

Preparing
Background research Information selection it is crucial to keep in

mind the fact that the presentation is perceived auditory and thus, not all the data from your research can be included there Information organisation the main requirement is that the presentation is logically structured, to a certain extent creates a suspence and tells a fascinating story Deciding on the equipement

Parts of a presentation
Title Outline Introduction Main body: background, methods, results,
analysis, etc. Conclusions References

Attention
Who are you addressing? it is essential to keep in mind the target
audience for the presentation, their background knowledge, interests, etc. Audience attention curve it has been scinetifically proven that the attention of the audience is at its tops only at the very beginning and the very end of the presentation and is dramatically low in between (see the next slide for illustration) Techniques to wake up the audience: - questions - variation of activities - logical transparent structure - visuals

ATTENTION CURVE

Practical information:
Number of slides: equals the number of minutes
(excluding the title, outline, reference, thank you slides, as well as the pictures and graphs you are not planning to substentially comment on) It is important to calculate the length of the video and audion files you intend to include into the presentation. The most common length of a presentation is approximately 20 min thus, the number of slides should rarely exceed 25.

Practical information:

Font size: 32 (44 - headlines) Font style: Arial, Times New Roman Background: contrastive Not too much text on the slide Handouts you may include important references, complicated graphs and tables, as well as long quotations into a handout Small cards for the presenter - it is advisable to write only key phrases on the card but not the whole text of a presentation.

Things to remember - Preparation

- spelling and grammar - equipment - alternative modes of saving

Things to remember - Presentation

Light there should be enough light in the room
to prevent people from falling asleep Posture standing throughout the presentation gives the presenter more power over the audience and enhances hir or her selfconfidence Eye-contact addressing the audience and maintaining the eye-contact improves the general impression of the presentation

Things to remember - Presentation

Body language:

- folded hands defensive posture, negative signals - open hands and smile friendliness, positive signals Tone of voice the audience should not make an effort to hear the presenter NO READING! reading the text of the presentation makes it really difficult to follow as the pauses are not long enough, the tone of voice is monotonous, the eyecontact minimal, and, therefore, the presentation is boring

Conclusions
Success is directly related to the time and effort spent on preparation, knowledge of the subject, and self- confidence!

GOOD LUCK!

References
N/A. 1999. Communication Skills making oral presentations Available at http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/dept/Tips/pres ent/comms.htm. Last accessed April 2007 N/A. 1998-2006. Presentation Tips for Public Speaking Available at http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.htm l. Last accessed April 2007

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Now answer the questions below