Presentation Skills

• Your presentation will probably be based on a written assignment. A good presentation starts with your written assignment.
  • If you understand the assignment question, express your topic idea clearly in the introduction, follow it up paragraph by paragraph with strong topic sentences setting out your supporting argument, and end with a logical, effective conclusion, you already have the framework for a successful presentation.
  • When beginning work on your presentation notes, re-read your assignment carefully and restructure the information as necessary.
• If your presentation is not based on an already written assignment, base your work on the structure and language hints provided below

Find out as much as possible about your audience and speaking environment beforehand:

• Where will your presentation be given?
• What facilities will be available to you?
• Who are the audience? What is their background – general or specialist? Will they be familiar with your topic and understand specialist language? Or will they need to have matters expressed in relatively simple lay terms? Is there something they really need to know?

1. You need to be sure about your presentation’s purpose. Are you presenting an argument to persuade or an explanation that describes something?
2. Concentrate on the essentials – your thesis, the support, what you have shown and your concluding point, and exclude details that might detract from the strong thread of meaning.
3. Carry the audience with you by using words that include them (you, we, us) and signal the stages of your talk (first, second, third...).

• Don’t read your presentation like a speech.
• Have a paper with your main headings and points, or use palm cards. Using notes will help you achieve a more natural style.

• Speaking too quickly means the audience may not understand you properly.
• Speaking at a leisurely pace gives you time to pronounce words clearly and for the audience to take them in.
• Estimate that you will speak at 80 - 90 words a minute and tailor your notes accordingly.
• Allocate the time appropriately between the introduction, body and conclusion of your talk, and allow time for the discussion phase.

• Practise before a good friend (or even a mirror!), or with other presentation team members, and give one another constructive feedback about your body language, speaking style and timing.
• You can ask to practice with HELPS Learning Advisors. Please ensure to make an appointment by emailing helps@uts.edu.au.

• Trust in the focus, message, argument of your presentation and the knowledge that you have done the best possible preparation are the best cures for nerves.
• Take a deep breath, projecct your voice and smile.
• Remember, there may be someone at the back of the room who cannot hear well!
• Conceal your nerves by always facing the audience, smiling at them, making eye contact around the room, and coming forward towards them instead of hiding behind the lectern.
• If you are enthusiastic and properly prepared, your nerves will vanish by the time you have finished your introduction.

The introduction must totally orient the audience to your subject and purpose. To capture interest and set up rapport, it should tell the audience what to expect.

Be sure to carefully define the central point (or thesis) that is the basis of your talk and to ensure your supporting argument or information relates closely to it.

If you are not proceeding from an already written assignment, it might help to think of your introduction as funnel-shaped, with the content coming out of the funnel:

For example:

INTRODUCTION

1. State your general topic: e.g., Telecommunication in the Antarctic
2. Narrow into your area of interest: e.g., Choosing a new telecommunication system
3. State the problem/issues: e.g., Weather, cost, manageability, performance
4. Zero into your thesis: e.g., That VoIP is best

BODY

    5.  Preview the content: e.g., Explain how VoIP addresses all the issues

Staging your introduction

The body of the presentation should meet the promises of the purpose and information mentioned in the introduction.

Structure is crucial:

• Whether you organise your presentation by chronology, priority, or theme, the body of your talk must proceed logically with the main points discussed one by one. Use concise and relevant supportive evidence, statistics or examples and verbal ‘signposting’ throughout your presentation.
• Try presenting each important idea or point several times in different ways, because a listening audience needs several opportunities to fully absorb meaning.
• You need to state clearly the links between your ideas and always signal when the next point is coming. If you think something is particularly important, say so and why.

If you don’t have a written assignment, it will help to think of your main points as paragraph topic sentences, each of which needs to be followed by supporting sentences and a conclusion.

Staging the body of your talk

Your talk may be a group presentation with two or more speakers. You need to manage the handover appropriately, for example:
I would like to conclude my discussion/report at this point and hand over to my partner/colleague XYZ who will examine/discuss/report the area/topic/perspective of…

Similar to a written assignment, the conclusion states your main points and what has been learned or shown but you may also raise implications inherent in the findings and offer creative recommendations.

Staging the conclusion

Visuals are an important part of a presentation. They can illustrate, clarify, and aid analysis of complex issues. Keep them simple. They should enhance, not complicate, your message. When you prepare a visual:

• Limit the number of visuals. Too many visuals mean less impact on your audience.
• Make only one key point per visual. Your listeners should be able to read and
  understand a visual in five seconds or less.
• Make visuals large enough to be seen by everyone
• Use large type and simple font
• Do not use whole sentences. Write visuals like newspaper headings
• Use diagrams, graphs, pictures, maps and charts instead of words where possible and always explain them briefly in your talk.
• Eliminate all unnecessary details.
• Do not show a page full of numbers
• Use no more than three curves on a graph.
• Use no more than three colours in a visual.

Whether questions and discussion are raised during your presentation or after it, you need to manage your audience strategically:

• Ask the audience to keep their questions brief and confined to one or two points.
• If you receive a question you are confident to answer, thank the questioner, repeat or summarise the question in case others have not heard it clearly, and respond briefly.
• Do not simply ask for questions. Have a moderately contentious point lined up to start the discussion if no-one in the audience speaks up. It could relate to your main message, something stressed in your presentation, an implication or recommendation.

Managing a discussion

Dealing with difficult questions
Don’t be nervous about questions you can’t answer easily. Here are some suggestions for formulating replies.

Handouts are your message to take away. While your presentation is immediate, your handout is for the audience to reflect on. 

A good handout:

• summarises your message and information
• emphasises your main point
• contains the most important visual

• includes points to further information (e.g. a short reading list, related Internet sites).

  NB: It’s essential to give your handout to listeners at the end of your presentation, so that they listen to you before they read it!