The time PRESENTATION SKILLS

It is important that you keep to time especially in an academic setting where marks may be
deducted if you talk for longer than allocated. Make yourself a note before you start as to the
time you need to finish by, keep an eye on the clock and if you run out of time, stop. This advice sheet will help you to deliver an oral presentation with confidence, by looking
Audiences welcome talks that finish on time or a bit before. at what should be considered before, during, and after a talk.

After a presentation Before a presentation

Appear interested. Give your questioner your full attention and put them at ease if they The audience who are they, how many and what do they already know?
appear nervous. The occasion is it formal or informal? A lecture, a debate, a speech?
Summarise the question. Rephrasing the question not only gives you time to think, and The point what is the purpose of the talk?
confirms with the questioner that you have understood, but also ensures that the rest of the
The environment what is the size and layout of the room, and what facilities will be
audience have heard it.
available (OHP)?
Answer the question set. The temptation, if you dont know the answer, is to talk about
something else. Try and stick to the topic and if you dont know, offer to take their details
and find out for them. Once this has been considered, its time to gather, select and structure your material.
Dont talk too long. The time for questions is always limited and there may be other
questioners waiting for their turn. Try and keep your answers succinct and to the point. Gathering
There are many sources of information available to you, make sure you assess the
authority (who wrote it?), currency (how up-to-date is it?) and accuracy of a source before
you rely on it to support a point in your presentation.

Selecting
Often when you are asked to give a talk you will need to distil a large amount of
information into a short time period. You need to be ruthless in the way that you prioritise
information. Too much information can confuse an audience.
What is centrally relevant?
What can be left out?
What is supporting information?
Will handouts help?

Structuring
A clear structure to your presentation will not only provide you with a clear path to follow,
All study advice sheets are also available to view and download on the following website: but also help your audience. Think about:
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/students/learningsupport/adviceandplanningsheets/ What are your main points?
In what order do they need to be discussed?
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ What secondary information should come under each of your headings?
Either side of your main argument, remember to write: During a presentation
An introduction When the day finally arrives and your turn has come, dont be in a rush to start and get it
This should welcome your audience, introduce the key themes of your presentation, and over and done with. Take your time to set out your stall, ensure your notes are in order,
the order in which you will present them. This will lay a map down in the minds of the your visual aids in place and that the environment is as you want it to give you
audience. confidence during the presentation. Give some thought to your audience, your voice,
your body and the time.
A conclusion
Your audience
This should summarise the main points of your presentation and perhaps introduce a Remembering that the audience are a group of real people, who are on your side (not the
final point or question to linger in the minds of your audience. enemy), and with a genuine interest in what you have to say, goes a long way to helping
you communicate with them effectively. It also helps alleviate nerves.
Managing your props: notes, visual aids, and handouts
Notes
Youll need to think about how you are going to deliver your presentation. Some people If I were asked which was the main advice I would give a novice speaker, I would
memorise the whole talk, others read the entire thing from their notes. A middle ground choose these three:
is probably the best way. Familiarise yourself with your material to the point that you will 1. Trust and like the audience, do not fear and confront them
only need structured notes to guide you. This saves you from forgetting what you 2. Look at them
memorised, or losing your place in reams of text. 3. Smile

Visual aids The second and third of these are, of course, the ways in which the first is expressed.
Visual aids are helpful both to you as the speaker, and to your audience. They can help Turk, Christopher. (1985) Effective Speaking: communicating in speech. London: Spon.
illustrate your points and avert the audiences gaze which helps if youre nervous. They P39
also help to retain the audiences interest, giving them another means by which they
can understand the point you are making. No matter the form of visual aid, ensure they
are visible to all, legible, and remember to remove them when youve finished with them
to avoid distraction.
Your voice
Handouts There are estimates that the words we use count for only 7% of the message we
Providing handouts is another good way of reinforcing your message and providing communicate. The remaining 93% comes from the tone of voice, facial expressions,
supplementary material that there may not be time to present. gestures and so on. When thinking about our voices we need to ensure they are:
Audible some rooms have better acoustics than others, but nerves can cause our
Managing nerves
volume to decrease. Keep your head up and speak slowly and clearly, aiming at the
Nervousness is probably the biggest problem that most inexperienced speakers face.
person at the back of the room.
Actually, its good to feel a bit nervous, as this provides the adrenalin rush we need to
Interesting concentration spans are short so retain interest by varying the tone of
give a good performance. However, excessive nerves can have the opposite effect and
your voice. Asking a question naturally causes this to happen.
no-one enjoys the physical or emotional symptoms of fear. So how can nerves be
Appropriately paced Research has shown that we dont speak more quickly during
managed?
presentations, but the number of natural pauses in our speech decreases. It may feel
Practice, practice, practice: Rehearse in front of the mirror, or with friends. Feeling artificial, but insert enough pauses in your talk to allow the audience to take in all the
prepared goes a long way to alleviating your nerves. information. One trick is to add a couple of extra seconds of silence as you change
Name your fears: Write down exactly what it is youre afraid of, then you can devise slides.
strategies to cope.
What is the worst case scenario? Even if the talk fails miserably, you will not die. Your body
Thinking of the worst case scenario often puts things back in perspective. Non-verbal communication speaks as much as our words and voices. When speaking
Relaxation techniques: Regular deep breathing gives your body the oxygen it remember:
needs to burn off excess adrenalin, thus calming you down. A walk should have the Eye contact. Keep in contact with your audience, look at them, try and make eye
same effect. contact, and if the group is spread out make sure you look around the room to involve
them all. If you are too nervous to make eye contact, try focusing on peoples foreheads
this gives the impression youre making eye contact!
If you are over-nervous, it does not mean you cannot be a successful speaker, it merely means Dont fidget. It is hard to listen to the content of a talk if the speaker is pacing up and
you have more work to do.
down or fiddling with her glasses.
Turk, Christopher. (1985) Effective Speaking: communicating in speech. London: Spon. P112.