Presentation skills.
- Thread starter Skeptic
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Soldato
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Have you already prepared you presentation?
Yes, but its 3 hours long so a lot of it will be off the cuff, rather than memorised lines.
If you have confidence in your content and your knowledge of the content, this will show through in your presentation.
The nerves are natural and will only lessen with experience really, don't worry about it.
The most important thing is to have a good knowledge of what you are talking about, and practice a few times. Don't try and recite a script but know what you're talking about when and how you're flowing.
Be there in plenty of time, don't add time pressure on top of everything else when you don't need to.
edit - at 3 hours long, i would think about allowing for some breaks both for your own benefit and the attendees, people won't focus for 3 hours straight.
The nerves are natural and will only lessen with experience really, don't worry about it.
The most important thing is to have a good knowledge of what you are talking about, and practice a few times. Don't try and recite a script but know what you're talking about when and how you're flowing.
Be there in plenty of time, don't add time pressure on top of everything else when you don't need to.
edit - at 3 hours long, i would think about allowing for some breaks both for your own benefit and the attendees, people won't focus for 3 hours straight.
Soldato
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I did 2 full days of presentation skills whilst on placement. I will edit the post if I think of any more .
A few points I can give are:
1) Three hours?! Don't expect people to pay attention......you MUST include breaks in there. Don't waffle and spend ages on each slide as this will make the presentation feel 'slow'.
2) Don't stand there with your hand over your crotch (like footballers forming a wall).
3) Do as little 'off the cuff' as possible as you will miss bits out and say errrrrrrr and ummmmma lot.
4) Don't stand there swaying.
5) Dress smart and have a shave.
6) Try to use hand movements as it makes the presentation more interesting to watch and easier to follow.
.A few points I can give are:
1) Three hours?! Don't expect people to pay attention......you MUST include breaks in there. Don't waffle and spend ages on each slide as this will make the presentation feel 'slow'.
2) Don't stand there with your hand over your crotch (like footballers forming a wall).
3) Do as little 'off the cuff' as possible as you will miss bits out and say errrrrrrr and ummmmma lot.
4) Don't stand there swaying.
5) Dress smart and have a shave.
6) Try to use hand movements as it makes the presentation more interesting to watch and easier to follow.
Last edited:
Soldato
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- Derbyshire
Going over it repeatedly will help
Speak out loud when rehearsing, it will help you to do it without notes and you will say errrr a lot less.
Make sure the presentation has good spelling and grammar. For example, if you use the wrong there/their/they're then people will think you are a numpty, even if you are really clever and have some really cutting-edge stuff to present.
Don't over clutter slides too.
I hope what I have said can help a bit
.Following are some of my tips:
1. Make eye contact with audience
2. Use cue cards to help remember points but don't read from them
3. Practice, Practice, Practice
Nerves are natural but as long as you have good content and keep a decent pace (not too slow or too fast) you'll be fine.
1. Make eye contact with audience
2. Use cue cards to help remember points but don't read from them
3. Practice, Practice, Practice
Nerves are natural but as long as you have good content and keep a decent pace (not too slow or too fast) you'll be fine.
Don't think about it, if you're conscious of it, you'll probably do it more and if people are engaged enough by your content, they won't even notice you doing it a little bit.
People will only pick up on things like that if they're getting distracted or bored, which is why breaks are a good thing in such a long presentation.
When you actually know what you're supposed to be saying, the 'umm' thing doesn't happen as much as you're probably thinking it will.
You sound prepared enough to me really, just don't panic, there's no need to. Good luck!
Soldato
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Forgot to mention this one -
Consider who the audience is. For example you are presenting about a brand new technology for fuel injection.
If you are presenting to the R&D manager who you work for, keep it technical.
If you are presenting to technically minded people (say, other engineers) but they don't work on fuel injectors, keep it a bit simpler.
If you are talking to technically minded people who don't work in this field, keep it a bit more simple (say a computer programmer or a civil engineer).
If you are talking to the general public, really dumb it down. You may even need to cover the basics of how an engine works!
Consider who the audience is. For example you are presenting about a brand new technology for fuel injection.
If you are presenting to the R&D manager who you work for, keep it technical.
If you are presenting to technically minded people (say, other engineers) but they don't work on fuel injectors, keep it a bit simpler.
If you are talking to technically minded people who don't work in this field, keep it a bit more simple (say a computer programmer or a civil engineer).
If you are talking to the general public, really dumb it down. You may even need to cover the basics of how an engine works!
This is actually a very important and useful piece of advice, the target audience is everything.
Pitch it too high or low for them and they will become distracted.
Associate
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Good luck man, I find once you start it just gets easier. Its the waiting before thats a killer!
Tell them what you're going to tell them
Tell them
Tell them what you've just told them
Intro and summary are always appropriate. Simple but effective tip that many miss. Last thing you want is someone to think afterwards "What was that all about?!"
Tell them
Tell them what you've just told them
Intro and summary are always appropriate. Simple but effective tip that many miss. Last thing you want is someone to think afterwards "What was that all about?!"
Soldato
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This is a very important point.
"Hello my name is ..... and today I will be talking to you about XYZ"
Then at one of the last slides say
"...so today we have covered XYZ" - This could be a few bullet points of the topics covered and should really hit home a few important points for the viewers to take home with them (basically put the whole presentation into <8 bullet points on one slide), as no matter how well they listen, most stuff will be forgotten 5 minutes after they leave the room.
Handouts work well too, so they can follow the slides on paper and make notes or highlight questions. Six slides per side of A4 is fine.
Presentations are easy.
Dont go erm or argh, dont keep your eyes on your notes, speak fluently and with confidence.
Its really easier done than said (I typed easier said than done first
).
I once did a presentation with my fly open and realised afterwards. I still got a B
Dont go erm or argh, dont keep your eyes on your notes, speak fluently and with confidence.
Its really easier done than said (I typed easier said than done first
).I once did a presentation with my fly open and realised afterwards. I still got a B