Presentations

Oral presentations require a wide range of skills including delivery, the ability to research and organise ideas into logical arguments, the ability to develop handouts and aids and the ability to field questions from the audience.

You may also be required to write an accompanying paper.

In the university context, oral presentations can take various forms. These include:

giving a public talk in the form of a lecture or seminar presentation
delivering a presentation on the outcomes of a class exercise or on an assigned reading
actively participating in a tutorial, discussion group or residential school

The key areas you should focus on when you are required to deliver an oral presentation are the preparation and delivery.

Preparation is key to a successful presentation and it is important to consider the task, your audience and the structure of your talk.

Task

Begin by analysing the task you have been given and working out exactly what your presentation needs to cover. If you have questions about the task and what is expected of you, always ask your lecturer.

Audience

Your audience can determine a number of things within your presentation.

Firstly, it’s important to consider what they already know. If you’re speaking to an audience who is familiar with your topic, there is no need to explain every detail. At the same time, if your audience is not familiar with the topic avoid using specialised vocabulary which they won’t understand.

Secondly consider why they are there – do you need to convince them of something, are you giving a tutorial or are you presenting a new idea?

Thirdly, consider what kinds of questions they may ask about your presentation so that you can be prepared.

The required structure of your presentation may be provided by your lecturer in your course documents. If not, below is a generic structure for presentations.

Introduction

Use your introduction to outline what your presentation will be about and also to get the audience’s interest.

Body

All of your body paragraphs should relate to your topic and the purpose of your presentation. Just like in an essay, you should include a topic sentence at the start of your body paragraphs as well as a linking sentence at the end. Support your points with evidence and examples and avoid making generalisations.

To make your presentation easy to follow, keep each paragraph limited to one main point and make sure they are in a logical order.

Conclusion

Your conclusion should highlight the main points you have made during your presentation and reinforce the purpose of your presentation. Never include new information in your conclusion.

In your delivery you will need to consider tone, pace, slides/media, eye contact, how you will answer questions and your own movement.

Tone

Your tone of voice should suit the topic of your presentation in order to effectively communicate your message to the audience. The way we speak lets the audience know how they should feel about something.

Pace

The pace of your presentation should not be too fast or too slow. Use pause effectively throughout your speech and to emphasise points. Silent pauses are also a great addition to your presentation if used correctly.

Slides/media

While slides and media can be a great addition to your presentation they should not be the focus and should never contain whole sections of your speech. Slides can be a great way of sharing data but always make sure that the audience can clearly see any graphs, tables etc. from where they are sitting. See these 10 tips from TED for extra inspiration.

If you are using media, make sure the room is set-up for any audio you may have.

Eye contact

Eye contact helps you to connect with your audience and makes you look more confident and credible as a speaker. In order to make effective eye contact you should allow yourself adequate rehearsal time so that you can speak freely during your presentation.

Answering questions

If your presentation requires or allows questions from the audience at the end, it is essential that you really understand your topic.

To give yourself a little more time to think about your answer, always repeat the question to the audience. This makes sure that everyone has heard the question and it also gives you more time to think before responding.

Movement

Feeling nervous during a presentation often means we may unknowingly start to fidget or sway. This can really distract your audience from your presentation. Have someone watch you present and let you know if you need to be aware of any movement.

You may be required to submit oral presentations. When approaching this task, as much as possible attempt to:

simulate a face-to-face presentation
take every step possible to maximise the reproduction quality of the presentation
keep within the time limits specified
listen to/watch the recording before you submit it to check for sound and video quality
keep a copy of the recording prior to submission.