Need Presentation Advice

Don't write everything you want to say on the slides. Instead just write something indicative of what you are about to talk about. This way you'll be forced not to read them like cue cards.

I tried giving a presentation with only a bullet sheet of points, and it turned out badly. Write your whole speach down on paper, and read it off that. It'll be like public reading, rather than public speaking.

During my years studying at University I ended up needing to give quite a few presentations, nearly all of them as part of a group. I hated them, we all did, with a passion. However, in my final year myself and two others had made a Half-life modification for a group project and were extremely proud of the results. When it came to the final presentation we really wanted to sell our piece and do the year of hard-graft justice. As a result we wasted no time in planning and practicing the thing nearly every day for two weeks (which included timing individual segments). The end result went flawlessly, we earned ourselves a much deserved round of applause and recieved an awful lot of interest in the final piece. It was only then, on that, my last presentation, that I found myself enjoying it. It was only then, that I realised what we hated so much was not the giving of a presentation, but giving an ill-prepared presentation.

Since then, I've given many more such presenations, lectures and seminars in fact, and I can say without a doubt that preparation is of utmost importance. Given your timeline, it looks like you've already handicapped yourself, however, I'll impart what words of advice I can...

- Practice
Everybody is afraid of what they don't know so knowing how your presntation plays out can ease a lot of pressure. The more you practice it, the more you know it. The more you know it, the less there is to worry about. This also plays into the hands of your 'patter' (what you say) as practice slowly nails the key points into your head. When they are nailed in well you can easily pluck them out on the spur of the moment and think on your feet. This applies to a later point regarding 'delivery'.

- Relaxation
There's nothing wrong with being nervous. It's expected, and the examiners expect it. They will not mark you down for having a shaky voice, only poor material and ill-prepared slides. However, the calmer you can make yourself, the better you will come off (and that will sway the od point here or there) and the easier you will make it on yourself. I'm not going to suggest you medidate or blaze up a spliff before the presentation but there are things you can do to help yourself relax.

+ plenty of sleep (this will be difficult so have an extra early night before if possible)
+ stay off the coffee the day before
+ Have a bottle of chilled water handy but only sip it.
+ Eat smart (again, this is all preparatory, and obvious, but no curry or beer)

- Dress Smart, Look Smart, Act Smart
There's every chance that our presentation will not have any dress code but that's not to say you can't smarten up a bit. ou cannot fail to profit from dressing smart as that immediately says "I want this". We're not talking about a suit, just a smart shirt (tucked in), tidy shoes and clean shaven (add a tie if you really want to go in for the kill). This also serves a secondary purpose, dressing smart will make you feel better about yourself, in many cases it can give a much needed ego boost, especially if everyone else is in jeans and tee. Likewise, a well presented file or folder compliments the air of attention.

- Your Slides Are Not Your Script
The most common mistake amongst student presentations is to read out what is on your slides - word for word. This is both frustrating and depressing for the examiner. Your slides should act as an accompaniment, a reminder of what you are talking about. Likewise, those that do so, often end up reading them from the the same board the examiners are reading them from. This simply suggests that you do not know the material yourself. Furthermore, it has you turning your back on your audience and thus breaking your connection with them.

- Images
Following on from the previous point, "a picture says a thousand words". A great way to avoid the "reading from script" problem is to simply show an image or diagram and ensure all the information comes from you and your analysis. It also serves to break up the monotony of continuous bullet points. Furthermore, our brain remembers imagery much more effectively than words so it helps you connect to your patter and the flow of the piece.

- Take Your Time
There's no need to rush a presentation. More often than not people get themselves into hot water by rushing out the key points and then standing there tring to think of what else they can say, appearing lost and bereft of information. Take your time (made easier if you've practiced) and speak at a normal pace. There is nothing wrong with a small pause either, especially after a key point or at the end of a slide.

- Walk
When nervous about a piece we'll stand glued to the spot and sweat it out but you can help yuorself out by taking a small stroll. If space allows it, just stroll slowly (kind of like a news reporter) around a little when a slide allows it. This opens up the area you are working in, reduces the claustrophobia and simply maintains the audience attention. You'll often see lecturers stroll up the aisles in a lecture. Part of this is simply opening up the focal point.

- Stucture
Like all good books, films, games, operas, think about some sort of structure. A beginning a middle and an end. Take the time to introduce the material and explain what you'll be covering. Let them know they can ask questions at the end. Then dive into the real content and give them all the facts along with your findings/observations/opinions. Tie it all up with a conclusion, which is not a re-iteration of what has gone before. It is a piece that ties up all loose ends. Brings matters together and provides your final thoughts on the matter (what would you do differently for example).


In Conclusion
As I said before, the real key to making a presentation easy is to prepare for it in plent of time. I genuinely enjoy giving a good presentation or lecture as the sense of accomplishment is quite fulfilling. Admittedly, I'm a little more comfortable in front of a crowd than most but even confident people are nervous, they just show it less. And worries are best hidden through practice. Unfortunately, you would appear to be pushed for time but the remaiing points are still perfectly valid. I'm not suggesting you go vegetarian for a day and wear a tuxedo but take some time to really focus on the thing before you actually get there and you can make your life a lot easier.

I hope that helps, best of luck.


Edit: I would highly suggest against reading from a script as mtw suggested. I've sat through plenty of these and guarantee you I've not been impressed by a single one. It comes off as lazy and quickly dulls the subject matter. If you're going to do this you might as well just fax the script to your examiner and let them read it in their own time.

Yeah, what ghosted said. [wink]

Practice the presentation, and make sure you're rested and relaxed on the "big" day. Get some proper sleep the night before.
The practice part is important, if you have a tendency to use them as cue cards. Practice until you know the whole damn thing by heart, then take it 3 more times.

Or another trick might be to practice *without* the slides. That way, you'll be forced to do the presentation yourself, and structure everything around that. (Of course, if you get stuck, you can look at your slides to remind you what you're supposed to say next. It's only practice, after all)

And please, please, don't invest all your time in the slides. You're the one giving a presentation, not your slides.
If you stumble and need a keyword, you can look at your slides. If you need to explain something, use the slides to show it graphically to make it clearer for the audience. And if someone else needs to figure out what the hell you're talking about, they can look at the stuff on the slides.
They're a replacement for what you'd otherwise scrible on a blackboard, nothing more.

The "full" version of the presentation should come from you, not from the slides. The slides might be able to clarify a few things that are hard to explain verbally (because you can use them to make graphs, images or whatever), but if you're not there to explain them, they'll be useless.

On the other hand, you should be able to do the presentation without the slides, even though specific parts might be a bit less clear as a result.

If you're concerned about what to put on the slides, then try without them first. Practice the presentation, and note down every time you think "Damn, I wish I had a drawing/graph/bullet list/whatever to explain/summarise this".

Then afterwards, make a slide containing just that.

1) Text on slides should be minimal and you should not read from them. - The text on the slides should be thought of as a tool to reinforce what you say. It should not be your script, and it should not take attention away from your speaking.
2) Font size should be large and legible. - People should be able to quickly read what is on your slide with little effort and zero squinting.
3) Engage your audience. - Presentations do not have to be one way and it is better if they are not. An audience that participates is more likely to remember what you have presented. Although, you do not want this to distract from the goals of your presentation either. You should not create a jepardy game or anything that is too interactive. That would not be a presentation that would be a game.
4) Use graphics, including charts, and diagrahms. Keep these legible. - Graphics engage the audience and add a visual dimension to your presentation which can help reinforce it.
5) Do not over use special effects. - You do not want the special effects to distract your audience from the goals of your presentation. In formal settings many of those default animations in Power Point are excessive. However, minimal animations can help to keep your audience alert and engaged. A.D.D. is quite common.
6)Speak in a loud clear voice, and be expressive. - You want to keep your audiences attention. If you seem bored and uninterested then they will likely feel the same. They should not have to struggle to hear you and follow with your presentation.
7)Practice what you will say and use note cards (or some other aid) if necessary. - It may help to practice the exact words which you will use. Some people are good on their feet, and having had researched their topic throughly they can present well without note cards. However, not everyone has this talent and it usually comes from practice. Even then, you still need a plan on what you will say.
8) Maintain eye contact. - In a America it is considered rude not to, although in other cultures that rule may differ you do not want to seem shy of your audience. Do not stand up and just read from a sheet of paper, that is gauranteed way to lose an audience. Also, do not just stare at one person, distribute the eye contact and ensure that everyone is following you.

The thing you have to remember is that you know the subject you are going to talk about. You put the whole thing together, so you should have better than a cursory idea of what to say.

As mentioned, try to make your slides as sparse and to-the-point as possible. Use declarations for the slide titles when you can. The titles don't need to be complete sentences. They should read like newspaper headlines describing what you will be covering on that slide. For example "Hippocampus Indicated in Spatial Reasoning" instead of just "Hippocampus" or "Spatial Reasoning."

I actually do use the slides as an outline. If you can't do that, you put too much information on them. You shouldn't read off of notecards. It makes you seem like you don't know what you're talking about. If you have to use them, condense everything into only a few notecards with the main points on them. DO NOT sit there and read from them while you're giving your speech. A professor I used to have would only let us use 1 notecard with 15 words on it for any length of speech. Reducing your dependence on them really makes you a better speaker because you're focusing on the audience.

Move around. Don't stay in one damn spot with your hands folded. The more energy you convey about the subject, the more memorable and credible your presentation will be, especially to professors.

It is normal to pause in conversation, so its ok to pause briefly during your speech to gather your thoughts. Also, pause if you forgot what you were going to say. Pausing is far better than saying "umm" or "ahh."

One thing I used to do if I had a big presentation to give (to executives etc.) was to video tape myself giving the presentation. Video taping is a really good way to see what you look like from the audience's perspective. It will help you identify any wierd things you do, like saying something repeatedly or shifting your weight around and generally looking nervous. You should really do this in front of some of your friends etc.

Good luck.