Oral Presentations Handout

Dr. Glynis Perkin, G.Perkin@lboro.ac.uk Engineering Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (engCETL

Contents
!ral Presentations "andout..........................................................................................# !ral Presentations.........................................................................................................$ #.%ntroduction.................................................................................................................$ $.Pre&aration.................................................................................................................' $.# (isual aids............................................................................................................' $.$ )udience and Location........................................................................................* $.' +no, your -ub.ect...............................................................................................* $./ General Guidance................................................................................................* '.Designing 0our Presentation......................................................................................1 '.# Getting -tarted.....................................................................................................1 '.$ Pre&aration of (isual )ids...................................................................................2 '.' %3&ortant Points for (isual )ids..........................................................................2 './ "andouts..............................................................................................................4 /.Pre&aring to Deli5er 0our Presentation....................................................................#6 /.# 7e3ory aids......................................................................................................#6 /.$ -&eaking (oice..................................................................................................## /.' 8ody Language..................................................................................................## /./ Practice..............................................................................................................#$ /.* Grou& Presentations..........................................................................................#' /.9 Checklist............................................................................................................#/ Checklist for your oral &resentation.........................................................................#/ *.Going Li5e................................................................................................................#/ *.# The :oo3..........................................................................................................#* *.$ The )udience.....................................................................................................#* *.' Taking ;uestions...............................................................................................#9 :eferences and 8ibliogra&hy......................................................................................#1 Credits.........................................................................................................................#2
Please note that this resource is acco3&anied by a Po,erPoint &resentation and is &art of fi5e ,orksho&s on +ey -kills for Engineering <ndergraduates. The ,orksho&s are= >orking in Grou&s ? 46 @ #$6 3inutes Technical :e&ort >riting @ 46 3inutes -ourcing 7aterial and >riting a Literature :e5ie, ? 46 @ #$6 3inutes Pre&aring for Place3ent ? #$6 @ #*6 3inutes.

A Loughborough <ni5ersity $664. This ,ork is licensed under a Creati5e Co33ons )ttribution $.6 License.

Please note there is also an introductory docu3ent &ro5iding general instructions on the ,orksho&s.

!ral Presentations
1. Introduction

)s undergraduate engineers it is ine5itable that you ,ill, during your undergraduate course, be reBuired to deli5er a &resentation as &art of an assessed 3odule, for exa3&le, a grou& course,ork assign3ent or final year &ro.ect. 0ou 3ay be reBuired to deli5er a &resentation as &art of a recruit3ent exercise and it is likely that this skill ,ill be reBuired by future e3&loyers. This co3&rehensi5e handout &ro5ides infor3ation starting ,ith the initial &re&aration that is reBuired through to the day of your &resentation. ) checklist of i3&ortant &oints is also included. )s s&eech is a funda3ental 3eans of co33unication it is i3&ortant that you are able to gi5e a &rofessional &resentation ,hen reBuired. The &ur&ose of the ,orksho& and handout is to &ro5ide you ,ith enough infor3ation to enable you to &lan, &re&are, &roduce and deli5er an effecti5e oral &resentation. There are so3e i3&ortant stages on your .ourney to deli5er a successful &resentation. -ection $ of this handout looks at &re&aration, section ' gi5es infor3ation on designing your &resentation, section / offers ad5ice on deli5ering your &resentation and section * details &oints to address on the day of your &resentation.

2.

Preparation

Le5in and To&&ing ($669=/ describe a &resentation as follo,s, C8y presentation ,e 3ean a talk or s&eech gi5en by a presenter (so3eti3es 3ore than one to an audience of t,o or 3ore &eo&leC. %t is usual to use so3e for3 of 5isual aid to co3&le3ent and enhance your oral &resentation. %f you are &re&aring a &resentation as &art of an assigned &iece of course,ork you 3ay ha5e been instructed to use a certain for3 of 5isual aid such as Po,erPoint. %f a 5isual aid has not been s&ecified then there are se5eral choices o&en to you. 0ou also need to deter3ine your audience, kno, your sub.ect, be selecti5e about ,hat you intend to &resent as, ine5itably, you ,ill be gi5en a ti3e li3it for your &resentation. 0ou also need to decide if you are going to distribute handouts. %3&ortantly you need to &ractice your &resentation in ad5ance of the e5ent.

2.1 Visual aids

The 3ost freBuently utiliDed for3s of 5isual aids that are use to enhance the oral co3&onent are Po,erPoint and !5erhead &ro.ectors. !ther 5isual aids include ,hiteboards, blackboards, fli&charts and 5ideo cli&s. )ll of these ha5e 5arying &ros and cons. >ell@designed 5isual aids hel& to kee& an audience interested and are of &articular i3&ortance for &ortraying infor3ation in a gra&hical or diagra33atic for3at.

2.1.1 PowerPoint
Po,erPoint is easy to use and enables you to deli5er &rofessional 5isual su&&ort for your &resentation. %t is also &ossible to incor&orate 5ideo cli&s, &hotogra&hs and ani3ation. )dditionally you can &rint off the slides to use as handouts for your audience. !ne danger ,ith using Po,erPoint is that it is all too easy to lose sight of the fact that the 5isual aid should be su&&orting your &resentation. The te3&tation is to include too 3uch and 3ake it too EbusyE so that instead of being a 5isual aid it is a 5isual distraction. For exa3&le, an a&&ro&riate tune at the beginning 3ay ,ell gain the attention of your audience, ho,e5er, if you ha5e tunes and noises throughout your &resentation your audience ,ill soon get bored and &robably feel irritated too. %t is also te3&ting to include too 3uch infor3ation. This defeats the ob.ect of your oral &resentation as then you ,ill .ust be reading aloud ,hat is ,ritten on the screen, and ine5itably, your audience ,ill be reading the infor3ation at a different &ace. !ther &itfalls in5ol5e sho,ing gra&hs ,ith the scale on the axes being so s3all that the audience is unable to read the3 and co3&licated diagra3s, ,hich cannot be read at a distance. %t is also distracting if your ,ords kee& a&&earing on the screen fro3

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different directions, unless, of course, you are de3onstrating ,hat Po,erPoint can do. !nce you ha5e &re&ared your Po,erPoint &resentation and started to use it, the order of your slides is deter3ined. %t does not look &rofessional to ski& slides and it is not easy to go back to a &articular slide if, at a later stage, a 3e3ber of your audience asks to see it again.

2.1.2 Overhead Projector

0ou can use &re@&re&ared trans&arencies, ,rite on the3 as you are talking or add infor3ation to a &re@&re&ared one to de3onstrate a &articular design or outco3e. <sing colour, ,hether by &rinting in colour or by using coloured &ens 3akes the3 3ore interesting. %t is easy to change the order as you are &resenting. 0ou also ha5e the o&&ortunity to refrain fro3 sho,ing all of the trans&arencies if you are running out of ti3e, &ro5ided of course that the ones you 3iss out do not contain essential infor3ation and your &resentation ,ill 3ake sense ,ithout the3. Care needs to be taken to carefully align the edges of the trans&arency &arallel ,ith the &ro.ector table other,ise the i3age ,ill not be straight, i.e. 5ertical lines ,ill not be 5ertical. Ensure that you re3o5e backing &a&er fro3 trans&arencies &rior to deli5ering your &resentation.

2.1.3 Blackboard or Whiteboard

These can be 5ery useful if you ,ish to do a Buick sketch to e3&hasise a &articular &oint. 8y dra,ing a diagra3 you could in5ol5e your audience, for exa3&le, asking the3 ,hat the effects of forces a&&lied at certain &oints ,ould be. The do,n side is that unfortunately, you ,ill ha5e your back to the audience. %t also reBuires so3e &ractice to ,rite unifor3ly and in straight lines on a black or ,hiteboard. %f you are using this 5isual aid throughout your &resentation you ,ill also ha5e to s&end ti3e ,i&ing it clean and then your infor3ation is lost and you cannot return to it.

2.1.4

lipchart

These can be &articularly useful if your &resentation has included so3e audience &artici&ation as the sheets could then be dis&layed round the roo3 after your &resentation. %t is also &ossible to &re&are sheets in ad5ance, for exa3&le, by dra,ing a &encil outline of a dra,ing you ,ish to de5elo& during your &resentation. Gegati5e as&ects are that if the roo3 is large not all your audience ,ill be able to see the detail and you also need to be able to ,rite neatly.

2.2 Audience and Location

%f &ossible you need to establish ,ho3 your audience ,ill consist of, for exa3&le ,ill it be students fro3 your de&art3ent, lecturers, an assess3ent &anel or the general &ublicH 0our &ros&ecti5e audience ,ill influence the content of your &resentation. For exa3&le, if your audience are not ex&erts in your field you 3ust be careful not to include technical ,ords or sub.ect s&ecific .argon that they 3ay not be fa3iliar ,ith. "o,e5er, you need to be careful not to end u& sounding condescending or &atronising. %t is i3&ortant that you hold your audience in high regard. :e3e3ber, they 3ay ha5e s&ent considerable ti3e and 3oney to attend your &resentation. )nother consideration is the location of the 5enue and the seating arrange3ents in the roo3. For exa3&le, the &resentation 3ay take &lace in a large lecture theatre or a s3all se3inar roo3. %f it is in a large lecture theatre then using fli&charts ,ill not be a 5iable o&tion. %t 3ay be a good idea to &ay a 5isit to an e3&ty lecture theatre and &osition yourself at the front and look at ,here your audience ,ill be @ the &ers&ecti5e is 5ery different to sitting in lectures looking do,n,ards to the lecturer.

2.3 Know your Subject

%t ,ill be i3&ossible for you to deli5er a good &resentation unless you ha5e adeBuate kno,ledge of the 3aterial you include. %f you ha5e been gi5en a brief then the first task is to ensure you actually do ,hat is reBuired. 0ou ,ill need to do so3e co3&rehensi5e reading, you 3ay ha5e been gi5en a reading list or it 3ay be that you are ex&ected to find rele5ant .ournal articles for yourself. %f you encounter any difficulties ,ith finding .ournal articles then 5isit one of the infor3ation desks in the library. Try not to beco3e bogged do,n in all the detail of ,hat you are readingI annotate &assages that ,ill ans,er your brief and infor3 your kno,ledge. )longside this reading you should also be thinking of the structure of your &resentation. Do not be te3&ted to include 3aterial that you do not understand. %f a 3e3ber of the audience asks you a Buestion on this you ,ill be unable to ans,er. Pro5ided you refrain fro3 &retending to kno, 3ore about the sub.ect than you actually do it ,ill not 3atter if a 3e3ber of the audience is 3ore kno,ledgeable about the sub.ect than you yourself are.

2.4 General Guidance

%f you ha5e o&&ortunity to attend &resentations gi5en by others, then do so. 0ou should &ay &articular attention to ,hat other &resenters do ,ell and also look at their ,eak areas. For exa3&le, could you hear e5erything that the &resenter said, could you read all the 3aterial on the 5isual aids, ,as the &resenter s3artly dressed, ,as the &resenter che,ing gu3H Che,ing gu3 is definitely G!T acce&table.

%f your &resentation is &art of an assessed &iece of ,ork then you 3ust ensure that you ha5e fulfilled all the reBuire3ents. %n your &resentation you ,ill need to 3ention your goals and ob.ecti5es and de3onstrate that you ha5e achie5ed the3. %f you are &resenting to a s3all infor3al grou& and antici&ate audience &artici&ation then it is acce&table for you to deli5er your &resentation ,hilst sitting do,n. "o,e5er, ,ith larger grou&s or in a for3al situation you ,ill need to stand at the front. %t is natural to feel ner5ous and there is one benefit of this. >ith anxiety co3es a flo, of adrenalin and this 3akes you 3ore alert and enables you to think 3ore Buickly.

3. !esi"nin" #our Presentation

This section ,ill gi5e infor3ation on ho, to structure your &resentation so that it is audience friendly and 3e3orable. %t is i3&ortant to re3e3ber that an oral &resentation uses less for3al language than an acade3ic &a&er or technical re&ort.

3.1 Getting Started

!nce you ha5e collected the infor3ation for your &resentation it is a good idea to 3ake a rough &a&er@based draft of the structure of the talk andJ or a diagra3. Gext you need to ,rite out your scri&t as you ,ould ,rite out a re&ort taking care not to 3ake any exaggerated clai3s or include any technical details that you do not fully understand. Then consider the ob.ecti5e of your &resentation and identify the key &oints you ,ish to 3ake, taking into account the ti3e that you ha5e a5ailable. Deter3ine the 5isual aid or aids that you intend to use, for exa3&le, if you are using Po,erPoint or trans&arencies then allo, a&&roxi3ately three 3inutes &er slide. 0our &resentation reBuires an introduction follo,ed by your findings ,ith a conclusion at the end. Ensure that your slides ha5e a logical &rogression ,ith a suitable heading on each one. %f a&&ro&riate try to relate your 3aterial to so3ething to&ical in the ne,s, to your o,n ex&erience or to an e5entJ enter&rise that is ha&&ening locally. %t is i3&ortant that the o&ening of your &resentation gains the interest of your audience and, of course, it 3ust re3ain interesting throughout. Ge5er insult your audience ,ith a sla&dash &resentation @ you ,ill i33ediately alienate the3. ) golden rule of &resentations is to= tell the audience ,hat you are going to tell the3 (%ntroduction then tell the3 (8ody of Presentation finally tell the3 ,hat you ha5e told the3 (Conclusion

The introduction is your o&&ortunity to introduce yourself and your &resentation and also to= gain the attention of the audience, interest the audience and establish a ra&&ort ,ith the3. The body of your &resentation is ,here you ,ill &resent your findings and you should ensure that you 3ake it clear to the audience the &oint of transition fro3 introduction to body. %t is the body of your re&ort that ,ill be easiest to ,rite first. 0ou can then &ick out the 3ain &oints and include the3 in the introduction. The conclusion is ,here you su33arise the 3ain &oints you ha5e 3ade and if a&&licable gi5e the conclusions reached. >hen you finish s&eaking you 3ust signal to your audience that you ha5e finished. 0ou should be a,are that English 3ay not be the first language of all those attending your &resentation. 0ou 3ust not use .argon or colloBuial language and 3ust not refer to so3ething that 3ight not be co33on kno,ledge outside of the <+ ,ithout ex&laining it. For exa3&le ex&ressions such as fingers crossed and ti3e flies ,ill be

3eaningless in so3e other languages. <se si3&le ,ords ,here &ossibleI a &resentation is not the ti3e for an ostentatious de3onstration of 5ocabulary.

3.2 Pre aration o! Visual Aids

)s 3entioned earlier there are different 5isual aids that you 3ay use to su&&ort your oral &resentation. >e ,ill no, look in 3ore detail at t,o of these, ,hich can be &re&ared in ad5ance, na3ely, Po,erPoint and trans&arencies. !nce you ha5e &re&ared your 3aterial it is a good idea to let so3eone else read it. %f you ha5e 3ade a s&elling, gra33ar or &unctuation 3istake it ,ill be 5isible to your audience for se5eral 3inutes. !n your first slide you need the title of your &resentation and your o,n na3e. 0ou ,ill introduce yourself to the audience, ,elco3e the audience and infor3 the3 of the title of your talk. 0our second slide should gi5e an o5er5ie, of ,hat you ,ill be co5ering. This ,ill &ro5ide a clear structure for your audience. 0our next slide ,ill be the introduction to your talk. 0ou ,ill then sho, the slides that for3 the 3ain body of your &resentation follo,ed by the conclusion. 0ou 3ust indicate to your audience ,hen you ha5e finished and then thank the3 for their attention. %f you ,ere told to allo, ti3e for Buestions then either you or the &erson chairing the session ,ill in5ite Buestions fro3 the audience.

3.3 "# ortant Points !or Visual Aids

To 3ake good use of 5isual aids there are se5eral &oints you need to take heed of= #. 0our font 3ust be sufficiently large to enable the audience to read your slides. Ty&ically use $/&t or 3ore for headings and #2&t or 3ore for the infor3ation ? increase the font for large roo3s. 0ou 3ust also be consistent ,ith your choice of fonts and layout. ) re&ort includes lengthy ex&lanations ,hereas a 5isual aid contains edited infor3ation. !ne ,ay to do this is to use bullet &oints. 0ou 3ust ensure that your slides are easy to read and uncluttered. 7ake your slides 3ore interesting by use of colour but take care if using a background colour that the text is still legible. Too 3uch colour is also distracting. !ne easy to read choice is yello, text on a blue background. Try to a5oid blueJgreen and redJgreen co3binations, as these are difficult for so3e &eo&le to read. ) si3&le (not detailed diagra3 or &icture can re&lace a lengthy ex&lanation and hel&s to 3aintain audience interest. %f you include any Buotations only select short ones and you 3ust reference the3. 8e &re&ared for all e5entualities @ eBui&3ent 3ay fail. %f &ossible, it is best to ha5e a contingency &lan. For exa3&le, if you &lan to gi5e a &resentation using

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Po,erPoint you 3ay feel 3ore confident if you also take trans&arencies ,ith you. %f you intend to distribute handouts ensure you take a sufficient nu3ber ,ith you.

%f you are using trans&arencies it is &ossible to block out your text and re5eal it line by line, si3&ly by co5ering it ,ith a &iece of &a&er. This is 5ery useful if you ,ant to build u& sus&ense and re5eal a sur&rising outco3e on the last line. "o,e5er, in general, this is not reco33ended, your audience 3ay 5ie, it as &atronising, the inference being that you do not feel that they are ca&able of reading 3ore than one line of text ,hilst listening to you. %f you need to sho, a trans&arency or Po,erPoint slide 3ore than once then it is i3&ortant that you re&eat it and fit it into your 5isual aids at the a&&ro&riate &lace. This ,ill eli3inate the need for you to shuffle through your trans&arencies or search through your Po,erPoint slide sho,. Finally, it is i3&ortant that you do not take longer than the s&ecified ti3e for your &resentation other,ise you 3ay find that you are told to finish before you ha5e reached your conclusion. The key is to be selecti5e ,hen deciding ,hat infor3ation to include in your &resentation @ only include the 3ost &ertinent and rele5ant facts. This is often referred to as the +ee& it -hort and -i3&le (+%-- &rinci&le.

3.4 $andouts
Pro5iding a handout not only gi5es your audience 3aterial to annotate but it also hel&s the3 to re3e3ber you and your &resentation. 0ou need to decide ,hether you ,ill distribute the handout at the beginning or at the end of your &resentation. %f the handout contains a lot of infor3ation and you distribute it at the beginning it is highly likely that the audience ,ill be reading it rather than listening to you. %f you &ro5ide a handout at the end, the audience ,ill not kno, ho, 3uch infor3ation it contains and it is likely that they ,ill try to ,rite do,n e5erything. !ne solution to this is to &ro5ide a handout that contains the sa3e infor3ation that is on your 5isual aids. ) 3odel is a useful ,ay of de3onstrating ,hat you are saying, &ro5ided it is large enough to be seen by e5eryone in the audience. )5oid &assing round ob.ects (unless you ha5e a 5ery audience not only 3ay they disa&&ear but they are also a distraction. Peo&le are curious as to ,hat is being &assed round, anxious that they 3ay 3iss the ob.ect(s and beco3e i3&atient at ha5ing to ,ait.

4. Preparin" to !eliver #our Presentation

)t the start of your &resentation you 3ust tell the audience ,hat 3aterials, if any, you ,ill be &ro5iding, for exa3&le handouts. )s you &rogress through your &resentation you need to signify to the audience the stage at ,hich you are. 0ou are (or should be fa3iliar ,ith your &resentation but the audience is not. %t ,ill be hel&ful to your audience if at a&&ro&riate &oints in your &resentation you &ro5ide a sign&ost. For exa3&le= % ha5e no, co5ered all the infor3ation associated ,ith &oint one and ,ill no, 3o5e on to &oint t,o ,hich is concerned ,ith ... . The follo,ing sections discuss key &oints associated ,ith the deli5ery of your &resentation. These in5ol5e the use of 3e3ory aids for the oral &art of your &resentation, your s&eaking 5oice, your body language, your co33unication ,ith the audience and the deli5ery of grou& &resentations.

4.1 %e#ory aids

There are so3e &eo&le ,ho can stand u& and deli5er an interesting and engaging &resentation ,ithout recourse to notes, but such &eo&le are rare. %t is usual for &resenters to take so3e &re@,ritten notes or &ro3&ts ,ith the3. %f you are ner5ous, the kno,ledge that you ha5e notes ,ith you 3ay &ro5ide a boost to your confidence. -o3e &resenters ,rite a scri&t and then learn this line by line, ho,e5er, this can sound stilted and there is a tendency to rush through the 3aterial. %f you lose your &lace or forget ,hat co3es next it 3ay be difficult to continue ,ith the flo, of ,hat you ,ere saying. 0ou 3ay beco3e flustered and start to re&eat yourself. !ther &resenters ,rite a scri&t and read fro3 it for the entirety of their &resentation. This is not engaging for the audience and is not reco33ended exce&t under s&ecial circu3stances. For exa3&le, if you deli5er a &resentation on behalf of so3eone else or if you ha5e been gi5en a brief, but only allo,ed a short ti3e scale to research the to&ic and &re&are the &resentation. The 3ost generally ado&ted 3ethod is to take so3e notes ,ith you that su33arise ,hat you ,ill be saying as you sho, each 5isual aid. These notes should be in the for3 of bullet &oints or key ,ords. For this to ,ork you need to be fa3iliar ,ith your 3aterial as this ,ill enable you to talk about each 5isual aid in an engaging 3anner ,ith the kno,ledge that you ha5e hel& ,ith you if you need it. %t 3ay be ad5antageous to use an index card, for each 5isual aid you intend to sho,, su33arising the 3ain &oints you ,ish to 3ake ,ith a heading 3atching that of your 5isual aid. %ndex cards ha5e t,o ad5antages o5er sheets of &a&er. The first is that it 3ay be difficult to find your &lace on a sheet of &a&er and secondly &a&er does tend to sho, u& e5ery tre3ble of your hand. )n alternati5e to index cards is to ha5e a &a&er or card co&y of each 5isual aid and ,rite a fe, additional sentences on each one. %f you are anxious try to think of your &resentation as a series of short state3ents rather than one long &resentation. >hat is 3ost i3&ortant is that you choose the ,ay of &resenting ,ith ,hich you feel 3ost co3fortable.

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4.2 S ea&ing Voice

>hen gi5ing your oral &resentation you ,ill need to s&eak 3uch 3ore slo,ly and clearly than you do in e5eryday con5ersation. 0ou ,ill also need to &ause ,hen you deli5er the key &oints in your &resentation, as this ,ill e3&hasise the i3&ortance of ,hat you ha5e said. 0ou also need to 5ary the &itch of your 5oice to a5oid a boring 3onotone deli5ery, ,hich 3ay send your audience to slee&. >ays to do this are to 5ary slightly your &ace of deli5ery. )sking Buestions or rhetorical Buestions (Buestions that do not reBuire an ans,er ,ill raise the &itch of your 5oice. (arying the &ace of your deli5ery ,ill also hel& to 3aintain audience interest, for exa3&le, slo, do,n ,hen 3aking an i3&ortant &oint and s&eed u& slightly ,hen gi5ing an exa3&le, :e3e3ber to s&eak to your audienceI if you lean o5er the !"P you ,ill not be &ro.ecting your 5oice to the audience and ,ill &robably start to 3u3ble. Like,ise do not turn your back to the audience and talk to the i3age on the screen. %t is i3&ortant that you &ortray to the audience your interest in the sub.ect or to&ic you are &resenting. 0ou need to be both enthusiastic and natural. Take care to articulate clearly and try to a5oid regional talk and slang ,here, for exa3&le, consonants are lost, as in= going &ronounced as goinE Gottingha3 &ronounced as GottinEha3 0es &ronounced as yeh

4.3 'ody Language

0ou can aid your &resentation by using effecti5e body language ,hich hel&s to clarify 3eaning and 3aintain interest. Effecti5e body language includes= 3aking eye contact straight but relaxed &osture natural and friendly facial ex&ressions use of hand gestures and 3o5e3ent 7aking eye contact ,ith your audience de3onstrates that you belie5e in the 3aterial you are &resenting @ if the &ur&ose of your &resentation is to sell your o,n &roduct it is 5ital that the audience belie5e ,hat you are saying. >ithout 3aking eye contact it is difficult to co33unicate ,ith your audienceI you ,ill find yourself talking at the3 rather than to the3. "o,e5er, you need to take care not to stare at one &erson. 0ou should also obser5e the body language of your audience, for exa3&le, are they fidgeting, do they look &uDDled or do they a&&ear to be listening to your e5ery ,ord. 0ou should refrain fro3 slouching, &ro&&ing u& the side of the lectern or sitting on the edge of a table. 0ou need to stand u& straight but a&&ear relaxed not rigid. Do not &ut your hands in your &ocketsI a&art fro3 looking un&rofessional there is, es&ecially if you are ner5ous, te3&tation to .ingle any keys or loose change that 3ay be in your &ockets.

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0ou 3ust ensure that your use of body language is a&&ro&riate and ,ill not offend &artici&ants fro3 any country. -3ile at the audience es&ecially ,hen you introduce yourself. The audience ,ill ,ar3 to you if you a&&ear friendly. %f you look terrified your audience ,ill be anxious and unco3fortable. %f you a&&ear uncertain about ,hat you are saying the audience is unlikely to ha5e confidence in your &resentation. The 3ore &resentations you gi5e, the greater ,ill be your confidence. 8y using hand gestures you can gi5e e3&hasis to ,hat you are saying, but be careful not to end u& ,a5ing at your audience or &ointing at an indi5idual. :e3e3ber, your audience are i3&ortant ? do not threaten the3. Like,ise, body 3o5e3ent, such as leaning for,ard, ,ill also add e3&hasis to ,hat you are saying. Take care not to &ace u& and do,n as this ,ill distract your audience. :esist all te3&tation to hide fro3 the audience by turning your back on the3 or bending o5er the !"P, ,hich ,ill obscure your 5isual aids. )lso try to su&&ress ner5ous habits such as &laying ,ith your hair or stroking your face. 7any &eo&le are ner5ous ,hen s&eaking in &ublic but this does not &re5ent the3 fro3 gi5ing a good &resentation.

4.4 Practice
Practice your &resentation in &ri5ate until you feel co3fortable ,ith ,hat you intend to say. %f you find that there are certain ,ords or sentences that you stu3ble o5er then change the3. %f you are using technical ,ords check your &ronunciation is correct. >ithout considerable &ractice it is difficult to use a laser &ointer to identify &recisely a ,ord or &art of a diagra3 to ,hich you 3ay ,ish to dra, attention. %f your hand is unsteady this ,ill be ob5ious to your audience. %t is better to use a traditional &ointer or if you are using trans&arencies &oint ,ith a &en or &encil at the &oint you ,ish to de3onstrate. The next stage is to book a roo3 and ask your friends to attend your &resentation and gi5e you constructi5e feedback. %f your friends s&read the3sel5es around the roo3 it ,ill 3ake it easier for you to glance around. )nxiety generally di3inishes as you &rogress through your &resentation. %t 3ay be hel&ful to 3e3orise your o&ening sentence or sentences to enable you to start your &resentation in a &rofessional 3anner. ) dee& breath before you start is also ad5antageous. %f during your &ractice &resentation you feel te3&ted to say so3ething along the lines of= K% donEt kno, if those of you at the back ,ill be able to see thisL, then you ob5iously ha5e doubts about the slide and should re3o5e it or increase the fontJ diagra3 siDe before you do your scheduled &resentation. 0our friends ,ill be able to tell you if you ha5e any ner5ous habits or annoying 3anneris3s and also other i3&ortant factors such as ,hether the audience can see your 5isual aids and hear you clearly. )sk your friends to notice if you use .argon or

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)3ericanis3s such as guys, and also if you use 3eaningless ,ords such as Eu3E and EerE or re&eatedly use ,ords such as E!+E. This &ractice session ,ill also deter3ine ,hether you ha5e ex&lained ter3inology at an a&&ro&riate le5el for your intended audience. Encourage your friends to ask Buestions at the end of your &resentation, this ,ill &ro5ide you ,ith an o&&ortunity to &lan ans,ers for likely Buestions that 3ay be asked ,hen you go Kli5eL. %t is also a good o&&ortunity to ensure that your &resentation lasts the reBuired length of ti3e. %f it is too long, do not talk 3ore Buickly @ you 3ust re3o5e so3e 3aterial.

4.( Grou Presentations

%f you are undertaking a grou& &resentation then &ractice and co33unication bet,een 3e3bers of the grou& is 5ital. Each 3e3ber of the grou& needs to be fa3iliar ,ith not only their o,n &art of the &resentation but also the content being &resented by the other 3e3bers, other,ise 3aterial 3ay be co5ered t,ice or not co5ered at all. Ti3ing is also critical, if there are four s&eakers and the first three take one 3inute longer than &lanned then the final s&eaker ,ill ha5e insufficient ti3e to do .ustice to hisJ her &resentation. Thought needs to be gi5en as to ho, each s&eaker ,ill hand o5er the floor to the next s&eaker, not only does this need to be a s3ooth and &olished &erfor3ance but the audience needs to be clear as to the identity of each s&eaker and ,hat they ,ill be talking about. %t is also i3&ortant that 3e3bers of the grou& ,ho are not s&eaking &ay attention to the one ,ho is s&eaking and refrain fro3 ,his&ering or fidgeting.

Prepare$ Plan and Practice

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4.) C*ec&list C*ec&list !or your oral resentation

M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M

7y &resentation addresses the Buestion that ,as &osed )udience identified Draft &resentation ,ritten Clear structure de5elo&ed (isual aids are clear )ll cited 3aterial has been accurately referenced -&elling, gra33ar and &unctuation is correct Ti3ing is correct "andouts &roduced Contingency &lan in case of eBui&3ent failure 7e3ory aidsJ &ro3&ts de5elo&ed Practiced alone Practiced in front of friends Pre&ared for Buestions Checked out the roo3 ,here &resenting Fa3iliar ,ith the eBui&3ent

%&'O# !%(I)%*I&+ #O,* P*%-%&./.IO&

0. +oin" (ive

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%f &ossible arri5e early and 5isit the roo3 in ,hich you ,ill be gi5ing your &resentation. This ,ill ensure that you do not ha5e a last 3inute &anic trying to locate it. 0ou do not ,ant to arri5e flustered and sticky. 0ou also need ti3e to fa3iliarise yourself ,ith the eBui&3ent. %f a&&ro&riate you ,ill be there to greet your audience as they arri5e.

(.1 +*e ,oo#

!nce you ha5e located the roo3 you need to check the eBui&3ent, for exa3&le is the o5erhead &ro.ector ,orking and is it correctly focused. 0ou should fa3iliarise yourself ,ith any eBui&3ent you ha5e not used before and also locate the light s,itches. %t is useful to 3ake a 3ental note of ,here the &o,er cables are @ you do not ,ant to tri& o5er the3. 0ou also need to ascertain ,hether you ,ill be introducing yourself or if so3eone else ,ill be doing this. %f another &erson ,ill be introducing you, check that he or she has the necessary infor3ation to do so. 0ou also need to deter3ine if you ,ill recei5e a ,arning ,hen your allotted ti3e is co3ing to an end, if there ,ill be additional ti3e for Buestions and if so ho, long this ,ill be. %t is also useful to kno, ,hether it ,ill be u& to you to in5ite Buestions fro3 the audience or if this ,ill be undertaken by the chair&erson. %f you ,ould like furniture in the roo3 to be rearranged no, is the ti3e to check ,hether this is feasible.

(.2 +*e Audience

%t is true that first i3&ressions count. The first i3&ression of you ,ill be founded on ,hat you look like rather than your &resentation. %t is i3&ortant that you are ,ell groo3ed and s3artly dressed. %f so, you ,ill look like you ,ant to be there and you ,ill also de3onstrate that your audience is i3&ortant to you. >hen you co33ence your &resentation s3ile at the audience, look enthusiastic and &leased to be gi5ing your &resentation. )t this stage you need to 3ake it clear ,hen you ,ill be taking Buestions. The audience need to kno, ,hether they can ask Buestions throughout or ,hether Buestions ,ill be in5ited at the end. %n s3all grou&s, ,ithout a strict ti3e allo,ance, Buestions can be successfully &osed throughout a &resentation. >ith larger grou&s this creates &roble3s ,ith ti3ing. ;uestions 3ay ,ell be asked about 3aterial that you intend to &resent later. 0ou 3ay also find yourself de5iating fro3 your &lanned &resentation and losing track of ,hat you are saying.

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(.3 +a&ing -uestions

0ou should &re&are in ad5ance for Buestions that 3ay be asked, ask friends to generate as 3any likely Buestions as &ossible. E5en ,ith this &re&aration you are likely to be asked a Buestion for ,hich you are un&re&ared @ it is a good idea to re&eat the Buestion, this is for t,o reasons. The first reason is that all the audience 3ay not ha5e heard the Buestion and secondly it gi5es you ti3e to for3ulate your ans,er. %f you are unable to ans,er a Buestion do not try to bluff your ,ay through an ans,er. 0ou are not ex&ected to kno, e5erythingI it is Buite acce&table to say that you do not kno, the ans,er or that it is an as&ect you didnEt take into consideration. Thank the &erson ,ho raised the Buestion and if feasible take contact details so that you can send an ans,er at a later date. %f asked to re&eat an ans,er to a Buestion, as o&&osed to ex&lain further, do not be te3&ted to re&hrase your ans,er, it 3ay be that the &erson is not a nati5e English s&eaker and has already translated or understood al3ost all of ,hat you ha5e said. Try not to let one &erson do3inate the ti3e that is allo,ed for Buestions. %f you do find this ha&&ening, &olitely ex&lain that you ,ill discuss the &oint raised after your &resentation but in the re3aining fe, 3inutes you ,ould like to take so3e 3ore Buestions fro3 the audience.

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*e1erences and Biblio"raph2

*e1erences LE(%G, P., N T!PP%GG, G ($669 Perfect Presentations. The !&en <ni5ersity Press, 8erkshire, <+. Biblio"raph2 8<D%G-+%, +.G. ($66* Preparing and Delivering Technical Presentations. )3erican -ociety for Testing 7aterials -tandards ()-T7 %nternational, P! 8ox C166, >est Conshohocken, <-). G!!DL)D, -. (#446 Speaking Technically: A handbook for professional scientists and engineers on how to improve technical presentations. -inclair Goodlad, Petersha3 "ollo,, $$9, Petersha3 :oad, :ich3ond, -urrey, <+. %G-T%T<T%!G !F ELECT:%C)L EGG%GEE:- (%EE (#442 Effective Presentations. %EE, London, <+. L!<G"8!:!<G" <G%(E:-%T0 L%8:):0. Oral Presentation Skills. Loughborough <ni5ersity , <+. T<:GE:, 8.T. (#41/ Effective Technical Li3ited, London, <+. riting and Speaking. 8usiness 8ooks

>)LTE:-, D.E., N >)LTE:-, G.C. ($66$ Scientists !"st Speak: bringing presentations to life. :outledge, London, <+.

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3redits
This resource ,as created by Glynis Perkin, Loughborough <ni5ersity and released as an o&en educational resource through the !&en Engineering :esources &ro.ect of the "E )cade3y Engineering -ub.ect Centre. The !&en Engineering :esources &ro.ect ,as funded by "EFCE and &art of the O%-CJ"E )cade3y <+!E: &rogra33e.

A Loughborough <ni5ersity $664

This ,ork is licensed under a Creati5e Co33ons )ttribution $.6 License. The na3e of Loughborough <ni5ersity and the logo are the na3e and registered 3arks of Loughborough <ni5ersity. To the fullest extent &er3itted by la, Loughborough <ni5ersity reser5es all its rights in its na3e and 3arks ,hich 3ay not be used exce&t ,ith its ,ritten &er3ission. The O%-C logo is licensed under the ter3s of the Creati5e Co33ons )ttribution@Gon@Co33ercial@Go Deri5ati5e >orks $.6 <+= England N >ales Licence. )ll re&roductions 3ust co3&ly ,ith the ter3s of that licence. The "E) logo is o,ned by the "igher Education )cade3y Li3ited 3ay be freely distributed and co&ied for educational &ur&oses only, &ro5ided that a&&ro&riate ackno,ledge3ent is gi5en to the "igher Education )cade3y as the co&yright holder and original &ublisher.

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