How to Give a Presentation
EducationHow to Give a Presentation
Giving a seminar presentation is a part of the teaching and learning strategies employed by universities. Properly approached a presentation should enable you to develop both a deeper learning of your subject as well as acquiring valuable transferable skills for future employment (being able to present your ideas and projects effectively is an important part of being a designer).
PRESENTATION STRUCTURE
A good presentation will identify and discuss the main issues/arguments surrounding the topic. Don’t assume you have to cover everything. The key to a good presentation is selectivity. Avoid information overload as too much depth or technical detail means that your audience may lose concentration. A focus on the main areas of debate should encourage the whole group to enter into discussion following the presentation and you should aim at giving them the information they need to do this.
Once you have identified the key themes/ideas/arguments you wish to explore and collected the appropriate evidence, the table overleaf suggests a few steps to help you organise, structure and deliver your presentation.
If clarification is required on any of the points given in the table, please seek advice from your Unit Tutor.
MAKING A PRESENTATION
Decide how you are going to introduce the presentation and how you are going to emphasise your key points. (Simple and well laid out visual aids can be used to good effect to introduce and emphasise key points, present statistical data, to make comparisons and introduce new concepts. They can increase audience retention by up to five times.)
Now consider how you are going to present - what visual aids you may want to prepare.
The conclusion is a very important and should recap the main points and message/arguments you want to get across.
Finally, rehearse it and check the timing and whether it comes across as a unified piece of work.
PRESENTATION DELIVERY
If you deliver your talk from cards in note form there will be more chance to look up and make eye contact with the audience. It's best not to have your talk written as an essay and try not to simply read something out - you should appear confident with the material.
Speak slowly and clearly and slow down further when emphasising important points.
Linking sentences or phrases will also help you to pace the delivery and keep the audience in touch with your argument. For example - “my second point is” or I’d like to finish with...”
If using visual aids remember to face and talk to the audience not the visual aid and to keep visual aids covered till you need them.
Finish with conviction - conclude with a decisive paragraph or sentence.
AFTER THE PRESENTATION
This is your chance to enter into a dialogue with the rest of the group and pick up some feedback. Challenging questions from the audience will show that you have stimulated some thought and that people have been listening. Acknowledging difficult questions by saying, “I will have think about that” will give you time to think!
Please see my related articles for further information.
https://knoji.com/essay-writing/
https://knoji.com/what-tutors-are-looking-for-when-they-mark-your-written-work/
https://knoji.com/how-to-organise-your-written-work/