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Centaur Schools' Presentation Tips

COMMON PROBLEMS

The presenter:

• Speaks too quickly.
• Has no energy.
• Reads from paper.
• Uses no visual aids.
• Fails to use transitions.
• Does not support ideas with strong examples.
• Takes up too little or too much time.

COPING WITH NERVES

• Remember that the audience wants you to do well. They don't want to be bored. They've come to hear you speak. Practise!!
• Work from an outline- do not memorize! If you memorize you will create more stress and there is always the possibility that you will forget something important.
• Before your presentation, eliminate negative thoughts. Focus on your strengths and the strengths of your material.
• Visualize your success. Many athletes do this before competing. Imagine your whole presentation from beginning to end going well. Breathe deeply before starting each key point.
• Use visual aids- it takes some of the attention off you.
• Arrive early and make sure that all the AV(audio/visual) equipment works.
• Stretch, loosen up maybe do some physical exercise to release energy.
• Greet and get to know the audience before your presentation.
• Get the audience involved.
• Use gestures. Not only do they add emphasis and show enthusiasm, they help you get rid of nervous energy.
• Look at each member of the audience individually, then move on and look at another. This is less scary than looking at the whole audience. Focus on friendly faces around the room.

VOICE

• Volume- If you are too quiet even if they hear you they will think you either have no interest or confidence in your topic. If you are too loud you will seem intimidating.
• Speed- Speaking quickly does not mean you are speaking well. We speak slower in front of a group of people than when chatting with friends.
• Pronunciation- practise with someone from a different language group. Become aware of common errors speakers have from your language. Remember to pronounce final consonants clearly.
• Intonation- Sing along with songs and watch videos with the subtitles. Mimic. Copy TV announcers and famous orators. Without correct intonation people will misconstrue your meaning and possibly not understand you. Remember to vary your tones; otherwise, you will sound emotionless or sarcastic. Monotone= boring
• Energy- This is vital. If you aren't interested in your topic how can your audience be? Enthusiasm is often contagious.

BODY LANGUAGE

Eye contact

• Without it the speaker appears untrustworthy or lacking in confidence.
• Shows you want to share with the audience.
• Prevents audience from daydreaming, chatting or doodling- they must at least feign interest.
• Look at each individual for a few seconds then shift to another. You will seem to be talking to each one personally.

Gestures

• Without them a speaker seems stiff like a robot
• Useful to stress important ideas
• Show you are enthusiastic about your topic
• Release nervous energy
• Mix them up!
• practise some- count important points with your fingers. Try describing pairs of antonyms with your hands(e.g. tall-short etc.)

Posture

• Leaning, slouching or having your hands in your pockets means that you don't have much enthusiasm for the subject
• Don't hide behind visual aids, lectern, tables etc.
• Moving from one part of the room to another is a very effective way of showing a transition to a new idea. Don't pace, but move to stress changes in your message.

APPEARANCE

• First impressions count.
• Make sure your clothes match your audience- don't wear a suit if talking to farmers; don't wear jeans when talking to bankers.
• If in doubt, dress conservatively.
• If you don't bother with your appearance people will think you didn't bother preparing your presentation.
• Don't wear clothes that draw attention away from your presentation.

WORDS

• Use colourful, vivid language which appeals to all the senses.
• Use metaphors, rhyme and repetition.
• Keep terms simple and specific.
• Do not plagiarize.
• Avoid clichés and buzzwords.
• Do not use overly charged words e.g. 'Even an idiot can see...'

PREPARATION

Analyze your audience. A tour of your home city for fifteen year olds will be very different than one for sixty year olds. Consider age, gender, education, social-economic background, knowledge, job, experience, culture etc. How much do they know about your topic? What do they need to know? Above all think of their aims, expectations and needs.

Brainstorm- Take five minutes just to jot down all the ideas that you have on the topic. Don't worry about organization or whether they are good or not. This allows your mind to be creative Brainstorming is an incredibly important step which many people ignore. It allows you the freedom of coming up with points without having to write the whole presentation. Do not start developing your presentation before you have a clear idea about what you want to say. You will most likely end up with a poorly organized presentation full of redundancies and irrelevancies. When you are finished brainstorming you can decide whether any of your ideas are redundant, irrelevant or contradictory.

Outline- By making an outline you will make sure that your ideas are well organized. Students often avoid this crucial step and end up having to do more work because of it. Outlining will make sure that you have good organization, and avoid wasting time writing about matters off the topic. When you work on your outline you do not have the pressure of writing full sentences. You are separating your reasons and finding examples for them, but not worrying about sentence structure or style. An outline is also important when you give your presentation; it prevents you from reading your notes too much and forces you to talk to your audience.

Here is an example outline:

1. INTRODUCTION (not too long)
   1. Hook - (grabs reader's attention,could be a shocking statistic, a quote etc.)
   2. Main idea
      1. key point x
      2. key point y
      3. key point z
2. POINT X
   1. e.g.
   2. e.g.
   3. e.g.
3. POINT Y
   1. e.g.
   2. e.g.
4. POINT Z
   1. e.g.
   2. e.g.
   3. e.g.
   4. e.g.
5. CONCLUSION (not too long!)
   1. summarize key points- re-state x,y,z
   2. give reader something to think about or act on - solutions or problems

Ask for feedback- This is the only way you can really know if your message is clear or not. Sharing with a classmate or colleague not only gives you their ideas, it often stimulates new ones in your own mind.

Do not memorize! First of all, this puts a lot of unnecessary stress on you. What do you do if your mind goes blank, or if someone asks you a question that's not in the script? Second, it doesn't sound natural-it is rehearsed and therefore less like a conversation. You want to make a personal connection with your audience.

ORGANIZATION

1. Tell your audience what you're going to talk about.
2. Talk about it.
3. Re-cap what you've talked about. Leave them with something to think about or act upon.

INTRODUCTION

Grab the audience's attention.

• Shocking statistic
• Rhetorical question
• Quote- from a famous person or an expert adds authority and interest
• Anecdote or personal story- by sharing this you make yourself closer to your audience. However, makes sure you show how this is connected with your main idea
• Ask your audience questions- by getting your audience involved you show that you care about them and are addressing their needs
• Visual aid or music
• Humor- be careful because not all humor translates well

Give the audience a 'map' of your talk.

• Tell them your main idea and key points.
• This builds expectations and warns them of what is coming.

Keep it short!

TRANSITIONS

• Essential to separate ideas clearly
• Use to summarize and introduce
• Try combining physical movement with transition phrase to emphasize a change in your presentation- this is dynamic and powerful.

Examples:

SUPPORT

You must back up your claims.

• Gives the audience a reason to believe you.
• Establishes that you have done the research and are qualified to speak on the topic

Use a variety of examples to support your points.

• Facts
• Case studies
• Statistics
• Personal experience and anecdotes- creates a bond with your audience
• Stories- everyone likes stories!
• Analogies- this makes the unfamiliar familiar

Cite your sources.

• Unless you cite your sources people might think you have made it up.
• Some sources are more reliable than others, and some have a definite political orientation- think of different newspapers in your country.
• Be careful with Internet sources- unlike a book anyone can put up a webpage about anything.

Here are some phrases you can use:

CONCLUSION

Summarize main idea and key points.

End on time.

• Demonstrates you are capable of working within time constraints
• Shows respect for audience and speakers who might follow you

Give them something to remember.

• Visual aid
• Music
• Quote from expert or famous person
• Anecdote or story

Leave them with a challenge.

• Something to think about
• Something to do or act on (essential if you are trying to sell something or persuade the audience)

Do not add new points.

Keep it short.

Here are some words and phrases you can use:

Thank the audience and wait for their applause- do not leave while they are clapping- they are thanking you!

THANK GOD IT'S OVER?

Get feedback- This will help you do an even better job next time. You will have less stress and use your time more wisely.

Remember the good things- Often we focus only on the negative. This does not help us improve. It makes us not want to give more presentations and leaves us feeling more stressed.