Unit One: Principles of Oral Presentation

Presentation Skills for University

Introduction

Oral presentations are too often seen as frightening and difficult. They do not have to be. If you follow basic steps, then giving a presentation will become something you can become very good at, and even enjoy. The important point to remember is that the ability to give a good presentation is something you can learn and practice.

Few people are naturally gifted at presentations. Having a lot of confidence does not mean that you can naturally structure a presentation properly; talking a lot is not the same as making a point to an audience. Being nervous is something that affects everyone, not just you. What you need to develop is the technique to achieve a good standard every time you do a presentation.

Why are presentations important?

At university

While you are at university you will be asked to do a variety of presentations. Some on your own, some as a group with other students. Lecturers like to see students doing presentations because it is a good way to judge whether you are able to organise your thoughts and present them confidently. Some of your presentations will be assessed on their content, others on their style. Be sure to find out what the assessment criteria are before you start planning each presentation.

In your career

Employers often ask students to do presentations at their initial interviews for some of the same reasons that we do them at university – it is a good way to test the communication skills of their potential employees. A good piece of advice is to ensure that the presentation you do at an interview is not the first you have ever done. Take the opportunities at University to get in some experience and practice.

A presentation is a way of communicating your message to an audience. So the presentation situation has a number of features which are important:

• there is a transmitter (you/your group) and a receiver (the audience)
• there is a message or content : the information you want to communicate

• there is an effect: the audience should at least understand (and perhaps even be

Persuaded to act on) your information.

Ideally, you should be able to make this situation work for you by:

• Planning and structuring your information so that your audience finds it interesting.

• Illustrating your message through a combination of written and visual material, which involves the audience in the presentation.

• You have to earn the attention of your audience: they don't have to be there, so you have to work out ways (timing, pace, pitch, texture, and staging) in which to keep them interested.
• Remember that you are trying to build a relationship, in a short period of time, that will allow you to communicate your message freely. If you seem unprepared your audience will be insulted that you didn’t think they were worth preparing for.
  

• Audiences don’t like to be shouted at, or whispered at, or ignored by their presenter. They don’t like to be treated as bystanders to your presentation. They don’t like to listen to a monotonous voice droning on and on and on. Think about presentations you have seen, or lectures you have been to. What are the things which annoy or bore you?

There are important things you need to know about your audience before you start planning your presentation:

• Who are they? What level of knowledge on your topic do they already have? This will help you gauge how much initial ‘scene setting’ and explanation you will have to give.

• What criteria are you being marked on? And who is doing the marking? Is it just one lecturer, or are all the people in the audience marking?

• How many people will be in your audience? This will be important if you plan to produce handouts.

• Will other people be presenting to the same audience on exactly the same topic? If so, you’d better make sure yours is extra interesting.

• What do your audience want to know? What guidance have you been given about the content of your presentation?

Keeping to time.

Don’t be afraid to take a small clock or watch to put on the table in front of you, or it maybe that you can get a friend in the audience to give you a signal when you have two minutes to go.

Planning

Prepare the structure of the talk carefully and logically, just as you would for a written report.

What are?

• The objectives of the talk?

• The main points you want to make?

Make a list of these two things as your starting point. Write out the presentation in rough, just like a first draft of a written report. Review the draft. You will find things that are irrelevant or superfluous - delete them. Check the story is consistent and flows smoothly. If there are things you cannot easily express, possibly because of doubt about your understanding, it is better to leave them unsaid.

Never read from a script. It is also unwise to have the talk written out in detail as a prompt sheet - the chances are you will not locate the thing you want to say amongst all the other text. You should know most of what you want to say - if you don't then you should not be giving the talk! So prepare cue cards which have key words and phrases (and possibly sketches) on them. Postcards are ideal for this. Don't forget to number the cards or staple them in one corner in case you drop them.

Planning Group presentations

Using audio or visual Aids.

Visual aids significantly improve the interest of a presentation. However, they must be

Relevant to what you want to say. A careless design or use of a slide can simply get in the way of the presentation. What you use depends on the type of talk you are giving. Here are some possibilities:

Keep it simple though, e.g. no more than five OHPS for a 10-minute presentation. Make sure you know in advance how to operate equipment and also when you want particular displays to appear. Remember to mark on your cue cards the visual aids that go with them so that the right OHP or slide is shown at the right time. Sometimes a technician will operate the equipment. Arrange beforehand what is to happen and when and what signals you will use. Edit your slides as carefully as your talk - if a slide is superfluous then leave it out. If you need to use a slide twice, duplicate it.

Slides and OHPs should contain the minimum information necessary. To do otherwise risks making the slide unreadable or will divert your audience's attention so that they spend time reading the slide rather than listening to you.

Try to limit words per slide to a maximum of 10. Use a reasonable size font and a typeface which will enlarge well. Typically use a minimum 18pt Times Roman on OHPs, and preferably larger. A guideline is: if you can read the OHP from a distance of 2 metres (without projection) then it's probably OK

Avoid using a diagram prepared for a technical report in your talk. It will be too detailed and difficult to read. Use colour on your slides but avoid orange and yellow which do not show up very well when projected. For text only, white or yellow on blue is pleasant to look at and easy to read. Books on presentation techniques often have quite detailed advice on the design of slides. You will find some in the university library.

Avoid adding to OHPs with a pen during the talk - it's messy and the audience will be

Fascinated by your shaking hand! On this point, this is another good reason for pointing to the screen when explaining a slide rather than pointing to the OHP transparency. But make sure you don’t turn your back on the audience while you are talking.

Room lighting should be considered. Too much light near the screen will make it difficult to see the detail. On the other hand, a completely darkened room can send the audience to sleep. Try to avoid having to keep switching lights on and off, but if you do have to do this, know where the light switches are and how to use them.

Rehearse your presentation with your visual aids - to yourself at first and then in front of some colleagues. If you have never used an OHP before learn how to put it on the screen the right way and how to adjust focus on the machine.

Pace and structure

If the pace of your speech is too slow you will bore your audience rigid, and if it’s too fast, you’ll lose them almost from the start. Remember that nerves tend to make people speak too quickly. To avoid this, concentrate on maintaining a steady pace that allows your audience to follow what you say without being sent to sleep.

Respond to the feedback your audience is giving you. If they look lost and puzzled, slow down; perhaps even repeat a point till you think they’re with you again. If they are nodding, smiling, looking encouraging, then perhaps you could speed up a little?

Be sensitive and responsive at all times to your audience’s needs, and you should find a suitable pace.

Greet the audience (for example, 'Good morning, ladies and gentlemen'), and tell them who you are. Good presentations then follow this formula:

• tell the audience what you are going to tell them,
• then tell them,
• At the end tell them what you have told them.

As a rule of thumb, allow 2 minutes for each general overhead transparency or PowerPoint slide you use, but longer for any that you want to use for developing specific points. 35mm slides are generally used more sparingly and stay on the screen longer. However, the audience will get bored with something on the screen for more than 5 minutes, especially if you are not actively talking about it. So switch the display off, or replace the slide with some form of 'wallpaper' such as a company logo.

Stick to the plan for the presentation, don't be tempted to digress - you will eat up time and could end up in a dead-end with no escape!

Unless explicitly told not to, leave time for questions. The session chairman may extend this if the questioning becomes interesting.

At the end of your presentation ask if there are any questions. If questions are slow in coming, you can start things off by asking a question of the audience - so have one prepared.

Delivery

If you seem interested in your presentation then you audience will be too, so choose a topic you enjoy talking about. Always try to sound as relaxed as possible during your presentations. How you use your voice is an important part of the message you send to your audience. Here are a few tips to help you relax your voice:

Avoid jokes - always disastrous unless you are a natural expert.

To make the presentation interesting, change your delivery, but not to obviously, eg:

• speed
• pitch of voice

Use your hands to emphasise points but don't indulge in too much hand waving. A good rule of thumb is to keep your hands below the height of your collarbone, be especially careful about touching your face or hair. You never see presenters on TV doing that. People can, over time, develops irritating habits. Ask a friend what they think of your style.

Body language, dress code and eye contact

Many things we do intentionally or unintentionally that communicate something to our audience without our actually speaking to them.

A presentation starts from the second you walk into the room. Always try to be aware of the impact you are making from the very second your audience sets eyes on you. Research has shown that audiences make an assessment of the presenter within the first four seconds of contact, therefore it’s important that you make a good first impression. Always look as if you have made an effort with your appearance.

Be well groomed and dress appropriately. Remember your audience will be focused mainly on you throughout the presentation.

Fundamental rules of dress code to remember are:

• feel comfortable and you will feel relaxed

• Most presentations you will undertake in an academic setting will be formal; you will be expected to reflect that formality in your dress code. It is not a good idea to try to be too flamboyant but it may be a good time to ‘try out’ that suit.

In most instances you may not have much choice about the layout or size of the room in which you are presenting, but it is important to remember to give your audience a bit of space. They may want to listen to you but they probably don’t want you sitting too close to them as to make them feel uncomfortable.

Respect the audience’s need for a formal setting. It may happen that you are invited to sit around a desk to present in a formal business presentation, again ignore the temptation to appear over friendly or ‘best pals’ with your audience. Too intimate an approach can be extremely annoying to your audience. Take the situation seriously, but try to be relaxed.

The same applies to being too far away: your audience will feel isolate and resentful at your standoffish approach. Find the middle ground where you can develop a formal, persuasive approach without making your audience uneasy.

Eye contact

Maintaining eye contact with your audience is essential to a good presentation. To maintain credibility and persuasiveness, a presenter must have at least 60% eye contact with the audience. Look at the audience as much as possible, but don't fix on an individual - it can be intimidating.

If you are presenting to a smallish audience (2-8 people) maintaining eye contact can be a little embarrassing. Larger audiences are, perhaps ironically, easier to keep in eye contact. When presenting, it’s important to involve your audience equally in what you are saying. Scan the audience; don’t stare at individuals but afford each member an equal share of your attention.

Finally, avoid taking the easy option of presenting to the walls, floors or windows or your OHP and again, be careful not to turn away from your audience while you are speaking

Movement

Don’t be scared to move while you are presenting. Avoid rocking about on your heels or moving from side to side in a nervous way. It looks false and gives the impression that your nerves are getting the better of you. Try standing comfortably with your legs about shoulder width apart. This looks more natural and will help you appear balanced.

Some hand movement can add impact to your presentation. Try varying the hand movements, remembering to be open and non-aggressive; make them descriptive to enhance what you are saying. As with a great many presentation techniques, there is no science here – find your own comfortable level.

Try to keep your hands empty as far as possible; don’t fiddle with notes, pens or pointers. It can become very distracting for your audience and don’t stand with your hands in your pockets either.

The table below summarises things to do and things not to do when you are involved in a presentation.

Do

/

Don’t

Shake hands with your audience. If not literally, then introduce yourself. / Don’t ignore the people in the room. (Remember they are there to listen to you).
Think carefully about how far you should be situated from your audience. / Hide at the back of the room or invade your audience’s space – give them room to breathe.
Let your eye roam in a relaxed way across the faces of your audience. / Stare at individuals, look at the floor, the walls, out the windows.
Dress the part – be smart. It gives you confidence, it give you credibility, it helps your audience to trust you. / Fall out of bed, dress in your favourite tracksuit and head out the presentation.
Interact with your audience – be expressive, show you are enjoying being with them. / Hide behind a pile of notes – don’t let yourself be a talking head.
Look relaxed – even if you’re not!
Stick to your plan
Smile. / Overdo the relaxation bit. No sitting on desks, chewing gum, hands in pockets, etc. Remember to respect your audience.
Turn your back on your audience
Apologise if you miss something out Chances are the audience didn’t miss it in the first place.

Sparkle