Presentation Tips
April 7, 2015
Alissa Agnello
North Seattle College
Types of Oral “Presentations”
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Job interviews
“Elevator” talks
Informal talks with collaborators
Formal presentations
Keys to a Great Talk
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Know your audience
Organize your information
Practice
Animate your talk
Be prepared for the unexpected
Tip 1. Know your audience
Gary Cook, USAID
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch
Talk at their level about their interests
Involve audience in talk
Solicit answers to questions
Wait for answers!
Tip 2. Organize your information
1. Intro – what you’ll talk about
2. Talk about it
3. Conclusion – what you’ve talked about
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Thank you
If appropriate, present multi-modally:
print, picture, graph, talk
Always better to go under than over!
“I feel like I’m being held prisoner by a person who couldn’t
prioritize.” — Erica Ollmann Saphire, Scripps Research Institute
Tip 3: Practice
• Know key message for each situation
– Even “spontaneous” presentations
• Get feedback
– Mirror
– Friends/colleagues
– Videotape
• Solve “ums”, “likes”
• Plan explanations for hard-to-describe concepts
• Practice relaxing
Tip 4: Animate yourself
• Never read directly
• Talk to audience, not to screen!
• Project your voice!
– Vary pitch, volume, rate
– Include pauses
• Personality
– Facial expressions, Gestures, Movements
– Eye contact
Tip 5: Be prepared for the unexpected
• Technology failures
• Rude audience members
PowerPoint Basics
• Avoid aggressive animations, unreadable colors,
unusual fonts, distracting backgrounds, etc.
PowerPoint Basics
• Check readability from back of room
– This is size 22 font
– This is size 16 font
• Proof-reade
• When presenting data, introduce audience to
graphing scheme
• Never read directly
• For every 5 minutes of talk, no more than 2-3
slides
• Limit words
• Reference your sources
Conclusion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Know your audience
Organize your information
Practice
Animate your talk
Be prepared for the unexpected
For more information:
• How to answer questions appropriately / what annoying
mannerisms to avoid:
http://www.casca.ca/ecass/issues/2002-js/features/dirobertis/talk.html
(“How Not To Give a Scientific Talk” by Michael De Robertis, York Univ.)
Special thanks to:
• North Seattle College
• Microsoft Clip Art
• YOU!