How to Make an Oral Presentation
One of life’s most stressful experiences
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Five Strategies
Be Prepared.
Act with Confidence.
Structure Your Presentation.
Practice Your Presentation.
Create a Good Final Impression.
WHAT IS A PRESENTATION?
 A performance, as in a drama
 A demonstration, lecture or speech, set forth for an
audience
 A formal introduction or social debut
 A manner or style of speaking, instructing or putting
oneself forward
 The manner of presenting, especially the organization of
visual details to create an overall impression.
Adapted from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentation
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/presentation
TYPES OF PRESENTATION AID
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Props and models
Charts
Videos
Audio
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Project Overhead
Transparencies
Flip Chart
• Graphs
• Posters
• Multimedia
• Presentation
Softwares
• (i.e. PPT, Prezi, Goanimate,
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Googledocs, Sliderocket,
Zoho Show, Slidesnack,
Mashable)
THE PURPOSE OF A PRESENTATION
• A presentation is a talk or speech in which an idea, product or
some kind of work is demonstrated and/or explained to an
audience.
• Every presentation has a purpose, either to
 Inform or
 Persuade
• A successful presentation is one that disseminates information
and delivers the intended message to the audience successfully
• The success of a presentation is measured by the amount of
information or ideas that your audience will remember.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PRESENTATION?
Strong content
Good presentation
style
the structure of a good presentation
• Presentations have the same structure as
written papers or essays:
Introduction
Conclusion
Main body
• Two key differences between essays and
presentations:
– Presentations are much shorter and emphasize key points
– Repetitions are encouraged in presentations
The structure of a good presentation
• Introduction
– Present the title, topic, objectives and structure of your presentation
– Do not forget to introduce yourself!
• Main body
– All of the information or message that you intend to present should be included in
this section
– Be clear, concise and organized
– Most important section; keep the audience focused
• Conclusion
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Always end your presentation with concluding remarks
This should include a summary of your ideas or findings presented
Should be more brief than the introduction
Follow the rules of professional courtesy: thank the people or organizations who
made your research or presentation possible and thank your audience.
Tips for building good content
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Think before you deliver!
Remember that a presentation is not a summary of your work, but a showcase
of what you did and why.
Most people in your audience are visual learners:
– Learn how to use visuals effectively
– Clear and easy to read Prepare PowerPoint slides
– Organized and well structured message by using key points.
– Use large font size for all your slides; as a general rule use one slide for one
idea or key point
– Make appropriate use of pictures (photographs, graphs, tables, and other
visuals).
PRESENTATION STYLE
 Performance
A form of communication or dialogue.
An effective communication is built on interaction
between the speaker and the audience.
 Manner of expressing and presenting the intended message
Knowing your audience is not enough; building your
own character, voice (persona) is equally important.
(through words, visuals, body languages, eye contact, interaction with the
audience, use of space)
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/persona
Strategies
1. Be Prepared.
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Organize your notes.
Keep your notes in order.
Use your energy.
Build yourself up.
Carry yourself like royalty.
PRESENTATION TIPS
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Keep the key message(s) in mind; remain consistent with and
supportive of that message
• Use ‘memory hooks’; use a simple prop to
explain a key concept or point, to allow your
audience to remember important points
• Stick to the time you have to deliver your
presentation
• Lighten up! Include one or two anecdotes or
share a short personal story that will help
illustrate a point
• Humor is good, but use it wisely!
Strategies
2. Act with Confidence.
1. Take your time.
2. Take command and greet audience.
3. Slow down and speak up.
Strategies
3. Structure your Presentation.
1. Limit your topic.
2. State your thesis and preview your key
points.
3. Use transitions.
4. Conclude by reviewing.
Strategies
4. Practice your Presentation.
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Practice aloud.
Practice in front of a mirror.
Practice working with your material.
Use an outline.
Try notecards.
Strategies
5. Create a Good Final Impression.
1. Smile.
2. Thank the audience.
3. Ask for questions.
Building PowerPoint
Presentations
Tips
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Include limited content on each slide.
Fill in details orally.
Use slide show to augment presentation.
Use graphics where appropriate.
End each show with a closing slide.
Examples
1. Title Slide
2. Outline Slide
3. Content Slide
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TITLE SLIDE
Make your title simple , yet descriptive of the content
1. TITLE SLIDE: EXAMPLE
“THE EXPLORATION OF NATURAL BEAUTY
IN THREE POEMS BY JOHN KEATS”
By R. Cooper
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OUTLINE SLIDE
Use numbers or bullets.
Point form is best.
Give audience a sense of structure.
2. OUTLINE SLIDE: EXAMPLE
KEATS AND NATURAL BEAUTY
• The sensuality of Keats’s poems
• Keats’s poetry and beauty
• Keats’s poetry and truth
3.
CONTENT SLIDE
Use minimum writing.
1. Help with structure
2. Interesting graphic material
3. Charts and graphs as needed
• Leave “white space.”
• Place material artistically on slide.
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3. Content Slide: Example
THOU still unravish’d bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens
loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
POWERPOINT EXTREME
MAKEOVER
YOU’LL ENJOY THIS …
HOW NOT TO USE POWERPOINT
Life After Death by Powerpoint 2010
Critique the next two slides
Chilean Exports
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Fresh fruit leads Chile's export mix - Chile emerges as major supplier of fresh fruit to
world market due to ample natural resources, consumer demand for fresh fruit during
winter season in U.S. and Europe, and incentives in agricultural policies of Chilean
government, encouraging trend toward diversification of exports and development of
nontraditional crops - U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service Report
Chile is among the developing economies taking advantage of these trends, pursuing
a free market economy. This has allowed for diversification through the expansion of
fruit production for export, especially to the U.S. and Western Europe. Chile has
successfully diversified its agricultural sector to the extent that it is now a major fruit
exporting nation. Many countries view Chile's diversification of agriculture as a model
to be followed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. remains the largest single market for Chile's fruit exports.
However, increasing demand from the EC and Central and East European countries
combined may eventually surpass exports to the U.S., spurring further growth in
Chile's exports.
If you’ve read this far, your eyes probably hurt and you’ve been reading this tedious
long-winded text instead of listening to me. I’m insulted- can’t you see I’m doing a
presentation up here? Look at me! Congratulations, however, on having such good
eyesight.
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What advice could you give this
student? Give four good suggestions.
What presentation techniques would you
expect to encounter in this situation? Give
four examples.
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Can you wake up this audience? How?
Give four useful tips.
Put yourself in this professor’s
persona. Develop an introduction to a
speech that this professor may give.
THE END