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PRESENTATION SKILLS
This advice sheet will help you to deliver a presentation with confidence, by looking at what
should be considered before, during, and after a talk.

Before a presentation

The success of a good presentation lies in the preparation. Take time to think about:
• The audience – who are they, how many and what do they already know?
• The occasion – is it formal or informal? A lecture, a debate, a speech?
• The point – what is the purpose of the talk?
• The environment – what is the size and layout of the room, and what facilities will be
available (projector, flip chart)?
Once this has been considered, it’s time to gather, select and structure your material.

Gathering

There are many sources of information available to you. Make sure you assess the authority
(who wrote it?), currency (how up-to-date is it?) and accuracy of a source before you rely on it
to support a point in your presentation.

Selecting

Often when you are asked to give a talk you will need to distil a large amount of information into
a short time period. You need to be ruthless in the way that you prioritise information. Too much
information can confuse an audience.
▪ What is centrally relevant?
▪ What can be left out?
▪ What is supporting information?
▪ Will handouts help?

Structuring

A clear structure to your presentation will not only provide you with a clear path to follow, but
also help your audience. Think about:
▪ What are your main points?
▪ In what order do they need to be discussed?
▪ What secondary information should come under each of your headings?

Either side of your main argument, remember to write:

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Managing your props: notes, visual aids, and handouts

Notes
You’ll need to think about how you are going to deliver your presentation. Some people
memorise the whole talk, others read the entire thing from their notes. A middle ground is
probably the best way. Familiarise yourself with your material to the point that you will only need
structured notes to guide you. This saves you from forgetting what you have memorised, or
losing your place in reams of text.

Visual aids
Visual aids such as slides or posters are helpful both to you as the speaker, and to your
audience. They can help illustrate your points and avert the audience’s gaze, which helps if
you’re nervous. They also help to retain the audience’s interest, giving them another means by
which they can understand the point you are making. Whatever you use, ensure it is visible to
all, legible, and remember to remove it when you’ve finished with it to avoid distraction.

Handouts
Providing handouts is another good way of reinforcing your message and providing
supplementary material that there may not be time to present.

Managing nerves

Nervousness is probably the biggest problem that most inexperienced speakers face. Actually,
it’s good to feel a bit nervous, as this provides the adrenalin rush we need to give a good
performance. However, excessive nerves can have the opposite effect and no-one enjoys the
physical or emotional symptoms of fear. So how can nerves be managed?

▪ Practice, practice, practice - Rehearse in front of the mirror, or with friends. Feeling
prepared goes a long way to alleviating your nerves.
▪ Name your fears - Write down exactly what it is you’re afraid of, then you can devise
strategies to cope.
▪ What is the worst case scenario? - Thinking of the worst case scenario often puts things
back in perspective.
▪ Relaxation techniques- Regular deep breathing gives your body the oxygen it needs to
burn off excess adrenalin, thus calming you down. A walk should have the same effect.

“If you are over-nervous, it does not mean you cannot be a successful speaker, it
merely means you have more work to do”.
Turk, C. (1985) Effective Speaking: communicating in speech. London: Spon p.112.

During a presentation

When the day finally arrives and your turn has come, don’t be in a rush to start and ‘get it over
and done with’. Take your time to prepare, ensure that your notes are in order, your visual aids
are in place and that the environment is as you want it, to give you confidence during the
presentation. Give some thought to your audience, your voice, your body language and the
time.

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Your audience

Remembering that the audience are a group of real people, who are on your side (not the
enemy), and with a genuine interest in what you have to say, goes a long way to helping you
communicate with them effectively. It also helps alleviate nerves.

“If I were asked which was the main advice I would give a novice speaker, I would
choose these three:
1. Trust and like the audience, do not fear and confront them
2. Look at them
3. Smile
The second and third of these are, of course, the ways in which the first is expressed.”
Turk, C. (1985) Effective Speaking: communicating in speech. London: Spon p.39.

Your voice

There are estimates that the words we use count for only 7% of the message we communicate.
Our tone of voice makes up 38%. When thinking about our voices we need to ensure they are:
• Audible - some rooms have better acoustics than others, but nerves can cause our volume
to decrease. Keep your head up and speak slowly and clearly, aiming at the person at the
back of the room.
• Interesting – concentration spans are short so retain interest by varying the tone of your
voice. Asking a question naturally causes this to happen.
• Appropriately paced – Research has shown that we don’t speak more quickly during
presentations, but the number of natural pauses in our speech decreases. It may feel
artificial, but insert enough pauses in your talk to allow the audience to take in all the
information. One trick is to add a couple of extra seconds of silence as you change slides.

Your body language

Non-verbal communication speaks more than our words and voices combined. When
presenting remember:
• Eye contact. - Keep in contact with your audience: look at them and try to make eye
contact. If the group is spread out make sure you look around the room to involve everyone.
If you are too nervous to make eye contact, try focusing on people’s foreheads or just past
them – this gives the impression you’re making eye contact!
• Don’t fidget - It is hard to listen to the content of a talk if the speaker is pacing up and down
or fiddling with their glasses.
• Pay attention to fellow presenters- if you are presenting with someone else don’t fidget or
stare out of the window during their part of the presentation!

The time

It is important that you keep to time – especially in an academic setting where marks may be
deducted if you talk for longer than allocated. Before you start, make yourself a note of the time
you need to finish by, keep an eye on the clock and if you run out of time, stop.
Audiences welcome talks that finish on time – or a bit before.

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Signposting

At the start and throughout the course of your presentation, it is important to signal to your
audience where you are currently in terms of structure and where you are going next. In other
words, guide them through your presentation ‘journey’. For example, at the beginning, you
might tell them that you will start with x, then you’ll move on to y and finally you will sum it all up.
When moving from one point to the next, you might add, “That’s all I want to say about…. now
I’ll say a few words about….”

After a presentation

Once the talk is over, the audience may have some questions. When handling questions
remember to:
▪ Appear interested - Give your questioner your full attention and put them at ease if they
appear nervous.
▪ Summarise the question - Rephrasing the question not only gives you time to think, and
confirms with the questioner that you have understood, but also ensures that the rest of the
audience have heard it.
▪ Answer the question set - The temptation, if you don’t know the answer, is to talk about
something else. Try and stick to the topic and if you don’t know, offer to take their details and
find out for them.
▪ Don’t talk too long - The time for questions is always limited and there may be other
questioners waiting for their turn. Try and keep your answers succinct and to the point.

Further reading
Van Emden, J. and Becker, L.M. (2010) Presentation skills for students. 2nd ed. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan. (Also available online via the Library Catalogue)

Click: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/students/learningsupport/adviceandplanningsheets/
Email: [email protected]

The information provided in this advice sheet is advisory only. The University, its employees or agents cannot be
held liable for any loss or detriment suffered as a result of the advice given.

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University Library, September 2019.

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