Delivering a presentation
Think about any presentations you have delivered and reflect on your voice (volume, tempo), body language, overall feelings of confidence/anxiety.
Have you encountered any problems doing presentations so far?
Practice
As with many things, presentation skills can be improved with practice
- Practise by yourself, with friends, or try videoing/recording yourself
- Practise speaking during group work in seminars
- Decide whether to use cue cards or prompts in your presentation, but beware of reading word for word
Alex Keene, 1st year Journalism
Voice checklist
Ask yourself…
- Is my voice loud enough to be heard by everyone, or is it too loud?
Remember when a room is full of people, you will need to project your voice more, or if you are presenting online.
- Do I speak too slowly, or am I rushing?
- Do I articulate clearly, or do I mutter?
- Will my accent cause my audience any difficulty hearing?
- Do I run out of breath and gasp for air as I speak?
Voice tips
- Pace should be not too fast or too slow: break up content of speech into groups of words and look for natural places to pause for breath
- Don’t be tempted to read from a script
- Beware of ‘dropping’ your voice at the ends of phrases
- Don’t worry about regional accents but make sure you are clear
- Make your mouth work so that every sound is heard
- Vary the rhythm and tone to make speech interesting
- Silence can also be effective (e.g. between subjects, changing visuals, giving audience a chance to look at something)
Non-verbal communication
Think about:
- Are you aware of any negative body language you might use during a presentation?
- Do I look at my audience?
- What do I do when other group members are presenting (in a group presentation)?
- Do I notice the audience’s body language when I’m presenting?
- Eye contact should be a brief look all around the audience (i.e. don’t focus on one area of the room)
- Turn slightly in the direction of people who are outside of your line of vision (occasionally)
- Try to maintain eye contact throughout your presentation
- Focus on making your audience feel comfortable (this can also help with your nerves)
- Don’t be afraid to smile when appropriate!
- When listening to a question give the person asking your full attention, facing/moving towards them if you can, but try and look at the whole audience when answering it.
- Try indicating size or height with your hands if you are able
- Point or gesture to graphics if you can
- Having good posture can make you look and feel more confident
- Try not to fidget as this may be distracting to your audience
Above all, remember that if you’re interested in the topic, then your audience should be too!
Rich, 2nd year Politics and International Relations