Presentations at interviews and using notes - advice please

babs2008

I have an interview on thursday and have been asked to give a 5 minute presentation. (I can make use of powerpoint too,)

What are everyones thoughts on the use of notes or cue cards during?

I would be especially keen to hear from employers to get their view - is it a negative thing?

Also, if anyone has done a presentation at interview, did you use notes?

Thanks,

Babs.

cazziebo

How would you normally do it? do what's natural for you.

Personally I use index cards for my notes, and don't usually refer to them (but I'm old and been doing my stuff for years!).

As an employer, I'm looking for a comfortable, knowledgeable presenter who has taken care in preparation. I don't go much for gimmicks (although have been on panels with people who do). If humour is natural it works well, if it's forced it can have a very negative effect. My pet hate is presenters who put every word on the powerpoint slide - and it's not just job candidates who are guilty of that, professional presenters are guilty of that too! Power point is a visual aid, not THE presentation.

We call this "death by powerpoint". I do a lot of work on complex corporate funding structures so use powerpoint to demonstrate how this can work, and having it on a screen keeps me focussed on the process. If you are going to use it, then keep the slides minimal and to a minimum.

It's also very uncomfortable watching someone give an over rehearsed presentation. Keep it as natural, warm and friendly as you can. Good luck!

Mathew

I find that when I have done presentations previously I would ideally prefer not to use anything, however, if it is a longer one I would suggest cue cards. Flicking through notes whether in your hand or on a desk could seem quite unprofessional and work against you in an interview scenario

It you do have a powerpoint or flipchart this will also assist you in the structure of your presentation plus includes you audience visually.

Having had cue cards in the past for me it is more of a comfort thing as I rarely refer to them once I get going.

The best of luck, whats it on?

pandora205

I've been on several interview panels where candidates are expected to give Powerpoint presentations. I agree cassiebo that having too much on the slides, and too many slides, is a no-no. (We once sat through 46 for a 5 minutes presentation!)

If I were giving the presentation, I'd use the Powerpoint handout format with the lines to make notes, and just put some keywords to trigger my memory. I'd practice the presentation and time it too, but try to use your own natural language rather than to learn it by heart.

On your Powerpoint use a clear simple font and no smaller than about 20 point. Use a picture or two to make a point but don't over do the colour and animations (unless your interview is with Disney).

You might also try to anticipate any questions that are likely to be asked afterwards and think through the answers.

Good luck.

celyn90

for five minutes, could you get away with all your notes on one card or bit of paper? That way you won't have piles of things to shuffle. If you can put it on the desk in front of you, it might help to reassure you but you won't be tempted to fiddle with it and lose eye contact with the audience that way.

It will go very quickly

best of luck for your interview

Pandora - 46 in 5 minutes!? :eek: My boss does that sort of thing - he also crams way too much on slides, which makes them difficult to follow. I find it difficult to listen to presentations which use multiple animations (especially those slide changing ones) silly fonts, multiple colours and poor contrasts.

I always find it good to put it up on a screen beforehand if you can, then walk right to the back of the room and see if can be read from there.

motherhen2234

I found cue cards didn't work for me as there too fiddly. I prefer 1 side of A4 with key points noted down on it which i can read before going in and in a worse case scenario. I've never marked anyone down for using or not using notes etc but i guess it depends on their presentation style. Its about coming across confidentially and knowledgeable about what your presenting.

Regarding your presentation i always have an intro slide to put up as I start (name, job, presentation title). Keep the slides clean. Avoid unnecessary pictures, keep fonts reasonably sized and basic and not too much information on the one slide. I always find at the end it is a good idea to have a summary slide which covers you key points that answer the question as the ultimately is what a presentation should do.

babs2008

Thanks for all the advice and tips.

I'm going to keep the number of slides to a minimum and put as little on them as possible. And as it's only 5 minutes I will put some key words on a single cue card (or two) just in case.

Hopefully using the powerpoint will jog my memory as I go along. As long as I don't have a complete memory blackout :eek: I'll be fine.

It's a pretty straightforward presentation. I have to point out the selling points of a magazine and then highlight how I can attract subscribers.

I have plenty of ideas, so I think my main problem will be keeping it to a minimum. (But then I will worry that I haven't covered everything.)

I hope it goes well - I've had several interview recently and got nowhere. This is my first go at a presentation though. If it goes wrong I'll look at it as a learning experience.

pandora205

Pandora - 46 in 5 minutes!? :eek: My boss does that sort of thing - he also crams way too much on slides, which makes them difficult to follow. I find it difficult to listen to presentations which use multiple animations (especially those slide changing ones) silly fonts, multiple colours and poor contrasts.

celyn - it wasn't 5 minutes as you've guessed. Even worse, it was 'lifted' from another presentation this candidate had given before (or heard before) and wasn't even addressing the topic! Death by Powerpoint and how not to get a job!

DKLS

Cue cards are fine if they work for you, that wouldn't reflect badly on a candidate at all, I use the speaker notes facility in PPT as I once messed up the order of cue cards and made a pigs ear of the presentation.

Keep it simple, 4-6 bullet points on a screen, and its your job it fill in and talk between slides. Only use charts and images where its relevent to the slide.

At least you know what the subject is, at one interview I went to candidates were assigned random topics then had 15 mins to prepare a presentation. Mine was on "How cheese influenced my life"

onlyforboards_2

I am not sure about notes and powerpoint. The powerpoint presentation should be your notes.
Juggling note cards and referring to your powerpoint is a whole lot of broken eye contact and distraction which doesn't assist in an interview situation.