Presentation tips???

Jersy

powerpoint is good.

but make it simple still

theres a lot of crap on it which will make it over complicated and take away from the mssage that your trying to put accross

mae

Thankyou all so much I am very grateful for your time and effort in helping me.. I am doing a Counselling course.. I really feel like all these tips will give me a good basis on which to work and I agree not to over complicate it. Thanks

DrFluffy

If you go the powerpoint route:
a) check it is ok, and there will be a laptop and projector (NEVER assume)
and
b) always take overheads as a back up...

DrFluffy

Powerpoints should be yellow text on a blue background, and slides or OHPs blue text on a yellow background. It's the best combination for visual acuity...

*You do learn some crap while doctorating!!!*

ollyshaw

Some tips that have served me well.

1) The old classic

Tell them what you are going to say
say it
Tell them what you have said

2) Keep things simple. No fancy fonts, no spinning text, no crazy backgrounds

3) Plan your time. if your talk is 60 mins you should have 30 slide MAX!

4) Dont bother with promt cards, but instead try and make the slides "flow"

5) Control the room, your the boss, dont let a member of the audience control by asking too many questions

Hope that helps,

Olly

Savvy_Sue

DrFluffy wrote:

We get marked down for the use of prompt cards...

Please tell me you're not expected to memorise everything!

Can't stress the KISS thing enough, especially with Powerpoint. Just because it CAN do all these clever things with fonts, spinning points in and out etc, doesn't mean it's a good idea. And if you use a background that's not plain, please make sure it doesn't distract from your presentation, ie leave everyone wondering WHAT it is, and WHAT its relevance to your presentation is! I've sat through too many sermons where there were some squiggles in the background which left me wondering ...

DrFluffy

Savvy_Sue wrote:

Please tell me you're not expected to memorise everything!

No - you're expected to have a working knowledge... If you understand, you shouldn't need to memorise...

Plus, if you rely on cards, you never really push yourself... I had to do a presentation on Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (a type of skin cancer) just before Easter. I have to admit that I think there might have been an incy personality clash between me and one of the course tutors and they tried to 'exert control/put me back in my box' during the questions at the end. I managed to answer everyone of them - even the odd, off the wall ones, thanks to a few papers I had read just before hand (apparently something that they weren't expecting from a 'meer 2nd year'...). If I had stayed in my comfort zone and used cards for my presentation, then there is no way I would have coped with her questions as I wouldn't have been 'uber alert'...

A good presentation should be fluid, and relying too heavily on prompt cards can ruin that. It's as much about how you present as the message you ar trying to get over...

studentphil

If you are using powerpoint or any visual aids do not just read from them as they make the dullest presentations.
Also, keep your slides limited to short bulletpoint.

mae

Hi everyone thanks again... I've decided not to use power point as I don't know much about it and even though I know I could master it I would rather just concentrate on the presentation. I'm think I'm going to use the OHP to have the things on behind me while I'm talking. I'll use the flip chart when I involve the audience for their input and at the end I thought I'd show them a breathing exercise that helps with panic attacks. I will use the principle of tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you have told them like a few of you have suggested.
Also I've heard its good to open with a statistic or a quote so thats what I will do too. I've got some statistics to open with and I thought I'd have a quote on the OHD for the first sections??? Trying to keep it simple but not boring....

kittiwoz

Sounds really good. The OHP should be primarily visual info so maybe tell them the quote and present the stats graphically on the OHP, eg, X% suffer from anxiety attacks shown on pie chart, year-on-year spending shown on a line graph, correlation between anxiety attacks and whatever it might correlate with x-y scatter with trend-line. Looking at slides with lists of bullet points and nothing else or that are text heavy can be pretty boring. Plus if slides have a lot of text your audience will have to either ignore it to listen to you or, more likely, ignore you while they read the text. Equally though images/ graphs/ charts etc. should be relevant and informative rather than primarily decorative. Naff clip-art is definitely banned.

The political, economical, social thing someone mentioned earlier is part of the rule of three. This is a rhetorical device where you structure your speech into threes or repeat things three times for emphasis (education, education, education anyone?). The tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em, tell 'em it, then tell 'em what you've told 'em rule is another axample of the rule of three. If you can structure your presentation using the rule of threes (the areas don't have to be social, political and economical, that's just a good standby for most debate topics) it will help your audience remember it. It is also helpful to have a strong structure to aide your own memory. Then you know roughly what you're covering and how you're getting there in case you get lost.

Speaking of breathing exercises, they are a good prep five mins before you start. Stand in a relaxed position with your back straight, feet shoulder width apart, tummy and bum tucked in, shoulders neutral and chin up as if you are a marionette being pulled straight and tall by a string running from the top of your head up to the ceiling. Breathe deeply, in through your nose and out through your mouth, feeling the movement of your diaphragm (put your hand on it if it helps). It may help you breathe mor deeply if you visualise yourself as standing on a cloud which you suck oxygen in from as you breathe in. Should help you feel calm and in control and improve your projection.

When you begin the presentation have all your material well prepared so you are not flustered. Then take a moment to pause before you begin, it will alow you to take command of the room.