Presentation at interview - need advice

sweetdaisy

I applied for a job with a Local Authority a few weeks ago and have received a letter informing me that I have been shortlisted for interview.

The interview will take up to an hour and will include a 10 min presentation that I am required to prepare and present it to the panel on the day. I have received the presentation topic and it's seems that with some research I could put something together.

This is where I need some advice please - the last time I did a presentation was over 8 years ago and just the thought of doing one makes me want to decline the offer of the interview, however I know that I need to go for it.

I am able to do the presentation in a format of my choice, however I am not confident at using Powerpoint, but feel more confident just speaking for 10 mins with some points on cards to jog my memory. If I chose to 'just speak' rather than use a visual aid such as Powerpoint, do you think that this would go against me? The job involves engaging with communities and whilst I feel confident at doing this (and have done this in past jobs) I am just worried that by choosing not to use Powerpoint at interview it will go against me .

What do others/employers prefer or think I should do?

(Also I am the first interviewee at 9 am, so if I mess up they will remember as it will be fresh in their minds as I am the one to go first.)

Any advice is welcome .

paddyrg

At the presentation stage, make the first line 'I know many of the other applicants will choose to use powerpoint for this, but given the purpose of the job, I just don't feel it's appropriate. I know I personally switch off when I see a wall of slides, it may be appropriate for business presentations, however as my clients will be the public, I wanted to do this presentation in the manner I will use to engage with them. I need to be able to change the structure and flow if needs, be, powerpoint makes speakers so linear, sometimes!'

Something like that... (but more erudite and less long and clumsy!)

SteveJW

I am a manager within a local authority, the majority of presentations I see are Powerpoint, some of them very poor. To me the purpose of a presentation is to get the message across, many candidates take the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of Powerpoint using every effect it has to offer, including text flying in from every direction.
However if we want a Powerpoint presentation we ask for one, if not specified any format is acceptable.
Have you thought about using flip charts
Leave the panel something to remember you by, some form of handout etc.
What is the subject, people on here may be able to give you some ideas that are outside the box. No it isn't cheating, we expect candidates to use every means possible to research a topic
Make sure you do some research on the Local Authority, league tables, population, number of employees, base your research on the job you are applying for


Good Luck

Flyonthewall

I don't think a visual aid is always needed, but you do need to keep them interested in what you are saying and people take in information in different ways.

Pointpoints don't have to be complicated. Perhaps rather than doing a full presentation you could just have an image or slideshow of images in the background that relate to what you are saying or just keywords (perhaps in different colours and at angles with a white background so it's not distracting, but it does add a visual feature).

Either that or do a similar thing and just do it on paper or a whiteboard. Again, you don't have to do anything too complicated. You could just have keywords, images, charts etc.

Personally, I really like doing Powerpoints, but I've seen many terrible ones by others. The bad choice of colours, all the information on one slide or their lack of presentation skills due to assuming the pointpoint is doing everything for them, for example. Keeping it simple and making sure that you are actually presenting your information clearly is important.

Paully232000

I have seen, and presented many a time over the years during work and at academic conferences. Have seen some very good and interesting presentations that do not use any visual aids and it is just the way the presenter engages with the audience which made it very interesting.

Personally I would use powerpoint, or some form of visual aid such as Prezi for example as can make a presentation more memorable. When i say use visual aids like powerpoint, i dont mean just reading from the slides, but a few pointers, graphs, pictures which illustrate what you are saying.
For the 10 minute presentations that I have done over the years I have maybe used no more than 5 slides to enhance what I am saying. I think that idea of cue cards is good as jogs your memory, especially if you are a bit nervous. This, along with the diagrams or whatever is on the slide can help to jog your memory and remind you of what you are going to say.

I would also say that if you give us an idea of the topic then we can help, as someone else said, it is all about researching the topic and this is one way of doing this.

dickydonkin

SteveJW wrote: »

To me the purpose of a presentation is to get the message across, many candidates take the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of Powerpoint using every effect it has to offer, including text flying in from every direction.
However if we want a Powerpoint presentation we ask for one, if not specified any format is acceptable.

And I believe that the OP should not deviate from any such request.

I had a similar interview with a local authority about 4 years ago - however, I was not given the subject until I arrived on the day and I had to compile the PP presentation in a room and present it an hour later to the panel before the actual interview.

Although daunting, it was a great experience as it proved that I could prepare and deliver a presentation and use the software.

The OP is lucky insomuch that she has been provided with the subject prior to interview, and if she knows her stuff - she will be fine!

Go for it - and good luck!

sweetdaisy

Thank you to everyone - lots of very useful advice given .

saker75

For my current role I had prepared a prezi for a fifteen minute presentation. I walk in to the first interview and am told that the room doesn't have projection equipment. It was a good test of my ability to deliver and know my subject without relying on the screen. The second interview allowed me to use my beautiful prezi. I got the job.

colino

If the role is engaging with the community, it is pretty unlikely you will be successful in doing that by walking the streets and having one-to-one encounters. Use the tools, but not slavishly, as any presentation I've made to the public sector appears to have included, "elected members" who have control of the budgets but not one grain of interest in how it is performed.
For that length of time, 5 slides max. and make sure you've left them with a good sycophantic, elevator-pitch, one-liner. They'll remember that even if they don't remember you.

gibson123

Death by Powerpoint!!

If I want people to really listen, I forget about Powerpoint unless I need somewhere to conveniently put visual aids, then it is a headline and image only.

But the purpose of this presentation is not to inform or communicate, it is to show that you can present your points in an appropriate way and communicate effectively. The content is to show you can research a subject and make it interesting to an audience. I once has to present on the subject "orange", but I digress.

However I would say that the use of Powerpoint is so endemic that it is expected.

But you have already decided the format of your presentation. Card props - and then just talk. This is what to do, but instead of card prompts, put your prompts on the Powerpoint and use it only as a visual reminder. Good luck.

RuthnJasper

I can't really improve on the advice given above, except to say that you ought to allow a couple of minutes for questions at the end. That was expected of the candidates at a recent series of interviews within my organisation. Round up your presentation after 8 minutes then invite questions from the panel.

If none are forthcoming, use the remaining minute to summarise your key points. The top candidates at our interviews all allowed for questions without exceeding their 10 minutes.

Best wishes to you - hope all goes well. xx