LibGuides: GEN / Skills for Student Success: Presentation Skills

Before Presentation

Coming Together

K.I.S.S.: Keep it Short & Sweet (or just Simple).

Use fewer words and more images for the slides.
Speak using brief, conversational words for clarity when specific jargons are unnecessary.

Audience: Greet your audience with a smile.

Know who your audience will be and remember to focus on them while you talk.
Try and put yourself in their place and ask yourself what you would find interesting about your topic.

Equipment: Check, Test, Check, & Test again!

Always check and test the equipment you will be using.
If you are using slides, save them in more than one place, e.g. thumb drive and online.
Have a backup plan in case something goes wrong.

Avoiding Death by PowerPoint

Some presenters cram their slides with information and risk sending their audience to sleep (or even death from boredom). You can use the Scissor Technique to improve your slides:

Step 1: Identify one key message - each slide should contain only one key message that you want to bring across to your audience.
Step 2: Highlight the key points - re-read the text and select only the key points.
Step 3: Enhance with visual - use photos or icons to supplement your text.

Find out more about this technique.

Interesting Reads

Dress professionally and comfortably. (you don't want to be tugging your skirt down the whole time, or wear shoes that hurt your feet).
Have water and tissue nearby in case your mouth goes dry, or if your nose starts to run.
Try your best to project confidence and know that your classmates are also nervous about their own presentations.
Focus on sharing about your topic with the audience, not yourself.
Use an attention grabber. Start with something unexpected like statistics, a story, a joke or a weird fact that is related to your topic.
Body language is important. The last thing you want is to show everyone how nervous you really are by slouching and looking at your feet the whole time. If you stand up straight, it also makes it easier to breathe!

Above all ... just BREATHE!

Ensure that your surroundings are quiet so that your audience can hear you clearly.
Prepare & test your equipment before the presentation (including audio, visual and network).
Log on at least 10 minutes before the meeting to ensure that you have plenty of time to set up and troubleshoot possible tech issues.
Learn the important functions of the video call platform, such as screensharing. You can use the features to make your presentation more interesting.
Maintain eye contact with your audience by looking into the laptop camera or a separate webcam. You may be tempted to read from your laptop or notes, but it will be obvious that you’re reading from your notes as your eyes will move from left to right!
Wear proper attire…This will give you a confidence boost!