Giving presentations
Over the course of the project you may need to present your findings
When giving a presentation, the key is to think what your stakeholders really need to hear: many people try to pack in too much information, using too many bullet points on slides, or too lengthy a report. Consider what your stakeholders will ask you for and have that information to hand in an easy-to-understand format: pictures, graphs and charts tend to be easier to follow than text.
Better presentations
- Practise – know what you want to say, particularly your opening comments and conclusion. Rehearse in front of a friend or colleague to give you honest feedback.
- PowerPoint – keep slides simple. Use words as prompts rather than reading your entire presentation from your slide! Remember that people can generally read faster than you can talk. Follow the ‘double’ rule: if you have 10 minutes use 5 slides, if 20 minutes have 10 slides.
- Check any equipment is working and that you know how to use it. Have a back-up plan, such as paper handouts
- Do you have any nervous habits, such as jangling change or keys, clicking a pen on and off, or fiddling with your hair or clothing? Do you use ‘fillers’ such as ‘er’, ‘umm’ or ‘basically’ to give you thinking time? The best way to know is to ask for feedback, or record yourself and watch it.
