Presentation Skills

Structuring your presentation

One of the biggest mistakes made when delivering a presentation is failing to properly introduce and conclude what you are saying. When presenting:

• Tell them what you are going to tell them (and why it is interesting).
• Tell them (bring the subject to life).
• Tell them what you’ve told them (remind them of the key points and your conclusion).

This might sound incredibly simple but this makes a profound difference to the impact of your presentation and how likely your audience are to engage with the content and remember what you have said.

The Rule of Three

Splitting stories and concepts into three parts is an ancient convention which still works with audiences today, and is a format we are trained to be receptive to. This can incorporated into presentations by:

• having three key sections in your presentation
• splitting sections into three sub sections
• having three bullet points per page
• using three part statements: "what happened, why it happened and what we can learn from it"

The percentages at the bottom of the structure indicate the length of each section. The introduction and conclusion should be more than 5% of your total time (each), saving 90% for your content. For a 10 minute presentation this would mean 30 seconds for your introduction, 30 seconds for your conclusion and 9 minutes (1 minute per sub point/section) for your content.

Opening and closing statements

Opening and closing statements tend to be the parts of your presentation the audience remember the best. Because of this, it is important to plan these carefully and even consider having them written out in full sentences as part of your notes.

Your opening statement should hook your audience in and given them a reason to continue listening. Your closing statement should refer back to your opening statement and should provide a conclusion to your argument or what the next steps are in the research/discussion/project.

Formatting and notes

Formatting

Often, formatting your presentation can be a welcome distraction when you are not sure what to write. A nicely formatted presentation can help your audience take in the information you are delivering but can also distract and confuse.

• Use a consistent layout and style on slides of the same type.
• Avoid cluttering slides - only add wording or images that support/illustrate your point.
• Use a typeface and font size that is easy to read and ensure background colours effectively contrast with your text - i.e. white on black or dark on light.
• Have no more than one slide per minute you have to present, ideally less than this. This excludes title slides, references slides and any other that you will not spend time on but are needed for formatting.

Should I use notes?

This is down to the individual: some people will find it easier to present with notes, others prefer a more unrehearsed and informal delivery style. If you are using notes, it is recommended that you condense your points down to well-spaced bullet points on small cue cards or pieces of paper. It is also helpful to have one card or piece of paper per presentation slide. This allows you to mentally break the presentation down into a number of small presentations and should you lose your place or get nervous, it is easier to recover your composure and move on if your notes are in small chunks.