Making The Most Of Your Presentation
Presentations can take a range of formats including:
- running a workshop
- giving a paper, lecture style
Giving A Presentation
Presentations vary considerably, depending on the topic. A workshop is by its nature interactive. A paper is more theoretically based. However, whatever the approach you take, remember that you want to engage your audience. Participants at a conference will be going from one session to another and will need to be stimulated by your presentation style as well as your content.
The following points give some ideas on presentations. They are not intended to be prescriptive.
Workshops
A workshop allows for an inventive approach. It is important to model adult learning principles and allow for questions and reflections.
A successful approach could be to:
- include an activity from the project your are describing
- give participants a chance to share ideas and knowledge.
- ask participants to reflect on their experiences or attitudes
Giving A Paper
Setting up your presentation
Giving a presentation has features in common with teaching. A set format such as that set out below works well:
1. Provocation/Engagement
2. Explanation
3. Organization.
4. Conclusion
Engagement/provocation
Set the scene: who are the students, stake holders, others involved? Where did the research / activity take place?
Engage the audience with anecdote or questions to encourage interaction rather than passivity.
Human interest stories make the presentation more accessible/vivid - perhaps use critical incidents or relevant anecdotes.
Make the points short and punchy.
Explanation
What is the question or topic you are interested in or presenting? Why does it interest you? What have you learnt?
We would like to learn something new - detailed, careful information helps.
Make clear the direction you are going, and why.
Organisation
Structure of the talk
After you have set up your talk (5 minutes approx), you need to give your listeners basic information about your methodology, what you have found (focusing on interesting findings or problems emerging with the study or project) and something about its significance. This is the ‘so what’ factor and is very important in bringing your talk together.
Conclusion
Allow time to draw the presentation to a conclusion with main points reiterated and observations made clear.
Practical aspects
- Be aware of time allocation and constraints - is the talk ‘do-able’ in the time?
There is nothing worse than a presenter who tries to ‘cram’ too much in. It is better to finish earlier and leave room for questions.
- We need to be able to hear what is said, see what is shown.
- Use visual aids like OHTs, but not too many, or too crowded, or with too small a font.
- Avoid reading what is on any overheads or a power point: If you can say it, delete it! Visual aids should value add, or draw attention to key points and not just be a script.
- Make sure the technical aspects work! Never assume.
- Use technology that you are confident and familiar with. A whiteboard can often serve as well as a data show projector!