Presentation Tips April 7, 2015 Alissa Agnello North Seattle College

Types of Oral “Presentations” Job interviews “Elevator” talks Informal talks with collaborators Formal presentations

Keys to a Great Talk 1.Know your audience 2.Organize your information 3.Practice 4.Animate your talk 5.Be prepared for the unexpected

Tip 1. Know your audience Gary Cook, USAID Talk at their level about their interests Involve audience in talk Solicit answers to questions Wait for answers!

Tip 2. Organize your information 1.Intro – what you’ll talk about 2.Talk about it 3.Conclusion – what you’ve talked about Thank you Always better to go under than over! If appropriate, present multi-modally: print, picture, graph, talk “I feel like I’m being held prisoner by a person who couldn’t prioritize.” — Erica Ollmann Saphire, Scripps Research Institute

Tip 3: Practice Know key message for each situation – Even “spontaneous” presentations Get feedback – Mirror – Friends/colleagues – Videotape Solve “ums”, “likes” Plan explanations for hard-to-describe concepts Practice relaxing

Tip 4: Animate yourself Never read directly Talk to audience, not to screen! Project your voice! – Vary pitch, volume, rate – Include pauses Personality – Facial expressions, Gestures, Movements – Eye contact

Tip 5: Be prepared for the unexpected Technology failures Rude audience members

PowerPoint Basics Avoid aggressive animations, unreadable colors, unusual fonts, distracting backgrounds, etc.

Check readability from back of room – This is size 22 font – This is size 16 font Proof-reade When presenting data, introduce audience to graphing scheme Never read directly For every 5 minutes of talk, no more than 2-3 slides Limit words Reference your sources

Conclusion 1.Know your audience 2.Organize your information 3.Practice 4.Animate your talk 5.Be prepared for the unexpected

For more information: How to answer questions appropriately / what annoying mannerisms to avoid: (“How Not To Give a Scientific Talk” by Michael De Robertis, York Univ.) Special thanks to: North Seattle College Microsoft Clip Art YOU!