Our Top 7 Tips for Giving Great Presentations

SPEAK UP.

Address the microphone as recommended by your moderator. Speak distinctly and don’t rush your words. Above all you must be heard, and those in the rear rows do want to hear you!

BE ENTHUSIASTIC.

It’s infectious. Putting across the excitement that your paper should generate is the best way to make the audience catch fire. If you let the audience see and hear your enthusiasm for the subject, they’ll pick up on it and stay with you. Let them in on the fun!

KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Your audience came to be enlightened, not confused, to be told results, not to relive every step of your research. Avoid long mathematical developments: present in words only the highlights and the logical basis of your proof, then show the results and interpret them fully. Your research took months — or years — but what counts is the substance and significance of the end result.

LANGUAGE.

Very specialized terms and acronyms should be used sparingly and only after they have been carefully explained to the audience. Any paper delivered at SID should be intelligible to anyone else attending the symposium, even though he might not be a specialist in that particular area.

OUTLINE, PRESENT, SUMMARIZE.

The written word is permanent, and each of us reads and re-reads it at his own pace. The spoken word is transient and the speaker sets the pace. Your audience needs time to absorb each thought and can’t review what you’ve just said without missing what you’re about to say. Give your listeners a chance to keep up and reinforce your message by reviewing it with them. Begin with a brief introductory summary of your thesis that places your work in the context of familiar material. Then go through the thesis slowly and in detail, amplifying each point and explaining fully. Finally, in the last couple of minutes, summarize again, in terms of your conclusions and plans for future research.

AVOID READING YOUR PAPER… USE NOTES.

Your speaking style should be relatively informal and relaxed, compared with a written research report. An informal style is usually easiest to achieve if you speak from notes, rather than read a prepared speech where every word has been written out in advance. It is better to prepare a complete set of notes for continuing reference. Speaking from notes allows you more flexibility to adjust your talk to the mood of the audience. If you do write out your talk, avoid the condensed, formal language you would use in a written presentation. Instead of “Upon examination of the maximum characteristic shown on slide 6 it is evident that . . .”, write “Now, look at the top curve on this slide and you’ll see that . . .”. Notes should be typed with keywords underlined. No matter how full your notes, you will communicate better if you try to look at your audience more than three-quarters of the time. You can do it with practice.

REHEARSE YOUR TALK AT LEAST TWICE WITH A PRIVATE AUDIENCE.

Professional actors and politicians rehearse important speeches — so should you. Ask your rehearsal audience for suggestions and reactions, especially about pacing — they’ll be able to tell you whether you’re throwing out new ideas too quickly to be grasped or moving too slowly to maintain high‑level interest. Audio/video recording and listening to/watching yourself may also give you valuable pointers; the way you think you sound may not actually be the way you sound! Time your talk, change it to make it clearer. With enough rehearsal you will be able to abbreviate your notes or do without them altogether, and that will let you make much better contact with your audience.