1. Orna Farrell orna.farrell@dbs.ie
Presentation Skills
Orna Farrell

2. Discussion questions What makes a great presentation?
Who do you think is a great speaker?What makes them great?
How do you feel about public speaking?

3. Topics Remember the audience What make an effective presentation?
Nerves
Verbal & Non- Verbal communication 
Notes 
Using Powerpoint
Effective slides
 10 steps for preparing your presentation

4. Remember the audience
"The most important aspect of making a presentation is to consider the needs of the audience. If you simply read or repeat information ‘off by heart’ your presentation will probably sound very flat and dull to the audience. There is also a greater risk that you will lose your place in your talk." (Cottrell, 2009)
Engage your audience: talk to them not at them
Audiences want variety
Audiences get bored
Audience like images: the slides are for them

5. What makes an effective presentation?
Careful planning & preparation
 clear structure
Good time management
Relevant & interesting content
Good communication skills
Appropriate use of slide/supporting documentation
 Suitable audience participation

6. Careful planning & preparation
This involves researching & choosing relevant content
Preparing slides
 Allocating tasks if group work
Planning slide handovers
Preparing an introduction & conclusion
Reharsing the presentation: Speak aloud & use the actual room for the presentation
Think about where you will stand, especially if its a group

7. Time Management Time your presentation Allow for a few minutes extra
Better to be too short than too long
If in a group: give each member a similar time period to speak, over running will make you unpopular

8. Content Make sure your content is relevant & interesting
Use examples, definitions, theories, case studies, quotes and personal examples to make the presentation interesting
Images: photos, graphs, charts, maps are all effective means of communication

9. Structure 1 A clear structure is very important
 Introduction: introduce yourself & your group. Outline the main parts of the presentation. Say how long it will take and when you will have questions
Have an introduction: Hello my name is Orna Farrell and Im  going to talk to you about Firstly I will discuss then and lastly The presentation will take 10 minutes and I will take questions at the end 

10. Struture 2 Conclusion Thank the audience for their attention
Invite questions
Stay standing and wait for the questions....dont run off

11. Verbal Communication limit your use of jargon
Explain new or complex terms
Speak slowly & clearly
Vary your tone & pitch
 Breath
 Finish sentences
 Stand straight, it improves your voice projection 
Use pauses
 Record yourself

12. Non-verbal communication
There are basically three elements in any face-to-face communication: • words • tone of voice and • body language.
These three elements account differently for the meaning of the message: - Words account for 7% - Tone of voice accounts for 38% 
- Body language accounts for 55% of the message

13. Non-Verbal Communication
Choose where you will stand
 Keep your hands still
Face the audience, dont put your back to the audience
Eye contact- lighthouse
Don't read from the screen
Dont hide behind the computer

14. Notes It is a good idea to use notes during your presentation
Don't have the whole presentation written out....you will just read
Have keywords & bullet points on cards or print out your slides and use them as notes
Don't have loads of pages to russle through and get lost
Learn your presentation, the notes are only back up

15. Using powerpoint Common mistakes: Over reliance on the powerpoint
Information overload
 Getting too technical & wasting time
Thinking in bullet point
Too many fonts and styles
Boring slides
Only talking about whats on the slide

16. How to make good PowerPoint slidesDo
Use bullet points & short phrases
Use a consistent slide background
Use pictures, graphs and short clips
Use big font
Proof read your slides for spelling and grammar
Don’t
Use long pieces of text
Flashy graphics & animation
Use many different slide designs, fonts
Many different colour fonts

17. Background – Bad
Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from
Always be consistent with the background that you use

18. Background - Good
Use backgrounds such as this one that are attractive but simple
Use backgrounds which are light
Use the same background consistently throughout your presentation

19. Colour - Bad
Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read
Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying.
Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary
Using a different colour for secondary points is also unnecessary
Trying to be creative can also be bad

20. Colour - Good
Use a colour of font that contrasts sharply with the background
Ex: blue font on white background
Use colour to reinforce the logic of your structure
Ex: light blue title and dark blue text
Use colour to emphasize a point
But only use this occasionally

21. Slide layout - Bad
This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

22. 10 steps for preparing your presentation
read the assignment specification
Create a task list
Create a time chart
Review your existing knowledge of the topic
Research & read on the topic
 Decide on the content
 Find examples
 Decide who is your audience
Make slides
Rehearse presentation

23. Conclusion Preparation is the key to a good presentation
Face the audience
Speak slowly & clearly
Humour
If something goes wrong move on!

24. Further reading
Chivers, B et al.(2007) A student's guide to presentations. London: Sage.
Van Emden, J. et al (2004) Presentation skills for students. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Killer presentations: