TIPS FOR GIVING ORAL PRESENTATIONS

No matter what course your career takes, you will often be called upon to present your work in the form of an oral presentation. Oral presentations will be an important way in which you are evaluated professionally. The ability to give an excellent presentation is therefore a necessary skill for your future success. Here are some tips:

1. Speak loudly and enunciate. ALWAYS use a microphone in a large room.

2. Don't speak in a monotone. Also avoid the "valley girl" tendancy to speak sentences as if they are questions.

3. Make eye contact with the audience.

4. Giggling, making jokes, or otherwise goofing around is really a bad idea. Be serious.

5. Lettering on powerpoint slides should be large and legible. Don't put too much information on one page.

6. Know your audience and be sure that your talk is neither too elementary nor too advanced.

7. Plots and pictures should be well-labeled, and symbols and labels should be large enough to read. When showing a plot, describe it and say what you want the audience to see in it ("Here is a plot of temperature as a function of radius. The dotted line shows ..."). Give the audience a few moments to understand it. Remember that the audience members will want to read everything on your slide, and understand what is there.

8. Use color in your viewgraphs or ppt presentations. However, be careful not to use graphics which are distracting, or combinations of colors which do not project well. For important talks, borrow a projector and test that your slides are legible in a large room.

9. Preparing a good talk takes time. Allow enough time to prepare your presentation.

10. Be sure to cite references when appropriate. Nothing upsets a person in the audience more than to see their work used without credit.

11. Dress neatly and professionally. Err on the side of being conservative; the people who care how you dress expect you to dress conservatively.

12. For talks at conferences, ask your research advisor to listen to you rehearse your talk. This means you have to have your talk ready far enough in advance that you have time to practice it with your advisor.

13. If English is not your first language, have a native speaker proof-read your slides, and listen to your talk. Preparing your talk will take more work for you, so be prepared to practice your talk a few times. Take advantage of the ESL center on campus.

14. Think about the first sentence and last sentence of your presentation. If you think you will be nervous, write out the first and last sentence on an index card. Start with a bang, and end with a bang!

15. NEVER apologize for any aspect of your presentation.