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6.7: Study Skills- Giving an Oral Presentation

  • Page ID
    104433
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    There is a good chance that at some point in the future, you will be asked to give a presentation—to your class, to a group of co-workers, or to members of your community. Many people find the prospect of speaking in public quite nerve wracking, but you should not look at giving a presentation as an ordeal. There are things you can do to make the process easier. You may find that you will enjoy public speaking!

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    Tips for Giving a Presentation

    1.      Make sure you know how long you should talk for, and who the audience is. Are you speaking to a group of people who know nothing about your topic? Or do they have a background in the issues you will speak about? Do they already have opinions about the topic? You will need to choose the information you give according to how much your audience already knows.

    2.      Find out what resources you will have in the presentation room. Will there be a blackboard/whiteboard? A flip chart and paper? Any form of technology?

    3.      Plan your presentation; don’t try to improvise, or make it up as you go along. Make notes on what you want to say, but use point form. Don’t write your presentation out in full. If you do this, you will end up looking at your notes rather than at your audience.

    4.      Rehearse your presentation in advance. Try it out on a classmate or friend. This will show you whether your talk is the right length, or if it is too long or too short. Ask your listener to comment on your voice. What suggestions do they have for you?

    5.      Decide in advance whether or not your listeners will be able to ask questions during the talk or at the end. Try to predict some of the questions you might be asked.

    6.      When you are speaking, be careful not to speak too fast. This is one of the most common mistakes with speaking to a group, and it often happens when speakers are nervous. Remember that your audience needs time to think about what you are saying. Slow down! Don’t be afraid to pause to give your listeners time to think.

    7.      Speak up. If you can, try speaking in the presentation room before your talk. Take a friend into the room, and make sure your friend can hear you at the back of the room.

    8.      Look at your audience, not at your notes. Be sure to look at all parts of the room; don’t always look at the same person, or at the teacher. A good technique is to follow the letter W: look at the top left corner of the room, then the bottom left, top centre, bottom right, and top right. If you let your eyes follow the shape of the W, you will cover all sections of the room. Smile!

    9.      Try not to play with your hair, your pen, or any other object. This is another sign of nerves, but it is distracting. It can help to hold a piece of paper (your notes); this will keep your hands away from anything else.

    10.  Relax! Giving a presentation does not need to be a scary situation. Keep practicing, and you may find that you come to enjoy speaking in public.

     

    You Try It!

    You are going to give a short presentation to your class. You may choose your topic, or your teacher may assign a topic. If you are not working in a class, you can easily use your phone to record yourself giving a presentation. Imagine you have an audience watching you. Aim to speak for 3−5 minutes.

    Use the following chart to help you to plan your presentation.

     

     

    The topic of my talk

     

    Planning notes – what I am going to s

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Things to be careful of when I am speaking

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    6.7: Study Skills- Giving an Oral Presentation is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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