At the heart of an effective presentation is confidence.
So how do you become a confident speaker? Explore the tabs below for guidance on how to deliver a smooth presentation.
The more you plan, the more confident you will feel. Keep the following elements in mind when creating your presentation.
Just like an essay, presentations should have an introduction, body and conclusion, and ideas need to be linked clearly.
Start by greeting your audience and briefly introducing yourself. Include an Acknowledgement of Country if appropriate (see link below for more information). Capture the audience's attention and introduce your topic with an interesting fact, controversial statement, or by asking the audience a question. Examples:
Clearly state your topic and what your presentation will cover, and if necessary, give some background and definition of terms.
Develop the main points of your talk and present examples and evidence where possible. If you are using PowerPoint, keep the slides simple, with not too much text. Your PowerPoint slides should complement your presentation but not give the presentation for you.
Summarise your presentation for the audience and show that you have covered all the main points that you made in your introduction. Leave the audience with a recommendation, challenge or call to action.
Many of us get nervous about public speaking, and we might see this as a reason to avoid it. But nerves are a good thing! Without adrenalin, a presentation is often boring and lacklustre. So embrace your nerves and make them work for you.