Presentation

[ajdriver]

I have to give a presentation to about 15 people tomorrow.
I think I am prepared well but still nervous.

I rehearsed it with a housemate earlier, and was nervous just presenting it to him. It should last 30-45 minuets including questions. I know the audience but not that well. Its the last of several presentations, and now its my turn I have a lot to live up to.

Any tips and tricks?

Cheers

 

[Claire]

Hey , Don't get too nervous about it, if you have practised hard, which is sounds like you have then there should be nothing to worry about. I thin kthe old tip of imagine evryone naked works but one which used to work for me as achil was to look just above the audiences head then everyone thinks you are looking at them and not at a wall etc and keep making eye cntact!!! Good Luck

 

[VeryMark]

Speak to the back of the room, make eye contact, and remember you know your subject better than they do. It helps if you have slides as they will naturally lead you through your presentation, cue cards help too, as also does having a prepared wind-up/summary to finish with. Good luck!

 

[Deleted member 2816]

Speak up - make sure you know how to project your voice to the back of the room without shouting. 'Little' voices are useless at a presentation.

Don't gabble!! Speak slowly rather than fast. Try not to punctuate your talk with 'ums' or erms'.

Have a set of cards with keywords on them. Don't type out the whole talk, this will get you nervous that you haven't included something, and will cock up the whole presentation!

Keep a small clock or watch on the table so you can check out your timing. Better to make it slightly too short than too long.

Devise a really good opening & closing statement.

If you think they're looking bored - make 'em laugh! Never fails!

8)

Good luck! Let us know how it went

 

[gj]

If you know your subject well - as you seem to, it will be a lot easier once you get started. Have the opening well rehearsed to get you into it, then it will start to flow, and use the prompt cards suggested by others, just in case you get stuck.

If you are using slides, arrive early and make sure all the technolgy is working well. If you have a wireless mouse, use that as the way to "click" to advance through the slides. It can be very inconspicuous and much better than reaching across to a laptop. It also means you can move around while you talk and nevertheless keep the slides moving along.

Allow plenty of time for questions, better to finish early than to have people in the audience desperate to ask questions (or you wanting to get some specific points across through answers to questions) and find the chairman cutting you short 'coz the time is up.

I have done one presentation umpteen times now - can do it without any notes or even preparation, but I still get nervous, so some nerves are natural.

Good luck

Graham

 

[Eagle]

 
I lecture in photography occaisionally.

Tips:

Under no circumstances should you stutter, stammer, or otherwise fumble your words, get the giggles, blush, swear, forget what to say, hiccup, burp or f*rt, trip over, drop anything, stub your toe on furniture, suffer a powercut, faint or soil yourself.

Naah, you'll be fine! Best advice is to relax and enjoy it.

 

[Deleted member 2816]

C'mon mate - we're dying to hear how you got on after all that!! :lol:

 

[ajdriver]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I think the presentation went really well. The PC crashed half way through, but this was turned into a bit of a joke and I continued well whilst it was reloading.

Overall I am happy with how it went, and now aim to actually enjoy future presentations.

 

[Eagle]

 
Glad it went well for you!

 

[ajdriver]

Cheers,
I assume that one day, when I have my own business I will have to give presentations that are much more serious.

 

[Deleted member 2816]

The PC crashed half way through..

Bummer!!! Still, you obviously coped well with it, so that's good experience! Good for you!

 

[gj]

Yeh well done, especially coping with the PC crash.

Graham

 

[Claire]

Well done! Sounds like you did great

 

[Ozzy]

Glad to hear it did go well. Sometimes something like a PC crash turns a presentation into a more relaxed converse affair.

The first ever presentation I had to do was a rush job because my colleague phoned in sick, so I had to go with no preparation. It was to the board of Bass Taverns and I was s****ing myself. When I got there they were actually quite relaxed people and it went really well.

Just goes to show that its nearly always your imagination that makes things worse than it really is.

 

[10Yetis]

I often find a common problem is the bleeding projector overheats... nightmare..

I then usually have to pay the costs associated with replacing a broken window and collecting itty bitty bits of projector from the street.