Mastering Oral Presentations: A short guide For Students
Prefer to watch deep dive videos? It’s here.
In a Data Analysis class, I got As on all my midterms. Then, I did my project, which was about a topic that I was deeply interested in! I spent lots of time reading and writing code, and then I got an 80 on the final project consisting of a paper and a presentation! And just like that, my dream of getting an A went down the drain! My class average was 89, just one point away from an A! And the teacher did not give it to me.
I learned from that mistake and I’m gonna show you how I do my presentations now!
Table of contents:
Preparation phase:
1- It is always wise to stand on the shoulders of giants!
Yes, you are interested in that topic! You’re itching to start digging and writing about your discoveries! That’s all good, and kudos for your motivation! But…slow down and learn from the experts in the field! Go to YouTube and WATCH at least one presentation on the subject! It doesn’t have to be the exact topic! There are lots of online conferences that provide recordings. Take advantage of them. You’re watching the videos to get an idea of what’s expected! As you’re watching, take notes:
How do the speakers start?
Do they have
- Motivation,
- Background,
- Key result,
- Story,
- etc.
How are the slides?
- Are there lots of formulas?
- What types of pictures were used and how many of them?
- How many lines are on each slide?
- How many slides per minutes?
Define the outline
Quickly sketch out the general framework!
For example: Motivation-Main Results-Numerical Examples-Real life application
Grade the speakers
- What did you like about their talk?
- What didn’t you like?
- What do you think is missing?
- How do you think they should improve it?
Mimic the structure, apply what you like, avoid what you don’t like! Keep all your notes in the same place! You’ll need those later!
2. Know Your Audience
Make sure your explanations and examples are accessible, interesting and relevant to the audience. If you are presenting for a class, don’t rewrite all the definitions or theorems you already learned from class! You can recap them briefly but don’t spend too much time on them!
If you’re presenting to a conference, the range of knowledge will be very vast, and you need to accommodate everyone. Make sure you explain the keywords as easy as possible. The advanced researchers also need to take new knowledge from your talks so make sure you show something new.
3 — Ask your teacher!
The teacher who made the assignment knows best about what they think are great presentations. Here is a list of questions you can ask them:
- Is the presentation gonna be on a whiteboard or slides?
- How long will I present?
- What do you want to see in my presentation?
- What books or articles do you think I should read for this presentation?
- How are you going to grade the presentation? What are the criteria?
- Would you be willing to review my draft before the presentation?
- Should I submit a paper along with the presentation?
- How do you think the outline of this presentation will be?
Don’t feel bad about asking your teacher in each phase of the project! It’s gonna save you a lot of trouble.
Writing phase
4. Structuring Your Talk
If you already know how other people present in the field, what your teacher/organizers want from you and who your audience is, then it’s time to structure! A talk has an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Ensure you assign a reasonable time and number of slides for each part! You don’t want a 35-minute presentation to have a 20-minute introduction!
5 — Use slide templates!
Whether you type your slides on Canva, Google Slides or Beamer, templates are available online! Personalize them to have your name, school logo, and color scheme! It may take a bit of time to personalize a template, but you can always reuse it!
If you need to match a graphic with the background, we use the free editing tool Paint.net.
6— Focus on understanding the major results
If you’re presenting your own research, explain your contribution! If you’re presenting a topic that is already well established, note what results are important! You can also learn this from watching other presentations. Depending on the topics, use toy examples and real-life applications instead of abstract proof (except when your principal contribution is the proof itself)! You need both accessibility and technical depth, so make sure you find the right balance! In case of doubt, ask your teacher!
7. Use Storytelling
Your presentation is a story! All slides need to have a reason to be in the presentation. If a slide does not help explain or illustrate the main key points, remove it! It’s better to have one example explained well than 10 unrelated examples.
8. Visual Aids
How you present the topic matters! Use LaTeX for all equations. Include relevant figures, graphs, and diagrams. Avoid clutter and excessive text. If possible, show don’t tell! Use emojis and stock images to illustrate your points! Use tables if needed!
Editing phase
9 — Take a break between writing and editing!
Even 2 minutes counts! If you have more time, it’s even better to wait a day before editing so that you can edit with a fresh pair of eyes!
10 — Proofread on a PDF or printed version
Don’t open the word processor when you’re in your editor mode! Use a printed version or a pdf. Don’t go back and forth to writer/editor mode! Write the comments down! Read your work from start to finish! Take note of everything that you think is incorrect or needs improvement! Trying to write while editing will detract from your editing capabilities! After the proofreading session, go to the word processor and apply the changes! Always start editing from the end! Editing from the beginning may change the slide’s number. You can do this process multiple times!
11 — Rehearse
You should always rehearse your complete speech at least once before the actual presentation! Use a countdown timer with the allocated time. Speak out loud! Have a notebook near you! If you see places where you want to change, jot down the change and continue! This will allow to see if your slides are easier to read! It’s always best to have a beta audience when rehearsing, but even if you don’t, rehearsing is still beneficial!
12 — Go back to the original materials
After you edit and rehearse, go back to the original book/paper to fact check! You may need to rewrite parts of the slides, but that’s okay! Make sure you present the facts!
Presenting
13. Handling Nerves
Even the best presenters are nervous before giving a presentation! They just don’t tell you! Remember that your audience is there to listen to you, no matter how you do it! You can try some grounding techniques right before and during the presentation. Walk and talk. You can also imagine that all the attendees are just apples! Focus on your message!
14. Engage Your Audience
Maintain eye contact. As before, you can think of the audience as apples. Are you afraid of apples? Of course not! They aren’t scary right? You can look at them however you like! If you’re already used to presenting, try to foster a dynamic discussion. Have questions on your slides! Ask the attendees what they think. You can also do collaborative boards or have the audience talk to their peers!
15-Handling Questions
Have a pen and paper next to you during the presentation. At the end of your talk, ask questions! Repeat each question you are asked before answering. That way, you’ll be sure you’re answering the question. You’ll be able to answer some questions, that’s great! There will also be questions you have not encountered before. Don’t panic! You can write the question down in your notebook and then say to your audience:
“That’s actually a really interesting question! I don’t have the answer yet, but I’ll definitely look at it! We can talk about it later.”
16- Keep track of the time
Use a countdown timer during the presentation. Look at it from time to time and adapt your delivery accordingly. Aim to be as close to the recommended time as possible.
17- How to present in a second language?
From attending multiple presentations, I learned that speaking slowly helps a ton. Even with a thick accent, enunciating your words will make the audience understand you. They will have more time to think about what you say.
Practicing the pronunciation of the keywords is a must in this situation. If they are not pronounced correctly, the audience will be confused about whether you are introducing a new vocabulary or if it’s your accent.
If possible, have a native speaker go over your script. This is crucial if you add a joke or pop culture reference in your talk.
Aftermath
18— Reflect and Improve
After each presentation, evaluate what worked well and what could be better. Write them down so that you can improve your future presentations!
