Preparing for Presentations

Presentations can be nerve-racking to some students because they fear possible embarrassment. For example, one may forget what they wanted to say or another may be so nervous, that they stutter while speaking. Here are some tips on how you can prepare yourself for a presentation to help you overcome these scary, negative feelings and help you gain the confidence you did not know you were capable of having.

Tip One: Rehearse

Rehearing is the most important thing when it comes to presentation, whether you are presenting with a group or alone. Rehearsing helps your group and yourself to memorize your important ideas. This means you will able to concentrate on your delivery and elaborate on your ideas.  It also creates fluidity within your group and makes the presentation sound strong and attracts listeners’ attention. Lastly, rehearsing helps the group stay within the given time frame.

Tip Two: Tone

The presenter’s tone indicates their passion about the topic. This gives your audience an indication about how they should feel about the presenter’s ideas and the value they hold. Therefore, it is important to practice different tones in order to convey the message that you want your audience to receive. Tone is powerful. It also captures and maintains an audience’s attention. 

Tip Three: Pace

Pacing is another important thing to remember when presenting. It helps the audience understand the presenter when they’re speaking, as well as helps the audience process and interpret information. Pacing also helps the presenters stay on time and keeps them from rushing.

Tip Four: Involve your Audience

Be interactive. Play games, such as kahoot and others, ask questions and have open discussions with your audience. Even get your audience up out of their seats and moving around. This engagement serves to involve them in the learning process and thereby, solidifies their learning and comprehension. Using videos, graphics, charts, diagrams, and other strategies to attract your audience’s attention will reach multiple audience members and their different styles of learning.

Tip Five: Appearance

Presenters should be in formal, professional clothing and present themselves as mature and serious. As well, being prepared and organized are also essential. Their time is valuable and in order to respect that, an efficient and strong presentation will be impressive and maintain their attention.