10 Important Presentation Tips | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

10 Important Presentation Tips

Don't bore your audience, give a presentation that will engage your audience.

13
10 Important Presentation Tips

Here are some helpful tips on creating and giving a good presentation.

Use a hook

Use an attention-grabbing opener. Something that will make your audience want to pay attention to what you have to say. This can be done using a story, a statistic/fact, or some form of example.

Don’t look at or read the screen

This is by far one of the most important presentation tips. Nothing will bore your audience more than watching you read directly from your powerpoint slides. The audience could read the slides themselves, so you shouldn't do it for them.

Be an expert in your presentation topic

If you are presenting something then you should be well-knowledge on the topic. If the audience asks you questions, you should be able to answer over 90% of them. If you are unable to answer many questions, then your audience will lose faith in your credibility.

Speak clearly

This is extremely important as you want your audience to be able to understand what you are saying. If no one can understand your presentation because you're either not loud enough or stumbling over a lot of words then they won't get anything out of it.

Avoid filler words

Filler words include: um, like, and then, so, etc. Unnecessary usage of these words will convey to your audience that you are either not prepared, overly nervous, or unprofessional. Record yourself practicing your presentation and count how many times you use fillers then work on cutting them out.

Convey your passion about the topic

If you are super passionate about the topic you are presenting on, make sure that your audience can see that. You being actively engaged and interested in what you are presenting on will increase audience engagement.

Don’t tell the audience lies or over exaggerated statistics

Avoid stretching the truth or stating facts that cannot be backed up with data. If audience members realize that you are not being honest with them, they will question your integrity.

Grammar/Spelling check

Make sure that your presentation (if you are using slides especially) includes proper grammar and spelling. If you have errors it will lead you to look unprofessional.

Highlight your skills without explicitly stating them.

This is more for investor pitches, business proposals, interviews, and presentations more geared toward highlighting your work. In situations such as this you want to make sure your audience knows that they could count on you.

Avoid wordiness

If you are using powerpoint or similar graphics, try to make sure that you don't have too much text on them. Good rules to follow is to have no more than 6 bullet points with 6 words each or no more than 36 words on the slide total. Adding too much text makes it difficult for the audience to focus on you if they are too busy reading your presentation slides.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
campus
CampusExplorer

New year, new semester, not the same old thing. This semester will be a semester to redeem all the mistakes made in the previous five months.

1. I will wake up (sorta) on time for class.

Let's face it, last semester you woke up with enough time to brush your teeth and get to class and even then you were about 10 minutes late and rollin' in with some pretty unfortunate bed head. This semester we will set our alarms, wake up with time to get ready, and get to class on time!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Painfully True Stages Of Camping Out At The Library

For those long nights that turn into mornings when the struggle is real.

1366
woman reading a book while sitting on black leather 3-seat couch
Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash

And so it begins.

1. Walk in motivated and ready to rock

Camping out at the library is not for the faint of heart. You need to go in as a warrior. You usually have brought supplies (laptop, chargers, and textbooks) and sustenance (water, snacks, and blanket/sweatpants) since the battle will be for an undetermined length of time. Perhaps it is one assignment or perhaps it's four. You are motivated and prepared; you don’t doubt the assignment(s) will take time, but you know it couldn’t be that long.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 14 Stages Of The Last Week Of Class

You need sleep, but also have 13 things due in the span of 4 days.

922
black marker on notebook

December... it's full of finals, due dates, Mariah Carey, and the holidays. It's the worst time of the year, but the best because after finals, you get to not think about classes for a month and catch up on all the sleep you lost throughout the semester. But what's worse than finals week is the last week of classes, when all the due dates you've put off can no longer be put off anymore.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 20 Thoughts College Students Have During Finals

The ultimate list and gif guide to a college student's brain during finals.

182
winter

Thanksgiving break is over and Christmas is just around the corner and that means, for most college students, one hellish thing — finals week. It's the one time of year in which the library becomes over populated and mental breakdowns are most frequent. There is no way to avoid it or a cure for the pain that it brings. All we can do is hunker down with our books, order some Dominos, and pray that it will all be over soon. Luckily, we are not alone in this suffering. To prove it, here are just a few of the many deranged thoughts that go through a college student's mind during finals week.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

28 Daily Thoughts of College Students

"I want to thank Google, Wikipedia, and whoever else invented copy and paste. Thank you."

1572
group of people sitting on bench near trees duting daytime

I know every college student has daily thoughts throughout their day. Whether you're walking on campus or attending class, we always have thoughts running a mile a minute through our heads. We may be wondering why we even showed up to class because we'd rather be sleeping, or when the professor announces that we have a test and you have an immediate panic attack.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments