Oral Presentations for Tutorials & Seminars

Tutorial Discussion

Depending on your course, your presentation may conclude with a group discussion. If this is the case, it is a good idea to prepare a couple of questions that are relevant to your topic. When you start speaking, tell your audience that you will be asking some questions at the end of your presentation. It sometimes keeps people more alert if they know that they may have to participate in a discussion based on what they have just been listening to.

You can hand out copies of your questions, put them on an OHT or slide, or write them on a whiteboard.

Providing the audience with handouts that include a summary of your talk, or a list of the main points can help promote discussions. Distribute these at the end of your talk. If you give them out before your talk people may not listen closely because they already have the information.

Answering questions

After your presentation, members of your tutorial may ask you questions. Don’t be afraid of questions; they are a positive sign. They show that the audience is listening and interested.

• Listen carefully to the question. Repeat or paraphrase the question so you are sure you understand it and so everyone in the audience hears it.
• If it is a long question, try breaking it up into sections, and answer them one by one.
• Be brief and to the point and avoid introducing new information.
• If you don’t know the answer to the question, it’s OK to say so - you can’t know absolutely everything about your topic. Get the group involved by opening the question up to the audience and letting someone else answer it! If no one else can, you can always offer to find out the answer for them at a later date.

Working with Visuals & Technology

General Principles

• Any visual materials or multimedia you use should support and add impact to your presentation.
• They can:
  • illustrate factors which are hard to explain with words alone
  • show reality (photographs, plans, maps)
  • Help the audience to visualise abstract concepts (charts/diagrams)
  • reinforce or compare information and (numbers, graphs, charts)

• Messages should be concise, simple and relevant.
• The impact of each visual message can be varied by the imaginative use of colour.
• Lettering should be clearly printed in bold colours and properly spaced.  

PowerPoint

You can use PowerPoint software to produce overheads, or to make a computer-based presentation.

For more information, see Using PowerPoint in Oral Presentations

PowerPoint Pitfalls

Spending more time on producing PowerPoint graphics than on the actual talk. Remember—Powerpoint can certainly support your presentation, but it can't deliver the presentation for you. If your talk is poor, no amount of fancy graphics will save it!

Ignoring the audience. Don't become so preoccupied with your PowerPoint presentation that you pay more attention to clicking the mouse at the right time than delivering your talk. Speak to your audience, not to your screen or your notes.

Turning all the lights off. Dimming the light can increase the clarity and contrast of your slides. However, don't turn off all the lights and leave your audience in darkness. They may want to make notes or read handouts.

Using too many slides. A common pitfall is to reproduce almost the entire text of a presentation onto slides. The result is too much text and too much on-screen movement (in the form of clickable bullet points and slide transitions etc.) Too many slides also effectively anchor the speaker in place.

Reading slides aloud. As you should avoid reading a script of your presentation word-for-word, so you should avoid reading from slides.

Use slides carefully. Limit the number to 5 or 6 slides per 10 minutes. Think of them as key points which you can use as prompts. Do not simply read the material: supplement or explain what is written.

Too many animations/ decorations/ bells & whistles!

Managing the technology

While OHTs or PowerPoint slides add interest to a presentation, but they can also add distractions and technical problems that you need to prepare for.

Check the equipment

Try to have a rehearsal with the equipment beforehand.

• Make sure the computer will open your presentation file.
• If you are using your own laptop, make sure that you are able to connect it to the overhead projector.
• Practice so that you are competent in using the equipment and the software (e.g. going back to previous slides).

Look at the layout of the room:

• Where should you stand to avoid blocking the screen?
• Where is the computer/ overhead projector located? Where do you need to stand to operate it?
• How light is the room? Will you need to dim any lights, or close the curtains?

On the day

Arrive early on the day of your presentation. Test and (if possible) set up your equipment beforehand. You are likely to feel nervous and want to concentrate on your presentation, rather than the extra stress involved in setting up equipment.

• Is the projector plugged in/ switched on?
• Is the projector in focus?
• Is the projection screen set up? If there is no screen, is there a clean white space (a wall or whiteboard will suffice) and is the projector facing it?

If you are using OHTs:

• Make sure OHTs are arranged in the right order (paper between each one helps) and are facing the right way up.

If you are using a computer for a PowerPoint presentation:

• Arrive early and set up
• Have a colleague at hand who understands the technology and can help you if there are any problems setting up.

Have a Back-up Plan

Remember that PowerPoint may look great, but if the technology goes wrong you may be very embarrassed. It's a good idea to print out a handout, or have some overheads as a backup just in case.

Hints for Designing Overhead Transparencies or Slides

Do

• either print clearly or use a large font (at least 24 points). Text should be readable from the back of the room.
• use text effectively. Avoid overly elaborate fonts. Choose a font that is easy to read, like Helvetica, Arial or Times. Put your message in Bold.
• use 1 message per OHT (15-20 words).
• check spelling and grammar.
• choose appropriate colours. Use strong colours for text and ensure there is a clear contrast between text and background colour.
• work in the centre of the OHT. Leave a margin of about 4 cm, otherwise it may not fit the overhead projector frame.
• choose diagrams, charts or pictures to support your spoken material. Use one image per slide or OHT.

Do Not

• use small fonts, cursive typefaces or untidy handwriting. You audience won't be able to read it.
• cram too much information on one slide/OHT. For example, don't reproduce the entire text of a presentation; list the main points in bullet form.
• include any visual elements (like computer clip art) purely for decoration.
• use faded or pale colours for text, unless your background is dark.
• squeeze lines or cramp letters together.
• use too many of the animations available in Powerpoint. They can be very distracting for an audience.

Top of page