I need advice on presentation

[watdahel]

I need to give a 15 minute presentation in front of the class about networking? I'm terrified as I don't know how I can talk for that long. I need advice on how to present. I have no experience. I can't talk too much in detail coz that will bore the audience but then again I do need to kill 15 minutes.

I'll be using powerpoint to help with the visuals. Is joking appropriate since it is an informal audience. Should I encourage my audience to ask questions or should I just do a straight talk? I'm trying to search for videos of keynote presentations like when ATI introduced their video cards. I thought that girl presenter was pretty funny.

 

[HN]

The best speech I ever gave was regarding internet shopping (this was during the golden age of internet shopping). Not only did I know the subject well enough to talk about it naturally, the audience was intrigued because just about everyone wants to know how to save money in one form or another.

Point is, find a subject you know very well (something you would talk with your friends about and can go into long debates over) and at the same time, capture your audiences interest. hell, do one about internet shopping.

 

[imported_Tick]

It would help if we knew more about what this. Is this for a class? Which Class? What guidlines were you given? What areas are you familiar with? Have you ever spoken to an audience before? Etc.

 

[Kishan]

It was supposed to be a 10 minute presentation on new tech, so I chose Bit Torrent last year and it was easily 20+. Show some graphs/pictures, but the biggest thing is to use them as a visual aid-DON"T WRITE PARAGRAPHS ON POWERPOINT! I showed people how it worked and then I even took a tour of suprnova.

 

[yoda291]

just craft a speech to your target age demographic. Or, just do what I do and ignore them and just talk about things that make you excited and let them get caught up in your excitement.

 

[watdahel]

I didn't have a choice on the topic so I know little about it so I'm running through the internet like a mad cow disease to gather as much info as possible.

This is for a Computer Science class in University. The only guidelines given was that it has to be 15 minutes and present the material like its something new.

 

[mAdMaLuDaWg]

And remember... the cardinal sin of any presentation is reading off the slides. Avoid that at all costs.

 

[watdahel]

If you're not supposed to read off slides then what are you supposed to put in it?

 

[HN]

Originally posted by: erwin1978
If you're not supposed to read off slides then what are you supposed to put in it?

as mentioned above - visual aids (graphs, charts, PICS?, and maybe some keywords/notes of what your actually talking about when that slide is shown)

 

[xEDIT409]

Originally posted by: erwin1978
If you're not supposed to read off slides then what are you supposed to put in it?

When you present using keynote/powerpoint, you should always be facing the audience. The text on the slide should be keypoints of your speech on that slide. The slide is just there for the audience to get the basic idea of that particular segment of the presentation.

 

[mAdMaLuDaWg]

Yep. Face the audience at all times and only turn to the slides to see what slide you are on or to point out an illustration. Summarize what you want to say (maybe bulletpoints appear each time you cover a new topic), place illustrations on the slide, anything... but NEVER NEVER read off the slide. The audience could read for themselves, you don't have to read for them.

 

[HN]

do one on the evolution of modem bandwidth speeds and technology; 300 baud all the way up to Caltech's latest bandwidth speed record "sustained data transfer of 101 gigabits per second (Gbps) between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles."

might even convince some people to go broadband (or upgrade their current speeds).

does that count as networking?

 

[Lobstar]

grow ballz

 

[astrosfan90]

Originally posted by: xEDIT409

Originally posted by: erwin1978
If you're not supposed to read off slides then what are you supposed to put in it?

When you present using keynote/powerpoint, you should always be facing the audience. The text on the slide should be keypoints of your speech on that slide. The slide is just there for the audience to get the basic idea of that particular segment of the presentation.

Agreed. For instance;

Slide:
--Put key points for audience to follow along

--Use light colored text on a dark background

--Try to have three main points

Speech:

The idea of the powerpoint is to give the audience some visual reinforcement to help them follow what you're saying. If you spit a lot of information at them, they're less likely to retain it just listening to you unless they have something visual on which to ground it, so having a key point for them to grasp will help them to walk away with an understanding of what you said.

That said, it's extremely important not to blind your audience or use color combinations that are not visible. I highly recommend avoiding any shade of yellow, as it tends to be hard on the eyes, and picking something light for the text over a dark background. My favorite is white text on a royal blue background--this makes it easy to read/see. You will also want to check the size of the text ahead of time from the back of the classroom you'll be presenting in to be sure that it is legible.

Finally, to give your presentation a sense of order and organization, break your argument down into three (or four, if necessary) parts. This will help you time yourself, and give you a few different things to touch on rather than droning on for 15 minutes on the same topic. With three points, you can open by explaining the issue in question, then briefly outline your idea about it. Then proceed with point 1, then 2, then 3, being certain to try and tie them together. Once you get through the three, answer the following question for your audience: "What did I learn from this?" In other words, what should the audience take away from your presentation? This should entail bringing your three points together into a conclusion about your topic. Honestly, alotting 3 minutes a section (intro, points 1-3, conclusion) shouldn't be too daunting.


Other notes to keep in mind; most people when giving presentations do two things--they fidget to the point of distraction, and they talk WAY TOO FAST. Don't do either. Slow, confident presentations will seem more fluid, more coherent, and they will run longer, making it easier for you to make your 15 minute goal.

Good luck with it!

 

[watdahel]

So can I have a printout of my speech and read from it. I might forget stuff. Perhaps, it's better to wing-it on top of my head to be natural.

One of my main concern is how I should present the material. I don't know whether I should begin with a joke to break the ice or just talk away about the gritty details. Should I smile at my audience? Maybe not. I'm a natural introvert. All natural.

I like what astrosfan90 said. You reinforced what I read a few days ago about starting with an issue and then present solutions if you will and then come back to the issue again and restate what is to be done.

 

[Landroval]

DO NOT READ FROM ANYTHING. Put your main points (not long sentences) on the slides, glance at them occasionally, and elaborate. Smile and look enthusiastic. Work on the PPT first, then rehearse it a few time (not memorize) to get the transitions smooth

 

[vegetation]

Make sure not to go too fast. Often nervous presenters just whip through the material without giving the audience a chance to absorb what's being said. Take your time, talk slow especially on your points of emphasis. If you fail to cover all the material in the alloted time, then who cares. It's better they understand what you've covered slowly than understand nothing of what you said when going too fast.

 

[watdahel]

Did I mention I'm presenting in two days.

 

[mAdMaLuDaWg]

No... reading off a paper is not recommended and is actually frowned upon. Actually don't read off anything. Make eye contact with the audience as much as possible. Also, don't try to wing-it... unless you are a natural speaker, it won't work. If you really have stage fright, I guess you could figure out what you are going to say, write down keywords/sentences to help you remember what you are going to say on punch cards so if you have trouble you could look down to help you remember.
Rehearse the presentation (preferably in front of family/friends) to make sure that your timing is right and for practice. I remember this one presentation in college where my whole team had prepared alot to say but we never timed it. Needless to say, we went over the time limit and we had to rush our presentation and things got very ugly.

 

[Yossarian]

you have to accept that you will make a lot of mistakes. confidence is key, and that comes from knowing your material backward and forward. public speaking takes a lot of practice. when you do screw up, just smile and continue.

 

[astrosfan90]

If you don't feel like you can do it without a guide of some sort, have a notepad in front of you with an outline. However, don't put detail on there or you'll wind up staring at it the whole way.

My outlines for presentations usually look like this:

1. Introduction

2. Argument 1
2A. Sub-point 1
2B. Sub-point 2
2C. Sub-point 3

3. Argument 2
3A. Sub-point 1
3B. Sub-point 2
3C. Sub-point 3

4. Argument 3
4A. Sub-point 1
4B. Sub-point 2
4C. Sub-point 3

5. Wrap-up

6. Conclusion

And by the way, even your sub-point and argument notes should only be a few words long on your notecard/paper. That way you won't be tempted to stare at it, but will have enough there to job your memory should you draw a blank. It will keep you on topic, and keep you focused. If you happen to have a statistic that you have trouble remembering or something, you can add this to the paper as well. That said, don't hold the paper. Put it down on the table in front of you or on the podium and don't touch it. Glance at it as necessary, but keep eye contact with your audience the rest of the time.

You should do fine, just rehearse it once or twice. And yes, it can't be stressed enough--don't go too fast.

 

[watdahel]

Thanks for all the great advice. This is my first presentation and now that it's over I think I just got smarter because my head hurts. One notch on my belt. There it is.

I had two days to prepare for it. I was literally still fumbling with the order of the slides minutes before I had to present. I spent two nights reading up on the topic and making the slides. I tried to get three hours of sleep on the day of presentation but probably only got one. I was laying in bed but just couldn't kick the presentation off my mind.

A couple of hours before I left for school, I tried to rehearse what I had and it was a disaster. I couldn't even get off the first slides as if I lost the ability to talk. I was stressed beyond my imagination and I just decided to memorize the order of the slides and pray.

During the presentation I found myself demonstrating some kung fu moves. I don't know how but I think I did the praying mantis style. I tried to keep my arms steady but it was useless. I was surprised that I came close to my alloted time. I thought it would only take me five minutes max. I probably sounded a bit unorganized. Yah, I realize now the importantance of a rehearsal.