Download Effective Presentation Tips: Engaging Your Audience and more Study notes Introduction to Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! TIPS FOR PRESENTERS Ruth N. López Turley 1. Relax. Even if you’re nervous, pretend you’re not. Take deep breaths and keep in mind that in just a few weeks, the details of this presentation will most likely not be remembered by your audience. 2. Dress appropriately. How you dress affects how people perceive you. It’s generally a good idea to wear business casual or business attire for presentations. 3. Be aware of your posture. Slouching can make a person appear to be lacking in confidence. 4. Don’t be afraid to move around. Occasional walking around the room can help your audience stay engaged, and it can help you relax. Use a remote mouse to give you freedom of movement. 5. Look out for nervous habits. Some people play with things in their pockets (don’t put anything in your pockets), others speak faster when they are nervous or say “umm…” very often. Be aware of these nervous habits and do your best to avoid them, as they can be very distracting to your audience. 6. Project your voice. Especially if you do not have a microphone, speak as though you are trying to communicate with the people sitting in the back of the room. 7. Do not read your presentation. This kills the dialogue between you and your audience. Instead, use notes that require only occasional glancing or use your slides as your notes. 8. Make frequent eye contact. This makes your presentation feel like a conversation and helps your audience engage with the material you are presenting. 9. Scan the room. Try to connect with all of the people in your audience, not just one section of the room. 10. Use visual aids. Photos, tables, graphs, important quotes, and other materials can be highlighted to help keep your audience engaged. There is an element of “entertaining” that helps get and maintain the audience’s attention. 11. Use large fonts. For all visual aids, be sure that the people in the back of the room can see clearly and without straining. If you can’t fit a table into a slide with large fonts, split it into several slides or (better yet) just present your most important cells. You do not have to present all your output. 12. Present one concept at a time. If using slides, present one bullet point at a time instead of an entire page at a time. If using tables, present one cell or row/column at a time instead of the whole table all at once. If using graphs, present one line or column at a time. This helps people follow and understand your thoughts more easily. Otherwise, the material may seem overwhelming. 13. Do not summarize your work. Researchers are always tempted to summarize everything they’ve done for the project (because they understandably want to show that they’ve worked hard), but this can make your audience lose track of your main point(s). Everything you present should lead toward a main point. 14. Provide a map for your talk. Use markers throughout your talk to remind your audience where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going. This helps people follow your train of thought.
