Giving a Presentation

Giving a Presentation
A quick guide

Giving good presentations is a requirement of university study and of work. Almost every RMIT subject will require you to give a presentation of some kind, and then when you graduate and move into your chosen career, you will need to give presentations to both clients and colleagues. So, developing good presentation skills is important. This guide covers the very basics of good presentations.

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In this handout… Presentation objectives Structure Audience Visual Aids Delivery

Seven points to consider when giving a presentation
1) Purpose of the presentation Having a well-defined purpose will mean that your presentation is clear and focussed. It is not necessary, or desirable, to say everything you know about a topic.  What do you need to achieve with your presentation?  Is the presentation to inform, persuade, entertain or demonstrate?  What should the presentation include or omit? 2) Structure of a presentation A presentation should have three parts:    Introduction: Say what you are going to say. Body: Say it. Conclusion: Say that you said it.

This may seem needlessly repetitive, but people have a tendency to remember the first and last things said to them (the theory of primacy and recency) so the most important message should be stated at the beginning and the end, with the body acting as the logical justification for the position being presented. In the introduction, you should:       Tell your audience who you are and why you are giving this presentation. Tell them what the presentation is about. Tell them what your objectives are. Tell them what the background to the presentation is. Tell them what they can gain from listening to you. Ask some closed (yes/no) questions as this will get the audience involved right at the start.

In the body, you should:     Give details of your topic in a logical and coherent order. Use anecdotes and real examples to illustrate your points (this will