12. Presentations
- There are three parts to a presentation: Introduction, Body and Conclusion
- Catch your audience's attention quickly - stress the importance of your topic and its relevance to them and / or get them to do something (such as answer a question or discuss something with the person next to them).
- Slides are a visual aid to help your audience follow your message - not an essay
- Don't crowd your slides with text and data.
- Don't forget handouts - you don't need to put all the information on your slides
- Use the slides for pictures, graphics and key words - not sentences
- The rule of 6. Maximum of six bullet points on a slide and no more than six words in a line.
- Don't read a script. Use notes or use the slides themselves to remind you what to say.
- Look up at the audience, not down.
- Arrive early to get set up and deal with any computer problems.
For a full page of useful information, activities, guides and videos about how to make effective presentations, see our Presentations page.
