With finals season here, presentations are happening left and right so here are a few tips to help you be the best presenter you can be!
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1. Be sure you are making consistent eye contact with the professor and your classmates. There is nothing more distracting from a presentation than a presenter who reads directly from the slides.
2. Be confident. This means standing up tall, trying not to fidget, and speaking in a loud, clear voice. Even if you are a bit nervous, it only matters that you are clearly making an effort for everyone to be able to hear you and to sound confident in what you are saying.
3. Practice, practice, practice! There is nothing worse than listening to a presentation you know is being winged. Also, it will make you feel much better that you know exactly what you want to say and to anticipate and smooth out any bumps before they happen in front of a room full of people.
4. If you need them, flash cards or notes to bring up with you can be super helpful. Sometimes you get really nervous and even if you practiced a ton, being in front of the class presenting can be super stressful and cause you to forget an important point. Bringing flashcards with a phrase or a few words to remind you of certain points can be incredibly helpful and comforting to have.
5. Do not put too many words on your slides. You want people to pay attention to what you are saying, not trying to read what you have on the slides. Images and videos are also helpful visuals to keep people’s attention on what you are saying while they absorb the images.
6. Color cohesiveness is also a lowkey important point. You want people to focus on what you are saying, not trying to recover from your hot pink slides with green font.
7. You want to seem interested in your own topics, so you don’t need to smile the whole time, but look like you are interested in your topic so other people will be too.
8. Be sure you know what the dress code will be for the presentation. Sometimes you need to come in formal wear, and some you can show up in whatever you are comfortable in, so find out the clothing expectations.