How to plan and deliver presentations

Presenting your work to others

Standing up in front of other people and sharing your ideas can be a stressful experience, but also extremely rewarding intellectually. You may be asked to present your work either individually or as part of a group. This might be part of your assessed work, or a more informal opportunity to receive feedback. 

Designing and delivering a presentation is a test of your ability to communicate knowledge in a clear and accessible way as well as your grasp of the knowledge itself. 

This can sometimes feel challenging and nerve-wracking, but by learning more about the best strategies and techniques for formal presentations in academic settings, you can make the most of this valuable learning environment.

Planning and Delivering Presentations workshop: book hereStart the online tutorial - Presentations: planning, creating, and deliveringWatch the Delivering Presentations video (1:48 minutes)

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Planning your presentation

The more you plan your presentation, the more confidence you will have in the information you are delivering. You need to consider three things throughout this process: topic, time limit, and audience.

1. Your topic

Your topic is what your presentation should be about. This seems obvious, but unless you keep a clear idea of the message you are trying to convey, it's easy to go off on a tangent. You will then lose the clarity of your presentation.

2. Your time limit

Again, this seems obvious, but you will be kept to time and you need to prepare for this.

If you're asked to deliver a short presentation, keep this in mind as you do your background research, to avoid doing unnecessary amounts of reading. You only have a certain amount of time you can spend on your preparation, so make sure you use your time wisely.

3. Your audience

Your audience is key to how you deliver your presentation. You need to consider what they already know, what they need to know, and the type of language that is appropriate for your delivery.

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Structure

Unlike a written piece of work, an audience only gets one chance to engage with the content of a presentation.

With this in mind, your presentation should follow a very simple structure of reinforcement:

1. Tell your audience what you are going to tell them.
2. Tell them.
3. Tell them again what you told them.

This may sound repetitive, but that's exactly what you want: to repeat the key points so that they are clear to your audience and provide a take-home message.

Having a clear structure not only helps your audience to follow your presentation but helps you to keep track of what it is you are trying to explain.

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Individual presentations

Spoken reports detailing your work can take place in a range of settings: the small group classroom, in a one-to-one tutorial, in the workplace or at an academic conference. 

Presentations take different forms, from a read-out mini-lecture to an improvised explanation or elaboration of a series of key points, a question-and-answer session, an audience-activity workshop, or a blend of all of these.

An individual presentation can feel intense as you take centre stage. However, the advantage of this is that you have complete control over your preparation (see below), content and timing.

If you are finding the prospect of a solo presentation in front of an audience stressful, there are a number of strategies you can use to build confidence and overcome the nerves:

• Think about how to organise your presentation. Are you planning to present using the slides as a prompt (in which case be sure to look up from the screen to engage your audience)? Or are you planning to use notes or flash cards? Flash cards can be a great way to give yourself some key prompts and something to do with your hands. 
• If you are finding it difficult to engage with your audience directly, try focusing on a point at the back of the room. This will encourage you to look up and present to the room, while avoiding the pressure of direct eye contact.
• Think about your physical presence. There is evidence that standing tall can help to increase confidence and can make the audience perceive the speaker as more confident.

Book a speaking tutorial with a language specialist who can help you to practise your presentation or explore strategies for answering questions.

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Group presentations

Group presentations share many of the demands of the individual format, but collaboration brings its own benefits and challenges. Strength in numbers can provide a sense of comradeship and relieve individual pressure. But working together means you need to find ways to share the burden of work equally and incorporate the efforts and skills of each group member.

The additional pressures of a group presentation can be particularly significant when a presentation forms part of university coursework.

Like any form of group work, group presentations rely on sharing responsibility and developing strategies to manage group disagreements or imbalances. Remember to take time to understand one another's strengths and areas of confidence so that tasks and responsibilities can be divided up in a way that makes the most of individual skills and abilities.

And just like an individual presentation, making sure you find the time to practice and rehearse the presentation together as a group can be decisive to its success on the day. Consider the following points and build them into your rehearsal time:

• What order are you presenting in?
• Who is taking over from whom? Can you stand in a logical order to cut down on transition times?
• Who is advancing the slides, or are you taking it in turns?
• Who is managing time and how are you going to warn group members to speed up?
• Don't forget to build in time for transitions between presenters!

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Online presentations

Although aspects of presenting online can be more difficult than in-person, there are also some advantages.

You may feel more comfortable presenting in your own environment, with your own IT equipment. You can also control how many faces you see during the presentation: experiment to see if you prefer presenting to one, several, or no faces as you speak.

Whilst the fundamentals of good in-person presenting remain true when presenting online, there are some important considerations that are unique to presenting remotely. 

• Check which platform you will be using. If presenting for a university project, you will most likely be using Blackboard Collaborate or Google Meet.
• If using Collaborate, you can use the Blackboard Test Room to practice uploading your slides ahead of time to check they appear as expected.
• You can also set up your own Google Meet session to practice presenting in, either with peers or by yourself. You can also record the session to review it afterwards.
• Check the sound quality of your devices. Using a headset or external microphone may help transmit warmer, clearer audio, helping participants to understand you more easily.

Visit Digital Learning for students: Blackboard CollaborateVisit Digital Learning for students: Google Meet

Video and audio considerations

• Using your webcam can assist others to understand you (eg if they rely on lipreading) and can help build a more personal connection with your audience. However, you may find it easier to present with your camera off - make sure you have a go at both to find out what you’re most comfortable with.
• If you are using a webcam, try to ensure it is centred and positioned at eye level, so that your head and shoulders take up most of the screen.
• Consider placing your camera or laptop at eye level so you can stand. You may find it easier to present in an energetic and engaging way when you’re not sat down.
• If possible, find a place to present with natural lighting, but avoid positioning the camera in front of a window, as this can result in a backlit image.  Otherwise, consider using household lights to enhance how the image appears on screen.
• Perform to the audience by looking directly into the camera – not at the screen or other participants (a sticker or post-it note pointing to your camera lens can help with this). This takes some practice, but it makes the viewer feel you are speaking directly to them. You may wish to turn off your self-view so you’re not distracted by your own image.
• Make sure your background is appropriate for your audience and projects the image you want to display. If using custom backgrounds, avoid cluttered images. You may also opt to blur the background, but be aware that custom backgrounds can distort movement on the camera.
• Mute yourself when you are not speaking to avoid distracting background noise, and don’t be afraid to ask others to mute theirs if it’s distracting you.

Practical considerations

• Ensure you close any tabs and programmes that you don’t need open.
• Get the best internet connection possible, either by plugging your computer directly into the router with a network cable, or by moving closer to the wireless router.
• If appropriate, ask someone to help moderate the text chat and summarise questions so that you can address these later on.
• Slow down. Just as in an in-person presentation, slowing down will help your audience follow along and ensure you make clear, comprehensible points. This is even more important online, where audio clarity can be more limited. 
• It can be useful to have an introductory slide explaining how you will be using the presentation platform tools eg if you will be using the chat (and how).
• Highlight certain points on your slides by using the cursor, or annotation tools to help the audience follow along.
• ‘Temperature check’ the room by using activities like polls, Q&A, and status responses. Or simply ask your audience to post a relevant emoticon or comment in the chat.

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Preparing for your presentation

Most importantly, for all kinds of presentations, allow time to practice! Make sure you think about how you are going to deliver your presentation and make it engaging.

This is especially important if you are presenting in a group, as transitions can be costly time-wise if unrehearsed. Make sure you have time to revise and edit your presentation, with enough time to rehearse the final edit too.

Make sure you have your ending prepared! Do not simply stop, think about how you will signal to your audience that you are done and ready for questions (if appropriate).

Finally, make sure that you are as comfortable as possible on the day. Plan out what you are going to wear the night before, arrive early to check equipment, and have a bottle of water with you.

The majority of your confidence will come from having a well-researched, structured and practised presentation, so don't worry, take a deep breath, and you will now be ready to go!

Once you have delivered your presentation, seek feedback from your peers or tutors, to help you develop your skills further. Think reflectively about the whole presentation process, as you continue to build this skill.

How to make the most of feedback

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Top Tips

• Preparation is key! You need to consider your topic, time limit, and audience. If you are working as a group, be organised in allocating how this preparation will be done.
• A strong structure will help your presentation to flow. Signpost and wrap up for your audience, make it easy for them to follow, and easy for yourself too.
• Practise! Think about what you are going to say, time how long it takes you to say it. Make sure you are fully comfortable and confident before you need to present. If you are presenting as a group, decide who will say what, and practice transitions.
• Think about yourself as the presenter: plan what you'll wear, take some water with you
• Build-in contingency plans: know where you can cut things out or add bits in to keep to time, and plan how you will deal with difficult questions.

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Next steps 

• How to get the most out of group work
• How to plan and present a research poster
• How to write for a lay audience

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Further Resources

• Student Services Information Desk (SSiD) - Public Speaking and Communicating with Impact 
• Digital Learning - Creating accessible PowerPoint presentations
• BBC BiteSize - Speaking Skills