By Nurul Nadhirah Jasmi
Presentation skill is very important in giving the first impression of what is available in a student’s skill set. The students’ ability to conduct a great presentation indicates their competency in working in the future. However, some university students have problem in materialising their presentation into something decent and interesting.
Presentation is an unavoidable part of a student coursework in which they need to become good presenters to secure high marks.
Some students hate it when they are assigned to do presentation as they are not confident with their own self. They are afraid of making mistakes and they are very intimidated to be standing in front of a bunch of audiences for presentation. Therefore, they need to have the skills to survive.
1. Do research on your topic
On the road to be a great presenter, it is important for a person to manage his or her time to collect information about what they are going to present. It must be noted that a presenter needs to ensure that all the information gathered are related with what they are going to present in front of people and the information must be precise and accurate to make their presentation acceptable.
2. Organise your presentation well
An excellent presenter knows how to organise a presentation well. He or she will always try to make the presentation short but easy to understand. Besides that, the person will organise the main points in appropriate order so the presentation will run smoothly without any problem or stuttering. Do not write a complete sentence on your slides, it is enough to make a note with short sentences but concise and easy for the audience to understand. A good presenter will always be ready with a small note cards to help in elaborating or to give further information while doing the presentation.
3. Use an Image that fits the topic
It is important for the presenter to use a correct image while presenting the work. The image used must be related with the topic and it also must be very suitable with what the presenter talks about. For example, if the presenter wants to talk about statistic, it is better for him or her to provide a chart to show the amount of the number instead of just writing the numbers down. A good visual is necessary for the audience to understand the topic.
4. Practice makes perfect
In improving the presentation skill, a presenter need to always practice on their presentation. Try to not read from the slides. Try as much as you can to understand the topic and elaborate the information to the fullest. Keep practicing in front of your friend or family members and get their feedback on your presentation in order to improve your skills.
5. Speak in the right intonation
While doing your presentation it is necessary for you to speak in a right intonation. Do not use extremely high pitch voice while doing the presentation and please do not use a very low pitch. Speech in a clear voice which all people can hear the voice, even the person who is sitting on the last row at the back.
6. Always look presentable
When you know that you need to do a presentation, you should be ready to look good in front of people. Wear a formal outfit and always make yourself look professional in your outfit. Besides, you need to relax and avoid yourself from getting stressed because your appearance will show your level of confidence.
7. Engage with your audience
It is very good if a presenter could use their time wisely to ask a question in order to know if the audiences give attention to the topic presented in front or not. Besides that, you should always make an eye contact with as many audience as you can to show that you really want them to understand and pay attention on what you talking about.
8. Do not avoid from answering question at the end of presentation
This is the mistake that most presenters do where they avoid to answer the question been asked to them. This shows that they are not prepared enough with the information and lack in understanding their own topic or subject. When an audience asking you a question, be relax, do not panic, ask for clarification and repeat the question given to you. Try to answer the question correctly based on your research and understanding. Do not try to add up or create new facts when you are not able to answer the question.
9. Always learn from experience
After finishing your presentation, ask your lecturer for a feedback regarding your presentation either if they have something to say about your presentation. By asking for feedback will help you a lot in making yourself better and it will help to improve your skills a lot, not only in presentation but also in another types of verbal communication.
10. Pay attention to another presentation
After you have done with your presentation, it is good for you to listen to the next person who will do the presentation. It is because from listening to other presentation will help you to learn on how they manage their presentation and you surely will benefit from their skills. As we all know, each presenter will use a different skills to make their presentation interesting and also informative. So, by taking time and focusing on the next presenter will never make you regret with what you have decided as you also can learn from them.
In a nutshell, all of the presentation skills needed to be put in mind by the presenter since it really helps in management and organisation of the presentation. Whether you are a student or not, it is very important to get your messages through without any complications to ensure understanding by the audiences. The knowledge of presentation skills will prove to be very useful when a student moves up to another stage of life, the career stage. With confidence in presenting, comes the respect from others, and respect is important to promote oneself in professional fields. Hence, a student needs to be aware and learn presentation skills correctly.
I hope these tips will help you to improve your presentation skills and give some ideas on how to become a good presenter. ***