When preparing for effective presentations, be conscious of the following:
situation: when and where you are speaking,
purpose: what you want to achieve with your speech,
audience: who you are giving the speech to, and
method: how best to accomplish your purpose.
Content
Select a topic you care about to sustain your interest while researching it.
Research widely for supporting material. Record and cite all sources to gain credibility.
Reduce your aim into one sentence to clarify your intent and create a framework for your presentation.
Develop only four or five main points so as to focus your audience’s attention.
Structure your presentation in one of the following ways:
topical: when one idea seems to proceed naturally to the next,
chronological: use a time sequence as an organisational framework,
spatial: organise material according to physical space, or how parts fit into a whole,
compare and contrast: highlight the differences/similarities between concepts,
classification: put things into categories,
cause and effect: show how two events are related to each other, and
problem and solution: offer plausible solutions to given problems.
Structuring Your Presentation
Keep the presentation as brief and precise as possible to sustain audience interest.
Begin clearly by introducing the aim of your presentation to compel the audience to listen to you.
Connect your points using transitions such as ‘and’, ‘in contrast’, ‘more importantly’, ‘in comparison’, ‘Now we’ve dealt with X, let’s look at Y’, and other similar phrases.
Conclude effectively by reviewing previous points instead of disclosing new information.
Concentrate on your message—keep your presentation simple. Audio-visual aids can help your audience stay focused and retain more information. But unless well thought out, the use of audio-visual aids may detract away from or clutter your delivery. Unforeseen problems (e.g. equipment failure) may also easily derail the most planned of presentations.
Choose the most appropriate tool to suit the purpose and venue of the presentation.
Ensure that everyone can read your written points. The words on an OHP transparency should be of a font large and simple enough for easy recognition. When using a flip chart or white board, write in large block letters for legibility; use dark colours to write on a light background and vice versa.
Avoid cluttering slides with too many specific details. List your ideas briefly in point form. Have only a few items, rather than squeeze large amounts, on a single slide. Present statistical information using charts or graphs to let your audience comprehend facts easily.
reference:
http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/success/sl3.htm
