Making a Presentation: Part One

If you are reading this then it’s likely that you have been asked to do some kind of presentation and are looking for some tips or advice on what to do. Or you might even be hoping to find a presentation that has been prepared already so that you don’t have to do any work, right?Well, I’m not going to make it that easy for you, but I will help you to put your own presentation together, and guide you through everything, from deciding what topic to choose to what to do on the day.

Step one

So, you need to  prepare a presentation; it may be quite short, so I’m guessing that it will be 5 or 10 minutes. Make sure that you know exactly how long you are allowed to talk for. I know you want to get it over with as soon as possible but it’s often easier to have a bit more time. Once you know how long you have to talk then you can work out how many words to use.  Use this as a guideline:

5 minutes talktime =  750 words

10 minutes talktime =  1,500 words

15 minutes talktime =  2,250 words

This will help you work out roughly how many words to write so that you can fill the time you have been given.

Step two

Ok, next we need to decide what you will talk about.

If you have been given a topic, then great, move on to the research and find out as much as you can step, look for key points and things that you feel are important, and make lots of notes.

If you have been asked to  prepare a presentation on a subject of your choice then this might take a bit more thought. You may have been told to talk about a hobby, or something that interests you. Easy! Pick something that you enjoy – maybe a sport, your favourite band or football team/player, or a film or book that you have enjoyed. Find out as much about your subject as possible and again make lots of notes.

Sometimes, you might be asked to choose a topic and present an argument either for or against it, for example, animal rights, or fox hunting, or smoking in public places. Decide if you agree or disagree with it, and collect your facts in the same way, research and make lots of notes.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t use all of the notes, it’s much better to have them and not use them, than to try and find them again later. The more information you have gathered, the more you have to talk about.

Once you have decided this, then you are ready for Part Two