27 Effective Presentations

As one of the goals of the Texas Higher Education Core Curriculum, Oral Communication is one of the components taught in WRC courses. Every career requires some form of presentation, whether that’s meeting with clients, discussing proposals in a board room, selling products to clients, or convincing a company to make changes. The key to any presentation is preparation, and WRC courses will teach the best methods for developing interesting and effective presentations.

Presentations can often be broken into sections: Content, Visuals, Delivery, and Teamwork.

Content: The information that you include in a presentation is determined by your assignment and professor, but there are some ways to ensure that your content is solid.

• Create organization that will guide the content of the slides
• Show you know and care about your material
• Make sure the evidence is relevant and appropriate
• Cite sources aloud and on slides

Visuals: What the audience sees on the slides is very important and should support the presentation of the content.

• Make sure the visuals are relevant and complementary to the content
• Slides should focus on visuals, not text
• Consider how visuals, including picture, fonts, and color choices will be seen from the back of the room (high-contrast colors work best)
• Spell-check and proofread your slides, including citations when needed

Delivery: How you present impacts whether or not the audience hears your presentation.

• Know your audience so you know the necessary level of formality, what language to use, what content to include, and how to dress
• Make eye contact with everyone in the room, not just your instructor as you always should speak to the audience, not the screen
• Be familiar enough with your content, and that of the entire group, so that you can speak extemporaneously about your topic
• Make sure the technology is ready and working before you start the presentation
• Slow down your speaking pace and turn up your speaking volume

Teamwork: Presenting as a team is necessary for strong career preparation, and there are methods to help teams work together.

• Plan the work and presentation – work collaboratively on presentation development
• Decide beforehand, as a group, where everyone will stand; have smooth transitions between speakers
• Make sure there is a clear introduction to the presentation and your group
• Prepare a conclusion – saying “I guess that’s it” or standing around until people clap is awkward
• Practice with the script for the actual presentation, even using voice and/or video recording while practicing to hear how you look and sound