has anyone done presentations as part of a degree at university?

Question

has anyone done a degree at university involving presentations. eg especially relating to business studies/marketing. do you have any advice about how to construct these presentations, especially as im nervous talking to big groups. are there any books or fact sheets i could obtain relating to 'giving presentations'?
thanks

Answer 1

Hey...I have women's studies as a minor, and we do a TON of presentations...it's crap. Anyway...best way to do it is with powerpoint, burn the presentation onto a cd, and bring it with you to class...chances are the podium will have the cd drive for ya. In terms of books/fact sheets, you best (cheapest) bet is to google "how to give presentations" or something like that and stuff will come up for you. good luck...remember most people hate giving presentations...just a part of post secondary :) good luck

Answer 2

I'm doing an art history degree and have given a few presentations. Like you,I hate talking to big groups but usually once you get into it,it isnt that bad! Perhaps you could ask your tutor about tips to give a good presentation? If you can,its good to have pictures(or maybe diagrams in your case,I don't know) on a powerpoint display or on slides or use powerpoint to display your main points. That way,people have something to look at,to keep them interested and also they won't be looking so much at you! Also what you can do is prepare a handout,giving bullet points of your presentation so they can take it away and refer back to it if they need to. Good Luck!

Answer 3

In my Masters program, we have to give presentations all the time.

I would make sure you follow these rules:

- 1 slide per minute maximum (so 10 slides for a 10 minute presentation)

- Don't fill the slides with text -- make them soundbites not paragraphs

- Make sure your background color and text are readable by the audience

- Try putting a picture on every slide

- Avoid animation and animated pictures. You are giving a presentation to professional adults not elementary school children and it's patronizing.

- Powerpoint has a feature where you can add notes that no one sees. Use IT. But DO NOT stand with your back to the class and read your slides. Everyone hates it when you read your slides instead of talking to the group.

- Always practice your presentation, it helps if you do it in the room that you will be giving the presentation. That will help check for color of pictures and if the text is readable etc.

- Make sure you have a USB flash drive so that you can make your presentation protable, especially with a lot of pictures in the presentation.

- Avoid giving out your slides as handouts. Make sure that whatever handout you give is a value added reference. If you do give your slides as a handout-- make sure the text and graphs are legible when shrunk down.

Good luck. You will see dozens of bad power point presentations in grad school. Just don't give one!

Answer 4

ask your department for some guidance as to how the presentation is assessed, I have a sheet from my department which I use as guidance for presentations. Essentially to do well, try to remain calm, know what you want to say, but don't talk for too long. Also create a handout and try to refer to this and put any additional information on it. But basically, keep it focused,don't make it too short, or too long, around 15 minutes is good, and don't say everything possible because you want to be able to answer questions afterwards!

Answer 5

Practice your presentation first- you will want to do this at least 3 or 4 times. If you aren't comfortable with yourself first...how can you face a crowd. You also want to make simple and easy to read note cards with your data, and details you find key.

If you get mixed up or nervous...just breath and begin again. While you speak I have found it much easier to pick out people in the audience and talk to them. Pick at random around the room and just say a few sentences to each one. Nobody will know exactly who you are looking at.

Prepare easy to read diagrams that you know will flow with your preso, and have them ready. Practice with any visual aides that you might have.

Answer 6

Do a Google search - there are MILLIONS of websites to help you, or go to your local library.