In the course of my work I give a fair number of presentations, and I’ve been to a lot more. The one thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of engineers will spend hours agonizing over the most minute details of how to solve a problem, but complety ‘wing it’ when it comes to giving a presentation.
The telltale sign of unpreparedness is long pauses as they look at slides (presumably trying to figure out what they wanted to say when the put the slide together), or many different variations on the word ‘um’. This last one is particulary deleterious to your presentation as you are actually saying something to your audience that is completely unrelated to your points.
Here is the single most important thing to do before you give a presentation. Do a couple of dry runs by yourself, or with a coworker. This will give you an opportunity to smooth over the worst rough spots, and more importantly give yourself some confidence before you actually stand in front of a room of people.
Some other points to keep in mind.
1. Speak slowly. Many people (especially when nervous) speak way to fast when giving a presentation. Take your time and do a mental “one onethousand” after every major point that you bring up. This gives your audience a chance to actually process what you’re saying instead of you steamrolling them with facts.
2. Make eye contact with different people in the crowd as you are presenting. This gives the talk a much more ‘personal’ feel for all those involved.
3. Have some water with you. If you aren’t used to speaking, your mouth can get really dry. And if all else fails, you can take a drink of water to buy yourself some time while you’re thinking of your next point.
I hope these tips make your next presentation go smoother. Believe me, your audience will appreciate the extra bit of effort that you put into it.
Mat
Posted by Mathew Duafala 
