Presentation skills

Pace and timing

You'll need to practice to get the pace and timing of your presentation right.

Try not to speak too quickly or too slowly – a good speed to aim for is about 100 words per minute. Speak enthusiastically about your topic, and make sure to include brief pauses after important or complicated points. This emphasises your point and gives the audience time to take it in. Pay attention to how professional presenters speak for examples of how to pace yourself and use pauses effectively.

When you are rehearsing your presentation, remember that rehearsing in your mind will be faster, and won't give you a proper indication of how long your presentation really is. Rehearse your presentation out loud to get a proper sense of how long it is.

Engaging with your audience

Remember that when you speak, your voice, tone, gestures and eye contact have a big impact on your audience. To help your audience to engage with your presentation:

• show interest in your topic
• try to look confident and make eye contact
• speak at a good pace, use pauses effectively and make sure your audience can hear you
• ask questions and interact with your audience.

Sometimes we are unaware of habits, such as repeating words like "um", which can distract audiences. Try to rehearse your presentation in front of a friend – they may be able to pick up on some of these habits for you.

Audience participation

You may be required to lead a tutorial discussion on your topic as part of your presentation. It may help to begin with some questions for your audience to get them thinking about the topic.

Start with closed questions that can be answered with "yes" or "no", and when people start to participate more, move on to open questions (e.g. "Why do you think that?").

Be patient: it can take some time for participants to think of a good answer to challenging questions. If your audience is reluctant to answer, try rewording your question or asking a different one.