How to Prepare 8 minutes presentation competition
Preparing your presentation
Even the world’s best public speakers prepare before important presentations. To assist you with your preparations, please find a few suggestions below that will help you in writing your presentation, creating your slide and while practising your verbal presentation.
1. Write for your audience
One of the judging criteria looks for evidence that you can explain your research to a non-specialist audience. To do this you may like to:
avoid jargon and academic language;
explain concepts and people important to your research - you may know all about Professor Smith’s theories but your audience may not;
imagine that you are explaining your research to a close friend or fellow student from another field; and
do not dumb down or devalue your research, what you are doing is exciting and you should convey enthusiasm for your subject.
2. Have a clear outcome in mind
Know what you want your audience to take away from your presentation. Ideally, you would like the audience to leave with an understanding of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
3. Tell a story
You may like to present your presentation like a story, with a beginning, middle and an end. It’s not easy to condense your research into 8 minutes, so you may find it easier to break your presentation down into smaller sections. Try writing an opener to catch their attention, then highlight your different points, and finally have a summary to restate the importance of your work.
4. What not to do
Do not write your presentation like an academic paper. Try to use shorter words, shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs.
You can use humour, however be careful not to dumb down your presentation.
5. Revise
You may like to proof your presentation by reading it aloud, firstly to yourself and then to an audience of friends and family. This allows you to not only check your grammar and writing style, but it will allow you to receive critical feedback. Don’t be afraid to ask your audience if your presentation clearly highlights what your research is and why it is important.