College Presentations: The Dos and Don'ts

On college syllabuses, nothing seems to inspire more dread than presentation assignments. No one likes giving them (well, except for those on the college Forensics team), and professors love assigning them. Through my four years at college, I developed a strategy for dealing with them. This list won't perform miracles-I still break my own dos and don'ts from time to time (especially eight and nine, oh, and number ten). This column summarizes how you should handle ordinary college presentations. Some professors might demand perfect enunciation and eye contact, others will give you an A just for reading a paper in front of the class. This is a column for those presentations in the middle.

1. Do know more than necessary

This was my number one trick, which is why-surprise, surprise-it's number one on the list. When you're up in front of everyone it's easy to forget what you're going to say next. It's even easier to do this if you don't have a firm grip on what you're discussing. Become an expert on your topic (well, at least as much as an expert you can be under time constraints).

Ideally, you should read broadly on your subject. But the most important thing is to make sure you yourself understand your topic. What were your own questions when you picked the subject? Additionally, think about what the audience might ask you. If you forget your next point, you can spend more time delving more into your current talking point, pre-answering any possible questions. Or just remember interesting side facts. Both buy you some time before you have to move on. It also prepares you for possible Question and Answer sessions after your presentation.

2. Do use an outline

If you are allowed to look at notes, bring an outline with you. Your goal, however, is to have memorized it beforehand and not look at it. What's the point then? It's there if you need it, so you don't freak out if you don't remember something. But it's impressive if you don't look at your notes, and you may cover up other flaws with your presentation. For instance, I always have trouble raising my voice or keeping consistent eye contact, but if I rattle off my presentation without even looking at any notes, people (and hopefully the professor) will forget the negative stuff.

Your outline should consist of what you generally want to cover and the key components of your presentation. The best outline will just be a series of prompts and short little facts. You might also want to include any troublesome dates or names. Do not put full-length sentences on your outline; it'll become too tempting to just read your outline to the class.

3. Do not memorize your speech word for word

While you should commit your outline to memory, you should only memorize what you need to talk about and in what order-notwhat you're going to say word for word. Of course, you should practice a full length speech (ideally in front of friends or family), but don't worry about saying it word for word in your presentation. If you do, you're more likely to have awkward pauses when you try to be unnecessarily precise (hmmm...is it "Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776," or "In 1776, Thomas Jefferson crafted what would be the final break with Great Britain: the Declaration of Independence?").

Basically, you should think of your presentation as an extremely one-sided conversation. You know what you want to say, but how you're going to say it is something you make up as you go along.

4. Do not rely on PowerPoint as your personal prompt

Remember: PowerPoint is for the audience, not for you. If you can't resist dumping huge amounts of text on the slides or reading the slides word for word then you're better off not using PowerPoint.

If you use PowerPoint (which is a good idea if your professor recommends it), clarity should be the number one goal. Text should be large; try to not go below 30 point font. Do not use more than three or four points per slide (and each point shouldn't be longer than two sentences). Use one of the available style templates for your slides; the consistency is easy on the eyes. You should also refrain from using more than two fonts (ideally one serif and one sans serif) or more than two colors for text.

5. Do not worry about gestures

Many pointers on presentations emphasize how you should evenly pace the room or motion with your hands. Others caution that you shouldn't do this too much. It's really up to you. If you follow points one, two, and seven, you should be concentrating so much on what you're saying that you don't even have time to concentrate on gestures (it'll come naturally).

6. Do not worry about enunciating every word

Sure, making sure you're speaking clearly is important. But if you stress each and every syllable, your audience won't know where each sentence begins and ends. Speak as you would normally would talk with friends-unless of course that means dropping the f-bomb every few sentences or mumbling together your words.

7. Do pick a topic you are passionate about

I know I'm being Captain Obvious right now, but this point is crucial. Your job is to get your audience as excited or passionate about your topic as you are. If you hate your subject, then you're not going to be able to transfer your enthusiasm to your classmates.

If you can, pick something you already know about and love to talk about. If it's for a class that you know nothing about, then remember something in your readings that sparked your interest. This also makes entry number one much easier. If you naturally want to know more about your topic, it obviously makes it easier to go above and beyond in your research.

If you're not passionate about your subject (and can't pick another one), pretend that at the end of your lecture your peers have to take a quiz. It's your job to ensure that they pass the quiz.

8. Do keep your audience in mind

This "do" has two aspects. First, remember they're just like you. Almost everyone hates presentations. You are in the same boat with everyone else. Even if you do something embarrassing, they're not going to judge you, they'll just be happy it didn't happen to them. In most cases, they won't even notice. People often think they're shaking, but in reality, it's so minute that no one can detect it. If they do judge you, well then that's their problem. It's not the end of the world, and you won't (err, at least they won't) remember it for long.

The second point is to remember that they probably don't know much about your topic. Don't use jargon; do explain or define special terms. Try to make them excited or passionate about your subject (see point seven). Or just pretend you're telling them a story.

9. Do keep eye contact

This is where having but not using your notes (point number two) comes in handy. You don't have an excuse to look anywhere else but the audience. This point is pretty much self-explanatory and something everyone already knows. To make the audience less intimidating, pretend that they're not looking at you. You can even pretend that they're not paying attention to you (in fact, some of them probably aren't; they're worrying about their own presentations).

10. Do have fun.

Point number seven comes in handy here. Pretend this is an opportunity to get your class excited about your own interests or to teach them something that they may never know otherwise. Just relax; it'll be over soon.