what is a delivery presentation

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Chapter 6: Developing Presentations

39 Methods of Presentation Delivery

The importance of delivery.

Delivery is what you are probably most concerned about when it comes to giving presentations. This chapter is designed to help you give the best delivery possible and eliminate some of the nervousness you might be feeling. To do that, you should first dismiss the myth that public speaking is just reading and talking at the same time. Speaking in public has more formality than talking. During a speech, you should present yourself professionally. This doesn’t necessarily mean you must wear a suit or “dress up”, but it does mean making yourself presentable by being well groomed and wearing clean, appropriate clothes. It also means being prepared to use language correctly and appropriately for the audience and the topic, to make eye contact with your audience, and to look like you know your topic very well.

While speaking has more formality than talking, it has less formality than reading. Speaking allows for flexibility, meaningful pauses, eye contact, small changes in word order, and vocal emphasis. Reading is a more or less exact replication of words on paper without the use of any nonverbal interpretation. Speaking, as you will realize if you think about excellent speakers you have seen and heard, provides a more animated message.

Methods of Presentation Delivery

There are four methods of delivery that can help you balance between too much and too little formality when giving a presentation.

Impromptu Speaking

Impromptu speaking is the presentation of a short message without advance preparation. You have probably done impromptu speaking many times in informal, conversational settings. Self-introductions in group settings are examples of impromptu speaking: “Hi, my name is Steve, and I’m an account manager.” Another example of impromptu presenting occurs when you answer a question such as, “What did you think of the report?” Your response has not been preplanned, and you are constructing your arguments and points as you speak. Even worse, you might find yourself going into a meeting and your boss says, “I want you to talk about the last stage of the project. . . “ and you had no warning.

The advantage of this kind of speaking is that it’s spontaneous and responsive in an animated group context. The disadvantage is that the speaker is given little or no time to contemplate the central theme of his or her message. As a result, the message may be disorganized and difficult for listeners to follow.

Here is a step-by-step guide that may be useful if you are called upon to give an impromptu presentation in public:

• Take a moment to collect your thoughts and plan the main point you want to make.
• Thank the person for inviting you to speak. Avoid making comments about being unprepared, called upon at the last moment, on the spot, or feeling uneasy.
• Deliver your message, making your main point as briefly as you can while still covering it adequately and at a pace your listeners can follow.
• If you can use a structure, using numbers if possible: “Two main reasons . . .” or “Three parts of our plan. . .” or “Two side effects of this drug. . .” Timeline structures are also effective, such as “past, present, and future or East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast”.
• Thank the person again for the opportunity to speak.
• Stop talking (it is easy to “ramble on” when you don’t have something prepared). If in front of an audience, don’t keep talking as you move back to your seat.

Impromptu presentations:  the presentation of a short message without advance preparation . Impromptu presentations are generally most successful when they are brief and focus on a single point.

For additional advice on impromptu speaking, watch the following 4 minute video from Toastmasters: Impromptu Speaking

Manuscript Presentations

Manuscript presentations  are the word-for-word iteration of a written message . In a manuscript presentation, the speaker maintains their attention on the printed page except when using visual aids. The advantage of reading from a manuscript is the exact repetition of original words. In some circumstances this can be extremely important. For example, reading a statement about your organization’s legal responsibilities to customers may require that the original words be exact.

A manuscript presentation may be appropriate at a more formal affair (like a report to shareholders), when your presentation must be said exactly as written in order to convey the proper emotion or decorum the situation deserves.

However, there are costs involved in manuscript presentations. First, it’s typically an uninteresting way to present. Unless the presenter has rehearsed the reading as a complete performance animated with vocal expression and gestures, the presentation tends to be dull. Keeping one’s eyes glued to the script prevents eye contact with the audience. For this kind of “straight” manuscript presentation to hold audience attention, the audience must be already interested in the message and presenter before the delivery begins.

It is worth noting that professional speakers, actors, news reporters, and politicians often read from an autocue device, commonly called a teleprompter, especially when appearing on television, where eye contact with the camera is crucial. With practice, a presenter can achieve a conversational tone and give the impression of speaking extemporaneously and maintaining eye contact while using an autocue device. However, success in this medium depends on two factors: (1) the presenter is already an accomplished public speaker who has learned to use a conversational tone while delivering a prepared script, and (2) the presentation is written in a style that sounds conversational and in spoken rather than written, edited English.

Extemporaneous Presentations

Extemporaneous presentations  are carefully planned and rehearsed presentations, delivered in a conversational manner using brief notes . By using notes rather than a full manuscript, the extemporaneous presenter can establish and maintain eye contact with the audience and assess how well they are understanding the presentation as it progresses. Without all the words on the page to read, you have little choice but to look up and make eye contact with your audience.

Watch the following 10 minute video of a champion speaker presenting his extemporaneous speech: 2017 International Extemporaneous Speaking National Champion — Connor Rothschild Speech

Presenting extemporaneously has some advantages. It promotes the likelihood that you, the speaker, will be perceived as knowledgeable and credible since you know the speech well  enough that you don’t need to read it. In addition, your audience is likely to pay better attention to the message because it is engaging both verbally and nonverbally. It also allows flexibility; you are working from the strong foundation of an outline, but if you need to delete, add, or rephrase something at the last minute or to adapt to your audience, you can do so.

The disadvantage of extemporaneous presentations is that it in some cases it does not allow for the verbal and the nonverbal preparation that are almost always required for a good speech.

Adequate preparation cannot be achieved the day before you’re scheduled to present, so be aware that if you want to present a credibly delivered speech, you will need to practice many times. Because extemporaneous presenting is the style used in the great majority of business presentation situations, most of the information in the subsequent sections of this chapter is targeted toward this kind of speaking.

Memorized Speaking

Memorized speakin g is the recitation of a written message that the speaker has committed to memory. Actors , of course, recite from memory whenever they perform from a script in a stage play, television program, or movie scene. When it comes to speeches, memorization can be useful when the message needs to be exact and the speaker doesn’t want to be confined by notes.

The advantage to memorization is that it enables the speaker to maintain eye contact with the audience throughout the speech. Being free of notes means that you can move freely around the stage and use your hands to make gestures. If your speech uses visual aids, this freedom is even more of an advantage. However, there are some real and potential costs.

First, unless you also plan and memorize every vocal cue (the subtle but meaningful variations in speech delivery, which can include the use of pitch, tone, volume, and pace), gesture, and facial expression, your presentation will be flat and uninteresting, and even the most fascinating topic will suffer. Second, if you lose your place and start trying to ad lib, the contrast in your style of delivery will alert your audience that something is wrong. More frighteningly, if you go completely blank during the presentation, it will be extremely difficult to find your place and keep going. Obviously, memorizing a typical seven-minute presentation takes a great deal of time and effort, and if you aren’t used to memorizing, it is very difficult to pull off. Realistically, you probably will not have the time necessary to give a completely memorized speech. However, if you practice adequately, your approach will still feel like you are being extemporaneous.

Communication for Business Professionals Copyright © 2018 by eCampusOntario is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Article • 10 min read

How to Deliver Great Presentations

Presenting like a pro.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Key takeaways:

• Connect with and understand your audience . Who is attending and why? What are their needs and expectaions?
• Prepare your content . How to start and finish strong. Tips to keep your audience engaged.
• Deliver confidently . Get comfortable with your visual aids. How to use body language effectively.
• Control the environment . Practice, practice, practice! Handling equipment failures. Have a back up plan.

Ever been to a really bad presentation? You know, the kind where the speaker stands behind the podium, uses slides that mirror what he is saying directly, and includes lots of data tables to validate his position.

But. "What's so bad about that?" you ask. "Isn't that how most presentations are given?" Yes. That is how most presentations are delivered, but that doesn't mean that's the most effective way to deliver them. This kind of presentation risks boring your audience to the point where they start wishing for a fire alarm to go off so they can escape. And once you lose someone, it is next to impossible to bring her attention back.

If the information you are presenting is important enough for you to deliver orally, then it demands an appropriate amount of planning and preparation so that the information you present is memorable – for the right reasons. Give a bad presentation and you'll be remembered all right: it just won't be the type of impression you want to leave in anyone's mind.

When someone presents well, it sends the message that the person is capable, confident, intelligent, and competent. These people get noticed and that type of attention bodes well for your career. Even if you don't make formal presentations in your current position, think about the future and keep in mind that you do have to present your ideas and opinions on a daily basis. The same basic principles of effective delivery apply.

Four Principles of Great Presentations

• Connect With and Understand Your Audience.
• Prepare Your Content.
• Deliver Confidently.
• Control the Environment.

1. Connect With and Understand Your Audience

To deliver a great presentation you have to consider the following audience characteristics:

• Profile – Who are they? What is the common element that brings them together?
• Needs – Why are they attending the presentation? What do they need to know after you've finished?
• Wants – What do they want from the presentation? Do they want to increase knowledge, learn something or be entertained? How can you connect their interests with your message?
• Expectations – What do they expect in terms of content and length?
• Current Knowledge – How much explanation do you need to provide? What assumptions can you make?

When you know your audience, you can prepare content that appeals to them specifically. If you pass over this first crucial step you risk delivering a presentation that is content rich and relevance poor.

2. Prepare Your Content

Now that you know who you are presenting to and why they are there, you can determine what to present. Here are some tips for content preparation:

• Don't try to cover everything. As Voltaire said, "The secret of being a bore is to tell all." Great presentations stimulate thoughts, questions, and discussion. Develop your content so that it covers the main points but leaves room for the audience to apply the information to their own circumstances.
• Start off well with a great hook – you only have a few minutes right at the start to fully engage the audience. Don't use this time to present background information. Get your audience charged up and eager to listen. Make the relevance immediately obvious.
• Also, start by telling your audience where you are heading. Don't make them wait for your conclusion, tell them up front what your premise or purpose is. This helps your audience stay focused. They may or may not agree with you at the start, but they will be able to quickly spot all of your supporting arguments.
• Your presentation should have five to seven take-away points. This follows the chunking principle , which you can learn more about here .
• Tell a story, make comparisons, and use lots of examples. Be sure to mix up the type of content to stimulate audience interest.
• Present your ideas logically using supporting evidence as necessary.
• Provide only as much background information as needed.
• Outline actions or next steps that are required.
• Develop a strong close, including a summary. Bring your conclusions back around to audience need and the hook you created. Consider ending with a question designed to stimulate further discussion.

For a similar but a subtly different approach, see our article on the Rhetorical Triangle .

3. Deliver Confidently

There are two main aspects of your delivery: your visual aids and your style. We'll look at them separately.

Unless your presentation is very short, you will need some sort of visual aid to keep the attention of your audience. There is a fine line, though, between drawing attention to your points, and distracting the audience from what you are saying. Here are some key factors to consider when designing slides:

• Keep slides simple and easy to understand.
• When explaining, start with the overall concept and then move to the details.
• The information on the slide should add value to your presentation or summarize it – it is not meant to be your presentation.
• Ensure that any charts, graphs or tables you include are very simple and easy to read. Use them sparingly.
• Use images (clip art and photos) sparingly and make sure the image means something and isn't just there to fill up space.
• Use pleasant color schemes, high contrast, simple fonts, and bold and italic to add meaning to words.
• Don't use fly-ins, fade-ins or outs or other animations unless absolutely necessary to really emphasize a point. How many times have you been put into a hypnotic state watching words or lines fly into a presentation?

Delivery Style

The way you deliver the content is often what makes or breaks a presentation. Here are some pointers to remember:

• Use gestures for meaning, not for comfort. Try not to talk with your hands or move about carelessly. Everything you do should have purpose i.e. gesture to the visual aid to draw the audience's attention.
• Pause for effect after main points or after you present a visual aid.
• Step out from behind the podium and connect with your audience – make sure you have a remote control device to change slides or cue other types of visuals.
• Talk loudly enough for people at the back to hear, or use a microphone.
• Make eye contact and hold it for three to five seconds. Any less and it looks like you are merely scanning the crowd.
• Be passionate – show your audience that you care about what you are saying.
• Consider putting up a blank or low-content screen between slides – this puts the attention where it should be: on you!
• Change your pace and style from time to time.
• Be natural – don't try to be a comedian if you're not.
• Finish early rather than late.

When you present with confidence and authority, your audience will pay attention and react to you as someone who is worth listening to. Fake it if you need to, by turning your nervousness into creative and enthusiastic energy.

4. Control the Environment

You won't ever eliminate all sources of problems, but through diligent planning and preparation, you can mitigate your risks.

• Practice, practice, practice: The ultimate goal is to deliver your presentation note-free. Short of that, you want to be sure you are comfortable with the material and that nothing comes as a surprise. Consider practicing in front of a video camera and reviewing your delivery. Don't take short-cuts here because it shows! The point is for the presentation to look effortless – when you struggle, the audience focuses on you, and not on what you are saying.
• Keep the lights on: when you darken the room, the screen stands out, not you. And it also encourages sleep, which you want to avoid at all costs!
• Always have back-ups and a backup plan. What if you forget your material? What will you do if the CD won't load? What if the equipment doesn't arrive on time? Plan for as many contingencies as possible.
• Dress appropriately for the situation – find out in advance what the dress code will be.
• Have a policy for answering questions – let your audience know when they can ask questions so you aren't inappropriately interrupted.
• Finish on time, every time. Last impressions are just as important as first ones.

Presenting is not a natural activity and to do it well requires careful thought and lots of practice.

You can choose to be average, or even below average, by simply emulating what most other presenters do. Or, you can take your presentations to the next level and leave your audiences with a powerful message that they remember, while keeping them interested and connected from start to finish.

To do this you need to pay strict attention to your audience analysis, content preparation, delivery style, and the external environment. When you control these for optimum audience relevance, interest, and engagement you are ready to deliver a great presentation.

The final element you must add is lots and lots of practice. Make your next presentation great by planning and preparing well in advance and making it look like it does come naturally to you.

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How to Deliver Effective Presentations

Last Updated: October 5, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Maureen Taylor . Maureen Taylor is the CEO and Founder of SNP Communications, a leadership communications company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been helping leaders, founders, and innovators in all sectors hone their messaging and delivery for almost 30 years, and has worked with leaders and teams at Google, Facebook, Airbnb, SAP, Salesforce, and Spotify. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 578,893 times.

Delivering presentations is an everyday art form that anyone can master. To capture your audience's attention, present your information with ease and confidence. Act as if you are in a conversation with your audience, and they will pay attention to you. To get this level of fluency, write an engaging narrative, use more visuals than text in your slides, and practice, practice, practice.

Rehearsing Your Presentation

• Deliver your summary to them in friendly, direct language, as if you were telling the story to a friend in a bar.
• In fact, you can tell the story to a friend in a bar. However, telling a colleague over coffee can work just as well.
• Get them to tell you what their takeaway was. If they can summarize your message accurately, that's a good sign.

• Ask them to be your coach.
• Give them your presentation once or twice and let them ask you questions and give feedback.
• Ask them to point out moments that are dull or confusing.

• Write down what you're afraid of. What exactly worries you when you give a speech? Looking foolish? Being asked a hard question? Write down your exact fears, and then consider them each individually.
• Think about what you will do in each situation. For instance, if your fear is, "I'll forget what I'm saying," you can prepare a plan like, "If I forget what I'm saying, I'll pause, scan my notes, and find the next important point I need to make."
• Catch your negative thoughts, and calm them. If you think, "I'm going to get nervous and sweaty," replace it with, "I have important information to deliver and everyone is going to pay attention to that."

• Give yourself extra time if you plan to take questions, or if you anticipate lots of digressions.

• This doesn't mean sticking to a strict script every time. Instead, when you rehearse, improvise freely. Deliver your main points, but include quips and anecdotes that occur to you as you go. You'll remember the best ones when you actually deliver the presentation.

Delivering Your Presentation with Confidence

• Remind yourself that your audience likely can't see your nerves.
• Take a deep breath and exhale before you go on stage.

• If there are too many people to really see faces, just look boldly into the crowd.

• Move your hands as you speak. Don't wave them, as this will make you look nervous. Instead, try calmly gesturing with your palm out when you make a point. If you describe a shape, draw it in the air with your hands.

Crafting a Compelling Presentation

• Have a clear through line that runs through all parts of your presentation, leading to your main point.
• Include stories that put your listeners into a situation. Get their energy with tactile details (sound, sight, smell, taste, touch) and descriptions of an emotional state.
• Include moments of reflection in which you share how you felt or feel.

• As always with humor in a work setting, remember that humor varies widely between cultures. Avoid making any jokes that make fun of anybody's sex, gender, race, class, or ability. Remember to "punch up"—if your jokes take someone on, take on someone with more power than you, rather than less.
• If you get nervous, try starting your presentation with a simple joke or a funny story. It will put you and your audience at ease.

• Ask the crowd to consider something or imagine something, and hold a moment of quiet while they do.
• Interactive moments make great pivots from one section of your talk to another.

• Will these be experts, or newcomers to your ideas? If they're experts, you'll need to present them with specific, technical, and new ideas. If they're newcomers, plan to introduce them more generally to your topic, and avoid technical terms.
• Will audience members be on your side from the start, or will they need persuading?
• Will you have a large, faceless crowd, or a small group? If you're working with a small group, you can include them in parts of your presentation through questions, personal digressions, and conversations.

How Should You End a Presentation?

Expert Q&A

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• ↑ http://firstround.com/review/This-Advice-From-IDEOs-Nicole-Kahn-Will-Transform-the-Way-You-Give-Presentations/
• ↑ https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/rehearse-your-presentation
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/speech-anxiety
• ↑ https://www.unr.edu/writing-speaking-center/student-resources/writing-speaking-resources/speech-anxiety
• ↑ https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/speaking-audience
• ↑ https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/public-speaking-tips/gestures-and-body-language

About This Article

If you're worried about delivering an effective presentation, go over your notes again and make sure your presentation is telling a story with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. This type of structure will make it easier for people to follow along, and when you finish your presentation, they'll be more likely to remember what it was about! If you're still unsure, try practicing in front of other people before the big day. By rehearsing your presentation in advance, you'll not only feel more comfortable when you present it in front of an audience, but you can also get helpful feedback from your peers to make your presentation even better. Alternatively, if you're feeling a little nervous, identify what exactly you're afraid of happening during your presentation, and then come up with a plan for each scenario so you're less stressed about it. For example, if you're worried about forgetting what to say next, you could make a list of all the important points you need to make and have it with you during your presentation. For tips from our Communications co-author, like how to appear confident during a presentation, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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7.2 Methods of Presentation Delivery

Jordan Smith; Melissa Ashman; eCampusOntario; Brian Dunphy; Andrew Stracuzzi; and Linda Macdonald

The Importance of Delivery

Delivery is what you are probably most concerned about when it comes to giving presentations. This section is designed to help you give the best delivery possible and eliminate some of the nervousness you might be feeling. To do that, you should first dismiss the myth that presenting is just reading and talking at the same time. Presentations have more formality than talking. During a presentation, such as an oral report, you should project professionalism. This means meeting the expectations of your situation and audience. Start by being well groomed and wearing clean, appropriate clothes for the situation. Professionalism in speaking also means being prepared to use language correctly and appropriately for the audience and the topic, making eye contact with your audience, projecting confidence, and knowing your topic very well.

Methods of Presentation Delivery

There are four methods of delivery that can help you balance between too much and too little formality and memorization when giving a presentation.

Impromptu Speaking

Impromptu speaking is the presentation of a short message without advance preparation. You have probably done impromptu speaking many times in informal, conversational settings. Self-introductions in group settings are examples of impromptu speaking: “Hi, my name is Jocelyn, and I’m an account manager.” Another example of impromptu presenting occurs when you answer a question such as, “What did you think of the report?” Your response has not been pre-planned, and you are constructing your arguments and points as you speak.

The advantage of this kind of speaking is that it is spontaneous and responsive in a group context. The disadvantage is that the speaker is given little or no time to think of the central theme of their message. As a result, the message may be disorganized and difficult for listeners to follow.

This step-by-step guide may be useful if you are called upon to give an impromptu presentation in public:

• Take a moment to collect your thoughts and plan the main point you want to make. You might write a few keywords on a notepad if you have one near.
• Thank the person for inviting you to speak. Avoid making comments about being unprepared, called upon at the last moment, on the spot, or feeling uneasy.
• Deliver your message, making your main point as briefly as you can while still covering it adequately and at a pace your listeners can follow.
• If you can use a structure, using numbers if possible: “Two main reasons . . .” or “Three parts of our plan. . .” or “Two side effects of this drug. . .” Timeline structures are also effective, such as “past, present, and future” or “East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast”.
• Thank the person again for the opportunity to speak.
• Stop talking (it is easy to “ramble on” when you do not have something prepared). If in front of an audience, do not keep talking as you move back to your seat.

Impromptu presentations are generally most successful when they are brief and focus on a single point.

For additional advice on impromptu speaking, watch the following 4-minute video from Toastmasters: Impromptu Speaking :

(Direct link to Toastmasters Impromptu Speaking )

Manuscript Presentations

Manuscript presentations  are the word-for-word iteration of a written message . The advantage of reading from a manuscript is the exact repetition of original words. In some circumstances, this exact wording can be extremely important. For example, reading a statement about your organization’s legal responsibilities to customers may require that the original words be exact. Acceptable uses of a manuscript include

• Highly formal occasions (e.g. a commencement speech)
• Particularly emotional speeches (e.g. a wedding speech, a eulogy)
• Situations in which word-for-word reading is required (e.g. a speech written by someone else; a corporate statement; a political speech)
• Within a larger speech, the reading of a passage from another work (e.g. a poem; a book excerpt).

Manuscript presentations, however, have a significant disadvantage: Your connection with the audience may be affected. Eye contact, so important for establishing credibility and relationship, may be limited by reading, your use of gestures will be limited if you are holding a manuscript, and a handheld manuscript itself might appear as a barrier between you and the audience. In addition, it is difficult to change language or content in response to unpredictable audience reactions. Reading a manuscript is not as easy as one might think. Keeping your place in a manuscript is difficult and most of us will sound monotone.

• Write the speech in a conversational style, and
• Practice your speech so that it flows naturally.

Preparation will make the presentation more engaging and enhance your credibility:

• Select and edit material so that it fits within your time limit;
• Select material that will be meaningful for your particular audience;
• Know the material well so that you can look up at your audience and back at the manuscript without losing your place; and
• Identify keywords for emphasis.

An essential part of preparation is preparing your manuscript. The following suggestions are adapted from the University of Hawai’i Maui Community College Speech Department:

• Use a full 8.5 x 11inch sheet of paper, not notecards.
• Use only one side of the page.
• Include page numbers.
• Use double or triple line spacing.
• Use a minimum of 16 pt. font size.
• Avoid overly long or complex sentences.
• Use bold or highlight the first word of each sentence, as illustrated by the University of Hawai’i.

• Add notations—“slow down,” “pause,” “look up,” underline keywords, etc. as reminders about delivery.
• Highlight words that should be emphasized.
• Add notes about pronunciation.
• Include notations about time, indicating where you should be at each minute marker.

To deliver the speech effectively, make sure you are comfortable with the manuscript delivery style. To engage your audience,

• Practice your presentation.
• Try to avoid reading in a monotone. Just as contrast is important for document design, contrast is important in speaking. Vary your volume, pace, tone, and gestures.
• Make sure that you can be clearly understood. Speak loud enough that the back of the room can hear you, pronounce each word clearly, and try not to read too fast.
• Maintain good eye contact with your audience. Look down to read and up to speak.
• Match gestures to the content of the speech, and avoid distracting hand or foot movements.
• If there is no podium, hold the manuscript at waist height.

Memorized Speaking

Memorized speakin g is the recitation of a written message that the speaker has committed to memory. Actors , of course, recite from memory whenever they perform from a script in a stage play, television program, or movie scene. When it comes to speeches, memorization can be useful when the message needs to be exact and the speaker does not want to be confined by notes.

The advantage to memorization is that it enables the speaker to maintain eye contact with the audience throughout the speech. Being free of notes means that you can move freely around the stage and use your hands to make gestures. If your speech uses visual aids, this freedom is even more of an advantage. However, there are some real and potential costs.

First, unless you also plan and memorize every vocal cue (the subtle but meaningful variations in speech delivery, which can include the use of pitch, tone, volume, and pace), gesture, and facial expression, your presentation will be flat and uninteresting, and even the most fascinating topic will suffer and you will not effectively engage your audience. (Manuscript speaking often suffers the same fate.) Second, if you lose your place and start trying to ad lib, the contrast in your style of delivery will alert your audience that something is wrong. More frighteningly, if you go completely blank during the presentation, it will be extremely difficult to find your place and keep going. Memorizing a presentation takes a great deal of time and effort to achieve a natural flow and conversational tone.

Extemporaneous Presentations

The extemporaneous speaking style benefits from the flexibility and naturalness that comes with impromptu speaking as well as the benefits of well-developed content and organization that comes with manuscript or memorized speaking. This presentation delivery style maximizes all of the benefits of the various presentation styles while minimizing their challenges.

Extemporaneous presentations are carefully planned and rehearsed presentations, delivered in a conversational manner using brief notes or a slide deck . By using notes rather than a full manuscript, the extemporaneous presenter can establish and maintain eye contact with the audience and assess how well they are understanding the presentation as it progresses.

To avoid over-reliance on notes or slides, you should have a strong command of your subject matter.  Then select an organizational pattern that works well for your topic. Your notes or slide deck should reflect this organizational pattern. In preparation, create an outline of your speech.

Watch some of the following 10-minute videos of a champion speaker presenting an extemporaneous speech at the 2017 International Extemporaneous Speaking National Champion. :

(Direct link to 2017 International Extemporaneous Speaking National Champion video)

Presenting extemporaneously has some advantages. It promotes the likelihood that you, the speaker, will be perceived as knowledgeable and credible since you know the speech well  enough that you do not need to read it. In addition, your audience is likely to pay better attention to the message because it is engaging both verbally and non-verbally. It also allows flexibility; you are working from the strong foundation of an outline, but if you need to delete, add, or rephrase something at the last minute or to adapt to your audience, you can do so.

Adequate preparation cannot be achieved the day before you are scheduled to present, so be aware that if you want to present a credibly delivered speech, you will need to practice many times. Extemporaneous presenting is the style used in the great majority of business presentation situations.

7.2 Methods of Presentation Delivery Copyright © 2022 by Jordan Smith; Melissa Ashman; eCampusOntario; Brian Dunphy; Andrew Stracuzzi; and Linda Macdonald is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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What Are Effective Presentation Skills (and How to Improve Them)

Presentation skills are essential for your personal and professional life. Learn about effective presentations and how to boost your presenting techniques.

At least seven out of 10 Americans agree that presentation skills are essential for a successful career [ 1 ]. Although it might be tempting to think that these are skills reserved for people interested in public speaking roles, they're critical in a diverse range of jobs. For example, you might need to brief your supervisor on research results.

Presentation skills are also essential in other scenarios, including working with a team and explaining your thought process, walking clients through project ideas and timelines, and highlighting your strengths and achievements to your manager during performance reviews.

Whatever the scenario, you have very little time to capture your audience’s attention and get your point across when presenting information—about three seconds, according to research [ 2 ]. Effective presentation skills help you get your point across and connect with the people you’re communicating with, which is why nearly every employer requires them.

Understanding what presentation skills are is only half the battle. Honing your presenting techniques is essential for mastering presentations of all kinds and in all settings.

What are presentation skills?

Presentation skills are the abilities and qualities necessary for creating and delivering a compelling presentation that effectively communicates information and ideas. They encompass what you say, how you structure it, and the materials you include to support what you say, such as slides, videos, or images.

You'll make presentations at various times in your life. Examples include:

Making speeches at a wedding, conference, or another event

Making a toast at a dinner or event

Explaining projects to a team 

Delivering results and findings to management teams

Teaching people specific methods or information

Proposing a vote at community group meetings

Pitching a new idea or business to potential partners or investors

Why are presentation skills important? 

Delivering effective presentations is critical in your professional and personal life. You’ll need to hone your presentation skills in various areas, such as when giving a speech, convincing your partner to make a substantial purchase, and talking to friends and family about an important situation.

No matter if you’re using them in a personal or professional setting, these are the skills that make it easier and more effective to convey your ideas, convince or persuade others, and experience success. A few of the benefits that often accompany improving your presentation skills include:

Enriched written and verbal communication skills

Enhanced confidence and self-image

Boosted critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities

Better motivational techniques

Increased leadership skills

Expanded time management, negotiation, and creativity

The better your presenting techniques, the more engaging your presentations will be. You could also have greater opportunities to make positive impacts in business and other areas of your life.

Effective presentation skills

Imagine yourself in the audience at a TED Talk or sitting with your coworkers at a big meeting held by your employer. What would you be looking for in how they deliver their message? What would make you feel engaged?

These are a few questions to ask yourself as you review this list of some of the most effective presentation skills.

Verbal communication

How you use language and deliver messages play essential roles in how your audience will receive your presentation. Speak clearly and confidently, projecting your voice enough to ensure everyone can hear. Think before you speak, pausing when necessary and tailoring the way you talk to resonate with your particular audience.

Body language

Body language combines various critical elements, including posture, gestures, eye contact, expressions, and position in front of the audience. Body language is one of the elements that can instantly transform a presentation that would otherwise be dull into one that's dynamic and interesting.

Voice projection

The ability to project your voice improves your presentation by allowing your audience to hear what you're saying. It also increases your confidence to help settle any lingering nerves while also making your message more engaging. To project your voice, stand comfortably with your shoulders back. Take deep breaths to power your speaking voice and ensure you enunciate every syllable you speak.

How you present yourself plays a role in your body language and ability to project your voice. It also sets the tone for the presentation. Avoid slouching or looking overly tense. Instead, remain open, upright, and adaptable while taking the formality of the occasion into account.

Storytelling

Incorporating storytelling into a presentation is an effective strategy used by many powerful public speakers. It has the power to bring your subject to life and pique the audience’s curiosity. Don’t be afraid to tell a personal story, slowly building up suspense or adding a dramatic moment. And, of course, be sure to end with a positive takeaway to drive your point home.

Active listening

Active listening is a valuable skill all on its own. When you understand and thoughtfully respond to what you hear—whether it's in a conversation or during a presentation—you’ll likely deepen your personal relationships and actively engage audiences during a presentation. As part of your presentation skill set, it helps catch and maintain the audience’s attention, helping them remain focused while minimizing passive response, ensuring the message is delivered correctly, and encouraging a call to action.

Stage presence

During a presentation, projecting confidence can help keep your audience engaged. Stage presence can help you connect with your audience and encourage them to want to watch you. To improve your presence, try amping up your normal demeanor by infusing it with a bit of enthusiasm. Project confidence and keep your information interesting.

Watch your audience as you’re presenting. If you’re holding their attention, it likely means you’re connecting well with them.

Self-awareness

Monitoring your own emotions and reactions will allow you to react well in various situations. It helps you remain personable throughout your presentation and handle feedback well. Self-awareness can help soothe nervousness during presentations, allowing you to perform more effectively.

Writing skills

Writing is a form of presentation. Sharp writing skills can help you master your presentation’s outline to ensure you stay on message and remain clear about your objectives from the beginning until the end. It’s also helpful to have strong writing abilities for creating compelling slides and other visual aids.

Understanding an audience

When you understand your audience's needs and interests, you can design your presentation around them. In turn, you'll deliver maximum value to them and enhance your ability to make your message easy to understand.

Learn more about presentation skills from industry experts at SAP:

How to improve presentation skills

There’s an art to public speaking. Just like any other type of art, this is one that requires practice. Improving your presentation skills will help reduce miscommunications, enhance your time management capabilities, and boost your leadership skills. Here are some ways you can improve these skills:

Work on self-confidence.

When you’re confident, you naturally speak more clearly and with more authority. Taking the time to prepare your presentation with a strong opening and compelling visual aids can help you feel more confident. Other ways to improve your self-confidence include practicing positive self-talk, surrounding yourself with positive people, and avoiding comparing yourself (or your presentation) to others.

Develop strategies for overcoming fear.

Many people are nervous or fearful before giving a presentation. A bad memory of a past performance or insufficient self-confidence can contribute to fear and anxiety. Having a few go-to strategies like deep breathing, practicing your presentation, and grounding can help you transform that fear into extra energy to put into your stage presence.

Learn grounding techniques.

Grounding is any type of technique that helps you steer your focus away from distressing thoughts and keeps you connected with your present self. To ground yourself, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and imagine you’re a large, mature tree with roots extending deep into the earth—like the tree, you can become unshakable.

Learn how to use presentation tools.

Visual aids and other technical support can transform an otherwise good presentation into a wow-worthy one. A few popular presentation tools include:

Canva: Provides easy-to-design templates you can customize

Powtoon: Animation software that makes video creation fast and easy

PowerPoint: Microsoft's iconic program popular for dynamic marketing and sales presentations

Practice breathing techniques.

Breathing techniques can help quell anxiety, making it easier to shake off pre-presentation jitters and nerves. It also helps relax your muscles and get more oxygen to your brain.  For some pre-presentation calmness, you can take deep breaths, slowly inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

While presenting, breathe in through your mouth with the back of your tongue relaxed so your audience doesn't hear a gasping sound. Speak on your exhalation, maintaining a smooth voice.

Gain experience.

The more you practice, the better you’ll become. The more you doanything, the more comfortable you’ll feel engaging in that activity. Presentations are no different. Repeatedly practicing your own presentation also offers the opportunity to get feedback from other people and tweak your style and content as needed.

Tips to help you ace your presentation

Your presentation isn’t about you; it’s about the material you’re presenting. Sometimes, reminding yourself of this ahead of taking center stage can help take you out of your head, allowing you to connect effectively with your audience. The following are some of the many actions you can take on the day of your presentation.

Arrive early.

Since you may have a bit of presentation-related anxiety, it’s important to avoid adding travel stress. Give yourself an abundance of time to arrive at your destination, and take into account heavy traffic and other unforeseen events. By arriving early, you also give yourself time to meet with any on-site technicians, test your equipment, and connect with people ahead of the presentation.

Become familiar with the layout of the room.

Arriving early also gives you time to assess the room and figure out where you want to stand. Experiment with the acoustics to determine how loudly you need to project your voice, and test your equipment to make sure everything connects and appears properly with the available setup. This is an excellent opportunity to work out any last-minute concerns and move around to familiarize yourself with the setting for improved stage presence.

Listen to presenters ahead of you.

When you watch others present, you'll get a feel for the room's acoustics and lighting. You can also listen for any data that’s relevant to your presentation and revisit it during your presentation—this can make the presentation more interactive and engaging.

Use note cards.

Writing yourself a script could provide you with more comfort. To prevent sounding too robotic or disengaged, only include talking points in your note cards in case you get off track. Using note cards can help keep your presentation organized while sounding more authentic to your audience.

Learn to deliver clear and confident presentations with Dynamic Public Speaking from the University of Washington. Build confidence, develop new delivery techniques, and practice strategies for crafting compelling presentations for different purposes, occasions, and audiences.

Article sources

Forbes. “ New Survey: 70% Say Presentation Skills are Critical for Career Success , https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2014/09/25/new-survey-70-percent-say-presentation-skills-critical-for-career-success/?sh=619f3ff78890.” Accessed December 7, 2022.

Beautiful.ai. “ 15 Presentation and Public Speaking Stats You Need to Know , https://www.beautiful.ai/blog/15-presentation-and-public-speaking-stats-you-need-to-know. Accessed December 7, 2022.

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This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

• Student Support Services
• Subject Guides

Essential Study Skills

• Introduction to Time Management
• Getting Things Done
• Creating a Weekly Schedule
• Creating a Semester Plan
• Planning an Assignment
• Creating a Task List
• Putting it all together
• Additional Resources
• Coping With Stress
• Changing Your Perception of Stress
• Problem Solving To Manage Stress
• Reading with Purpose
• Taking Notes in Class
• Deciding What To Study
• Knowing How to Study
• Memorizing and Understanding Concepts
• Taking Tests & Exams
• Creating and Preparing For a Presentation
• Presentation Anxiety

Delivering Presentations

• Exploring Career Options
• Identifying Areas of Interest
• Knowing Yourself
• Exploring the Labour Market
• Researching College Programs
• Setting Goals
• Tackling Problems
• Bouncing Back
• Sleep Matters
• Sleep Habits
• Sleep Strategies
• Meeting with Your Group
• Agreeing on Expectations
• Dealing With Problems
• Study in Groups

Once you have created your presentation and your visual aids, and you have prepared for the presentation, you can deliver it to your audience. This module will help you learn how to confidently deliver your presentation.

Strategies for Your Presentation

How to deliver an effective presentation.

Watch this video or read the tips below to learn some techniques for delivering a presentation.

• Video Transcript - How to Deliver an Effective Presentation

Tips for Delivering a Good Presentation

• Have good posture
• Smile and act relaxed. It will make you look and feel more confident.
• Make eye contact with your audience instead of reading off your notes the entire time.
• Avoid distracting behaviours, like chewing gum or fidgeting.
• Watch for nervous gestures, such as rocking, or tapping.
• Make sure to dress appropriately for your profession.
• Take time to think during your presentation! People have a tendency to speak more quickly under pressure. Make an effort to slow your pace and include pauses. Speaking slower will also help you avoid excessive verbal fillers like “ummm” or “ahhhh”.
• Pay attention to your volume. Think about projecting your voice to the back of the classroom so that everyone can hear what you have to say.
• Try to speak clearly so that your audience can easily understand your words.
• Avoid the ‘lecture’. By incorporation more than a speech into your presentation, you’ll be better able to hold your audience’s attention. Try using visuals, asking questions, or doing activities.

How to Rehearse Your Presentation

Review this checklist before you present to make you that you are ready to deliver your presentation. It will help you rehearse your presentation so that it will go smoothly when you deliver it in class.

• Presentation Rehearsal Checklist - Word
• Presentation Rehearsal Checklist - PDF

Presenting online involves many of the same skills as presenting in person, but there are a few additional considerations. Watch the video below to learn more about how to successfully present online.

• << Previous: Presentation Anxiety
• Next: Additional Resources >>
• Last Updated: Oct 16, 2023 1:33 PM
• URL: https://algonquincollege.libguides.com/studyskills

• Subject Guides

A practical guide to presentations

• Delivering a presentation
• Presentations
• Tools & content
• Basic slide design
• Text & images
• Animation, sound, & video

How do you deliver a presentation? Here we take a look at some presenting tips , including some practical advice for presenting with slides and for presenting online . We also consider polling tools , how to share your screen , and how to share a copy of your presentation with your audience.

Presenting tips

Some practical suggestions.

Here's a few bits of practical advice for presenting:

Use the mic!

If there's a microphone there, use it. You might be able to project to the back of the room beautifully, but don't presume you know the hearing needs of your audience, and don't assume that asking if people mind you not using the microphone is going to elicit a meaningful response. Just use the blummin' microphone: it might feel like a bit of a faff, but it's there for a reason!

Scope out the room beforehand

If you're able, get an idea of the room you're presenting in, and the equipment available. You can find out the details about a teaching room at York on the Teaching Room Information page.

The size of the room, and the number of people you're presenting to, will have an effect on how you deliver the session and how interactive you can be.

Present with a laptop

The lectern PCs on campus are not as young as they once were. If you've got a laptop it might well be more powerful. What's more, with a laptop you will be able to use Presenter view , which will give you much more control over your presentation.

Run the slides through before your audience arrive

If you can, test your slides, or anything else you plan to use, in the room. That way you can be sure they'll run as you expect them to (PowerPoint will also cache any videos or animations on its first run through, which may make effects run smoother for the show proper).

Take a deep breath before you speak

Honestly, it will help.

Don't read the slide

If there's more than a few words on your slide, avoid the temptation to read it verbatim. Talk around the points. Add to them. If your presentation is just you reading the wall, you could just have sent the slide-deck to your audience and saved everyone the trip.

Avoid using a script

Reading out loud is hard to do well. So avoid using a script too. Make notes, by all means, but consider how you'll navigate those notes: you don't want to lose your place. One helpful method is to use small pages such as index cards, or to only write on the top third of a page.

And if you're working with notes, don't limit them to the words you're saying. Throw in some stage directions too. That way you might be more likely to remember to breathe!

Don't memorise every word

A presentation is a performance of sorts, but it isn't a play. It's better to be able to understand your topic and talk freely around it than to understand a script. If you get distracted from a script (for instance by a question) you'll be in trouble and you might have difficulty picking up the thread again.

Practice. Out loud. Like you mean it!

Practicing in your head won't give you a true idea of how your presentation will go, or how long it will last. You kind of have to do it for real. It's also helpful (if a little embarrassing too) to practice in front of a friend.

Shave off 10%

It's better to have more time to play with than to cram in too much and run over or rush the last bit. If your presentation is too long for the time, drop something. If you're delivering and you're running out of time, drop something mid-presentation. Have a note of your slide numbers so that you can skip to a section without clicking through slides you've no intention of talking to.

Get a clicker

If you're not likely to be doing many presentations then don't get a clicker, but if you find yourself in a position where you're doing a lot of presentations (or if you know someone who's got a clicker you can borrow) get yourself a clicker: it will liberate you from the lectern and you'll be able to wander about a bit more.

Even if you've not got a clicker, you should still feel able to leave the keyboard now and again (microphones allowing). Get out there and make use of the 'stage'; gesture at your lovely slides. Feel the love of your enthralled audience!

Address the audience

Face the people you're presenting to, and avoid talking to the wall your slides are being projected on. If you're presenting online, make sure your microphone is in the same direction as your screen.

The audience are on your side

No, really. Look them in the eye. At least one member of your audience will be demonstrably supportive. Find the most supportive looking audience member and keep looking back at them. Breathe in their happy smile and their nods.

Don't criticise yourself during the presentation

You know you've made a mistake, but your audience might not have clocked it. Unless you tell them. So don't tell them. Keep your mistakes to yourself.

Ok, maybe that's easier said than done, but step back and unleash the performer buried deep within.

Share the slides

Your slides can be your calling card. So maybe put them online somewhere where your audience can revisit them.

When sharing materials after a session, they don't need to be the same deck you're presenting with. Maybe you could include some extra slides that expand upon the original summary content (and may even expand on what you said in the presentation). Or at the very least you could add some explanatory notes in the notes field.

Annoying things to perhaps avoid

Here's some suggestions from Twitter of the most annoying things presenters do...

The classics

• “Put an essay on each slide and READ IT ALL. VERY SLOWLY.”
• “Read from a script.”
• “Going overtime.”
• “cram too much in, and then say ...erm... I'll just skip over these slides.... usually the more interesting ones at the end”

The insightful

• “Speaking away from the mic.”
• “Try to fit 60 minutes of material into 25 minutes presenting time.”
• “Ignore audience signals”

The unwelcome participatory

• “Attempting to get me to stand up and engage in participation without first winning my cooperation?”
• “Make me play a game.”

The bizarre

• “Not wear shoes.”
• “Swirl each word with a laser pointer as they say it.”
• “jangling the loose change in their pockets. A least I hope that's what they're doing......”

Presenting your slides

Presenter view.

If you're using a computer with a dual monitor setup (or if you're hooking up a laptop to the projector) you can use Presenter View when presenting. This gives you a lot more control over your presentation.

With Presenter View enabled, the presentation happens on one screen (usually the big one that the audience can see), while the other screen shows a control console which will include things like slide notes and a preview of the next slide in the deck.

Before you can use Presenter View, you'll need to have two screens connected to your computer. In your computer's display settings, make sure that you're using an extended display so that the two screens are able to carry different content.

The controls for transitions are all found on the Transitions tab:

• To enable Presenter View, choose Slide Show > Monitors > Use Presenter View
• Select the monitor to be used for the show ( Slide Show > Monitors > Monitor )

Tools in the Presenter View include annotation options, zoom, captions, and a handy slide picker mode.

Another benefit of Presenter View is that you can switch back to your slide deck on the presenter screen and make changes to your slides without having to escape the presentation on the audience screen. This is handy if you've made a mistake, or if you want to add things to future slides based on things that have come up in the presentation.

You can present using Presenter View in Google Slides by going to the drop-down toggle at the side of the Present button and choosing Presenter view .

Google Slides' version of Presenter View is a bit more basic than PowerPoint's. But you get previews of the previous and next slides, as well as sight of your notes. There's also a dropdown slide picker for if you want to skip to elsewhere in the presentation.

Audience Q&A

Google's Presenter View includes a Question & Answer feature under the AUDIENCE TOOLS tab. Audience members can follow a link to submit questions which can then be moderated and displayed on screen.

• By default the Q&A requires your audience to log in as members of the University of York, but you can use the dropdown at the top of the page to open the link up to anyone;
• When the Q&A toggle is switched to ON , the URL for the submission page is displayed at the top of your slides. You can use the toggle to turn this off when not needed;
• The audience can ask their question with their Google identity showing, or anonymously; other audience members can upvote or downvote questions;
• To present a question on the main screen, choose PRESENT .

Even if you've not got a set-up that will allow you to use Presenter View, there's still some in-vision presenter tools that appear in the bottom left of the screen when you hover over a slide.

Keyboard shortcuts

Here's some useful keyboard shortcuts for use when presenting:

Advancing the slides

To step forward through the slides (and any animations) you can mouse-click, mouse-wheel backwards, or press N , Enter , Page Down , the right arrow cursor, the down arrow cursor, or the space bar .

To step backwards, you've got the choice of mouse-wheeling forwards, or pressing P , Page Up , the left arrow cursor, the up arrow cursor, or the Backspace .

Navigating to elsewhere in your presentation

To skip to a specific slide, enter the slide number then press Enter

You can also use Home and End to skip to the beginning or end of your presentation.

Clearing the screen

B will make your screen go black. W will make your screen go white. Pressing them again will bring your slides back.

Live subtitling

Both programs are able to generate live captions for your presentation. As with any live captioning, the quality of these subtitles may vary...

Subtitling options can be found at Slide Show > Captions & Subtitles , or can be enabled from the on-screen controls when presenting.

Live subtitles can be activated from the Captions icon: one of the on-screen controls when presenting. You will need to enable access to your microphone.

Custom shows

If you need to give similar presentations to different audiences, instead of creating multiple presentations, PowerPoint lets you generate custom shows . Each show can use a different selection of slides from the same presentation.

Creating custom shows

• Choose Slide Show > Start Slide Show > Custom Slide Show > Custom Shows… — a dialogue box will open;
• Choose New… to create the first show, and Add the slides you want in the sequence required;
• Give the show a suitable name and select OK to finish;
• Repeat this process for each show required — they will appear in the Custom Shows dialogue when you return;
• If you need to edit a show, choose Edit... ;
• When done, choose Close .

Presenting with a custom show

Once you've created a custom show, it will appear on the Custom Slide Show dropdown. Select the show you want and it will run.

Export options

PowerPoint has a range of export options. Most of these can be accessed via File > Export . Here's a few examples:

Saving as a PDF is useful if you've got an elaborate slide deck that is large in terms of file-size, and which is liable to display inconsistently on other machine (for example because of access to special fonts). PDF is a print format so it isn't the most user friendly in terms of display-based reading, but nor, in some ways, is a PowerPoint deck.

You can export your slideshow as a video, which is particularly useful if you've got narrations in place. If you're sharing the video, you may want to adjust the quality settings to create a file that's of a reasonable size. Or you could always produce something at a high quality and then upload it to YouTube or Google Drive.

In the latest versions of PowerPoint you can also export slides as an animated GIF (the GIFs on this guide were done via that method).

The handout option will export your slides and notes to a Word document. This feature is great if you've got some good notes you want to share, but, annoyingly, often breaks half way through.

Other save options

If you're sharing a PowerPoint file, you may want to create a sharing copy:

• Go to File > Save a Copy and choose the "Browse" button to bring up the "Save As" dialogue box;
• Under Tools > Save Options... you'll find a setting that lets you Embed fonts in the file : this is handy if you're using non-standard fonts and want to be sure that the slides will display properly on other computers;
• Under Tools > Compress Pictures... you can get rid of any bits of images you may have cropped out, and reduce the quality of the images to potentially make your PowerPoint file smaller in terms of file-size.

Audience polling

Getting a show of hands is one thing but sometimes you might want to get a bit more sophisticated in terms of audience polling. As well as traditional survey tools , the University has an institutional licence for Mentimeter which can be used to provide real-time feedback in a presentation setting:

There's also the Q&A tool available in Google Slides :

And if you're presenting online, Zoom has a polling tool built in:

Sharing a presentation

It can be useful to share a copy of the slides with your audience. But there are a few extra things to consider:

Are you actually going to share the same slide deck you're presenting with? Sure, with Google Slides, that's straightforward, but with PowerPoint it's a lot more complicated: PowerPoint files can be big , and big files are difficult to share. You might be better off exporting your slides to a different format like a PDF or a handout.

Even with Google Slides, you've the choice of sharing the deck itself (albeit probably just with View access) or using the File > Publish to the web option which creates a presentation frame like the one above.

Accessibility

Designing for a screen has plenty of accessibility considerations, but if you're also going to be sharing your slides, there are other aspects of accessible design that you'll need to consider: in particular, images will need alternative text , and you'll need to ensure that slide content follows the intended reading order .

Alternative versions

If you're sharing your deck in advance, it's going to be full of spoilers. Are there bits you want to hold back from your audience? Do you actually need to share a special 'sharing' deck?

Likewise, elaborate slides can be a pain to make accessible, so a simplified version might be used in the shared deck. This might also help to keep the filesize of the deck down. And you can reduce the image quality in PowerPoint's save settings, and jettison any unused parts of images — things you might not want to do with your master copy.

Presenting online

Presenting online comes with its own set of challenges. Here's some general advice:

Enable live captions

If you're presenting in Zoom , be sure to sign in with your University account to get some extra features. One such feature is auto-transcription whereby the host can enable live captioning ( Live Transcript > Live Transcript > Enable Auto-Transcription ). It's the new "always use the mic!"

Ease off on the effects

Unless you tweak the settings, the frame-rate (the number of pictures being sent down the line in any given second) is quite low for a virtual meeting, which can make animation and transitions look jerky. And even if your connection is amazing, other people's bandwidth might not be so broad: they might be trying to watch on a poor connection, so having a clear slide becomes very important.

It's tiring

Looking at a screen is harder work than looking at you in real life. So be prepared to offer your audience (and yourself) a break or two. Think even harder about the structure of your presentation and how you can break things up or otherwise keep people's attention.

Performing in a vacuum

You'll probably want your audience muted while you're talking, because background noise is distracting. And while it might be nice to be able to see people's video, that's adding to the bandwidth load, so it may be more efficient (and less distracting) to have people turn their cameras off too. But this leaves you performing to, well, nothing much at all. It's hard to judge how your talk is going down; and you don't have that kind face to focus on. So maybe find a supportive friend closer to home: a stuffed toy, maybe... something with eyes that you can focus on: a proxy audience positioned close to your webcam. It can be surprisingly effective, and can help alleviate the sense that you're just talking to a brick wall (when you're emphatically not).

If you're able to do so, present with another person. It builds up the sense of an audience, and it livens things up a bit for the viewer too. Having two people makes it easier to field questions too, and if one of you has connection problems, the other can provide cover.

Play with the kit

Things like Zoom have loads of tools built into them like live captioning, breakout rooms and polling. Try them out with some colleagues to get the hang of them. The chat window is really useful as a way of getting people to ask questions as they think of them, without interrupting the flow of the session.

Prepare your desktop accordingly

Your computer screen is your classroom. If you're leaving the slides in order to do anything else (a virtual whiteboard, an online demonstration, or whatever), make sure you have everything you need ready (and that you don't have anything on your desktop you wouldn't want to share). Give similar thought to your physical surroundings, but don't get too hung up on that if the main content of your session is the slides.

Share the materials

Rather than having to just watch the slides via video chat, your audience might also find it helpful to follow along with a local copy of the slide deck. This might mean they could spoil themselves by looking ahead to later slides, but it also means they have a clear, accessible, user-friendly version: when connections might be unstable, it's useful to have an alternative to look at.

Don't panic!

Technology breaks, connections become unstable. There are a lot of variables at play with an online presentation, and the chances of something going wrong are high to the point of being normal: it's an online presentation so of course it won't all go according to plan (even a face-to-face presentation seldom goes smoothly, after all). It's easier to say "don't worry" than it is to not worry, but try to stay as calm as you can and hopefully whatever problem is arising will be something you or someone else in the chat can resolve.

Screensharing accessibility

Sharing your screen is inevitably a heavily visual way of communicating. But not everybody will be able to see your screen, and even people with perfect eyesight might still struggle to see all the detail in a heavily compressed low resolution streaming video. So what can you do to help paint the picture of what it is you're doing with your mouse pointer?

Make things bigger

In a world of huge monitors we've got used to lots of screen real-estate and tiny writing that we can only read when close up. This is fine for working purposes but not so ideal for a demonstration. Before you present, go into your display settings and choose a smaller display resolution. It might take a few tries to find a smaller resolution in the right ratio for your screen — most monitors on campus have a resolution of 1920 x 1080 which you could downscale to 1600 x 900 or even 1360 x 768.

Macs make this process a little easier by having a scale option to control the resolution. Windows also has a scale option, but it works slightly differently by letting you resize text and other items without changing the overall resolution. Try some different options and see what might work best for your needs.

Bear in mind that if you're using a much lower resolution than normal, icons might be in different places, menus might get cut off, and some tasks that require a lot of screen might be harder. But this might serve as a useful reminder that a piece of software might look different on different setups, and not everyone using it will see it in exactly the same way that you do.

If you're recording a screen rather than sharing it live, there are other ways you can make things bigger in the edit , like occasionally zooming in to focus on a particular part of the screen. Try to keep this sort of thing as gentle as possible; you want to orientate, not dis orientate. Another thing you can do at this stage is add captions, arrows, and other highlights to make what you're doing even more explicit.

Describe what you're doing

It's not a silent movie, so give a good commentary. If you've ever listened to sport on the radio, think about how it differs to the commentary you get on television and maybe use a few of the tricks: say what's happening; explain what you're clicking on; give as good a description as you can. That way you're giving twice the instruction: not only can people see what you're doing, they can hear what you're doing too.

Zoom is the recommended video conferencing tool here at York. It can be accessed via a web browser, mobile app, or desktop app. The browser experience allows multiple users to communicate via video, audio, or live-chat, screen-share, and share control of a shared screen. The desktop app contains a number of additional features, such as virtual whiteboards, breakout rooms and custom backgrounds.

When using Zoom, you'll need to make sure you are signed in with your University of York account .

Below you'll find some links to further support using Zoom. Our Zoom Wiki (requires UoY login) covers a range of support topics from scheduling and securing your meeting to using Zoom for teaching and managing Zoom recording .

Google Meet

Google Meet is a video communication service available as part of our Google Workspace . It allows multiple users to communicate via video, audio, or live-chat, and to screen-share.

Like a lot of Google applications, it's gone through various names, so you might catch us calling it 'Hangouts' or 'Hangouts Meet' in places.

Meet vs Zoom

Scheduling and joining a meet.

Some practical considerations:

• Mute your microphone if you're not using it. That way your face won't keep appearing every time you cough or fidget.
• You could use the chat feature for things like agendas, or even for quietly asking for the floor in busier meetings to avoid too much chaos.

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• How to prepare and...

How to prepare and deliver an effective oral presentation

• Related content
• Peer review
• Lucia Hartigan , registrar 1 ,
• Fionnuala Mone , fellow in maternal fetal medicine 1 ,
• Mary Higgins , consultant obstetrician 2
• 1 National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
• 2 National Maternity Hospital, Dublin; Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medicine and Medical Sciences, University College Dublin
• luciahartigan{at}hotmail.com

The success of an oral presentation lies in the speaker’s ability to transmit information to the audience. Lucia Hartigan and colleagues describe what they have learnt about delivering an effective scientific oral presentation from their own experiences, and their mistakes

The objective of an oral presentation is to portray large amounts of often complex information in a clear, bite sized fashion. Although some of the success lies in the content, the rest lies in the speaker’s skills in transmitting the information to the audience. 1

Preparation

It is important to be as well prepared as possible. Look at the venue in person, and find out the time allowed for your presentation and for questions, and the size of the audience and their backgrounds, which will allow the presentation to be pitched at the appropriate level.

See what the ambience and temperature are like and check that the format of your presentation is compatible with the available computer. This is particularly important when embedding videos. Before you begin, look at the video on stand-by and make sure the lights are dimmed and the speakers are functioning.

For visual aids, Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Mac Keynote programmes are usual, although Prezi is increasing in popularity. Save the presentation on a USB stick, with email or cloud storage backup to avoid last minute disasters.

When preparing the presentation, start with an opening slide containing the title of the study, your name, and the date. Begin by addressing and thanking the audience and the organisation that has invited you to speak. Typically, the format includes background, study aims, methodology, results, strengths and weaknesses of the study, and conclusions.

If the study takes a lecturing format, consider including “any questions?” on a slide before you conclude, which will allow the audience to remember the take home messages. Ideally, the audience should remember three of the main points from the presentation. 2

Have a maximum of four short points per slide. If you can display something as a diagram, video, or a graph, use this instead of text and talk around it.

Animation is available in both Microsoft PowerPoint and the Apple Mac Keynote programme, and its use in presentations has been demonstrated to assist in the retention and recall of facts. 3 Do not overuse it, though, as it could make you appear unprofessional. If you show a video or diagram don’t just sit back—use a laser pointer to explain what is happening.

Rehearse your presentation in front of at least one person. Request feedback and amend accordingly. If possible, practise in the venue itself so things will not be unfamiliar on the day. If you appear comfortable, the audience will feel comfortable. Ask colleagues and seniors what questions they would ask and prepare responses to these questions.

It is important to dress appropriately, stand up straight, and project your voice towards the back of the room. Practise using a microphone, or any other presentation aids, in advance. If you don’t have your own presenting style, think of the style of inspirational scientific speakers you have seen and imitate it.

Try to present slides at the rate of around one slide a minute. If you talk too much, you will lose your audience’s attention. The slides or videos should be an adjunct to your presentation, so do not hide behind them, and be proud of the work you are presenting. You should avoid reading the wording on the slides, but instead talk around the content on them.

Maintain eye contact with the audience and remember to smile and pause after each comment, giving your nerves time to settle. Speak slowly and concisely, highlighting key points.

Do not assume that the audience is completely familiar with the topic you are passionate about, but don’t patronise them either. Use every presentation as an opportunity to teach, even your seniors. The information you are presenting may be new to them, but it is always important to know your audience’s background. You can then ensure you do not patronise world experts.

To maintain the audience’s attention, vary the tone and inflection of your voice. If appropriate, use humour, though you should run any comments or jokes past others beforehand and make sure they are culturally appropriate. Check every now and again that the audience is following and offer them the opportunity to ask questions.

Finishing up is the most important part, as this is when you send your take home message with the audience. Slow down, even though time is important at this stage. Conclude with the three key points from the study and leave the slide up for a further few seconds. Do not ramble on. Give the audience a chance to digest the presentation. Conclude by acknowledging those who assisted you in the study, and thank the audience and organisation. If you are presenting in North America, it is usual practice to conclude with an image of the team. If you wish to show references, insert a text box on the appropriate slide with the primary author, year, and paper, although this is not always required.

Answering questions can often feel like the most daunting part, but don’t look upon this as negative. Assume that the audience has listened and is interested in your research. Listen carefully, and if you are unsure about what someone is saying, ask for the question to be rephrased. Thank the audience member for asking the question and keep responses brief and concise. If you are unsure of the answer you can say that the questioner has raised an interesting point that you will have to investigate further. Have someone in the audience who will write down the questions for you, and remember that this is effectively free peer review.

Be proud of your achievements and try to do justice to the work that you and the rest of your group have done. You deserve to be up on that stage, so show off what you have achieved.

Competing interests: We have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: None.

• ↵ Rovira A, Auger C, Naidich TP. How to prepare an oral presentation and a conference. Radiologica 2013 ; 55 (suppl 1): 2 -7S. OpenUrl
• ↵ Bourne PE. Ten simple rules for making good oral presentations. PLos Comput Biol 2007 ; 3 : e77 . OpenUrl PubMed
• ↵ Naqvi SH, Mobasher F, Afzal MA, Umair M, Kohli AN, Bukhari MH. Effectiveness of teaching methods in a medical institute: perceptions of medical students to teaching aids. J Pak Med Assoc 2013 ; 63 : 859 -64. OpenUrl

• Presentation Science

4 Presentation Delivery Styles You’ll Want to Consider

• By: Amy Boone

“Never speak from a manuscript.” Those were the words my public speaking professor drilled into us in college. She led us to believe it was perhaps the worst thing we could do. And for many, it probably was. But for me, when I stood up to speak, I needed the words. All the words. I wasn’t going to read them verbatim, but just having them there gave me a boost of confidence during my presentation delivery.

Many people just end up reading the notes in front of them, so having a manuscript isn’t a good idea for lots of speakers. But how do you choose? When it comes time to deliver your big presentation, you have at least 4 major delivery styles you can choose from: memorized, manuscript, impromptu, and extemporaneous. Each of these styles has advantages and disadvantages that you’ll want to weigh when choosing which style to use.

Memorized delivery is perhaps one of the toughest there is. Way, way back at the beginning of the field of public speaking (rhetoric), memorization was one of the 5 main components. So students of public speaking were incredibly skilled in the art of memorization and their memorization skills were put to the test as they recited long orations.

But communication has changed a lot. These days audience members like to feel like they are part of the message in some way, like their presence matters. But memorized delivery doesn’t allow for much interactivity because it makes it difficult to establish “a perception of give and take between the audience and the speaker.”

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t instances when memorization is good choice for delivery. If you are giving a press release or delivering an incredibly important speech that will be recorded and shared, it can be good idea to memorize what you want to say. Just keep in mind how difficult it can be to commit to memory long works. Make sure to leave yourself enough time to both learn the piece and then to learn how to deliver it naturally. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of memorized delivery as outlined in the book Between One and Many .

• Allows for constant eye contact with the audience
• Gives more freedom of movement
• Allows for precise and correct wording

Disadvantages

• Easy to forget
• Appears “canned” and cold
• Requires extensive preparation time
• Does not allow for spontaneity

Delivering from a manuscript is similar in many ways to memorized delivery. In this case, you have your presentation written out word-for-word on speaker’s notes that you then reference or read from during your presentation. Manuscript delivery can be useful if you need word precision but don’t have time to commit your presentation to memory.

It can also help if you’ll be delivering words that someone else wrote. We see this style most frequently today through the use of teleprompters that are used for newscasts and many political speeches. Every president since Ronald Reagan has made use of the teleprompter , which makes sense given that every word they utter will inevitably come under scrutiny.

Just remember that manuscript delivery is all about offering a comfortable experience for the speaker—taking the pressure off of him/her. But it doesn’t offer much to audience in the way of entertaining delivery or eye contact. So you’ll want to weigh the risk of boring or losing your audience with the reward of an “easier” delivery style which has these advantages and disadvantages :

• Accuracy and precision
• Transcript can be released quickly/simultaneously
• Less pressure to read than to deliver
• Allows for high control over outcome
• Allows for limited eye contact
• Tends toward written rather than oral style
• Can be easy to lose your place

Impromptu delivery is speaking with little to no preparation. It is “winging it” or speaking “off the cuff.” I know very few accomplished speakers who would willingly choose to use this delivery style. Even those speakers who feel energized by the thrill of impromptu delivery and can perform well under that kind of pressure know that preparation and practice will always result in a better end product.

For that reason, we never encourage a speaker to make impromptu delivery his or her chosen method of delivery. But you may need to deliver an impromptu message if the situation arises–like a job interview question you weren’t expecting, being put on the spot in a meeting, or having to fill in if the prepared speaker is unable to make it. In those cases, keep these advantages and disadvantages in mind.

• Allows for spontaneity
• Allows for lots of eye contact
• Gives speaker freedom to adapt freely to any given context/situation
• No time to prepare
• Can lead to high levels of anxiety
• Allows for low control over outcome

Extemporaneous

The final presentation delivery method is the one we recommend and use most frequently. Extemporaneous delivery can be defined as practiced and prepared, but flexible. The story of “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears” can help us here. With memorized and manuscript delivery, we are in Papa Bear territory where everything feels a bit too rigid, too hard, too confining. Impromptu delivery is Mama Bear’s stuff–too mushy and too soft. But with extemporaneous delivery, like Goldilocks finding Baby Bear’s possessions, there’s a happy medium. It feels just right.

So how does it work? With extemporaneous delivery, you develop your content–researching, editing, and revising until you get it right. Then, you move into the practice and preparation stage. Here’s where you’ve got flexibility for how you handle it. Some people like to practice from a nearly complete manuscript—hitting the main points, referencing notes as needed, but allowing for varied phrasing as it naturally occurs.

Others might prefer to practice from a very scant outline. So instead of having a story written out word-for-word, they might prefer just to have “tell story about first day on the job” written in their notes. This doesn’t mean that they don’t practice telling the story over and over again. It just means the words aren’t on the page directing them to tell it exactly the same every time. Your speaker’s notes should always come down to your personal preference.

The goal of extemporaneous speaking is to marry the best of memorized and manuscript delivery—the ability to use beautiful and precise language that moves the audience—with the best of impromptu delivery—the ability to deliver a message with warmth and character. And we know from research that both precision and warmth matter to the audience. Scientific research shows that speakers who use great eye contact come off as more “believable, confident and competent.” That said, here are the advantages and disadvantages of this, our favorite style:

• Combines the best of preparation and spontaneity
• Allows speaker to use notes but also maintain regular eye contact
• Allows speaker to be both adaptable and precise
• Overuse of notes can limit eye contact and gestures

When I deliver, I use an extemporaneous style. I don’t read what I’ve written word-for-word, but I like to have notes prepared like I was going to deliver from a manuscript. You may be like me and find a system that is a mix of categories that works for you. There may be parts of your presentation that you want to have memorized so you get the words exactly right. And you may want to deliver other parts of your speech more freeform, having prepared and practiced, but feeling free to change things up if the context or mood of the moment calls for it.

Whatever you decide, keep working and adapting and trying to new methods to find what works best for you. And realize that there will probably be situations in which time constraints or other factors keep you from being able to practice, prepare, and deliver like you’d prefer to. That’s okay. That’s the beauty of presentation delivery. It’s a little bit different every time. But it’s always a worthwhile adventure.

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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14.1 Four Methods of Delivery

Learning objectives.

• Differentiate among the four methods of speech delivery.
• Understand when to use each of the four methods of speech delivery.

Maryland GovPics – House of Ruth Luncheon – CC BY 2.0.

The easiest approach to speech delivery is not always the best. Substantial work goes into the careful preparation of an interesting and ethical message, so it is understandable that students may have the impulse to avoid “messing it up” by simply reading it word for word. But students who do this miss out on one of the major reasons for studying public speaking: to learn ways to “connect” with one’s audience and to increase one’s confidence in doing so. You already know how to read, and you already know how to talk. But public speaking is neither reading nor talking.

Speaking in public has more formality than talking. During a speech, you should present yourself professionally. This doesn’t mean you must wear a suit or “dress up” (unless your instructor asks you to), but it does mean making yourself presentable by being well groomed and wearing clean, appropriate clothes. It also means being prepared to use language correctly and appropriately for the audience and the topic, to make eye contact with your audience, and to look like you know your topic very well.

While speaking has more formality than talking, it has less formality than reading. Speaking allows for meaningful pauses, eye contact, small changes in word order, and vocal emphasis. Reading is a more or less exact replication of words on paper without the use of any nonverbal interpretation. Speaking, as you will realize if you think about excellent speakers you have seen and heard, provides a more animated message.

The next sections introduce four methods of delivery that can help you balance between too much and too little formality when giving a public speech.

Impromptu Speaking

Impromptu speaking is the presentation of a short message without advance preparation. Impromptu speeches often occur when someone is asked to “say a few words” or give a toast on a special occasion. You have probably done impromptu speaking many times in informal, conversational settings. Self-introductions in group settings are examples of impromptu speaking: “Hi, my name is Steve, and I’m a volunteer with the Homes for the Brave program.” Another example of impromptu speaking occurs when you answer a question such as, “What did you think of the documentary?”

The advantage of this kind of speaking is that it’s spontaneous and responsive in an animated group context. The disadvantage is that the speaker is given little or no time to contemplate the central theme of his or her message. As a result, the message may be disorganized and difficult for listeners to follow.

Here is a step-by-step guide that may be useful if you are called upon to give an impromptu speech in public.

• Take a moment to collect your thoughts and plan the main point you want to make.
• Thank the person for inviting you to speak.
• Deliver your message, making your main point as briefly as you can while still covering it adequately and at a pace your listeners can follow.
• Thank the person again for the opportunity to speak.
• Stop talking.

As you can see, impromptu speeches are generally most successful when they are brief and focus on a single point.

Extemporaneous Speaking

Extemporaneous speaking is the presentation of a carefully planned and rehearsed speech, spoken in a conversational manner using brief notes. By using notes rather than a full manuscript, the extemporaneous speaker can establish and maintain eye contact with the audience and assess how well they are understanding the speech as it progresses. The opportunity to assess is also an opportunity to restate more clearly any idea or concept that the audience seems to have trouble grasping.

For instance, suppose you are speaking about workplace safety and you use the term “sleep deprivation.” If you notice your audience’s eyes glazing over, this might not be a result of their own sleep deprivation, but rather an indication of their uncertainty about what you mean. If this happens, you can add a short explanation; for example, “sleep deprivation is sleep loss serious enough to threaten one’s cognition, hand-to-eye coordination, judgment, and emotional health.” You might also (or instead) provide a concrete example to illustrate the idea. Then you can resume your message, having clarified an important concept.

Speaking extemporaneously has some advantages. It promotes the likelihood that you, the speaker, will be perceived as knowledgeable and credible. In addition, your audience is likely to pay better attention to the message because it is engaging both verbally and nonverbally. The disadvantage of extemporaneous speaking is that it requires a great deal of preparation for both the verbal and the nonverbal components of the speech. Adequate preparation cannot be achieved the day before you’re scheduled to speak.

Because extemporaneous speaking is the style used in the great majority of public speaking situations, most of the information in this chapter is targeted to this kind of speaking.

Speaking from a Manuscript

Manuscript speaking is the word-for-word iteration of a written message. In a manuscript speech, the speaker maintains his or her attention on the printed page except when using visual aids.

The advantage to reading from a manuscript is the exact repetition of original words. As we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, in some circumstances this can be extremely important. For example, reading a statement about your organization’s legal responsibilities to customers may require that the original words be exact. In reading one word at a time, in order, the only errors would typically be mispronunciation of a word or stumbling over complex sentence structure.

However, there are costs involved in manuscript speaking. First, it’s typically an uninteresting way to present. Unless the speaker has rehearsed the reading as a complete performance animated with vocal expression and gestures (as poets do in a poetry slam and actors do in a reader’s theater), the presentation tends to be dull. Keeping one’s eyes glued to the script precludes eye contact with the audience. For this kind of “straight” manuscript speech to hold audience attention, the audience must be already interested in the message before the delivery begins.

It is worth noting that professional speakers, actors, news reporters, and politicians often read from an autocue device, such as a TelePrompTer, especially when appearing on television, where eye contact with the camera is crucial. With practice, a speaker can achieve a conversational tone and give the impression of speaking extemporaneously while using an autocue device. However, success in this medium depends on two factors: (1) the speaker is already an accomplished public speaker who has learned to use a conversational tone while delivering a prepared script, and (2) the speech is written in a style that sounds conversational.

Speaking from Memory

Memorized speaking is the rote recitation of a written message that the speaker has committed to memory. Actors, of course, recite from memory whenever they perform from a script in a stage play, television program, or movie scene. When it comes to speeches, memorization can be useful when the message needs to be exact and the speaker doesn’t want to be confined by notes.

The advantage to memorization is that it enables the speaker to maintain eye contact with the audience throughout the speech. Being free of notes means that you can move freely around the stage and use your hands to make gestures. If your speech uses visual aids, this freedom is even more of an advantage. However, there are some real and potential costs. First, unless you also plan and memorize every vocal cue (the subtle but meaningful variations in speech delivery, which can include the use of pitch, tone, volume, and pace), gesture, and facial expression, your presentation will be flat and uninteresting, and even the most fascinating topic will suffer. You might end up speaking in a monotone or a sing-song repetitive delivery pattern. You might also present your speech in a rapid “machine-gun” style that fails to emphasize the most important points. Second, if you lose your place and start trying to ad lib, the contrast in your style of delivery will alert your audience that something is wrong. More frighteningly, if you go completely blank during the presentation, it will be extremely difficult to find your place and keep going.

Key Takeaways

• There are four main kinds of speech delivery: impromptu, extemporaneous, manuscript, and memorized.
• Impromptu speaking involves delivering a message on the spur of the moment, as when someone is asked to “say a few words.”
• Extemporaneous speaking consists of delivering a speech in a conversational fashion using notes. This is the style most speeches call for.
• Manuscript speaking consists of reading a fully scripted speech. It is useful when a message needs to be delivered in precise words.
• Memorized speaking consists of reciting a scripted speech from memory. Memorization allows the speaker to be free of notes.
• Find a short newspaper story. Read it out loud to a classroom partner. Then, using only one notecard, tell the classroom partner in your own words what the story said. Listen to your partner’s observations about the differences in your delivery.
• In a group of four or five students, ask each student to give a one-minute impromptu speech answering the question, “What is the most important personal quality for academic success?”
• Watch the evening news. Observe the differences between news anchors using a TelePrompTer and interviewees who are using no notes of any kind. What differences do you observe?

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Presentation Delivery

'Delivery' refers to the way in which you actually deliver or perform or give your presentation. Delivery is a vital aspect of all presentations. Delivery is at least as important as content, especially in a multi-cultural context.

Most speakers are a little nervous at the beginning of a presentation. So it is normal if you are nervous. The answer is to pay special attention to the beginning of your presentation. First impressions count. This is the time when you establish a rapport with your audience. During this time, try to speak slowly and calmly. You should perhaps learn your introduction by heart. After a few moments, you will relax and gain confidence.

Audience Rapport

You need to build a warm and friendly relationship with your audience. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you are enthusiastic your audience will be enthusiastic too. And be careful to establish eye contact with each member of your audience. Each person should feel that you are speaking directly to him or her. This means that you must look at each person in turn - in as natural a way as possible. This will also give you the opportunity to detect signs of boredom, disinterest or even disagreement, allowing you to modify your presentation as appropriate.

Body Language

What you do not say is at least as important as what you do say. Your body is speaking to your audience even before you open your mouth. Your clothes, your walk, your glasses, your haircut, your expression - it is from these that your audience forms its first impression as you enter the room. Generally speaking, it is better to stand rather than sit when making a presentation. Be aware of and avoid any repetitive and irritating gestures. Be aware, too, that the movement of your body is one of your methods of control. When you move to or from the whiteboard, for example, you can move fast or slowly, raising or reducing the dynamism within the audience. You can stand very still while talking or you can stroll from side to side. What effect do you think these two different approaches would have on an audience?

Cultural Considerations

Because English is so widely used around the world, it is quite possible that many members of your audience will not be native English-speakers. In other words, they will not have an Anglo-Saxon culture. Even within the Anglo-Saxon world, there are many differences in culture. If we hypothetically imagine a German working for an Israeli company making a presentation in English to a Japanese audience in Korea, we can see that there are even more possibilities for cultural misunderstanding. You should try to learn about any particular cultural matters that may affect your audience. This is one reason why preparation for your presentation is so important. Cultural differences can also be seen in body language, which we have just discussed. To a Latin from Southern France or Italy, a presenter who uses his hands and arms when speaking may seem dynamic and friendly. To an Englishman, the same presenter may seem unsure of his words and lacking in self-confidence.

Voice quality

It is, of course, important that your audience be able to hear you clearly throughout your presentation. Remember that if you turn away from your audience, for example towards the whiteboard, you need to speak a little more loudly. In general, you should try to vary your voice. Your voice will then be more interesting for your audience. You can vary your voice in at least three ways:

• speed: you can speak at normal speed, you can speak faster, you can speak more slowly - and you can stop completely! You can pause. This is a very good technique for gaining your audience's attention.
• intonation: you can change the pitch of your voice. You can speak in a high tone. You can speak in a low tone.
• volume: you can speak at normal volume, you can speak loudly and you can speak quietly. Lowering your voice and speaking quietly can again attract your audience's interest.

The important point is not to speak in the same, flat, monotonous voice throughout your presentation - this is the voice that hypnotists use to put their patients' into trance!

Visual aids

Of all the information that enters our brains, the vast majority of it enters through the eyes. 80% of what your audience learn during your presentation is learned visually (what they see) and only 20% is learned aurally (what they hear). The significance of this is obvious:

• visual aids are an extremely effective means of communication
• non-native English speakers need not worry so much about spoken English - they can rely more heavily on visual aids

It is well worth spending time in the creation of good visual aids. But it is equally important not to overload your audience's brains. Keep the information on each visual aid to a minimum - and give your audience time to look at and absorb this information. Remember, your audience have never seen these visual aids before. They need time to study and to understand them. Without understanding there is no communication.

Apart from photographs and drawings, some of the most useful visual aids are charts and graphs, like the 3-dimensional ones shown here:

Audience Reaction

Remain calm and polite if you receive difficult or even hostile questions during your presentation. If you receive particularly awkward questions, you might suggest that the questioners ask their questions after your presentation.

• Effective Presentation Skills Tutorial
• Delivering the Presentation

Once you have rehearsed the presentation well, here are some simple suggestions to consider in delivering the presentation effectively.

Dress Appropriately

Dress appropriately for the presentation, based on the context, disciplinary protocols, formality of the occasion and the type of audience (faculty, students, clients, etc.). Do not wear inappropriate clothing, jewelry, hats or footwear that distract.

Arrive Early

Arrive early for the presentation, and do not arrive just in time or late.

Meet the Moderator

If there is a presentation moderator who will introduce you, meet that person well in advance of the presentation so they know you are in the room on time and that you will be ready.

Decide How to Handle Audience Questions

Decide how you will handle questions during the presentation, and either request the audience to wait until you are finished with your presentation or make sure you will have time to answer the question in the middle of your presentation.

Have a Plan if the Technology Fails

Similarly, decide how you will continue your presentation if the presentation technology fails or freezes in the middle of your presentation.

Smoothly Handling Difficulty with Technology

This video clip is an example of a presenter encountering difficulty with technology but handling it smoothly with a backup plan .

Poorly Handling Difficulty with Technology

This video clip is an example of a presenter encountering difficulty with technology but handling it poorly without a backup plan .

Greet the Audience

If you have some free time before the presentation starts, walk up to some members of the audience, introduce yourself and thank them for being there. This may put you at ease during the presentation.

Load Your Visuals Before Your Allotted Presentation Time

If you plan to use presentation tools, load your presentation or connect your presentation device to the projector before you are asked to present so you do not use up your presentation time to load your files and make the audience wait.

Be pleasant and smile when you stand in front of an audience so it makes the audience feel comfortable listening to you.

Don't Eat or Chew Gum

Do not chew gum or eat during your presentation. You may drink water or other allowed beverages during the presentation.

Take a Deep Breath

Before you begin to speak, take a few deep breaths and calm yourself.

Speak Clearly

Speak slowly and clearly, and do not rush through sentences, as some do when they get nervous.

Speak at an Even Pace

Pay attention to the pace in which you speak, to avoid your pace of delivery being either too fast or too slow for the audience to follow.

Pace Too Slow

This video clip is an example of a presentation pace that is too slow .

Pace Too Fast

This video clip is an example of a presentation pace that is too fast .

Appropriate Pace

This video clip is an example of the presenter's pace of delivery being appropriate for the audience to follow .

Change the Inflection of Your Voice to Gain Audience Attention or to Emphasize Content

If you are trying to make a point about a particular idea, enunciate or pronounce the words clearly and distinctly. At this point, you can slow down and raise the volume of your voice to clearly express what you have to say. Speak with authority, confidence and enthusiasm.

Effective Voice Quality and Emphasis

This video clip is an example of a presenter demonstrating effective voice quality and emphasis on significant words .

Ineffective Voice Quality and Emphasis

This video clip is an example of a presenter demonstrating ineffective voice quality and emphasis on significant words .

Use Appropriate Gestures

Use appropriate gestures to emphasize appropriate points, and do not make wild gestures or pace back and forth in front of the screen in a distracting manner.

Effective Gestures

This video clip is an example of a presenter demonstrating effective hand gestures and body language .

Ineffective Gestures

This video clip is an example of a presenter demonstrating ineffective hand gestures and body language .

Make Proper Eye Contact

Make proper eye contact: that is, look at the audience from one side of the room to the other side, and from the front row to the last row. Do not look down the whole time, and do not focus on just one side of the room or just the front row of the audience.

Effective Eye Contact

This video clip is an example of a presenter demonstrating effective eye contact .

Ineffective Eye Contact

This video clip is an example of a presenter demonstrating ineffective eye contact .

Stand Beside the Screen

If you plan to use projected visuals on a screen, stand to one side of the screen. Ideally, you should be facing your audience at all times and just glance at the screen to look at cues from the slides.

Effective Position Near Screen

This video clip is an example of a presenter standing by the side of the screen during a PowerPoint presentation so the audience view of the screen is unobstructed, and glances at the screen only occasionally.

Ineffective Position Near Screen

This video clip is an example of a presenter standing in front of the screen during PowerPoint presentation , obstructing the audience view of the screen.

Do Not Talk to the Screen or Board

Do not talk to the screen or the presentation device; look at the audience and talk. It is alright to look at the screen occasionally and point to something important on the screen as you present.

Looking at Screen

This video clip is an example of a presenter looking mostly at the screen (instead of the audience).

Writing on the Board

This video clip is an example of a presenter writing on the board while talking and the writing is difficult to read .

Do Not Read Line-by-Line

Do not read presentation materials line-by-line unless there is someone in the audience who is visually-impaired and cannot see the slide, or if it is a quote that you have to read verbatim to emphasize.

Reading Each Word

This video clip is an example of a presenter reading word by word from an overly dense slide that is difficult to read .

Talking from a Slide

This video clip is an example of a presenter talking from a slide with easily readable bullet points, using them as cues .

If You Get Stuck, Look at Your Notes

If you get stuck on a point and do not know what to say, feel free to look at your notes to continue.

Use the Microphone Effectively

If you are presenting in a large room where a handheld microphone is needed, hold the microphone near your mouth and speak directly into it.

Using Microphone Effectively

This video clip is an example of a presenter using the microphone effectively .

Using Microphone Ineffectively

This video clip is an example of a presenter using the microphone ineffectively .

Do Not Curse or Use Inappropriate Language

Do not curse or use inappropriate language if you forget a point during the presentation or if the presentation technology fails.

Be Considerate of Your Team

If you are part of a team and giving a group presentation, be considerate to other team members by not using up their time or dominating the presentation. Smoothly transition from one presenter to another.

Smooth Transitions

This video clip is an example of transitioning from one presenter to another in a polished manner .

Awkward Transitions

This video clip is an example of awkward or unpolished transitions from one presenter to another .

Do Not Conclude Abruptly

Do not conclude the presentation abruptly by saying "This is it" or "I'm done." Conclude properly by summarizing the topic and thanking the audience for listening.

Effective Conclusion

This video clip is an example of the presenter concluding a presentation properly by summarizing the important points and thanking the audience .

Abrupt Conclusion

This video clip is an example of the presenter abruptly concluding a presentation .

Be Considerate of the Next Presenter

After your presentation and the question and answer part are over, remove your presentation materials from the desk or the podium, and close any open presentation software so the next presenter can get ready quickly.

Thank Your Moderator

Remember to thank your moderator (if there is one) and the audience, and if you were part of a panel presentation, make sure to thank the panel members.

Participate in the Audience

If there are other presentations scheduled after yours, do not leave the room, but stay and listen to their presentations.

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• Preparing for the Presentation
• Organizing the Presentation
• Designing Effective Presentation Materials
• Rehearsing the Presentation
• Handling Questions and Answers
• Presentation Skills Quiz
• Presentation Preparation Checklist
• Common Reasons for Ineffective Presentations

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How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples

August 3, 2018 - Dom Barnard

For many people the thought of delivering a presentation is a daunting task and brings about a  great deal of nerves . However, if you take some time to understand how effective presentations are structured and then apply this structure to your own presentation, you’ll appear much more confident and relaxed.

Here is our complete guide for structuring your presentation, with examples at the end of the article to demonstrate these points.

Why is structuring a presentation so important?

If you’ve ever sat through a great presentation, you’ll have left feeling either inspired or informed on a given topic. This isn’t because the speaker was the most knowledgeable or motivating person in the world. Instead, it’s because they know how to structure presentations – they have crafted their message in a logical and simple way that has allowed the audience can keep up with them and take away key messages.

Research has supported this, with studies showing that audiences retain structured information  40% more accurately  than unstructured information.

In fact, not only is structuring a presentation important for the benefit of the audience’s understanding, it’s also important for you as the speaker. A good structure helps you remain calm, stay on topic, and avoid any awkward silences.

What will affect your presentation structure?

Generally speaking, there is a natural flow that any decent presentation will follow which we will go into shortly. However, you should be aware that all presentation structures will be different in their own unique way and this will be due to a number of factors, including:

• Whether you need to deliver any demonstrations
• How  knowledgeable the audience  already is on the given subject
• How much interaction you want from the audience
• Any time constraints there are for your talk
• What setting you are in
• Your ability to use any kinds of visual assistance

Before choosing the presentation’s structure answer these questions first:

• What is your presentation’s aim?
• Who are the audience?
• What are the main points your audience should remember afterwards?

When reading the points below, think critically about what things may cause your presentation structure to be slightly different. You can add in certain elements and add more focus to certain moments if that works better for your speech.

What is the typical presentation structure?

This is the usual flow of a presentation, which covers all the vital sections and is a good starting point for yours. It allows your audience to easily follow along and sets out a solid structure you can add your content to.

1. Greet the audience and introduce yourself

Before you start delivering your talk, introduce yourself to the audience and clarify who you are and your relevant expertise. This does not need to be long or incredibly detailed, but will help build an immediate relationship between you and the audience. It gives you the chance to briefly clarify your expertise and why you are worth listening to. This will help establish your ethos so the audience will trust you more and think you’re credible.

Read our tips on  How to Start a Presentation Effectively

2. Introduction

In the introduction you need to explain the subject and purpose of your presentation whilst gaining the audience’s interest and confidence. It’s sometimes helpful to think of your introduction as funnel-shaped to help filter down your topic:

• Introduce your general topic
• Explain your topic area
• State the issues/challenges in this area you will be exploring
• State your presentation’s purpose – this is the basis of your presentation so ensure that you provide a statement explaining how the topic will be treated, for example, “I will argue that…” or maybe you will “compare”, “analyse”, “evaluate”, “describe” etc.
• Provide a statement of what you’re hoping the outcome of the presentation will be, for example, “I’m hoping this will be provide you with…”
• Show a preview of the organisation of your presentation

In this section also explain:

• The length of the talk.
• Signal whether you want audience interaction – some presenters prefer the audience to ask questions throughout whereas others allocate a specific section for this.
• If it applies, inform the audience whether to take notes or whether you will be providing handouts.

The way you structure your introduction can depend on the amount of time you have been given to present: a  sales pitch  may consist of a quick presentation so you may begin with your conclusion and then provide the evidence. Conversely, a speaker presenting their idea for change in the world would be better suited to start with the evidence and then conclude what this means for the audience.

Keep in mind that the main aim of the introduction is to grab the audience’s attention and connect with them.

3. The main body of your talk

The main body of your talk needs to meet the promises you made in the introduction. Depending on the nature of your presentation, clearly segment the different topics you will be discussing, and then work your way through them one at a time – it’s important for everything to be organised logically for the audience to fully understand. There are many different ways to organise your main points, such as, by priority, theme, chronologically etc.

• Main points should be addressed one by one with supporting evidence and examples.
• Before moving on to the next point you should provide a mini-summary.
• Links should be clearly stated between ideas and you must make it clear when you’re moving onto the next point.
• Allow time for people to take relevant notes and stick to the topics you have prepared beforehand rather than straying too far off topic.

When planning your presentation write a list of main points you want to make and ask yourself “What I am telling the audience? What should they understand from this?” refining your answers this way will help you produce clear messages.

4. Conclusion

In presentations the conclusion is frequently underdeveloped and lacks purpose which is a shame as it’s the best place to reinforce your messages. Typically, your presentation has a specific goal – that could be to convert a number of the audience members into customers, lead to a certain number of enquiries to make people knowledgeable on specific key points, or to motivate them towards a shared goal.

Regardless of what that goal is, be sure to summarise your main points and their implications. This clarifies the overall purpose of your talk and reinforces your reason for being there.

Follow these steps:

• Signal that it’s nearly the end of your presentation, for example, “As we wrap up/as we wind down the talk…”
• Restate the topic and purpose of your presentation – “In this speech I wanted to compare…”
• Summarise the main points, including their implications and conclusions
• Indicate what is next/a call to action/a thought-provoking takeaway
• Move on to the last section

5. Thank the audience and invite questions

Conclude your talk by thanking the audience for their time and invite them to  ask any questions  they may have. As mentioned earlier, personal circumstances will affect the structure of your presentation.

Many presenters prefer to make the Q&A session the key part of their talk and try to speed through the main body of the presentation. This is totally fine, but it is still best to focus on delivering some sort of initial presentation to set the tone and topics for discussion in the Q&A.

Other common presentation structures

The above was a description of a basic presentation, here are some more specific presentation layouts:

Demonstration

Use the demonstration structure when you have something useful to show. This is usually used when you want to show how a product works. Steve Jobs frequently used this technique in his presentations.

• Explain why the product is valuable.
• Describe why the product is necessary.
• Explain what problems it can solve for the audience.
• Demonstrate the product  to support what you’ve been saying.
• Make suggestions of other things it can do to make the audience curious.

Problem-solution

This structure is particularly useful in persuading the audience.

• Briefly frame the issue.
• Go into the issue in detail showing why it ‘s such a problem. Use logos and pathos for this – the logical and emotional appeals.
• Provide the solution and explain why this would also help the audience.
• Call to action – something you want the audience to do which is straightforward and pertinent to the solution.

Storytelling

As well as incorporating  stories in your presentation , you can organise your whole presentation as a story. There are lots of different type of story structures you can use – a popular choice is the monomyth – the hero’s journey. In a monomyth, a hero goes on a difficult journey or takes on a challenge – they move from the familiar into the unknown. After facing obstacles and ultimately succeeding the hero returns home, transformed and with newfound wisdom.

Storytelling for Business Success  webinar , where well-know storyteller Javier Bernad shares strategies for crafting compelling narratives.

Another popular choice for using a story to structure your presentation is in media ras (in the middle of thing). In this type of story you launch right into the action by providing a snippet/teaser of what’s happening and then you start explaining the events that led to that event. This is engaging because you’re starting your story at the most exciting part which will make the audience curious – they’ll want to know how you got there.

• Great storytelling: Examples from Alibaba Founder, Jack Ma

Remaining method

The remaining method structure is good for situations where you’re presenting your perspective on a controversial topic which has split people’s opinions.

• Go into the issue in detail showing why it’s such a problem – use logos and pathos.
• Rebut your opponents’ solutions  – explain why their solutions could be useful because the audience will see this as fair and will therefore think you’re trustworthy, and then explain why you think these solutions are not valid.
• After you’ve presented all the alternatives provide your solution, the remaining solution. This is very persuasive because it looks like the winning idea, especially with the audience believing that you’re fair and trustworthy.

Transitions

When delivering presentations it’s important for your words and ideas to flow so your audience can understand how everything links together and why it’s all relevant. This can be done  using speech transitions  which are words and phrases that allow you to smoothly move from one point to another so that your speech flows and your presentation is unified.

Transitions can be one word, a phrase or a full sentence – there are many different forms, here are some examples:

Moving from the introduction to the first point

Signify to the audience that you will now begin discussing the first main point:

• Now that you’re aware of the overview, let’s begin with…
• First, let’s begin with…
• I will first cover…
• My first point covers…
• To get started, let’s look at…

Shifting between similar points

Move from one point to a similar one:

• In the same way…
• Likewise…
• Equally…
• This is similar to…
• Similarly…

Internal summaries

Internal summarising consists of summarising before moving on to the next point. You must inform the audience:

• What part of the presentation you covered – “In the first part of this speech we’ve covered…”
• What the key points were – “Precisely how…”
• How this links in with the overall presentation – “So that’s the context…”
• What you’re moving on to – “Now I’d like to move on to the second part of presentation which looks at…”

Physical movement

You can move your body and your standing location when you transition to another point. The audience find it easier to follow your presentation and movement will increase their interest.

A common technique for incorporating movement into your presentation is to:

• Start your introduction by standing in the centre of the stage.
• For your first point you stand on the left side of the stage.
• You discuss your second point from the centre again.
• You stand on the right side of the stage for your third point.
• The conclusion occurs in the centre.

Key slides for your presentation

Slides are a useful tool for most presentations: they can greatly assist in the delivery of your message and help the audience follow along with what you are saying. Key slides include:

• An intro slide outlining your ideas
• A  summary slide  with core points to remember
• High quality image slides to supplement what you are saying

There are some presenters who choose not to use slides at all, though this is more of a rarity. Slides can be a powerful tool if used properly, but the problem is that many fail to do just that. Here are some golden rules to follow when using slides in a presentation:

• Don’t over fill them  – your slides are there to assist your speech, rather than be the focal point. They should have as little information as possible, to avoid distracting people from your talk.
• A picture says a thousand words  – instead of filling a slide with text, instead, focus on one or two images or diagrams to help support and explain the point you are discussing at that time.
• Make them readable  – depending on the size of your audience, some may not be able to see small text or images, so make everything large enough to fill the space.
• Don’t rush through slides  – give the audience enough time to digest each slide.

Guy Kawasaki, an entrepreneur and author, suggests that slideshows should follow a  10-20-30 rule :

• There should be a maximum of 10 slides – people rarely remember more than one concept afterwards so there’s no point overwhelming them with unnecessary information.
• The presentation should last no longer than 20 minutes as this will leave time for questions and discussion.
• The font size should be a minimum of 30pt because the audience reads faster than you talk so less information on the slides means that there is less chance of the audience being distracted.

Here are some additional resources for slide design:

• 7 design tips for effective, beautiful PowerPoint presentations
• 11 design tips for beautiful presentations
• 10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea

Group Presentations

Group presentations are structured in the same way as presentations with one speaker but usually require more rehearsal and practices.  Clean transitioning between speakers  is very important in producing a presentation that flows well. One way of doing this consists of:

• Briefly recap on what you covered in your section: “So that was a brief introduction on what health anxiety is and how it can affect somebody”
• Introduce the next speaker in the team and explain what they will discuss: “Now Elnaz will talk about the prevalence of health anxiety.”
• Then end by looking at the next speaker, gesturing towards them and saying their name: “Elnaz”.
• The next speaker should acknowledge this with a quick: “Thank you Joe.”

From this example you can see how the different sections of the presentations link which makes it easier for the audience to follow and remain engaged.

Example of great presentation structure and delivery

Having examples of great presentations will help inspire your own structures, here are a few such examples, each unique and inspiring in their own way.

How Google Works – by Eric Schmidt

This presentation by ex-Google CEO  Eric Schmidt  demonstrates some of the most important lessons he and his team have learnt with regards to working with some of the most talented individuals they hired. The simplistic yet cohesive style of all of the slides is something to be appreciated. They are relatively straightforward, yet add power and clarity to the narrative of the presentation.

Start with why – by Simon Sinek

Since being released in 2009, this presentation has been viewed almost four million times all around the world. The message itself is very powerful, however, it’s not an idea that hasn’t been heard before. What makes this presentation so powerful is the simple message he is getting across, and the straightforward and understandable manner in which he delivers it. Also note that he doesn’t use any slides, just a whiteboard where he creates a simple diagram of his opinion.

The Wisdom of a Third Grade Dropout – by Rick Rigsby

Here’s an example of a presentation given by a relatively unknown individual looking to inspire the next generation of graduates. Rick’s presentation is unique in many ways compared to the two above. Notably, he uses no visual prompts and includes a great deal of humour.

However, what is similar is the structure he uses. He first introduces his message that the wisest man he knew was a third-grade dropout. He then proceeds to deliver his main body of argument, and in the end, concludes with his message. This powerful speech keeps the viewer engaged throughout, through a mixture of heart-warming sentiment, powerful life advice and engaging humour.

As you can see from the examples above, and as it has been expressed throughout, a great presentation structure means analysing the core message of your presentation. Decide on a key message you want to impart the audience with, and then craft an engaging way of delivering it.

By preparing a solid structure, and  practising your talk  beforehand, you can walk into the presentation with confidence and deliver a meaningful message to an interested audience.

It’s important for a presentation to be well-structured so it can have the most impact on your audience. An unstructured presentation can be difficult to follow and even frustrating to listen to. The heart of your speech are your main points supported by evidence and your transitions should assist the movement between points and clarify how everything is linked.

Research suggests that the audience remember the first and last things you say so your introduction and conclusion are vital for reinforcing your points. Essentially, ensure you spend the time structuring your presentation and addressing all of the sections.

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What is a Presentation?

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The formal presentation of information is divided into two broad categories: Presentation Skills and Personal Presentation .

These two aspects are interwoven and can be described as the preparation, presentation and practice of verbal and non-verbal communication. 

This article describes what a presentation is and defines some of the key terms associated with presentation skills.

Many people feel terrified when asked to make their first public talk.  Some of these initial fears can be reduced by good preparation that also lays the groundwork for making an effective presentation.

A Presentation Is...

A presentation is a means of communication that can be adapted to various speaking situations, such as talking to a group, addressing a meeting or briefing a team.

A presentation can also be used as a broad term that encompasses other ‘speaking engagements’ such as making a speech at a wedding, or getting a point across in a video conference.

To be effective, step-by-step preparation and the method and means of presenting the information should be carefully considered. 

A presentation requires you to get a message across to the listeners and will often contain a ' persuasive ' element. It may, for example, be a talk about the positive work of your organisation, what you could offer an employer, or why you should receive additional funding for a project.

The Key Elements of a Presentation

Making a presentation is a way of communicating your thoughts and ideas to an audience and many of our articles on communication are also relevant here, see: What is Communication? for more.

Consider the following key components of a presentation:

Ask yourself the following questions to develop a full understanding of the context of the presentation.

When and where will you deliver your presentation?

There is a world of difference between a small room with natural light and an informal setting, and a huge lecture room, lit with stage lights. The two require quite different presentations, and different techniques.

Will it be in a setting you are familiar with, or somewhere new?

If somewhere new, it would be worth trying to visit it in advance, or at least arriving early, to familiarise yourself with the room.

Will the presentation be within a formal or less formal setting?

A work setting will, more or less by definition, be more formal, but there are also various degrees of formality within that.

Will the presentation be to a small group or a large crowd?

Are you already familiar with the audience?

With a new audience, you will have to build rapport quickly and effectively, to get them on your side.

What equipment and technology will be available to you, and what will you be expected to use?

In particular, you will need to ask about microphones and whether you will be expected to stand in one place, or move around.

What is the audience expecting to learn from you and your presentation?

Check how you will be ‘billed’ to give you clues as to what information needs to be included in your presentation.

All these aspects will change the presentation. For more on this, see our page on Deciding the Presentation Method .

The role of the presenter is to communicate with the audience and control the presentation.

Remember, though, that this may also include handing over the control to your audience, especially if you want some kind of interaction.

You may wish to have a look at our page on Facilitation Skills for more.

The audience receives the presenter’s message(s).

However, this reception will be filtered through and affected by such things as the listener’s own experience, knowledge and personal sense of values.

See our page: Barriers to Effective Communication to learn why communication can fail.

The message or messages are delivered by the presenter to the audience.

The message is delivered not just by the spoken word ( verbal communication ) but can be augmented by techniques such as voice projection, body language, gestures, eye contact ( non-verbal communication ), and visual aids.

The message will also be affected by the audience’s expectations. For example, if you have been billed as speaking on one particular topic, and you choose to speak on another, the audience is unlikely to take your message on board even if you present very well . They will judge your presentation a failure, because you have not met their expectations.

The audience’s reaction and therefore the success of the presentation will largely depend upon whether you, as presenter, effectively communicated your message, and whether it met their expectations.

As a presenter, you don’t control the audience’s expectations. What you can do is find out what they have been told about you by the conference organisers, and what they are expecting to hear. Only if you know that can you be confident of delivering something that will meet expectations.

See our page: Effective Speaking for more information.

How will the presentation be delivered?

Presentations are usually delivered direct to an audience.  However, there may be occasions where they are delivered from a distance over the Internet using video conferencing systems, such as Skype.

It is also important to remember that if your talk is recorded and posted on the internet, then people may be able to access it for several years. This will mean that your contemporaneous references should be kept to a minimum.

Impediments

Many factors can influence the effectiveness of how your message is communicated to the audience.

For example background noise or other distractions, an overly warm or cool room, or the time of day and state of audience alertness can all influence your audience’s level of concentration.

As presenter, you have to be prepared to cope with any such problems and try to keep your audience focussed on your message.   

Our page: Barriers to Communication explains these factors in more depth.

Continue to read through our Presentation Skills articles for an overview of how to prepare and structure a presentation, and how to manage notes and/or illustrations at any speaking event.

Continue to: Preparing for a Presentation Deciding the Presentation Method

See also: Writing Your Presentation | Working with Visual Aids Coping with Presentation Nerves | Dealing with Questions Learn Better Presentation Skills with TED Talks

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10 strategies for delivering a great presentation.

• Justin Roesch, MD; 
• Patrick A. Rendon, MD

It’s noon on Tuesday, and James, a new PGY-2 resident, begins his presentation on COPD. After five minutes, you notice half of the residents playing Words with Friends, the “ortho-bound” medical student talking with a buddy in the back, and the attendings looking on with innate skepticism.

Dr. Patrick A. Rendon

Your talk on atrial fibrillation is next month, and just watching James brings on palpitations of your own. So what do you do?

Introduction

Public speaking is a near certainty for most of us regardless of training stage. A well-executed presentation establishes the clinician as an institutional authority, adroitly educating anyone around you.

Dr. Justin Roesch

So how can you deliver that killer update on atrial fibrillation? Here, we provide you with 10 tips for preparing and delivering a great presentation.

Preparation

1. Consider the audience and what they already know. No matter how interesting we think we are, if we don’t present with the audience’s needs in mind, we might as well be talking to an empty room. Consider what the audience may or may not know about the topic; this allows you to decide whether to give a comprehensive didactic on atrial fibrillation for trainees or an anticoagulation update for cardiologists. Great presenters survey their audience early on with a question such as, “How many of you here know the results of the AFFIRM trial?” This allows you to make small alterations to meet the needs of your audience.

2. Visualize the stage and setting. Understanding the stage helps you anticipate and address barriers to learning. Imagine for a moment the difference in these two scenarios: a discussion of hyponatremia with a group of medical students at 4 p.m. in a dark room versus a discussion on principles of atrial fibrillation management at 11 a.m. in an auditorium. Both require interaction, although an auditorium-based presentation requires testing your audio-visual equipment in advance.

3. Determine your objectives. To determine your objectives, begin with the end in mind. If you were to visualize your audience members at the end of the talk, what would they know (knowledge), be able to do (behavior), or have a new outlook on (attitude)? The objectives will determine the content you deliver and the activities for learning. For a one-hour presentation, identifying three to five objectives is a good rule of thumb.

4. Build your presentation. Whether using PowerPoint, Prezi, or a white board, “build” the presentation from the objectives. Table 1 outlines one example format; Figure 1 outlines some best practices of PowerPoint.

Humans evolved to interpret visual imagery, not read text, so try to use pictures instead of bullet points. Consider first building slides with text and then using an internet search engine to convert words to pictures. For example, “atrial rate 200 bpm” is better displayed with an actual ECG.

5. Practice. Practicing helps you become more comfortable with the content itself as well as how to present that content. If you can, practice with a colleague and receive feedback to sharpen your material. No time to spare? Practice the introduction and any major point that you want to get across. Audiences decide within the first five minutes whether your talk is worth listening to before pulling out their cellphones to open up Facebook.

1. Confront nervousness. Many of us become nervous when speaking in front of an audience. To address this, it’s perfectly reasonable to rehearse a presentation at home or in a quiet call room ahead of time. If you feel extremely nervous, breathe deeply for five- to 10-second intervals. During the presentation itself, find friendly or familiar faces in the audience and look them in the eyes as you speak. This eases nerves and improves your technique.

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How to deliver an oral presentation

Georgina wellstead.

a Lister Hospital, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

Katharine Whitehurst

b Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

Buket Gundogan

c University College London

d Guy's St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

Delivering an oral presentation in conferences and meetings can seem daunting. However, if delivered effectively, it can be an invaluable opportunity to showcase your work in front of peers as well as receive feedback on your project. In this “How to” article, we demonstrate how one can plan and successfully deliver an engaging oral presentation.

Giving an oral presentation at a scientific conference is an almost inevitable task at some point during your medical career. The prospect of presenting your original work to colleagues and peers, however, may be intimidating, and it can be difficult to know how to approach it. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that although daunting, an oral presentation is one of the best ways to get your work out there, and so should be looked upon as an exciting and invaluable opportunity.

Slide content

Although things may vary slightly depending on the type of research you are presenting, the typical structure is as follows:

• Opening slide (title of study, authors, institutions, and date)
• Methodology
• Discussion (including strengths and weaknesses of the study)

Conclusions

Picking out only the most important findings to include in your presentation is key and will keep it concise and easy to follow. This in turn will keep your viewers engaged, and more likely to understand and remember your presentation.

Psychological analysis of PowerPoint presentations, finds that 8 psychological principles are often violated 1 . One of these was the limited capacity of working memory, which can hold 4 units of information at any 1 time in most circumstances. Hence, too many points or concepts on a slide could be detrimental to the presenter’s desire to give information.

You can also help keep your audience engaged with images, which you can talk around, rather than lots of text. Video can also be useful, for example, a surgical procedure. However, be warned that IT can let you down when you need it most and you need to have a backup plan if the video fails. It’s worth coming to the venue early and testing it and resolving issues beforehand with the AV support staff if speaking at a conference.

Slide design and layout

It is important not to clutter your slides with too much text or too many pictures. An easy way to do this is by using the 5×5 rule. This means using no more than 5 bullet points per slide, with no more than 5 words per bullet point. It is also good to break up the text-heavy slides with ones including diagrams or graphs. This can also help to convey your results in a more visual and easy-to-understand way.

It is best to keep the slide design simple, as busy backgrounds and loud color schemes are distracting. Ensure that you use a uniform font and stick to the same color scheme throughout. As a general rule, a light-colored background with dark-colored text is easier to read than light-colored text on a dark-colored background. If you can use an image instead of text, this is even better.

A systematic review study of expert opinion papers demonstrates several key recommendations on how to effectively deliver medical research presentations 2 . These include:

• Keeping your slides simple
• Knowing your audience (pitching to the right level)
• Making eye contact
• Rehearsing the presentation
• Do not read from the slides
• Limiting the number of lines per slide
• Sticking to the allotted time

You should practice your presentation before the conference, making sure that you stick to the allocated time given to you. Oral presentations are usually short (around 8–10 min maximum), and it is, therefore, easy to go under or over time if you have not rehearsed. Aiming to spend around 1 minute per slide is usually a good guide. It is useful to present to your colleagues and seniors, allowing them to ask you questions afterwards so that you can be prepared for the sort of questions you may get asked at the conference. Knowing your research inside out and reading around the subject is advisable, as there may be experts watching you at the conference with more challenging questions! Make sure you re-read your paper the day before, or on the day of the conference to refresh your memory.

It is useful to bring along handouts of your presentation for those who may be interested. Rather than printing out miniature versions of your power point slides, it is better to condense your findings into a brief word document. Not only will this be easier to read, but you will also save a lot of paper by doing this!

Delivering the presentation

Having rehearsed your presentation beforehand, the most important thing to do when you get to the conference is to keep calm and be confident. Remember that you know your own research better than anyone else in the room! Be sure to take some deep breaths and speak at an appropriate pace and volume, making good eye contact with your viewers. If there is a microphone, don’t keep turning away from it as the audience will get frustrated if your voice keeps cutting in and out. Gesturing and using pointers when appropriate can be a really useful tool, and will enable you to emphasize your important findings.

Presenting tips

• Do not hide behind the computer. Come out to the center or side and present there.
• Maintain eye contact with the audience, especially the judges.
• Remember to pause every so often.
• Don’t clutter your presentation with verbal noise such as “umm,” “like,” or “so.” You will look more slick if you avoid this.
• Rhetorical questions once in a while can be useful in maintaining the audience’s attention.

When reaching the end of your presentation, you should slow down in order to clearly convey your key points. Using phases such as “in summary” and “to conclude” often prompts those who have drifted off slightly during your presentation start paying attention again, so it is a critical time to make sure that your work is understood and remembered. Leaving up your conclusions/summary slide for a short while after stopping speaking will give the audience time to digest the information. Conclude by acknowledging any fellow authors or assistants before thanking the audience for their attention and inviting any questions (as long as you have left sufficient time).

If asked a question, firstly thank the audience member, then repeat what they have asked to the rest of the listeners in case they didn’t hear the first time. Keep your answers short and succinct, and if unsure say that the questioner has raised a good point and that you will have to look into it further. Having someone else in the audience write down the question is useful for this.

The key points to remember when preparing for an oral presentation are:

• Keep your slides simple and concise using the 5×5 rule and images.
• When appropriate; rehearse timings; prepare answers to questions; speak slowly and use gestures/ pointers where appropriate; make eye contact with the audience; emphasize your key points at the end; make acknowledgments and thank the audience; invite questions and be confident but not arrogant.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no financial conflict of interest with regard to the content of this report.

Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article.

Published online 8 June 2017

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Business Jargons

A Business Encyclopedia

Presentation

Definition : A presentation is a form of communication in which the speaker conveys information to the audience. In an organization presentations are used in various scenarios like talking to a group, addressing a meeting, demonstrating or introducing a new product, or briefing a team. It involves presenting a particular subject or issue or new ideas/thoughts to a group of people.

It is considered as the most effective form of communication because of two main reasons:

• Use of non-verbal cues.
• Facilitates instant feedback.

Business Presentations are a tool to influence people toward an intended thought or action.

Parts of Presentation

• Introduction : It is meant to make the listeners ready to receive the message and draw their interest. For that, the speaker can narrate some story or a humorous piece of joke, an interesting fact, a question, stating a problem, and so forth. They can also use some surprising statistics.
• Body : It is the essence of the presentation. It requires the sequencing of facts in a logical order. This is the part where the speaker explains the topic and relevant information. It has to be critically arranged, as the audience must be able to grasp what the speaker presents.
• Conclusion : It needs to be short and precise. It should sum up or outline the key points that you have presented. It could also contain what the audience should have gained out of the presentation.

Purpose of Presentation

• To inform : Organizations can use presentations to inform the audience about new schemes, products or proposals. The aim is to inform the new entrant about the policies and procedures of the organization.
• To persuade : Presentations are also given to persuade the audience to take the intended action.
• To build goodwill : They can also help in building a good reputation

Factors Affecting Presentation

Audience Analysis

Communication environment, personal appearance, use of visuals, opening and closing presentation, organization of presentation, language and words, voice quality, body language, answering questions, a word from business jargons.

Presentation is a mode of conveying information to a selected group of people live. An ideal presentation is one that identifies and matches the needs, interests and understanding level of the audience. It also represents the facts, and figures in the form of tables, charts, and graphs and uses multiple colours.

Related terms:

• Verbal Communication
• Visual Communication
• Non-Verbal Communication
• Communication
• 7 C’s of Communication

Reader Interactions

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October 2, 2022 at 11:33 pm

Thank you so much for providing us with brief info related to the presentation.

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• Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation >
• Teaching at UB >
• Course Development >
• Design Your Course >

Delivery Modes and Teaching Approaches

Understand how course delivery and instructional approaches will affect design choices.

On this page:

Why focus on how you will teach.

The first two factors that will affect course design are:

• Delivery Modes: The formats in which the course is delivered.
• Teaching Approaches: The strategies used to deliver instruction and facilitate learning.

Choosing a teaching approach, or a combination of approaches, is directed by one's beliefs about learning. Further, whether you plan to teach online, in person or through another mode, this will influence your teaching approach and affect the experiences you provide to your students. Because these factors impact each other as well as the broad scope of your course, we must first explore these options and their potential tradeoffs.

Delivery Modes

There are several modes or ways that instruction can be delivered. Each provide different opportunities for learning.

Considerations

• Situational Factors : The context of your teaching situation, as well as the learning situation of your students, will also help identify the appropriate instructional mode. While your instructional mode may be pre-determined, several factors may be within your control. For example, while teaching a face-to-face course, you may build in asynchronous online learning.
• Learning Outcomes : The mode of learning can also be differentiated by the complexity of learning outcomes. For example, in a hybrid course, learning outcomes related to understanding new information can be completed by students in an online asynchronous module. During the next in person class session, students could then work in groups to apply these concepts to more complex learning.

Keep in mind possible teaching modes as we next consider how you will teach your students.

Teaching Approaches

There are two main approaches to instruction in higher education: teacher-centered and student-centered. Your approaches will significantly impact your students’ learning experiences as well as their ability to understand new concepts and transfer knowledge.

Choosing an Approach

Teacher-centered and student-centered approaches are neither good nor bad. Their use depends on your learning outcomes and context. For example, modeling a chemistry experiment may be the best way to demonstrate processes in the lab, while in other parts of your course, students use guided practice to complete lab experiments with a partner. Further, both approaches may be evident within a single lesson or module.

Keep the following considerations in mind when you choose an approach:

1. Tradeoffs: The following are pros and cons for each approach:

2. Learning Outcomes:  Always consider your learning outcomes and how students will best achieve these.

3. Meaning Making and Prior Knowledge : Constructivism asserts that while instructors can deliver information, only students can make meaning of it. How difficult this meaning making may be will determines how much guidance, feedback, or support should be provided. This will be determined both by the complexity of the topic and students’ prior knowledge. A student-centered approach will allow you to determine prior knowledge and adjust guidance accordingly.

These considerations will be guided throughout the course design process. For now, remember that there are several approaches to teaching and that their use will depend on various factors. It is best to be open to diverse approaches, exploring their effectiveness in supporting student learning while building your teaching toolkit. As we continue through the course design process, it is important to keep in mind how your delivery mode can influence your teaching approaches and vice versa. Both aspects can create opportunities and limitations within your course and its design.

Now that you have considered the mode you might deliver in and how to approach instruction, next we need to consider the remaining situational factors that will influence course design.

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Al Pacino reveals the reason he announced Oscars best picture the way he did

Al Pacino took the stage at the 96th Oscars to deliver the award for best picture, which went to "Oppenheimer," but Pacino's delivery of the winner arguably stole the show.

Whereas the acting nominees had long presentations during the March 10 ceremony, Pacino didn't read out the nominees for best picture before revealing who won. Over on social media, some saw the moment as "confusing" while others called it "Oscar-worthy" in its own right, but Pacino is now speaking out about the real reason he skipped over the other contenders for the prestigious award.

“There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the best picture award,” Pacino said in a statement through his reps obtained by Deadline . “I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony.

"I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented," he continued.

On the night of the Academy Awards, the best picture presentation from Pacino appeared rushed. Instead of mentioning each movie by name, Pacino only said, "Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture."

Then he gestured to his envelope. "I have to go to the envelope for that. Here it comes," he said, opening it up.

Looking at the paper, he started talking. "And my eyes see 'Oppenheimer,'" he said.

Some clapping emerged, but it seemed like Pacino was still speaking. "Yes. Yes," Pacino continued, reading the names of the produces. More clapping emerged before finally, "Oppenheimer" became, clearly, the winner.

The somewhat anticlimactic moment led to a spirited conversation online.

"Al Pacino announcing Oppenheimer’s best picture win with the casualness of announcing what he wants to eat for dinner at Chili’s is why I watch The Oscars," one X user wrote .

Another compared his tone to a bear stumbling out of a cave.

Viewers noticed how he skipped reading the nominations and cut straight what his "eyes" saw: "Oppenheimer."

"Al Pacino not even presenting the rest of the nominations and going straight to the winner is such a hilarious yet Oscar worthy performance in its own right," someone wrote .

Others weren't as taken with the moment, calling it "all kinds of awkward ."

Writer Spencer Althouse concluded it "couldn't have been more chaotic or confusing," but said he was still "obsessed."

Elena Nicolaou is a senior entertainment editor at Today.com, where she covers the latest in TV, pop culture, movies and all things streaming. Previously, she covered culture at Refinery29 and Oprah Daily. Her superpower is matching people up with the perfect book, which she does on her podcast, Blind Date With a Book.

Al Pacino says Oscars best picture winner confusion was due to 'a choice by the producers'

The 2024 Oscars ended on an anticlimactic note, and not just because of the winner itself.

Al Pacino sparked confusion — and lots of memes — with the unexpectedly casual way he announced "Oppenheimer" had won best picture at Sunday's Academy Awards.

The "Godfather" star, 83, was brought on stage to announce the final award of the night, best picture, which is traditionally revealed after a dramatic buildup sometimes accompanied by a drumroll for added effect.

Instead, Pacino quickly opened the envelope and immediately blurted out "Oppenheimer" without preceding the film's title by the traditional "and the Oscar goes to." He also did not read the names of any of the other best picture nominees.

"Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture," Pacino said. "And I have to go to the envelope for that, and I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see 'Oppenheimer.' Yes. Yes."

The audience appeared confused about whether Pacino had, in fact, just announced the winner, and it took a moment for the orchestra to kick in and for the "Oppenheimer" nominees to begin making their way to the stage.

Oscars 2024 winners: See the full list of celebrities who took home Academy Award gold

Al Pacino claims delivery of the Oscars best picture winner was 'a choice by the producers'

The day after the Oscars, Pacino issued a statement explaining why the "Oppenheimer" win was delivered so abruptly, with no mention of the other best picture nominees.

"I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented," Pacino said, according to the Associated Press .

"I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one's life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement," he added.

'Most anti-climactic Oscar win ever': Social media reacts to Al Pacino

Pacino's confusing delivery immediately sparked a wave of memes on social media, as viewers joked that he was trying to wrap the show up as quickly as possible. "Al Pacino had a 7:30pm reservation at Musso & Frank, he needed to move things along," critic Richard Roeper posted on X , referencing the actor's role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

One X user described this as the "most anti-climactic oscar win ever," while another post summed up Pacino's attitude as, "Sure whatever it's Oppenheimer ok bye bye."

"Oppenheimer" was widely expected to win the best picture Oscar, adding to the anticlimactic nature of the end of the ceremony. Christopher Nolan also won best director for the historical epic, while stars Robert Downey Jr . and Cillian Murphy won best supporting actor and best actor, respectively.

Thanks to Pacino, this was the latest Academy Awards broadcast to end on a confusing, anticlimactic note after best actor was presented last at the end of the 2021 Oscars instead of best picture, only for the surprise winner, Anthony Hopkins, to not even be present to accept the award.

Jimmy Kimmel roasts Al Pacino, wonders if he's ever 'watched an awards show before'

Appearing Monday on " Live with Kelly and Mark ," Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel playfully mocked Pacino over his abrupt best picture announcement.

"I guess he's never watched an awards show before?" Kimmel said. "Seems like everyone in America knows the rhythm of how it's supposed to go, down to 'and the Oscar goes to.' But not Al. God bless him."

Host Kelly Ripa also joked that Pacino had cut "like 12 minutes" out of the end of the show with his quick delivery. "We were like, don't open that envelope," she said. "Don't you open that envelope, Al!"

Michelle Pfeiffer misses reported 'Scarface' reunion with Al Pacino at Oscars

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Al pacino says awkward best picture delivery was “a choice by producers”.

The 'Godfather' star omitted the nominees' names because he was following the Academy's script for the night, he says. "I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit [nominees]," Pacino said in a statement issued Monday.

By Rebecca Keegan

Rebecca Keegan

Senior Editor, Film

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Al Pacino ‘s unconventional delivery of the 2024 Oscars’ best picture winner Sunday night had some people in the audience wondering if the Godfather star was winging it with Oscar tradition, but Pacino says he was largely following the Academy’s own script. 

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Simu liu danced with torn achilles tendon during ryan gosling's "i'm just ken" oscars performance, naacp image awards: blitz bazawule, michelle buteau and michael b. jordan among night 3 winners.

“I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful,” Pacino continued. “I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight, and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement.”

During the show, Pacino announced the winner of the biggest award of the night by saying, “Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture.” He did not announce all the films in the category, instead going directly to the envelope, which felt hurried and a little anticlimactic to some . “I have to go to the envelope for that, and I will,” Pacino said on the telecast. “Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer . Yes. Yes.”

Throughout the night, the Academy had been paying tribute to the individual best picture nominees with video clips, and producers felt that those presentations had sufficiently done the job of acknowledging the films. In the interest of keeping the show from running long, Oscars producer Molly McNearney told Variety that, “We did not give [Pacino] a clip package. We did not give him nominations to read. I apologize if our decision to not have to read through all those nominations put him in a tough spot.”

After the ceremony, Academy chief executive Bill Kramer praised Pacino’s delivery to The New York Times . “Everything went beautifully,” Kramer said. “He was just having fun up there.”

The hubbub over Pacino’s Oscar night delivery overshadowed another piece of news the actor made on Monday, the announcement that his memoir, Sonny Boy , will be published this fall by Penguin Press. On that text, at least, Pacino’s got the last say.

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Katie Britt, With a Smile and a Fierce Glare, Delivers G.O.P. Response to Biden

The Alabama senator, 42, who has been floated as a possible running mate for Donald Trump, gave a tonally jarring speech that toggled between strained cheerfulness and ominous warnings.

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Katie Britt Attacks Biden in G.O.P. Response

Seated at her kitchen table in montgomery, ala., the republican senator called president biden “a dithering and diminished leader” and addressed issues including immigration and i.v.f..

Like so many families across America, my husband, Wesley, and I just watched President Biden’s State of the Union address from our living room, and what we saw was the performance of a permanent politician who has actually been in office for longer than I’ve been alive. President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace. This crisis is despicable. And the truth is, it is almost entirely preventable. Right now, our commander in chief is not in command. The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader. We want families to grow. It’s why we strongly support continued nationwide access to in vitro fertilization. We want to help loving moms and dads bring precious life into this world.

By Michael C. Bender and Kayla Guo

Reporting from Washington

• March 7, 2024

With a sunny, inviting smile, Senator Katie Britt of Alabama welcomed Americans into her kitchen on Thursday night.

Many soon backed away nervously.

In the Republican Party’s official response to President Biden’s State of the Union address, Ms. Britt delivered a jarring speech that toggled between an increasingly strained cheerfulness and a fierce glare as she gave ominous warnings about illegal immigration.

Ms. Britt, 42, has been seen as a rising Republican star and floated as a possible running mate for former President Donald J. Trump . But in the biggest moment of her fledgling political career, she delivered a tonally uneven speech that was made more unusual by the setting of her own house in Montgomery, Ala., where she sat at her kitchen table and painted a dark picture of an America in decline.

“Our commander in chief is not in command,” Ms. Britt said. “The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader.”

Her comments were in line with messages Republicans have increasingly used to criticize Mr. Biden at the start of the election year, but her 17-minute speech seemed likely to be remembered more for her disconcerting performance. She spoke in grim detail about a child victim of sex trafficking by drug cartels and the recent killing of a Georgia nursing student in which a Venezuelan migrant has been charged.

“That could’ve been my daughter,” Ms. Britt said. “It could’ve been yours.”

Previous State of the Union rebuttals have been delivered from behind a lectern in official settings, but Ms. Britt chose a domestic backdrop, trying to underscore her argument that Mr. Biden represents a threat to prosperity for American families.

But the scene seemed to confuse viewers on social media, where Ms. Britt was mocked by some for using a dramatic, breathy voice to deliver critiques of the president.

“Under his administration, families are worse off — our communities are less safe, and our country is less secure,” she said. “I just wish he understood what real families are facing around kitchen tables just like this one.”

Mr. Trump praised her speech.

“Katie Britt was a GREAT contrast to an Angry, and obviously very Disturbed, ‘President,’” he wrote on his social media site. “She was compassionate and caring, especially concerning Women and Women’s Issues. Her conversation on Migrant Crime was powerful and insightful. Great job Katie!”

Ms. Britt won her first public office in 2022, becoming the first female senator elected in Alabama and the youngest Republican woman elected to the chamber. Speaker Mike Johnson noted in announcing that she would give the State of the Union response that she was the “only current Republican mom of school-age kids serving in the Senate.”

Her selection made for a stark contrast with Mr. Biden, 81, the nation’s oldest president, who is facing skepticism within his party about whether he is too old for a second term.

She also symbolized the latest Republican attempt to broaden the appeal of a party represented overwhelmingly in Washington by white men.

Last year, the Republican response was given by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, a former Trump White House press secretary, who became the nation’s youngest governor when she took office early last year. The previous Republican responses to Mr. Biden’s speech came from Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowa’s first female governor, and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the chamber.

Ms. Britt repeatedly brought up families and her children in her speech.

“The country we know and love seems to be slipping away — it feels like the next generation will have fewer opportunities, and less freedom, than we did,” she said. “I worry my own children may not even get a shot at living their American dreams.”

Ms. Britt is, at first glance, an unlikely vice-presidential contender for Mr. Trump. She rose to the Senate within the business-friendly establishment wing of the Republican Party that he has driven from power.

She served as chief executive of the Business Council of Alabama, the state’s chamber of commerce, and as a former chief of staff to former Senator Richard Shelby, Alabama’s longest serving senator.

But Ms. Britt has been on Mr. Trump’s radar since August 2021, when she was at the end of a receiving line to shake the former president’s hand during a Republican gathering in Alabama.

Ms. Britt, then a candidate for Senate, introduced the former president to her husband, Wesley Britt, noting that he played professional football for the New England Patriots, whose billionaire owner, Robert Kraft, is close to Mr. Trump, according to two people familiar with the exchange.

Even though Mr. Trump had already endorsed her primary opponent, Representative Mo Brooks, Ms. Britt would tell Mr. Trump that she deserved his endorsement instead.

Seven months later, in March 2022, Mr. Trump withdrew his endorsement as Mr. Brooks dropped in the polls. He backed Ms. Britt, calling her “an incredible fighter for the people of Alabama,” less than two weeks before her runoff election with Mr. Brooks in June.

Democrats seized on Ms. Britt’s selection for the Republican response as they try to make abortion rights and women’s issues central campaign topics.

Last month, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children, imperiling access in the state to fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization. Ms. Britt, who has said that she believes life begins at conception , came out in support of access to I.V.F. after the ruling.

Ms. Britt, along with most Senate Republicans, voted this year against a breakthrough bipartisan bill to crack down on immigration while providing new aid to Ukraine.

On foreign affairs, she argued that Mr. Biden’s “strategy of appeasement” had led to chaos and turmoil around the world.

Ms. Britt, along with a small majority of Republicans, voted against an aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that ultimately passed the Senate.

Earlier on Thursday, Ms. Britt’s team distributed talking points that promoted her speech by comparing it to some of the most famous oratory in the nation’s history and urging fellow Republicans to praise the Alabama senator for coming across “like America’s mom.”

“His speech was tone deaf,” the talking points declared, before either Mr. Biden or Ms. Britt had spoken. “Hers was the perfect pitch.”

Jonathan Swan contributed reporting.

Michael C. Bender is a Times political correspondent covering Donald J. Trump, the Make America Great Again movement and other federal and state elections. More about Michael C. Bender

Kayla Guo covers Congress for The New York Times as the 2023-24 reporting fellow based in Washington. More about Kayla Guo

Our Coverage of the State of the Union

In a raucous state of the union address, president biden sought to reassure americans that at 81, he is ready for a second term..

Biden’s Performance: The president was feisty   and displayed a newly found solemnity and blunt combativeness . Republicans jeered  from their seats. And Democrats enthusiastically cheered their presidential nominee, even as a few aired their grievances about the war in Gaza .

A Contrast With Trump: In his speech, Biden launched a series of fiery attacks  against former President Donald Trump, a competitor whom he did not mention by name but made clear was a dire threat to American democracy  and to  stability in the world .

Middle East Crisis: During the State of the Union, the president announced the construction of a port to deliver aid to Gaza. That decision, as well as the  authorization of aid airdrops  on the territory, raised uncomfortable questions  about America’s role in the war.

Seeking a Tricky Balance: As he spoke to Congress, Biden tried to demonstrate that he could be tough on the border without demonizing immigrants .

A Rare Mention: Biden briefly referenced a topic  that he has often been reluctant to embrace: marijuana. His words could signal a move toward promoting the efforts he has made to liberalize cannabis policy.

Style Choices: Democratic women in suffragist white , Marjorie Taylor Greene in MAGA red. The sartorial statement-making on the congressional floor was clear .