Effective Presentation

This is exactly how I felt when I was told I had to give a power point presentation to my class!

I sweated over it for weeks.  The good thing was we could present any subject we wanted so I decided to do it on something I knew quite well.  I completed two weeks work experience at Youthreach and knew quite a lot about the organisation.  That was half the battle won!

I took our lecturer’s advice and kept the information short and to the point.  I didn’t use too many words just bullet points.  I added pictures of the members of the centre doing activities of interest and hoped I could keep the audience interested.  The main advice we were given when compiling a presentation was to have three main sections:

Introduce the subject (tell them what you’re going to tell them)

Main body – explain the subject (tell them)

Conclusion (tell them what you told them)

The presentation was to take five minutes (no more, no less) so practicing was inescapable.  I gave the presentation to my family a few time and they were sick of me by the end.  But, it was worth it.  The more I practiced the more confident I felt.

I was very nervous on the ‘big’ day.  When I went up to the top of the room to start, my mouth immediately went dry; luckily I brought water with me.  I stuttered at the start but soon got into the swing of things.  I was glad I had practiced because I was able to talk to the audience without looking at the screen and I knew what was coming next.  My timing was spot on.

I was glad it was over but I feel now that I would be more confident if I had to do it again, it was a great learning experience.

Here's a few power point tips to help you write your presentation