Tips To Enhance Your SRHC Presentation

 

 

 

Your Session Proposal

Your 50-150 word session description should summarize both the content and the structure of your presentation. It should be written in complete sentences and tie into the conference theme, if appropriate. Show how your session relates to honors education, if applicable. Session descriptions should be as specific and clear as possible. Avoid jargon, technical terms, and complex formulae and use language that can be understood by and appeal to a broad audience. Student proposals should be reviewed by the director not only for content and format but also for grammar and usage.

 

Audio-Visual Equipment Requests

Proposals that include the use of audio-visual equipment must indicate what equipment is needed and how it will function in the presentation. Audio-visual equipment must be requested at the time the session proposal is submitted; no equipment will be supplied on site at the conference unless indicated on the proposal.

 

Consider Your Audience

Your presentation will be held in a room that holds approximately 25-50 people, all of whom have elected to attend your session. You may assume that the majority of those individuals are already interested and perhaps somewhat knowledgeable about your topic. Therefore, you should offer the appropriate amount of background information that neither talks down to your audience nor assumes they have been immersed in the same research and investigations you have. To achieve a smooth delivery, practice your presentation prior to the conference, including using presentation items and audio-visual materials so that you do not fidget with them unnecessarily during your presentation.

 

Make Written Materials Available

People like handouts. If the presentation lends itself to a schematic diagram, bibliography, or printed examples, use them. We suggest that you prepare 40 sets of handouts for your audience. Avoid the cost of mailing materials to participants after the conference. Collating handout pages in logical sequence and stapling them together help your audience to follow your presentation. If you have copies left over, please make them available to those who cannot attend your session by placing them on the information table near the conference registration desk.

 

As You Begin

Approach the speaking area with confidence. As you introduce your presentation, make your purpose(s) clear to the audience, let them know what you intend to achieve with them., and alert them to the number of points in your organizational structure so that they can follow along easily.

 

Delivery That Involves Your Audience

·          Maintain eye contact with all parts of the audience throughout the presentation.

·          Speak at a rate that is easy for each audience member to follow.

·          Speak with clarity and appropriate volume so that the entire audience can hear you.

·          Use your notes minimally so that the audience senses your preparedness and enthusiasm.

·          Incorporate gestures and natural body movements that enhance your message.

·          Avoid distracting gestures such as jingling pocket change and adjusting clothing.

·          If there are multiple presenters, consider and practice how you will switch among them and consider the amount

of   time it takes to shift from section to section of your session. It would be advantageous for members of a panel to converse with other presenters before the conference.

·          Practice a smooth incorporation of audio-visual materials, especially with the technology that is being provided for

you by SRHC. Make sure visuals are easily seen.

·          If using PowerPoint arrive early enough to be sure that your equipment works properly as a courtesy to the

audience and the other presenters.  Give a brief overview from the start, then present the information.  It is often

more effective to have bulleted points appear one at a time so the audience listens to the presenter rather than reading the screen.  DO NOT READ THE PRESENTATION!  Practice the presentation so you can speak from bullet points.  The text should be a cue for the presenter rather than a message for the viewer.

·          Be sure to time your presentation. Within the time frame, you will have to allow time to set up, to introduce

yourself or be introduced, to pass out materials and answer questions from the floor. Strive for a swift and courteous room exchange. If you have many materials to pack up, you might enlist the support of a colleague to help you do so,

so that your presentation does not thoughtlessly overlap another one.

·          Make sure you allow sufficient time for the audience to ask questions. Those questions often make them feel

involved and more enthusiastic about your session.

 

BE WELL-PREPARED AND HAVE FUN!

Revised 2007