Academic presentations

Giving a good academic presentation

1. Think about the aim of your presentation and what you want to achieve.

2. Concentrate on your audience - who they are and what they (want to) know; concentrating on the listeners rather than on yourself will soothe your nerves as well.

3. Choose the topic that interests you - involvement and motivation are key to confidence and vigour.

4. Give your presentation a clear and logical organization so that everyone can follow.

5. Present information visually– this adds interest to your talk and makes it easier to follow

6. Practise giving your presentation until you are familiar with the key points; this way you may discover any potential problems an check the timing. Besides, practice will also make you feel more confident.

P.P.T video

An example of an academic P.P.T  - video

Domestic Violence (8minutes)


Signposting Language                                                                            Download PDF

1. Introducing the topic
The aim of this presentation is... / My presentation today is about... /
Today I'd like to talk about...
2. Listing the points
My talk will be in two (three, four) parts: First,…after that,… then,… finally,…
Firstly,...      Secondly,...    Thirdly,…  Finally,...
I'll begin by looking at... Then, I’ll move on to...Towards the end I ...
3. Changing the topic
Now I'd like to turn to... / Now let's look at...
4. Focussing your audience’s attention
What is interesting/important is... /   Notice/Observe that
5. Referring backwards/forwards
I mentioned earlier…   /   We’ll come back to this point later…
6. Referring to visuals
Looking at the chart you can see...  /  As you can see from the graph,...
The graph/chart shows...    
7. Checking understanding
Is that clear?Are there any questions?
8. Speaker’s attitude
I believe/think that...  /  It seems to me that...  The point I'm trying to make here is
It's important/interesting to notice...
9. Referring to common knowledge
As you know….  /  As I’m sure you are aware… / It is commonly known that…/
10. Dealing with questions
That’s a good point…
Can we get back to it later?
I’m afraid I’m not the right person to answer this question.
11. Ending the presentation
So, to sum up...
In conclusion (we can say that)...
If you have any questions, I’ll be pleased to answer them.
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1. Cope with nerves – breathe deeply; it calms you down and stops you from talking too quickly, which usually happens when you are too nervous.

2. Control your voice – speak clearly and try to sound interesting by changing intonation and rhythm – if you sound monotonous, people will fall asleep!

3. Watch your body language – try to give the impression that you are relaxed and confident, even if you are not; avoid nervous gestures and movements.

4. Maintain an eye contact with your audience – it keeps them interested in what you are saying. For this reason, you should not read; instead, list the key points on a transparency and refer to them.

5. Provide visual information – but do not give too many facts at a time, give your audience enough time to take them in.

6. Keep attention by asking questions which you are going to answer yourself.

Presentation Cards

presentation cards

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