9.5 – How to deliver your presentation

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you’ll be able to

  • identify voice and body language skills that keep an audience engaged and inspired.

What makes good presenters engaging? What makes you want to watch and listen? Great delivery includes:

  • Confidence
  • Passion
  • Proficient body language
  • Eye contact
  • Speaking clearly, being easy to understand
  • Effective pauses
  • Few hesitations or filler words
  • Using words and phrases that are appropriate for the audience
  • Accurate timing: not going overtime or ending too early
  • Smooth transitions between sentences and sections

Delivery

Excellent presenters use many delivery skills. Don’t worry about being perfect at all of them;  start by working on a few of them. When those skills feel improved, choose three more to work on.

Voice

Volume  Speak loudly enough so that we can hear you. Good volume also makes you sound confident

Clarity  Enunciate your words, and avoid mumbling, so the audience can easily understand what you’re saying

Tone  Match your tone to the content. Typically, tone goes higher when we are unsure or are asking a question, and goes lower when we are stating a fact or being authoritative

Pace  Speak slowly enough to be understood, and vary your pace to add interest

  • Choppiness – Speak as fluidly as possible, avoid hesitations and unusual pacing
  • Speed – Speak smoothly and confidently, but a little slower than in normal conversation. In multicultural situations (where we might not be familiar with each others’ accents) speak even slower, and watch your audience to make sure they understand you.
  • Pauses – Listening can be tiring. Brief pauses let your audience absorb information. You can also use pauses to add emphasis or anticipation.

Vocal variety  Vary your tone, pace and volume to add interest, emphasis and clarity. For example, speak a little faster to add excitement or anticipation, or speak a little louder to show emphasis. Some cultures and languages tend to be more monotone, so some students may have to work a little bit harder to ensure they vary their tone.

Body language

Professional posture  Good posture supports your voice, and makes you look professional and confident (when we’re nervous we tend to hunch and cross our arms).  Face the audience most of the time, and avoid turning your back on them to look at your  slides.

Manage your movement  Repetitive body movements, such as tapping your foot or swaying, can also distract the audience. If you’re presenting in person, slowly move around the physical space, such as moving towards the audience, or from one part of the room to another.

Use gestures  Use gestures to add interest, emphasis, and help explain what you’re saying, such as indicating part of a slide or demonstrating an action.

Eyes & face

Make eye contact most of the time  Eye contact shows confidence and helps everyone in the audience feel included. Look at all parts of the room. Secret tip for shy presenters: look at people’s foreheads – it has the same effect as eye contact. If you’re presenting online, this means looking at the camera. If you’re using notes should be point form – not full sentences – that you can quickly glance at, not read.

Manage your facial expressions  You can show passion and emotion through facial expressions. But be careful, sometimes presenters show how nervous they are by having a look of worry on their face.

Passion

Your passion will engage the audience. Show your enthusiasm, energy and interest through appropriate use of tone, pace, volume, facial expressions, gestures, and body language.

Your level of energy can be infectious, and inspire the audience. Even if your topic is serious, like mental health or a tragedy, you can still convey conviction and interest in the subject matter. Conversely, without passion, you can make even the most fascinating content boring, and cause your audience to disengage.

Words

Filler words  Fillers distract the audience and make you seem nervous, unprepared or professional. These include uhh, umm, like, you know, and any other words or noises that are not actual content. Real words like and and so can also be used as filler words.

Vocabulary  Use words and phrases your audience understands; language that is appropriate for them. Will they understand abbreviations, acronyms, slang and jargon?

Transitions  Use transitions to connect sentences to each other, indicate that you’re moving to the next major point, or in group presentations, that you’re moving to the next speaker.

Timing

Make sure the length of your presentation matches your audience’s expectations. If your presentation is a lot shorter, the audience (and instructor!) might be disappointed; if you go overtime they might resent you.

 Pro Tip

After each presentation, make a note of 3 things that you did well, and 3 things you want to improve.

If you have a speech impediment or accessibility needs

If you have a speech impediment, visual impairment, hearing difficulty, physical disability, or other health issue, there are many resources available. You may want to start by speaking with your instructor and contacting Accessibility Services at your college.

If you stutter, you’re not alone. Many famous people have found ways to become great presenters while managing their stutter, including President Joe Biden, James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader) and Nicole Kidman. Some basic coping strategies include speaking slowly, managing stress and thoroughly knowing your material. Additional resources are available from The Canadian Stuttering Association [New Tab].

 Test your knowledge 

Watch each of these videos and test your understanding of the presenter’s skills.

Watch Why 1.5 billion people eat with chopsticks on the TED Website (3 mins)

Video source: Lee, J. (2020, January). Jennifer 8. Lee: Why 1.5 billion people eat with chopsticks [Video]. Ted Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_8_lee_why_1_5_billion_people_eat_with_chopsticks?referrer=playlist-the_most_popular_talks_of_2020#t-198298

Jennifer 8. Lee – What did you notice?

 

Jennifer 8. Lee – What did you notice? (Text version)
  1. Complete the sentences by filling in the blanks with the following words: confident, hesitations, clearly, practiced
    The speaker has obviously (a)                          until she knows the content well. She seems (b)                          and speaks (c)                          without (d)                          .
  2. Complete the sentences by filling in the blanks with the following words: eye contact, passion, varies
    The speaker shows (a)                          for the topic. She makes frequent (b)                         with the camera, and (c)                          her tone, pace and volume to add interest.
  3. Complete the sentences by filling in the blanks with the following words: high quality, easy
    The visuals are (a)                          and (b)                          to see and understand.

Check your Answers: [1]

Activity source: “Jennifer 8. Lee – What did you notice?” is adapted from “How to deliver your presentation” In Business Presentation Skills by Lucinda Atwood & Christian Westin licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. / Text version created.

Watch Looking for a job? Highlight your ability, not your experience (6 mins)

Video source: Shen, J. (2017, November). Jason Shen – Looking for a job? Highlight your ability, not your experience [Video]. Ted Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/jason_shen_looking_for_a_job_highlight_your_ability_not_your_experience?language=en

Jason Shen – What did you notice?

Jason Shen – What did you notice? (Text version)
  1. Complete the sentences by filling in the blanks with the following words: call to action, three, story
    The speaker starts with a (a)                       to grab the audience’s interest. His presentation includes (b)                         key ideas. He ends with a (b)                       .
  2. Complete the sentences by filling in the blanks with the following words: understand, enunciates, slowly
    The speaker (a)                       clearly and speaks (b)                         enough so that the audience can (c)                       him.
  3. Complete the sentences by filling in the blanks with the following words: practiced, filler words, posture
    The speaker’s (a)                         shows confidence. He obviously has (b)                       his presentation because he doesn’t hesitate or use (c)                       .

Check your Answers: [2]

Activity source: “Jason Shen – What did you notice?” is adapted from “How to deliver your presentation” In Business Presentation Skills by Lucinda Atwood & Christian Westin licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. / Text version created.

Bad Presentation Example

Watch the following presentation and respond to the interactive questions by clicking on your screen.

Bad Presentation Example

Bad Presentation Example (Text version)

Watch Bad Presentation Video on Pressbooks (1 min)

  1. True or false? This video starts with a grabber.
  2. How’s the camera angle?
    1. Too low
    2. Too high
    3. Perfect
  3. What would make the speaker look more confident? Select all that apply.
    1. Looking at the camera
    2. Better posture – not hunching
    3. Not reading
    4. Smiling occasionally
    5. Keeping hands off face
    6. Few filler words
  4. What else would improve this presentation? Select all that apply.
    1. Tidy the background
    2. Show passion for her topic
    3. Practice until she doesn’t have to read
    4. Turn her body to the camera
    5. Use some gestures
  5. True or false? The presentation ended with a conclusion and call to action

Check your Answers: [3]

Activity source: “Bad presentation example” by Lucinda Atwood is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. / Text version created.

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, this chapter (text & H5P activities) is adapted from “How to deliver your presentation” In Business Presentation Skills by Lucinda Atwood & Christian Westin licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

  1. Jennifer 8. Lee:
    1. a) practiced, b) confident, c) clearly, d) hesitations.
    2. a) passion, b) eye contact, c) varies.
    3. a) high quality, b) easy.
    ↵
  2. Jason Shen:
    1. a) story, b) three, c) call to action.
    2. a) enunciates, b) slowly, c) understand.
    3. a) posture, b) practiced, c) filler words
    ↵
  3. Bad presentation example:
    1. False,
    2.  a,
    3. a, b, c, d, e.
    4. All of the above.
    5. False.
    ↵

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Communication Essentials for College Copyright © 2022 by Jen Booth, Emily Cramer & Amanda Quibell, Georgian College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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