What makes an effective presentation

To begin, identify some other common presentation mistakes. Think about presentations you have seen, or given yourself. What are some common areas where presenters can improve? Once you have identified what makes a bad presentation, think about what makes a good presentation. Can you translate this into clear guidelines or top tips? Think about the best presentation you have seen – what did the presenter do which made the presentation so good?

You can complete this activity in the following ways:

1. Create a poster highlighting ‘top tips’ and ‘things to avoid’ when presenting
2. Download this worksheet and fill in your own list of things to avoid, and useful applicable guidelines to follow

For more information check out these resources:

5 Classic Presentation Mistakes by Dr Inger Mewburn (The Thesis Whisperer)

This article and slide deck present the points discussed in this section in more detail.

• 5 Classic Presentation Mistakes – article
• 5 Classic Presentation Mistakes – slidedeck

Strategies for Effective Academic Presentations by Dr Monica Bulger

This slide desk from Dr Monica Bulger gives some really useful communication strategies for presentations.