More G492 Oral Presentation Tips (9 March 2009)


  1. Please email me files of your slides, if you have any, and your handout. Label them like this: "smith.slides.ppt" and "smith.handout.doc". If you don't label them properly, I will return them to you for renaming.

  2. Number your slides.

  3. Ask about each slide: Does the audience learn anything by looking at this slide that they can't learn from what I say?

  4. Think about the Graphics lecture. Pay attention to labels, legends, font sizes, and boxes.

  5. Check out the technology in advance. Test that your slides open up properly on the machine in the room the talk is in, and look the way they should. Sometimes the lecture room's machine doesn't have the same fonts as the machine you made the slides with. Test video and sound. Figure out how to use the clicker or whatever you've got to change slides.
  6. Figure out how to set the lighting the way you want. Walk to the back of the room and look at one slide on the screen to check for visibility. Decide where to stand. Move obstructions away from the screen. Doing all this helps with nervousness, too.

  7. *Use* your handout. Mention it to the audience, and tell them what to learn from it or what to use it for.