How To Deliver A Presentation With Confidence

Delivering the Presentation

In the past two months I presented two different technical papers in two major conferences. It was not easy and needed good preparations. The latest paper was presented in the 13th Middle East Corrosion Conference and Exhibition in Bahrain. The paper was presented within the allotted time and generated many interesting questions which continued during the coffee break. I thought of sharing some of the tips I use to deliver my technical paper with confidence:

1. Write the paper by yourself, do not let anybody else to,write it for you. You will subconsciously synthesis the information while writing and keep the information for future use.
2. Prepare the presentation by yourself. Avoid using text automation and “cool tricks”, they might stop functioning during the presentation or function wrongly when the presentation is installed on a different PC.
3. Last minute changes in the presentation will make you nervous, avoid them unless they are necessary. You may complicate your presentation or mistakenly drop some slides during the last minute changes.
4. Go early to the conference place so you do not get stuck in the traffic. When you reach the presentation hall, get familiar with the place, lights, podium and microphone.
5. Check the loaded presentation in the PC. It might be distorted because the presentation is transferred to anther of PC. If possible, stand at the podium and switch on the microphone. Talk or do quick rehearsal of your presentation while you are still standing at the podium. You will get used to hearing yourself through the speakers and will get familiar to the presentation position and relax a bit.
6. When presenting, avoid unnecessary jokes unless you have tried them before and they were funny without offending anybody.
7. You will be nervous in the first 5 minutes of the presentation, this is normal. The intensity of your nervousness depends on the situation and your confidence level.
8. Stick to the time allotted for your presentation. Try to finish early to avoid rushing through your summary and concluding remarks. Most of your audience are interested in the conclusion. Make sure you deliver it clearly and slowly.
9. When somebody ask you a question that you can’t answer just say ” Thank you, this is an interesting question… I never thought of it this way. I will explore it and give you the answer…I need your email to send the answer to you” hold you pen and write the question.
10. Smile and thank the audience for their participation and excellent questions.

That’s it, you have done it.