Graduate school provides many opportunities to hone your presentation skills: some classes require you to present your research or a topic, you may be teaching, and you might go to a conference or two and do a poster presentation (you can check out our blog on that here). For many people, the thought of doing a presentation is scary or nerve-wracking – and that’s normal. Public speaking is a fear for many people, especially when it’s your peers in the audience. As the saying goes, though, practice makes perfect and skilled, effective presenters are made, not born.

Knowing some tricks of the trade can help you create an interesting, effective presentation, as well as hone your presentation style. Here are some helpful tips:

  1. Prior to starting, identify your main point and make sure you state it fairly early in your presentation. Especially if you’re doing a poster presentation, you want to get to the point. People won’t be reading your entire paper, but they need to know the most salient points.

  2. Open strong. Think about why they should listen to you. Grab their attention.

  3. If you’re using jargon they might not understand, define the main terminology you’re using before jumping into more complicated topics.

  4. Speak slowly, clearly, and loudly. We tend to unknowingly rush when we’re nervous. If you need a microphone, don’t be shy about asking for one.

  5. Know your audience. Your presentation will be different if you’re speaking to experts in your field than if you’re doing a lecture for students who are just learning about it.

  6. Think about whether you need PowerPoint (if you’re doing a lecture) and only create slides that are necessary to get main points across.

  7. Always face forward, if possible. Don’t turn your back to the audience.

  8. Don’t read from your notes. Just jot down the most important points – make sure it’s clear and easy to read – and know the material you’re going to discuss. It’s important to be comfortable and knowledgeable enough so that you’re not reading everything and can actually simply discuss the material and create a dialogue.

  9. Know your time limit, and don’t go over. There’s nothing worse than a speaker who goes overtime.

  10. Practice, practice, practice! Did you know Thesis Editor can help with that?


Here at Thesis Editor, we’ve done our share of presentations – in the classroom, at conferences, and in the workplace. We know that each kind of presentation is different, in both the material and the actual presentation. Not only can we help you create an organized, effective presentation from your materials, but we can help create PowerPoints and visual materials, as well as provide consultations via Skype to help you practice your presentation skills. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you with your next presentation!
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Tagged under: Graduate School   Scholarly Writing   presentation skills   presentations   professional services   public speaking  

I cannot sing the praises of Thesis Editor highly enough.

I am a third year PhD student and I had been struggling for months with my quantitative analysis (both running and interpreting my tests). Any support I had sought out from my institution ended up leaving me more confused than when I arrived. I came across Thesis Editor whilst I was searching online for some stats help, and I am so thankful that I did.

If like I was, you are struggling with an aspect of your PhD, perhaps do not seem to be able to get the help you need from your institution or outside, you will not regret using Thesis Editor.

Dawn, the Director, was absolutely brilliant from beginning to end. I was contacted promptly after my initial enquiry, and there was a very quick turnaround to which a quote was given after assessing my work. I was then assigned a statistitian, Dr Musicha, and received extremely comprehensive feedback within one week. This was then followed by a 1-hour consultation. My consultation with Dr Musicha was nothing less than phenomenal. Honestly I cannot even put into words how much I gained in the hour together. He not only helped me built my knowledge but practically had me share my screen and walked me through my challenges on SPSS so I had a thorough understanding - something that has not been done with my university throughout my PhD. I was taught more in that hour about my quant stats than I have by anyone else. He was also just so kind, and encouraging and really boosted my confidence.

Using Thesis Editor has been an invaluable investment, and I can only thank Dawn and Dr Musicha so dearly.

- Beth

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