Presentation Tips

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Increased amounts of interviewers are asking for presentations during the hiring process. 

Not everyone is experienced at presenting in front of an audience. 

We have compiled some tips to help you feel comfortable and allow you to nail the presentation and secure the job for which you are interviewing. 

Presentations are sometimes in person, other times could be online, but the tips below cater for both. 

The interviewer is looking for how you present the facts, how you engage with an audience, and how much you have researched the topic – the actual presentation design is secondary. The slides should be appealing, smart, consistent in font and size but do not need rainfall animation and bears dancing across the screen. 

THE PRESENTATION
 

• Limit the presentation to no more than 12 slides maximum. 
• The first slide should be a title page with your name and the presentation heading on it.
• The second slide should tell them what you are going to discuss – like the list of chapters in a book. 
• The penultimate slide should be a conclusion of what you have discussed. When writing an essay or report, you tell the reader what you are going to tell them, you tell them and then conclude by summarising what you told them.
• The final slide will say “Questions please” or “Thank you for your time” etc and must have your name, the date of the presentation and your contact details on there in case they want to follow up on any points.
• Do not put the whole presentation word for word on the screen and then just read it out – if you do, the audience will read it for themselves and zone you out.
• Less is more – put bullet points, facts, data, or simple headings. Then you elaborate on each point during the presentation.
• Less is more – do not feel you need to do 43 slides or even the 12 mentioned above if you can get your point across in less. 
• Keep it relevant. 
• Make sure the background colours and the type colours are consistent throughout the presentation.
• When choosing a colour why not use the colour of the company at which you are interviewing.
• Try to add visual aids to the slides so it is not just blocks of text – these can be logos, graphs, stats, or images. Their logo in a consistent position on every slide is always well received and shows that you have tailored the presentation for this interview. 
• Make sure the font and size of font is consistent throughout the presentation.
• Get someone to proofread the presentation for mistakes.

HOW TO PRESENT

• These tips are for presenting in person, but can be easily adjusted if the presentation is over TEAMS, Zoom etc.
• When I present, I always stand to the left of the screen rather than the right. When they read each bullet point their eyes always return to you. 
• Look at the audience not the screen. Your voice and message will be harder to hear if you face the screen not your audience. 
• Do not focus on one person in the audience, make sure you give eye contact to all of them. 
• Do not stand too close to the screen – if it is a projector screen not only will you cause a shadow, but the heat will not do you any favours when you are already nervous. 
• Be prepared that they may interrupt you during the presentation and you need to get your flow back straight away after. 
• Be mindful of the impression you are giving – they will make allowances for nerves, but do not fidget with bits of paper, slouch or have your hands in your pockets.
• If you have presented before you will know the importance of learning the presentation off by heart with cue cards to assist you. 
• Do not stand too close to the screen – if it is a projector screen not only will you cause a shadow, but the heat from the projector lamp will not do you any favours when you are already nervous.

PREPARATION FOR THE PRESENTATION

• Make extensive notes on cue cards. 
• Number each cue card so if you drop them, you know what order they should be in. 
• On each cue card, mark which slide it applies to so if you get interrupted you can find your place 
• On the cue card, mark clearly when you need to move on to the next slide. There is nothing worse than rambling to the end of the presentation, but the screen is still showing slide 2.
• Print off copies of the presentation for each member of the audience and one for yourself so that if there is a technical issue you can still present. 
• When you practice the presentation, time yourself so that you do not exceed the allowed time. 
• Once you have completed the presentation, have a think about what questions they are likely to ask. Maybe involve someone to help you with this. Prepare and practice your answers so that they flow well. 
• If you are presenting on your past achievements, have the facts at hand – dates, stats, results – hesitation and lack of clarity at this point will lead to concerns for the validity of the achievement.

We are here to help you with this. Do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.