How to give an oral presentation

How to give an oral presentation Dr Darshini Ayton Darshini.Ayton@monash.edu

Strong communication skills is #1 skill employers are looking for in employees

1. Know your audience

2. Build the need for people to listen….Know your HOOK • A compelling statistic • A story or anecdote • A case study • A newspaper article • A picture • WHY should people listen to your talk? • Create curiosity

2. Problem statement should identify your hook There is a problem in ______________________(e.g. organization or situation where problem is occurring). Despite ___________________________(efforts to prevent or deter), _____________________(something undesirable or unexpected) is occurring (provide evidence). This problem has negatively affected_____________(victims of the problem) because_____________________________. A possible cause of this problem is ___________________________. A study which investigates_________________ by a ___________(paradigm/method) will help resolve/understand the situation. Source: https://www.editage.com/insights/the-basics-of-writing-a-statement-of-the-problem-for-your-research-proposal

3. Structure your talk BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END – What is the point of your talk? What? So what? Now what? What are the key take-away messages and does your talk actually get there? FOCUS on one idea

“Robots are quickly becoming first responders at disaster sites, working alongside humans to aid recovery. The involvement of these sophisticated machines has the potential to transform disaster relief, saving lives and money. I’d like to share with you today three new robots I’ve worked on that demonstrate this.” Robin Murphy - TEDTalk

3. Structure your talk What are THE most important aspects?? Understand the time limit TIME each section IF you had to skip a section – could you do this?

“Plan your talk. Then cut it by half. Once you have grieved the loss of half your talk, cut it another 50%. It’s seductive to think about how much you can fit into 18 minutes. The better question for me is, “what can unpack in a meaningful way in 18 minutes?” – Brene Brown

4. Use confident and concrete language • Be specific • Don’t sound like you are regurgitating a text book • Apply it to your research – demonstrates that you know your methods and research area! • Use examples Abstract Abstract Concrete Concrete

5. Repetition • “Anaphora”: repeating a word of phrase

6. Keep your sentences simple In-hospital falls are the most common adverse event in the hospital setting and the WHO defined falls as inadvertently coming to rest on the ground, floor, or other lower level, excluding intentional change in position to rest in furniture, wall, or other objects. Falls have remained as a challenge in hospitals since it increases hospital costs, prolongs patient length of stay, and decreases patient’s quality of life. Therefore, many clinicians and researchers have tried to develop a standard falls prevention program to reduce in hospital falls-rates particularly among patients aged 65 and over as well as those patients identified as being at high-risk of falls through falls risk screening. Many studies have focused on the effectiveness of falls prevention programs – do they work or not? However, there are limited studies concentrating on the barriers and enablers of implementing a falls prevention program.

6. Keep your sentences simple In-hospital falls are the most common adverse event in the hospital setting. What is a fall? The World Health Organization defined falls as inadvertently coming to rest on the ground, floor, or other lower level, excluding intentional change in position to rest in furniture, wall, or other objects. In-hospital falls are a challenge. In-hospital falls increase hospital costs, patient length of stay, and decreases patient’s quality of life. Clinicians and researchers have developed numerous programs and policies to prevent in-hospital falls. To date non of these have worked. The majority of studies focused on the effectiveness of falls prevention programs – do they work or not? Most do not look at the why or the why not.

7. Gestures and voice • Use hand gestures • Change the pace of your speaking • Change the volume of your voice • AVOID Ums, So, Ohs etc • Don’t be afraid to pause

8. DO NOT RAMBLE • Respect the TIME of the audience • Create confidence that you KNOW where you are going with your talk

9. Make eye contact • Practice in the mirror • Memorise your talk

10. Practice, Practice, Practice Record your talk and listen to it

Homework • READ: TED Talks – The official TED guide to public speaking – Chris Anderson • WATCH: Talks on YouTube • LISTEN: To Podcasts

How to give an oral presentation