Tips for academic presentations
I was recently asked if I have any tips for academic presentations, and I thought I'd post a version of my response here! This is the pretty unfiltered and spontaneous list of tips that immediately came to mind:
1) Follow the classic three-part structure: Make sure you have the general structure of introduction, main results, and summary. A phrase I have heard along these lines is "tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you've told them". So you basically make your point three times during the presentation. Maybe as you become more experienced, you could play around with this structure to suit your purposes, but it's a good rule of thumb.
2) Make the opening exciting: Try and make the introduction "catchy", with some kind of hook to draw everyone's interest. Even better if the hook is something that you can refer to every now and then during the presentation. For example, this could be an analogy, or a particular context where your work could be important.
3) Practice timing: I have made a habit of putting my own stopwatch on my phone somewhere I can see during my presentations, so I know if I'm pacing it right. Glancing over at the time every so often, I can speed up or slow down depending on how long is left. If the talk is relatively short (e.g. 20 minutes or less), I try and do a full run-through beforehand so I know the length of the content is about right. If it's a longer talk, I will try and do an estimate based on my experience of how much time I typically take to explain a slide.
4) Deliver confidently: A couple of things you can do that both boost confidence and make the presentation come across better are (a) stand up straight with good posture, and (b) speak loudly. You could also try and engage with the audience by looking round at them as you're speaking.
5) Vary pacing: When you're comfortable with the content of your talk (usually through practice), you can focus on other aspects of delivery such as pacing. You can vary pacing or use pauses if you want to draw attention to particular points. For example, you could slow down on a key point, or speed up when listing the many applications of an idea to emphasise how many there are.
6) Fake away the nerves: It's normal to feel nervous. One trick can be to pretend to yourself that you are not nervous, and as they say, "fake it till you make it". This can help stop the nervousness coming through in your body language when presenting, even if you actually feel nervous inside.
7) Notice any unwanted habits: It can be helpful to be conscious of common habits people have during presentations that can be distracting. These can include pacing too much, or constantly shifting weight from side to side, or voice volume trailing off at the end. If you notice yourself doing a distracting habit, you can practice being aware of the habit and changing it.
8) Lean in to your presentation style: Some people have a more "improvised" style where they're most comfortable speaking from some bullet point notes. Others, like me, prefer scripting a presentation. A method that works for me is that once I have made my PowerPoint slides in a nice structure, I write everything I'm going to say in the "notes" of each slide, and then do a timed run-through reading those, and then I'm ready to present without the notes. Over time, I have come to "script" things less, and am more confident in being able to explain the slide well on-the-spot after just noting down my key points in the "notes". Another personal preference I have is to explain ideas using props. Others might prefer focusing on e.g. their spoken explanations, animations, graphics, diagrams, examples, equations, or something else. I think it's always good to experiment and lean in to the style that feels good for you.
9) Make sure your slides support you: Avoid putting anything on the slides that you won't have time to explain during the presentation, since then viewers may be left confused having seen it on the slide. Make sure the slides are supporting what you're going to say. Think of them as supporting notes for the talk you're giving, rather than being the core part of the presentation. There's mixed advice about the best ratio of words to pictures. I've found having brief words or phrases alongside simple, explanatory icons or diagrams to explain something is useful for covering all bases, including people that prefer reading off presentations and people that prefer something visual.
10) Keep the Q&A to the point: Try not to ramble, keep responses concise to get through more questions and usually there is a chance to network with the audience afterwards to expand on a point. It's also ok to say you don't know if they ask about something you don't know how to answer. You could also respond along the lines of, "I'm not sure but here's where you might be able to find the answer", or "my best guess is…".
11) Seek feedback and practice self-reflection: Depending on who the audience is, you might also be able to get some feedback from others afterwards, which might be useful to keep in mind for future versions of the presentation or other presentations you do. It's also generally useful to do some self reflection, and think about whether there's some aspect you'd do differently next time. This may be for the specific presentation you gave (e.g. "Maybe I could address that question someone asked during the presentation with an extra slide") or about your presentation skills (e.g. "I stayed stood on one spot the whole time, maybe I could have used the space better").
These are the 11 tips that came to mind from my personal experiences. I'm sure if you ask others you could get entirely different points being emphasised in their responses. One general way to get better at presenting, regardless of specific techniques, is to keep trying it. Conduct your own presenting experiments, and keep iterating on your own list of presentation tips!