Matt Venus and Arjun Takhar give a step by step approach to honing your presentation skills

Being asked to prepare and deliver a presentation, whether as part of a small group teaching session, for a clinical meeting, or for a grand round, can be a daunting and even terrifying experience.

It is disheartening when an individual or group lets itself down because the way in which the presentation is given is disorganised, unclear, or confusing even though much work has been put into collating information.

What can you do to help a presentation go smoothly? One easy way is to break down the task into three stages (after you have got all your information together): structure, visual aids, and the actual talking, question and answer time.

Structure

In general, a presentation should consist of three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion or summary.

The introduction should introduce both the speaker(s) and the talk itself, highlighting the areas to be covered. The body will encompass the main bulk of the talk. The conclusion should summarise the main points covered and act as a definite end point to the talk. This is much better than petering out to silence followed by the often heard "... er, that's it, really"!

Visual aids

Overheads, whether acetate or computer based, should serve as a reference both for presenter and audience, and aim to hold the audience's attention. They should be concise and not too many in number. Furthermore, too much detail on an overhead detracts from what is being said and too small a typeface or a cluttered slide may not be legible at all.

The use of illustrations and models is a good way to deliver a message that may be difficult to explain and will also help to keep the audience's interest. Although it may seem inappropriate when working as part of a group the non-presenting members could be involved in pointing out aspects of the model or illustration as the presenter talks, again to keep the audience's attention.

Handouts should not be verbose but provide a guide to what is being said and should follow the flow of the talk itself. There is no point delivering a superb presentation if everyone is busy trying to read the handout.

Talking

Presenting well takes practice. When the talk has been written go over it as much as possible until it can be delivered almost from memory. Practise in front of friends or family shortly before the actual talk and ask for constructive criticism. In this way you will build up confidence and are less likely to "dry up." Anticipate distractions, such as late arrivals or bleeps going off, and learn to ignore them and carry on talking.

If possible avoid reading directly from large chunks of text as this gives the impression of being unprepared, often results in a monotone monologue, and will quickly bore the audience. Instead, use short headings either written on cards or as part of overheads to act as prompts as you speak.

Remember that part of the process of delivering a presentation is to communicate with the audience, and maintaining eye contact is therefore vitally important. Try to look at the audience as much as possible and even move around a little, and avoid presenting the talk to the overhead projector screen or your prompt cards.

Handling questions

If a talk has been well presented then any questions that follow will probably not concern the subject matter itself (except perhaps to clarify a point or two). More likely a question will be asked about a related topic or condition*for example, if you have mentioned a drug you may be asked about its mechanism of action, even though this may not have been part of the presentation itself. Therefore, it is important to read round a subject and to try to predict the type of questions you may be asked.

Summary

Presentations will remain a part of your life not only at medical school but also as a junior doctor and at consultant level. Indeed, in just about any job path you choose to follow, presenting will be a useful skill. If you get good at it it may do your career a world of good.

Presenting can be a stressful task, but the stress can be minimised by thorough preparation and above all, practice; and it should be remembered that a good presentation is not simply about what is being said, but the way in which it is said.