5 Tips for the Final Presentation

It’s the end of the semester, and the due dates for those assignments and projects are creeping up.  We all know too well business suits around our campus is completely normal.  Walking by someone in a business outfit and asking him or her “where do you work?” just doesn’t happen-it’s more of a “what presentation did you just give?” question.  So, how are you going to ace your final presentation?  Here are a few tips to blow your professors away:

1. Use eye contact! Eye contact is our most powerful tool when it comes to communication. Locking eyes with your audience will make them feel that you have genuinely connected with them and that you care about their response.
2. Use gestures! Gestures are reflections of every speaker’s individual personality. The most important visual is you! It’s not that stunning animation or PowerPoint slide overflowing with information. Don’t you agree? A large part of you is conveyed through your body language. Study after study confirms that gesture, movement, and facial expression contribute significantly to helping your listeners understand what you say.
3. No chewing gum! It looks very unprofessional, and you will look like a cow smacking away on it! So spit it out before it’s your turn to present.
4. No hands in your pocket! This mostly applies to the men, but girls might have a tendency to stick their hands into their dress pant pockets.  
5. Try not to over prepare! I know this sounds kind of odd, but if you practice too much, then you might sound like a robot when it comes time for the presentation. Just make sure your presentation flows naturally instead of sounding memorized. If you ask experienced speakers what you shouldn’t do, they will tell you not to rehearse your presentation too much because then it won’t sound natural.  Along with that comes don’t under-prepare.  Make sure you practice enough that you are comfortable with it but don’t need to stand up there with flashcards in your hand.  FLASH CARDS ARE A NO NO!

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