Asian Journal of Psychiatry 5 (2012) 360–361

Medical Education Corner

How to give an effective presentation

Vidya Keshavan a,*, Neeraj Tandon b

a Boston University, Boston, MA, USAb Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

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Asian Journal of Psychiatry

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Giving an effective presentation is a valuable opportunity forone to excel in the workplace while impressing peers, clients orsuperiors. However, several accomplished and educated individu-als (psychiatrists are no exception) struggle with the anxieties ofpublic speaking. Rarely is the art of effective presentation taught inmedical school or residency training. This kind of fear can beavoided if the speaker is as well prepared for the presentation aspossible. Whether it is simply given orally or accompanied by avisual aide, successful presentations have several characteristics incommon. We will recommend some basic guidelines that are bothuseful in the workplace and in everyday life. Some very usefulreferences on this topic are also listed at the end (Reynolds, 2011;Duarte, 2008).

1. Prepare well

Knowledge gives you confidence; confidence makes you abetter presenter. Rehearse your presentation either in front of yourfamily and friends, or in front of a group of your peers. Make sure toarrive early enough so that you get to know the audience, yourintroducer, the arrangements for the slides and the microphone,lighting, etc. Things can go wrong, and you will handle themgracefully if you have time on your side. Avoid eating a large mealbefore the lecture. Have a glass of water available during the talk.Review your lecture notes one more time. Have a backup plan forspeaking without slides, in case the slide projector does not work.

2. Know the content and understand your goals

The most fundamental aspect of your presentation is themessage you are trying to convey. As such, the presenter must havea full grasp of the material covered in their speech and why this isrelevant for the audience to hear. Remember that the main goal ofany presentation is communication. As you begin preparing, youshould ask yourself a few questions: (a) what is the question I amtrying to answer and why is it important?; (b) have I done theappropriate amount of research?; (c) when presenting, what kindof reaction am I trying to elicit from the audience? and finally, (d)what will the audience take away from this presentation? Another

* Corresponding author.

E-mail address: vidyakeshavan91@gmail.com (V. Keshavan).

1876-2018/$ – see front matter � 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.

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important thing to do when you are presenting is to establishcredibility, by citing your own work and experience, and statinghow it relates to the topic you are talking about.

3. Know your audience

In order for your audience to properly absorb the content ofyour presentation, you must cater to their expectations and needs.The way you speak to a group of people differs from onedemographic to another. For instance, a less experienced groupof people may require more ‘‘big-picture’’ concepts, while a moreknowledgeable audience may prefer detail. Most importantly, bythe end of the presentation your message should resonate with theaudience and they should feel comfortable with the material.

4. Structure your presentation

Giving an effective presentation is not unlike storytelling asthere is a beginning, middle, climax, and conclusion to everyargument. The simple rule is, tell them what you are going to tellthem, tell them, and tell them what you just told them! Have alogical flow to your presentation, and divide the content intodigestible chunks that progress systematically to your mainconclusions. Make sure that each section of your talk ends withan appropriate transition to the next section. The ‘‘First’’ principleis a useful acronym for effective slide presentations (having alogical Flow, (one) Idea per slide, Relating to the audience, keepingit Simple, and using appropriate Transitions between slides).

� Introduction: Start your argument by giving your idea somecontext. Talk about the question you want to answer and itsrelevance. Use hypothetical or real-life examples to furtherexplain the concept. Give a very brief summary or outline of thematerial you will be covering.� Body: Explain the ideas that you have come up with in greater

detail using your research. Here is where you may divide thecontent into smaller sub-sections. Each sub-section should makea single point or convey one idea.� Conclusion: Reiterate the focus of the presentation and what

audience members should take home with them. Remember tokeep your main focus consistent throughout your speech.� Question and answers: Allow the chance for the audience to ask

questions about the content to tie up any loose ends they may

V. Keshavan, N. Tandon / Asian Journal of Psychiatry 5 (2012) 360–361 361

have. If you do not know the correct answer to a question, do nottry to fake it. You should refer the question to someone who cananswer it correctly or make a note to yourself to obtain theanswer later. When you do, contact the person or persons withthe answer as soon as possible.

5. Use visual aids

Visual aids, such as a poster or power point, serve as additionalmeans to develop your argument. If done correctly, a visualstimulus can allow the audience to better grasp what is being saidin the presentation:

� The text used in your power point slides should support thecommunication, rather than hinder it.� Each slide should have key bullet points corresponding to your

speech so too much detail will distract the audience (preferably,no more than 7 lines per slide). Avoid reading the slides word forword. You should have a separate piece of paper with the ‘script’or other reference material for your use during the talk.� Using pictures simplify complex concepts and animations

simplify complex relationships. Images and text not clearly seenby the entire audience add confusion and distraction. If you haveto say ‘‘I know you can’t read this but. . .’’ then why include thevisual at all? They cannot be expected to be paying full attentionto what is being said when they are straining to read the slide.� Use no more than 2 slides per minute. One slide a minute would

be ideal.

6. Make it interactive

Involving the audience makes the presentations effective. Askthe audience first to know what they know and what they do not,e.g. asking for a show of hands ‘‘how many of you have seen apatient with hysterical conversion?’’, if your talk is on the clinicalfeatures of this illness to a relatively uninformed audience. Whatyou learn may help you launch your talk from the points made bythe audience. It is also very helpful to use analogy, metaphor, andstories to link the talk to material the audience knows. An effectiveway of engaging the audience is by getting them to think aboutwhat might be your main conclusion without initially giving itaway, and then ‘‘surprising’’ them with your finding or storyending or conclusion.

7. Presentation etiquette

It is essential that the speaker is well prepared and rehearsedbefore hand. Very few people have the natural ability and ease to

just ‘‘wing it’’ when presenting. Here are some tips forcommunicating with your audience to avoid any pitfalls:

� Always speak loudly and clearly with fluctuation. Theaudience will lose their focus if a speaker is inaudible ormonotone.� Maintain eye contact with the audience. Each person in the room

should feel like you are personally speaking to them.� Be confident and enthusiastic. Audience members are more

inclined to be engaged in your presentation if you are.� Always respect your allotted time, and pace yourself accordingly.� Make sure to thank your hosts, introducers, and organizers at the

outset and to give credit at the end to your collaborators,supporters and sponsors of your work.

8. Use humor discreetly

Humor can be highly effective in getting the audience engaged,but needs to be used with discretion. If you use a joke, it needs to beappropriate to the topic at hand, culturally sensitive, shouldconvey a useful educational point, and be politically correct. Useonly clean jokes!

9. Beginning and ending

Start the talk with a story, personal experience or a relevantquote, if you have one. Stating a striking fact or a question aboutthe topic at hand at the beginning can be an effective technique inintroducing the topic. For example, if you are teaching about thecourse and outcome of schizophrenia you might ask the audienceabout the life-span of individuals with this illness and tell them (Itis reduced by >20 years). It is important to conclude by giving thekey ‘‘take-home’’ messages. If possible, tie it back to what you saidat the beginning.

If you are nervous, remind yourself that you probably knowmore about the topic than anyone in the audience. Even if thereare some things that the audience wants and you do not know –no worries. As we mentioned before, it is OK to admit that andsuggest that you would find out and get back to the questioner.If your presentation and the discussion afterwards seem like adaunting challenge to you, remember to try not to take yourselfto seriously. The audience will admire you more if you remaincool under pressure. Ultimately, presenting informationyou know well and care about to an audience that is interestedin your topic will be a highly rewarding, and enrichingexperience.

References

Duarte, N., 2008. Slideology. O’Reilly Media, Inc., Sebastopol, CA.Reynolds, G., 2011. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and

Delivery, 2nd ed. New Riders, Berkeley, CA.