Preparing the Presentation

• As an engineer, you may be called anytime to give a short presentation, whether you give an unplanned five minute brief presentation or a formal one hour presentation at a technical seminar (or something in between).

​

• You should see your talk as a great opportunity to share information and to show that you know how to communicate.

​

• Few of us are naturally gifted with such capabilities, and some of us are almost petrified at the thought of talking before a group, but the skills possessed by good speakers can be learned.

• Analyze your Audience by focusing on your reader and purpose before writing can be applied to preparing for oral presentation.

​

​

​

• Ask yourself few questions about the listeners before you talk:
• Who will be the key individuals in my audience?
• What needs or concerns do they have regarding my topic?
• What are my objectives for this talk? How knowledgeable are my listeners about my subject?
• How can I get their attention and interest right away-and keep it?

5. What are their attitudes likely to be regarding what I have to say?
6. Do I need to work on changing their attitudes, and if so what is the best way to go about it?
7. What benefits are they going to get from listening to me?
8. What kind of questions are they likely to ask?
9. What kind of feedback do I want?
10. Why are the listeners sitting on front of you? Is it for instruction, information ….etc?
11. What action(s) or change(s) do you feel they need to undertake?

DETERMINE YOUR TIME FRAME and Never speak longer than you are supposed to.

​

• To avoid annoying people or speakers coming after you, check how much time you have been given.

​

• This tells you:
• How much details you need to go into.
• How much time you must allow for discussion or questions.
• How much time you should spend on an introduction.

IDENTIFY YOUR KEY POINTS

​

• Don’t expect to say everything about your subject.

​

• Decide what the most important points are that you want to get across to your audience and how you want to develop those points in the time you have (mathematical, introduction, conclusions….etc. ).

​

• You may allocate equal time for each topic or give different times according to length or importance.

​

• Choose an organizational plan.

​

• Subject, purpose and the time will help you to organize your material (introduction, main points, conclusion, question and answer period).

PREPARE AN OUTLINE AND NOTES

​

• Writing an outline and notes helps you clarify in your own mind how best to present your material.

​

• An outline of the complete talk, with key ideas highlighted or in large print to be quickly glanced at if necessary as the presentation goes along.

​

• Note Cards: Numbered in the order they will be used, with key ideas and facts clearly written on them.

​

• Visual Aids: Such as transparencies or slides. If you are really on top of your topic, your visuals themselves are all you need.

CREATE SUPPORTING GRAPHICS SUCH AS ANIMATION.

​

• Because we live in an increasingly visual age and people tend to remember better what they see and hear, most effective engineering speakers support their talks with illustrations of some kind.

​

• Do not let your visuals suffer from information overload. Each should be as simple as possible.

​

• If your visuals consists of lists or other written information, make the words easy to read.

​

• Prepare a handouts. It is a Good Idea but in a small size.

PREPARE YOUR INTRODUCTION

​

• Your audience may be asking themselves, why do I need to hear this or why should I be here right now?
• Your audience has a limited attention span so what your topic is? And what benefit it is to them?

​

​

PREPARE YOUR CONCLUSION:

• Summarize what you have discussed.
• Stress your central ideas once more.
• Review your key points.
• Restate your recommendations or decisions.

GET READY FOR QUESTIONS and put yourself in the place of your listener:

​

​

• Are they holding any opposing viewpoints?
• Are there areas you may not be able to go into as thoroughly as you would like, due to time restraints?
• What would be the worst question you may be asked?
• Think of diplomatic ways to encourage questions (Friendly smile or some comment like I love to hear your feedback and questions?).
• Remind yourself at this point, when questions come, it is often a good idea to repeat them aloud.

Delivering the Presentation

Avoiding Noise

​

1. Speaking too softly: You do not want to blast your audience out but you must be clearly heard.
2. Speaking too slowly or rapidly: Too slow causes boredom and decrease your credibility.
3. Speaking too fast may show that you are nervous and the audience may miss important points.
4. Speaking monotonously: vary your pace and tone.
5. Using verbal filers: uh, umm, basically, you know what I mean? … “هسا”, “طبعا”, “يعني”, “بالتاكيد”, “تمام؟”, “زين”, “بقوللك” … etc may distract your audience and show you are not certain of your topic.

6. Your movements during presentation: Do not become a statue, pendulum or traveler.

​

• Blocking the screen: Very important for everyone to see the screen.

​

• Reading From the screen: Avoid reading from the screen. Screen is an Aid. Straight reading stops you from explaining your topic.

​

• Make clear transitions: show the connections between ideas when you are moving to another aspect of your presentation. Make it friendly dialog with simple words like; first, on the other hand, next, as you can see, furthermore, finally…etc.

10. Use a pointer: A pointer is the best way to focus your audience’s attention on your key points while you explain what they are looking at.

​

• Maintain eye contact: You increase your credibility by looking at your audience as you talk. Whereas avoiding eye contact could give the impression that you are shifty or unprepared.

​

• Be ready for unexpected questions: Try not to appear surprised or defensive. Simply say you do not know.

​

• Accept your Nervousness.

Team Presentation

Because teams of engineers frequently collaborate on a project, compile a proposal, or report on a new product, you are likely to be involved in team presentations. This type of presentation is effective because:

​

1. Team work reduces everyone’s preparation workload.
2. Longer presentations are possible without exhausting one person.
3. Speakers can enjoy team support during the presentation.
4. Variety of speakers helps hold the audience’s attention.
5. Each topic can be explained (and questions answered) expertly.

Preparing for a Team Presentation

Get together and decide:

1. Analyze Audience and purpose.
2. Decide on the main points to be stressed.
3. Decide which order the material will be covered and who will cover what.
4. Stick to the topic you are supposed to cover.
5. Stick to the time allocated to each speaker. This is extremely important.
6. Decide before if the questions are going to be taken after the entire presentation or after each person speaks.
7. If the presentation is going to be conducted by individuals that do not know each other, they must meet first and get to know each other if possible.

Check List for an Oral Presentation