Main body. The slides that constitute the bulk of your presentation and cover the

234 Chapter 9 n Presentation skills so repeat the question for the entire audience before you begin to answer it. This technique will also give you a moment to collect your thoughts before you frame an answer. n Confidence. At all times try to remain confident. You have been asked to speak for a reason, so you are justified in being there and people feel you are worthy to be asked a question. n Brevity. Try to keep your answers brief and to the point. n Conflict. Avoid conflict with the audience. Admit that differences do exist, discuss alternative interpretations and opinions and try to address things from a higher level. In addition, avoid apportioning blame. If some results came out unexpectedly or some aspects of your project didn’t conclude satisfactorily, explain why this happened from your perspective. Don’t blame person x or person y – your project is your responsibility so justify it from this angle. n Clarification. You should always ask for clarification if you haven’t understood a question. Don’t try to answer what you think was asked or the question you would like to answer. The questioner will usually probe you further until they receive the response they are looking for. n Offer to speak to the questioner later. If you are really struggling with a ques- tion or really don’t understand it you can offer to speak to the questioner in more detail later. n Address the audience. When you answer questions, make sure that you address your answer to the whole audience. Your presentation isn’t over and you still have a responsibility to speak to the entire audience rather than entering an intimate con- versation with one individual. In conference situations, the chair of your presentation’s session will often step in if questioning becomes hostile. This is very rare but it does happen on occasions. If you feel you are being victimised or insulted, you should ask the chair to intervene on your behalf.

9.2.8 Presentation tips

Following are a few tips to improve your oral presentations. n Time. If you have difficulty keeping to time either over- or under-estimating, have some spare slides you can ‘drop in’ or take out of your presentation depending on how time is progressing. n Pointers. Try to avoid using laser pointers. They are never clear and wobble all over the screen. A much better way is to use a pen or pointer on the overhead projector or at the screen. If you are nervous, place the pen down against the point you are referring to and leave it there. If you are using a computer-based presentation, you could use the mouse pointer as a pointing device. n Movement. Many people fidget and move around alarmingly when they are giving a presentation. With practice you can suppress these urges and learn to avoid annoying habits such as jangling keys in your pocket. If you are going to make a movement, try not to make it an exaggerated one unless you need to do so for emphasis and to 9.3 Poster presentations 235 demonstrate your enthusiasm. If you want to stop yourself from walking around, place a finger on the nearest desk or chair – subconsciously your body will want to remain fixed where you are. n Nerves. Everybody suffers from nerves to some extent or another. While nerves are never totally eliminated, they do ebb as you become more and more used to giving presentations. The ‘secret’ here is to give as many presentations as possible and keep on practicing. The more presentations you do, the easier it becomes. And remember, without a few nerves, you would not have enough adrenalin to deliver an exciting presentation. If you are shaking you could perhaps switch the overhead projector off as you change slides. n Technical failure. Overhead projectors are not infallible the bulbs do blow in them quite frequently and laptops linked to projectors do go wrong from time to time. Quite often, projectors have spare bulbs within them that you can switch to; so learn how to do this. Alternatively, have a contingency plan such as using trans- parencies if you have a computer-based presentation or moving to a white board or referring to handouts of your slides if you are using an overhead projector. Usually, however, if the there is a major technical failure, your session chair will step in to assist you. Above all else, be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm can do a lot to hide nerves and perhaps even some content lacking from your presentation. The audience will be on the edge of their seats when they see how interested you are in your work and will become moti- vated and supportive of you as well. •

9.3 Poster presentations

9.3.1 Introduction

Instead of students doing software demonstrations or oral presentations, some insti- tutions arrange poster sessions as part of the assessment process. At the postgraduate level you may have to produce a poster for other reasons. Your department may hold a poster competition for its postgraduate students – encouraging them to share their work with others. Alternatively, a poster presentation might be a good first step to getting your work published at an international conference – giving you a chance to meet others in your field and discuss your ideas with them. In some ways, poster sessions are better than oral presentations. You can interact more with people who are interested in your work as they discuss the content of your poster with you rather than having to follow a predefined presentation; they are less stressful it is easier to stand by your poster and discuss your work than to present a talk to a roomful of people; you can selectively view the work of others rather than having to sit through many presentations you might not be interested in; and you can focus on aspects of your work that you feel are most important as you discuss your poster face to face with others. Because typically many posters are on display during poster sessions, you need to find a way to make your poster stand out so that people will be attracted to it and take an