HELP: Solo Group presentation

DonkeyOnFire

Hey guys,

I thought you guys might be able to help me,

I'm due to do a group presentation at University but was unable to get myself into a group so I am by myself. Therefore I thought it would be a good idea to have a go at doing something different and have a presentation pre planned as I am not a very good speaker when put under pressure. Thus I wanted to produce something similar to Extra Credits so I can get all my thoughts out and add pictures to show what I'm talking about. The only problem is I don't have any experience in anything like this. Can you guys help?

Do you guys know what they use to create their videos or what would be a suitable alternative for me?

Thank you
x

TychoCelchuuu

VirtualDub + Audacity will work for you if you want to make a video but if you're doing a presentation you should probably limit yourself to Powerpoint at most.

Figgy

Make sure it's okay with your professor to show a pre-made video instead of an in-person presentation. Part of the marks for these things comes from your ability to speak in front of your peers, so having a video made beforehand doesn't fit.

Demerdar

Yeah I don't think so. It will probably have to be a powerpoint. Honestly, I'd rather do a ppt than have a video I made playing for everybody to see. Somehow I find that more embarrassing (especially if it comes off awkward, which it will). presenting something like that rather than a standard powerpoint.

Also, why couldn't you find a group? This is a group project, why not hook up with others and have them be accountable too? Plus you'll get to meet some new people.

psyck0

If you are relatively new to powerpoints, there are some important things to keep in mind when designing them. Some of my pointers:

-aim to spend AT LEAST one minute on every slide that isn't purely for entertainment (a joke/picture/whatever). If you are alloted 15 minutes, whatever you do, do not make more than 15 slides.

-do not use a font size smaller than 18. If you can't fit everything you want onto one slide with that size font, then you are trying to put too much onto a single slide.

-try to use diagrams, figures and other forms of non-text information where possible, and explain it by talking. This is better than just reading off the slide like your professor does (when your professor does it, there is an ulterior motive which somewhat makes up for it: the students are using the powerpoint as notes, so it should contain at least half of what the professor is going to say so that they can add to it. Your presentation will not be printed out and used as notes, so you have no such excuse.)

-space out the points on each slide so that it doesn't look like a giant paragraph of text on the screen. Use point form for each bullet; sentences are unnecessary since you are going to be explaining the information using complete sentences when you present. Note that I did not say reading the information, because you will not be reading off of the slides!

-the corollary to the above is that if you have a slide that is nothing but a paragraph of text with no figures, it's probably a bad slide.

-when you present, focus on speaking slowly. "um" is a reaction to trying to speak more quickly than you can handle. Take your time with each word; almost no one talks so slowly that people notice it, but lots of people talk too quickly.

Underwhelming

Take time to practice what you say. Multiple times. Don't rush through it. Take it seriously. Talk to a mirror or your dog or a stuffed animal and seriously present the material.

Maybe record yourself after you've done it a few times and see if it sounds ok from a different perspective.

Practicing a presentation over and over REALLY, REALLY helps to ease the pressure you feel when actually doing the presentation. You feel much more confident and won't trip over words as much. Don't underestimate how much this can help.

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

yeah, talk to either a mirror or another person so that you get a sense of how quickly you speak and how the presentation sounds coming out of your mouth. Another thing I really like doing (if possible) is getting into the actual room you'll be using in advance and talking through it there.

As far as a powerpoint itself, basically just remember that simpler is better. The goal is not to fit your whole presentation on your slides.

I think a video is a neat component of a presentation or even a good substitute, but remember that 1) your prof needs to approve and 2) it's pretty hard to make an Extra Credits style video. People watch them and think 'man that's totally simple I could make that,' but in reality they're good editors and scriptwriters with a lot of practice time put in.

Kistra

One other thing you can do with a powerpoint presentation is have notes that go with each slide. If you want to add in pictures, you can put up a slide with information, have the next slide be a picture and have the slide after that be exactly the same text so you can finish talking about everything you wanted to talk about and still have a picture "pop up" for a few seconds in the middle of the slide without having to go back and forth between them. If you do this and are only planning on showing the picture for a few seconds you can count this group of three slides as one minute instead of one minute for each of them. You can do the same thing with animation, but if you aren't familiar with powerpoint you might find this method easier.

Doing lots of presentations does make you better at them!

Karl

Underwhelming wrote:

Take time to practice what you say. Multiple times. Don't rush through it. Take it seriously. Talk to a mirror or your dog or a stuffed animal and seriously present the material.

Maybe record yourself after you've done it a few times and see if it sounds ok from a different perspective.

Practicing a presentation over and over REALLY, REALLY helps to ease the pressure you feel when actually doing the presentation. You feel much more confident and won't trip over words as much. Don't underestimate how much this can help.

I cannot stress how good this advice is.

Rehearse that presentation until you know it practically off by heart with the occasional glance at your notes.

frijolefrito

Rehearsing will also generate ideas to tweak and refine your speech. Also if you choke you can jump back into it quicker. You also will feel more confident and that will show through. Honestly the group presentation is just A presentation chopped up between people. Just because you are doing it by yourself doesn't mean you are at a disadvantage. If anything you have more time to let the butterflies calm down and flow into a natural speech. If it's allowed take a small bottle of water in case you dry out.

I give TONS of presentations and find it not a problem.

belligerent

The number one sin of Powerpoint presentations is reading the group your slides. Don't do that. Use the slides to present ideas and then talk about those ideas.

Don't put your entire presentation in the powerpoint. Hit the strong ideas and use queue cards if you have to for the individual speaking points. Reading off the presentation makes it seem like you don't know what you're talking about.

Practice, practice, practice. A great presenter doesn't even look at the powerpoint, they're so confident about what they're speaking about. Don't feel like you have to be like that, but confidence is what makes a presenter good. Even if what you're saying is wrong, if you can say it with confidence, your teacher will like it.

In powerpoint, simpler is usually better. When you're making one, it's easy to get distracted by the sliders and color and the movement edits, but all that stuff just adds dead space and time while you wait for your points to float to their proper spots. I sit through 12-20 presentations a year from various presenters (got another 3 today) and the best ones are consice, don't read from the slides, and are confident about their material.