A session I gave for FCIS in 2007 about presentation skills with regards to the graduation projects.

1. Prepared by
TA. Mohammed Samy

2. Agenda
Know your goals
Know your audience
Focus on what matters
Be professional
Be Confident

3. Know your goals
A presentation can be for one or more of:
Persuasion
Education
Information
Reporting
 Good News
 Bad News
 Progress
Asking for feedback
Other…

4. Know your Goal cont.
Project Stage Goals
Initial Persuasion
Information
Intermediate
Reporting (Progress)
Information
Final
Persuasion

5. Know your Goal
…some goal setting mistakes.
Too little persuasion
When you want to convince the audience of
your idea, do not assume a priori that they
understand the importance of your topic or
share your goals.
Too much education
When your goal is persuasion, focus on saying
why your project is good, not how it works.
Too little information
When reporting information, use sufficient
details and remember to mention why this
information matters.

6. Know your audience
Your audience have goals, too!
THEY drive the presentation, not you
FCIS audience
Have a scientific background
Have little time ;)
Have certain important expectations
 Use scientific method
 Do a sufficiently challenging project
 Have a plan from the start
 Have enough background about what you’re doing

7. Focus on what matters
Ask yourself, for everything you
write or say…Does it work towards
my goal?
Emphasize goals
Remove all distractions

8. Focus on what matters
cont.
Emphasize goals
Bring important stuff first.
Be short and to the point
Don’t put too many goals…

9. Focus on what matters
cont.
Remove all distractions
Use very few or no animations
Don’t put too much on one slide
Don’t side track
Don’t allow people to sidetrack you!
Use focused sentences
Don’t turn your back to the audience!

10. Be Professional
Speak Professionally
Dress Professionally
Understand the importance of non-
verbal communication
Answer Questions Professionally

11. Be Professional cont.
How to answer questions ?
Understand the question
Use active listening
Remember to know your audience

12. Be confident
Show enthusiasm
Don’t be fazed by trouble
Be prepared

13. Misc. Topics
Don’t be too formal
In relevant situations, involve your
audience and ask for feedback
Rehearse with friends if you can, ask them
for comments
If the audience are expected to ask
questions, make it easy for them.

14. Questions & Answers