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Find resources and information on best practices for developing presentations to ensure your content and delivery engage your audience.
Academic presentations are a form of oral assessment. Your lecturer will be looking for you to demonstrate an understanding of the topic and its audience, appropriate and evidenced reading, an argument and reliable, credible and academic sources.
They are a way for you to demonstrate that you meet your learning outcomes, that you understand the topic area, and you can communicate this effectively.
Presentations are developed with an imagined audience in mind, and the presentation content and delivery should reflect your audiences requirements.
The planning of your presentation is fundamental to its success. You must reflect on what your presentation is about, who your audience will be and why you are developing the presentation.
Planning your presentation is critical. Although it is not a written assessment, there should still be academic rigour evident. You should undertake your research in a thorough way. Marks will be allocated to content, as well as delivery. You might also be expected to take questions about your presentation afterwards, so a clear understanding of your topic area is crucial.
You might also want to think about what resources you will need. Do you require specific hardware, software or other resources?
Like any other type of assessment, your presentation should flow logically.
The best way to achieve this is to produce a structure containing an introduction, main body and conclusion:
Presentations are a visual medium and as such should be engaging and effective. Less is more. Ensure that your slides can be seen and understood by the audience. Keep the design simple to aid inclusivity.
Think about the visual aspects outlined below:
| Element | Best Practice |
|---|---|
| Font | Select a good, readable font. Keep your font consistent throughout your presentation. Use font size to create hierarchy. A larger font size will indicate where to look first. Headings should be at least 28 point and main text 20 point. |
| Line Spacing | Ensure at least 1.5 spacing between lines. Left aligned is easiest to read. |
| Case | Avoid uppercase as it projects screaming, and is more difficult to read. |
| Colour | Keep colours simple, and select a colour palette with contrasts. Make sure the colours don't distract from the message. |
| Visuals | Images add interest and can be impactful. Use graphs, tables, maps etc. to illustrate points. Keep key points clear and concise. Label any images. |
| Inclusivity | Avoid using different colours- use underlines/bold for emphasis. Keep a high contrast between text and background. Deliver the content orally and avoid asking audience to read directly from the screen. Allow time for the content to be read. Provide handouts. |
Using your time within a presentation is a core skill, and usually will constitute part of your marking rubric. Practice staying within your time allocation. If it is a group presentation, practice as a collective and make everyone aware of their allocated time. Sometimes it is helpful to allocate a time keeper who will monitor the time and signal to keep everyone right. Generally you should allow around two minutes per slide.
Here are some techniques to think about when planning for questions:
Practise makes perfect! The key to success here is to practise. Top tips include:
Introduce each member of the group at the start of the presentation, and incorporate transitions between slides and presenters.
Aims of the guide:
Use the back and next buttons at the bottom right of the screen below to navigate through the guide. Alternatively, use the contents button to jump to a specific page.
Accessibility options are available at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.
Aims of the guide:
Use the back and next buttons at the bottom right of the screen below to navigate through the guide. Alternatively, use the contents button to jump to a specific page.
Accessibility options are available at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.
Here are some free image and photo websites to help you develop visually engaging presentations.
These websites offer thousands of public domain and CC images that are free for re-use and modification.
Check the details of each website carefully as some will need attribution as part of the licence.
Find templates for UU presentations here
Olivia Mitchel speaking about presenting
You can access information and develop your digital skills by accessing our Digital Literacy guide.
