To present means to effectively incorporate verbal and non-verbal skills, while possibly using a visual aid,  to share information with or to convey an idea to an audience.  Remember, how you say something is just as important as what you say.

Ask Yourself:

1. Who is my audience?

2. What is the time requirement for my speech?

3. What visual aids do I need to use?       

Consider:

1. How relevant is my information to my audience and to my speaking topic?

2. What information do I have to support  each of my ideas?

3. How does my visual aid reinforce my ideas? 

To help you remember the  important verbal and non-verbal skills of a proper presentation, use the VOICES acronym:

V: volume--speaking loud enough, not allowing your voice to fade at the end of a sentence, avoid being monotone (use voice fluctuations)

O: organization--clear intro/body/conclusion, using transitional words between each section and between each point within the speech

I: information--ensuring your information is relevant  to your topic and appropriate  for your audience

C: composure/body language--standing upright, use of hand gestures and facial expressions, no repetitive movements

E: eye contact--looking at all parts of your audience, sustaining eye contact, don’t read  your speech to the audience

S: standard English--grammatically correct, avoiding repetitive terms such as “like”, “um”, "okay," etc.

Characteristics of effective visual aids:

• • Large lettering/pictures

  • Brief amount of information and text

  • Contrast/Colorful

  • Organized—follows the chronological order of your presentation

  • Uses appropriate pictures to help support your ideas

  • Use graphs to represent data

Remember, effective visual aids reinforce your verbal presentation. Your visual aid should not show information not covered in your presentation. 

• • • Avoid reading verbatim or facing away from your audience. 

What not to do! Click here for an example of a bad visual aid