remain upright

everyone loves stats and graphs. And pie charts.

http://finickypenguin.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/pac_man_pie_chart.jpg

I haven't for a couple years now, but it seemed to be a massive trend for me about four years ago.

Always go in with handouts if you are projecting on screen... and the handouts will work if you don't have access to a screen.. fidn out what facilities will be made ready for you before hand.. all the usual commonsense stuff but good to check.

How many people are you presenting to? My throat used to swell up and voice crackle back in those days but I'm kind of used to talking shit with people in my old age now. Good luck. Be confident. And remember to smile when you first arrive - it's disarming. And goes a long way.

Pitt review -> main points -> areas for application -> problems to be solved... but worth it.

That would be my standard template for anything like this.

I'll set the fire alarms off and pretend that there's something terrible happening, you remain calm and tell everyone what to do, and commandier Tescos, and you'll walk it.

on 'mindmapping', where the guy who gave the seminar claimed that during some interview where he'd had to give a presentation, everyone else up for interview had used powerpoint and he'd used some spider diagram program and had got the job on the basis that itd made his interview the most memorable

i dont know whether this counts as comedy advice, the seminar was pretty good though, we got to draw with felt tips and there were free chocolate muffins at lunch

Try to fill them with images that at first seem confusing or uninformative but make perfect sense when you explain your points and reference them.

This makes sure they can't read ahead but also make a connection between what you say and what you show.

Practice over and over. Start with cards with the notes but use your slides to remind you what you're going to say. It can be useful to write out what you want to say from memory (looking back when you need to refresh) over a few times.

Keep your voice loud and clear and move about a lot to keep the interest high, but don't be irritating: no quick jerky movments like you've got ants all over you.

When questioned always act like you'd expected the question and either try bluff through it, implying the question isn't relevent, or take on the chin and look back like you're sure it wasn't really an important question.

Don't roll your shirt sleeves up before the presentation as it'll make you look like a twonk.

in an interview i have in a couple of weeks, but i'm not sure i can be bothered.

1) i don't know much about the area i'm supposed to be presenting on so would have to do a fair bit of preparation and work for it
2) i'm pretty busy at the moment already
3) i don't even want the job and only applied for the interview practice

so now i don't know if i should tell them i don't want to interview anymore or what. :(

Seriously, I don't think I have any serious advice. The presentations I give are generally to morons who just nod in agreement no matter what I say.

Have stuff to handout so people can read along instead of having to look at the screen. Keep things concise. Everyone likes bullet points and pie charts. Don't use the word 'gash'.

I threw the slides together the day before the deadline for sending them, forgot about it till the day, then just talked about the keywords I'd put as each bullet point on the slides.

If you know your subject inside out and you're comfortable with the style, it's by far the best way to do it - since it feels quite natural to the listener. If not, then take note of what others have said about practicing and use of images where approriate.

Other stuff I'd say
- try and find an decent template for your slides (to give them a decent look)
- if you're putting words on your slides then keep them short (just a few words to a bullet point, and only a few bullet points to a slide)
- make sure diagrams are going to be clear when projected (this is where handouts can become particularly useful)
- don't forget to finish by asking if there's any questions (lots of people just tail off at the end)
- have an intro and a summary slide to make sure you're structured
- slow down. You'll almost certainly talk a little too quickly to be easily understood. Feel free to pause for a couple of seconds between slides.
- alternative approach to questions you can't answer (if relatively factual), admit you don't know the answer offhand, and say you'd have to go away and look up the details to be sure. I did this in mine at one point.