Help! I am not good at public speaking and doing presentations. It really scares me! 
Calm down. Follow these simple rules and your presentation will be one to remember.
- You owe yourself, your group and the listeners an interesting, informative
and organized presentation. Here is what you need to do in planning
and delivering your group presentation.
1. Your presentation should be integrated and have a nice flow just like creamy ice cream. Do not have each person run off, do their research and then meet quickly right before the presentation and glue the pieces together. This is to be a group presentation, not a series of one presentation after another. This means your group will need to meet a few times before the day of the actual presentation.
2. Include a brief introduction to your presentation. Introduce yourselves (even though everyone might already know you) and give a brief overview of what you intend to say and do it in such a way to capture the listener’s attention. This is also a nice segue to the first person speaking.
3. The structural elements of a good presentation must be there.
a. Use transitions that bridge the elements that end one part of the presentation and start another. In other words “key up” the next speaker so your listeners know who the person is, what they will talk about and how it ties in to what was just presented.
b. Organize the main part of your presentation logically. Make it easy to follow. Go from the simple to complex. Make enough main points (5 are usually quite sufficient) so the recommendations you make later are well supported.
c. Review, highlight and emphasize the key points that have lead to your recommendations. This will act as the conclusion of your presentation.
4. You have a total of 30 minutes for your group presentation. The time should be divided approximately equally among all members of your group. After your presentation there will time be a 10-15 minute question and answer session.
5. Your presentation must hold and sustain the interest of the listeners. Do not read from your notes or look down at the floor or lean over a podium as though you are too weak to speak. Look at the listeners, be enthusiastic (but not necessarily loud) and show a range of emotions and expressions as you speak. Be confident and be yourself. Other members of the speaker’s group should pay attention and show interest to the speaker just like you want the other listeners to do.
6. Content is the most important part of your presentation. The supporting materials must include examples, statistics and/or expert opinions etc. that are relevant and up to date.
7. Your presentation must contain at least one type of technical enhancement. Your might use an overhead, laptop for PowerPoint or internet access, video, DVD etc. Knowledge of how to use all technical equipment that you will be using as part of your presentation is required.
8. Your presentation must contain some visuals. Be creative with the visuals, but they must be well done to be worth the group’s time. Make sure they are carefully prepared and used effectively to enhance and not distract from the content. Remember Content is King! Long Live Content!
9. Use novelty, uniqueness and/or humor, in good taste, to increase the impact of what you are saying. Use stories, analogies, anecdotes etc. where applicable.
10. If you are using PowerPoint use bullets or very short notes. Do not write out everyone you need to say on the slides. If you are using PowerPoint develop a template that everyone uses so slides have the same look and feel. Keep the type size, graphics and writing styles consistent.