Delivering a powerful oral presentation: all the world's a stage

Oral presentations are, to a great extent, a matter of talent, but they can be practised and improved. There are three kinds of presentations: the short talk (5-10 minutes), the intermediate talk (15 minutes) and the long talk (approximately 45 minutes). Whatever the kind of the presentation, careful preparation is mandatory. The speaker needs to know how long the presentation is expected to be, who the audience is and what main messages should be conveyed. Power point and other visual aids may be appropriately used to facilitate communication. The information presented by these aids should be simple, concrete and intelligible, and the presenter should refrain from reading out the slides word for word. During the presentation, several pitfalls should be avoided: wrong type of presentation, exceeding the allocated time, poor structure, inadequate use of power point and/or other visual aids, poor control of language, poor control of voice, poor appearance on the podium, and poor control of nerves. Ideally, the successful oral presentation is a performance. Thus, the speaker may make the most of appearance, voice, eye contact and movement, in order to increase eloquence.