I have a short presentation coming up tmw, and I am currently writing up the final narrative to follow my slide show. Any tips? Do you use a complete script or prompt notes. I feel really jittery!

hey chris,
depending how formal the thing is, i handle it differently. if it is really important to me that i make a good impression, i will write it out, THEN from the written out text create prompts. i take the written text with me for "emergencies" - if you don't know what to do you can always just start reading.
if it is less formal and more about "learning" and thinking through stuff together with other people, and i don't have too much time, i'll just think about what should go into the presentation and make prompts, but won't write it all out.
good luck!

I rarely use notes when I am giving a presentation I just use the slides themselves as prompts.. But I know that doesnt suit everybody.

However, if you want to have something to look at while presenting I would suggest just using bullet points on cards. If you have a script of what you want to say then it is very easy to get lost, which leads to awkward points while you try and find where you are again.

Just relax and don't worry about it.. this cartoon from phd comics sums up a group meeting very well lol

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=719

Thanks.

Having just comfort eaten a huge bag of chocolates, I think I will go for a blend of script and notes on cards.

Should only be about twenty odd people. It will be fine. Deep breathes. Sigh. Argh!!!!!!!!

I recently had to do a presentation which I was very nervous about. I found it helpful to have the presentation in add notes on the power point slide show. I then printed out the slides with the notes and where I didn't have a slide I just read from a paper (this part I kept very brief though). Some people can talk at length without notes but I think when you need to use notes the main thing is you are well rehearsed. I found it difficult to keep repearting the same thing over again when I was practising but it really does work. First there is very little chance to trip over any of your words as you know them so well and it also means you can look up at the audience more often.

Make sure you take time to pause between sentences and add emphasise to the sentences where you want to make a point. For example if there is a part of your talk which you feel strongly about make good use of innotation, without being over dramatice off course! I have seen some good presenters use this tatic. Talking at length can make your mouth dry and it not necessarily related to just nerves, so don't be afraid to take some water when you need it, you pausing to take a break also gives your audience time to absord what you are saying! I found that postive self-talk also works. There is a great sense of achievement after a presentation especially one you are nervous about. So best of luck and certainly do what you think will work for you. Let us know how you get on.

PS the cartoon posted by Tricky really sums it up well! I heard the average attention span is about 8 minutes?

Use whatever you feel more comfortable with, and I would recommend rehearsing (out loud) by yourself, just to get used to hearing your voice. If you feel like a plonker then have the TV on too, so the neighbours can't hear.

I had to attend a course last week where we were filmed giving a presentation, and then forced to watch ourselves - but actually, everyone realised that they don't look as daft as they had assumed.