Academic presentation

To prepare a good academic presentation you must consider these questions:

Who	Who are you presenting to? What are their backgrounds (interests, knowledge of the subject)
Why	Why do you present to them?
What	Based on the above, decide what you are going to present. Know it in detail, but don’t try to present everything from your paper.
When	Know the schedule before, during, and after your presentation
Where	Know where the room is and what kind of room it is

There are three elements that will make your presentation successful:
1. Logical structure
2. Delivery
3. Visuals

Delivery

The contents of your presentation are as important as the way you deliver it. Remember that your attitude and your body language are essential parts of your presentation.

When speaking, keep a good and comfortable posture and make eye contact to show:
• Confidence (自信)
• Clarity (明確さ)
• Professionalism (専門的技術)
• Enthusiasm (熱意)
• Integrity (誠実さ)
• Positivity (積極性)

Eye contact

Eye contact is essential to establish a relationship with the audience, looking reliable and professional. It also allows you to get immediate feedback by observing the audience reactions.

Check out these small tips to improve your eye contact:
• For a small audience- look at as many people as possible
• For a large audience, make contact with various parts of the room
• Don’t go systematically around the room- be random
• Look at different people across the room for at least 3 seconds
• Look at a different person at the end of a phrase/sentence
• Imagine many one-on-one conversations
• Don’t READ to the audience, TALK to them
• Focus on people who seem to need it (bored, sleepy, not smiling, etc.)

Things to avoid

It’s natural to be nervous before and during your presentation. However the more you practice, the better you’ll perform. Many people unconsciously do certain movements to hide their nervousness, which may bring down the performance. To avoid that, you should:
• Keep hands in view　(手は見えるように）
• Let your gestures flow naturally
• Don’t do distracting hand motions and don’t move rapidly from one site to another in the room(手の動き、体の動きに注意）
• Don’t adjust your tie or clothing
• Don’t sway
• Don’t slouch
• Don’t stare at the PC/screen/notes
• Don’t look at the screen, use the correct hand to point

Visuals

When preparing for an academic presentation you have to be very careful about the visuals you will use. Here are some small tips to prepare.

Key slides you should include:

• Add a cover introducing your topic, yourself, and your affiliation
• Add an outline of the content, so the audience can easily identify the topics you will cover
• In the last slide, include your contact information and open the floor for questions and comments
• You can use a progress bar if you consider it necessary

For slide design, use:

• 4-5 keywords to explain each point (don’t write full sentences )
• One topic/idea per slide
• Good contrast in colors for text, background, and images
• Large enough fonts (usually size 32)
• Images to emphasize points

Graphs:

• Simplify your data whenever possible
• Give examples to explain complicated graphs
• Put a self-explanatory title
• Indicate units clearly
• Explain every graph/chart you show
• Be careful with black-and-white handouts
• Every curve must be defined and should be understood in a short time during presentation
• Try to keep comments horizontal, to make it easier for the audience to read

Use your slides to reiterate the message of your presentation. People are more likely to remember what they see and hear.