Identify your audience and speaking environment. What is their education? Interests? Are they generalists or specialists - what does your audience likely already know about your topic. Is this a formal presentation? Is one-way or an interactive style of presentation expected?
KISS - Keep it simple stupid! Prioritize your presentation - what message is it that you want to convey to your audience? Make sure this is the focus of your presentation.
Avoid the use of acronyms and technical jargon whenever possible. Acronyms can be very divisive. When your audience isn't familiar with the terminology and too many acronyms are introduced, they may become lost and therefore hostile.
Follow the "T3" rule: Tell the audience what you are going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them. This means you should provide an outline of your talk to your audience, deliver the actual content, and then summarize the key points.
Don't read your slides. If you find that you are, this means that your slides aren't correctly designed. The text on the slide should act as a visual prompts for the speaker in terms of the information he/she intends to convey orally.
Practice your talk in advance several times. Practice makes perfect.
Dress appropriately and comfortably. Find out in advance if formal clothing (business attire) is expected and dress appropriately.
Arrive early and make sure that you are comfortable with room layout and the A/V equipment. If you are using technology, be sure to bring backup visual aids such as a set of transparencies with you. If you are using a laptop for your presentation, make sure that it is compatible with the projector. An important consideration is the display resolution of the laptop and of the projector. If you are using a PC computer don't attempt to switch at the last minute to a Mac or vice versa.
Be enthusiastic. Deliver your speech with animation in your voice. Face the audience. Make eye contact with them. Speak loudly, clearly, and slowly so that everyone in the audience can hear and understand what you are saying.
Take charge. If you feel uncomfortable fielding questions during your presentation, be sure to make your feelings known to the audience upfront and if you are interrupted don't be afraid to defer the question until the end of your presentation.
Don't attempt to use humor (or quotations) in your presentation if you aren't funny. Audiences at scientific talks don't expect comedic or thespian performances, they do expect good science presented well.
Make judicious use of the laser pointer. If you use one, turn it on and point to the specific text or graphic element you wish to highlight, then turn it off. Try not to swing the laser pointer all over each and every slide and be careful not to point it into the audience.
End your presentation on time. This is particularly important at large scientific conferences where attendees may move from session to session in order to hear a specific speaker at a specific time.
Public Speaking
