As listeners cannot take up as many information as readers, keep the following rules in mind when giving a presentation:* Keep your sentences short and simple.
* Use standard English, avoid slang and techy language.
* Prefer verbs to nouns (not: The meaning of this is that …, but: This means that …).
* Use participal constructions sparingly. (In written texts they are often used to increase the density of information in a sentence. In spoken texts, however, they make it more difficult for the listeners to follow.)
* Speak clearly and slowly.
* Have little breaks in between the sentences to allow your audience to reflect on what has been said.
* Communicate freely (don't read the whole text from a piece of paper).
* Illustrate certain aspects of your presentation with pictures and graphics.
The following tricks will also help you keep your audience's attention:
* Outline to the audience how your presentation is structured. (e.g. I will first explain ... / Then I will … / After that … / Finally… ).
* Indicate when you come to another sub-topic (I will now talk about …). This way your audience can follow your presentation more easily.
* Use a rhetorical question or hypophora from time to time. Your listeners will think that you've asked them a question and thus listen more attentively.
* Use enumerations starting first / second / third. This also draws your audience's attention.
* A joke or a quotation might also help keeping your audience listening. Don't overdo it, however. Using too many jokes or quotations might not have the effect you want.
