Delivering Better Presentation Using Methods of Presentation Skills

Fardi Fajrian, 1906292004

Nurses always have constant communication with everyone, be it patients and

families, other healthcare professionals, or the public. This communication skill is better to be
developed and trained when these nurses are still nursing students to yield better
communication skill and confidence (Cannity et al., 2021). Nursing students are always
required to give presentations before lecturers or clinical instructors, so they need to exude
good presentation skills to get good grades and understand the topics they learn. If they fail to
do so, they may not understand what they learn which can be dangerous if they are placed in
clinical settings. Also, with rapidly changing global scheme, English is needed more than
ever in classrooms and every nursing students are required to communicate with it.
Indonesians also are known to not have a good English proficiency, which can hinder their
communication with the outside world. All major and good references for studying for
nursing students are written or spoken in English, so Indonesian nursing students must master
English well, written or spoken. Beside mastering English through many means, nursing
students must master presentation skills as a vital communication skill that is very beneficial
for their future. Thus, every nursing students must know and apply presentation skills which
consist of six skills as explained below in order to be successful in classes or clinicals and to
become professional nurses in the future.
The first one before presenting a material is to plan it well. Hartigan et al. (2014)
wrote that being well planned or prepared is important when giving presentation, as it could
build confidence to be a better presenter (Keshavan & Tandon, 2012). Hartigan et al. (2014)
added some ways to be better prepared, which are scanning the place directly, knowing the
time and duration given, and considering the number of audiences for the presentation. For
example, repeated virtual reality usage can make students lessen their anxiety (Takac et al.,
2019), which is the same when the presenter can observe the settings and feel the experience
beforehand. Also, rehearsing before presentation could build a stronger presentation, by
trying to limit the speech to certain duration like spending one minute per slides and ask other
people to give questions or feedbacks (Wellstead et al., 2017). Reviewing the materials or
notes, not eating large meal, and creating a backup plan before the presentation are other
activities to make the presenter be well planned and prepared (Keshavan & Tandon, 2012).
Not only for themselves, the presenter must also plan and prepare backups for everything
technical before presentation, such as the computer or laptops, the projectors, the microphone
or audio, the files in which some audios or videos may not be able to be played, and
everything else that is important for the presentation (Hartigan et al., 2014). Before
presentation is as important as during the presentation itself because it determines the flow of
the presentation delivered. So, the presenter must plan everything even to minute details that
can boost the presentation and be very cautious to everything that can hinder it.
After planning what should be delivered on the presentation, the presenter must point
out goals or aims as to why the presenter delivers the presentation. Presentation is all about
active communication among the presenter and the audience, therefore effective
communication is going to be the main goal. Some considerations that can clarify the goals
are the followings: questions that will be answered and the importance of them, sufficient
number of research in the presentation, gesture and reaction that will be given to the
audience, and the message that will be taken by the audience (Keshavan & Tandon, 2012).
Listing the goals with previous considerations could direct the way the presenter will present
the content and the impact it will have on the audience. The presenter has to explicitly state
the goals in presentation before they begin to deliver the presentation to make sure that the
audience could follow through, and that in one-hour long presentation they can aim for four
to six goals to avoid boredom from the audience (Medina & Avant, 2015). Medina & Avant
(2015) also added three guidelines in stating goals: using verbs that are specific and
measurable like using Bloom’s taxonomy, quantifying the goals so that they can be measured
precisely, and the goals should match and give directions on how the presentation will be
delivered. Previous suggestions and recommendations will guide the communication when
presenting to be really effective.
The main body or content of the presentation is the reason the presenter gives a
presentation in the first place. The presenter may make it interesting or eye-catching in the
design, but not overdo it because then it will distract the audience from the main content of
the presentation (Moyo, 2019). Moyo (2019) wrote the 5Cs of effective poster (that can be
applied in presentation as well), which are: compliant (the slides presentation has to follow
the organization or any other specific technicalities), catchy (the audience has to be hooked
on the slides and its contents), clear (the text is legible, progressive and linear, and using
graphics to support the content), concise (long paragraphs or words are better be replaced
with bullet points or graphics), and clutter-free (the slides are organized well and professional
looking). Many articles more or less wrote about good and effective slide design and content,
but each gave some different suggestions. Keshavan & Tandon (2012) wrote that the slides
can be split structurally into introduction, body, conclusion, and questions and answers with
visual aids (pictures) and some real life examples. Wellstead et al. (2017) emphasized more
on the organization of topics in the slides, which they wrote that the topics used should be the
most important ones or not overwhelming, follow 5x5 rules (five words maximum per points
and five points maximum per slides), be designed simple and uniform throughout; the
presenter also if able could provide handouts to increase the audience’s understanding and
anticipate technical problems. Hartigan et al. (2014) noted that the usage of few and sparse
animation could increase focus and understanding of the audience. Vogel & Viale (2018)
recommended the presenter to memorize the contents by not reading from the slides and to
use case studies or data. Medina & Avant (2015) wrote some other tips, which are giving
overviews before each topic, providing smooth transitions or breaks, using professional fonts
and colors, and titling differently on each slides. Dolan (2017) added that the contents should
be logically structured; and the presenter may use anecdotes or real-life examples and must
cite references. It can be summarized from all those writers that slides contents must be
succinct, simple, using appropriate visual aids to supplement words, using graphs or data if
available, structured with good transition, and easy to understand for the audience.
Even if the content is exquisite, a presentation is flawed when the presenter does not
know how to really connect with the audience. The presenter must truly know and build a
good relationship with the audience through many ways because then the audience will
understand the presentation better and they could follow through until the end without getting
bored. The presenter must know the audience well, by catering to their expectations, needs, or
educational background to resonate with the audience and that they will feel comfortable
(Keshavan & Tandon, 2012). Whenever transitioning from one topic to another, the presenter
can ask or receive questions to check the understanding of the audience, maintain a good pace
that is not too fast or too slow, pause to give them time to digest the information, and avoid
any unprofessional interjections (such as “umm” “like” or “you know”) (Wellstead et al.,
2017). To increase memory retention, the presenter can promote active learning through
“think-pair-share” technique which the presenter gives some learning activity before, during,
or after the presentation or questions to the audience in ten seconds intervals (Medina &
Avant, 2015). The presenter also may use humors to enlighten the mood of the audience that
are culturally appropriate and vary the tone of their voice so that the audience will not get
bored (Hartigan et al., 2014). Many questions to consider by the presenter to really engage
with the audience by truly knowing them are: who is the audience, the base knowledge of the
content, the audience’s motivation and bias, the message to deliver to the audience, and
which effective methods to deliver the message (Vogel & Viale, 2018). One other thing to
remember is that the presenter must have ways to control the stage but not too controlling to
engage with the audience, for example opening with a very interesting story or facts and
always ask and receive questions from the audience to keep the interaction alive. Lastly, most
subtle yet crucial aspects of keeping the connection with the audience is to maintain eye
contact with everyone in the room, by switching from one person to the next and not to one
specific area or person because it shows a lack of confidence, and read the audience body
language to know whether they are focused, bored, interested, accepting, disapproving, or
neutral (Dolan, 2017). The presenter must also know that presentation is just another form of
active communication by giving and receiving, thus establishing and keeping a good
relationship is very essential to be able to understand each other.
Building a better connection with the audience is best supported with how the
presenter presents themselves first, for example how the audience perceives body language.
Body language is a very important tool to communicate with other people because it tells
everything about motivations, emotions, and ideas and it also ascribes meaning to everything
the presenter speaks to other people (Tipper et al., 2015). A study of presenters using
computer to analyze their body gestures reported the importance of projecting confidence,
openness, and attentiveness towards the audience by standing in an upright position facing
the audience and while hands are resting in an appropriate space in front of the body above
the hips without extending the arms too much (Schneider et al., 2015). Other specific body
gesture considerations are to move around the stage at appropriate times to emphasize a
point, to make hand gestures as natural as possible by following the speech with firmness and
away from the face, and to keep in constant eye contact with the audience (Dolan, 2017).
Body language should not feel too forced, for example, moving hands too much and covering
the face, sloughing, not standing up straight, speaking too fast or too slow, and every other
bad body language as it can impair the audience’s understanding of the presentation. If the
presenter still feels like they have not mastered good body language, practicing with
mimicking a professional or famous presenter will help the presenter to imitate them and then
have a good body language themselves (Hartigan et al., 2014).
As stated before, a good body language shows how confident the presenter is before
the audience; and confidence is a skill that is learned continuously and not acquired all of
sudden. Even though many of the presenter may be anxious before a large crowd or audience
let alone when the presenter has to speak English, trying to be confident even when the
presenter does not feel like it could help improve confidence (Vogel & Viale, 2018). To start,
having a positive attitude toward giving presentations in English will produce significant
confidence, as well as being prepared beforehand (Kelsen, 2019). Confidence also can be
boosted by reducing anxiety before presenting with many techniques, such as deep-breath
relaxation, imagining calming surroundings, speaking louder to evoke a sense of control, be
organized, moving accordingly on the stage, and practicing (Dolan, 2017; Vogel & Viale,
2018). Other ways in which the presenter can appear confident when delivering presentation
are maintaining eye contact, asserting themselves as the expert of the topic by knowing it
well, dressing to impress, smiling, and relaxing (Medina & Avant, 2015). To put simply,
building confidence is how the presenter feel good about themselves by eliminating any
thoughts that inhibit the presentation performance, such as if the audience will perceive the
presenter badly, the presenter will receive negative comments, or the presenter will embarrass
themselves. All those negative perceptions can be erased with practicing intensely, feeling
calm and relaxed, and having a positive mindset so that the presenter will feel in control
when delivering the presentation. Being confident will make the presentation be understood
by and have a lasting good impression for the audience.
Nursing students must master all skills explained above to train and exercise their
effective communication and relationship building, as demanded by the nature of nursing.
They ought to plan everything well before presenting, make sure the goals are clearly stated,
be professional and concise in designing the slides, treat the audience as equals and catch up
with them every now and then, present a good body language that is well received by the
audience, and be very confident when delivering the presentation. Every little skills and tips
are very useful to achieve the overall presentation skills. Not everyone can do them
overnight, instead, these skills need practice every time and exposure so that the presenter or
nursing students can be successful in mastering those skills. A good presentation is a good
communication, and nursing students have to have good communication skills to care for
people.
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