Advocacy in Action - International AIDS Society

Skills-building activity – option 2
Objective: By the end of the session participants will be able to
identify common mistakes in delivering presentations and know
how to avoid them
Instructions
Timing: 45 minutes
1 Ask participants to brainstorm the various mistakes (for example, forgetting to turn on the
microphone, fidgeting, slides in the wrong order, speaking too quickly, etc.) they have seen
people make during a presentation. Make a note of key mistakes.
2 Facilitate a discussion around how to avoid each mistake. Encourage practical solutions to
the mistakes.
Advice on writing and delivering a presentation
Check the physical environment.
Lighting, ventilation and noise
can all affect how well your
presentation is received.
Speak up and vary your intonation.
Speaking in monotone will likely
put your audience to sleep.
If you are taking questions, switch
off the projector as it can be noisy.
Check that your visual aids
are clear and interesting.
Keep to your time-allocation.
Try to give yourself time to prepare,
write and practise your presentation.
Look at the audience. Look at
different people in the audience
throughout the talk.
Be enthusiastic! If you are not,
how can you expect your
audience to be?
Advocacy in Action Card 5 Writing and delivering a presentation
If you are using visual aids, look
at them from time to time so
your audience does too.
Be animated, but not so much
so as to distract your audience
from what you are saying.
Try not to use too many visual aids –
for example, five for 20 minutes.
Don’t read your notes. Use them
as prompts but not as a script.
Try to check your equipment
before the presentation to ensure
that everything is in order.
Try to use concrete examples
to illustrate concepts, ideas
or points.
Repeat questions asked if you
think others in the audience
may not have heard them.
Try not to dominate question and
answer sessions – give clear concise answers
where possible to allow as many questions as
possible to be put forward.
Try to have copies of your
presentation or other documents
available as handouts.
Stand so that you do not block
your visual aids.
Keep your body language
positive. Looking down at your
shoes or covering your mouth
with your hand will only
undermine your presentation.
Reference: Adapted from Documenting and Communicating HIV/AIDS Work – A Toolkit to Support NGOs/CBOs,
International HIV/AIDS Alliance.