A key problem in presenting effectively is managing the audiences attention and not overloading them cognitively.
Michael Quinn has an excellent resource on how to present effectively:
For this class, I would especially review the Designing Slides portion of the talk; however, the advice in the other parts is also generally useful.
I would also make note of where the style requirements in the presenter instructions are discussed in Quinn’s slides.
Even though it is covered in Quinn’s slides, I think that it is especially important to say a few extra words about this bit, because it is so important. (Note that it is also weighted rather heavily in the presentation grading.)
People can only place their attention on one thing at a time. If multiple things demand their attention, the best they can do is time-slice (move their attention back and forth between the things). However, this creates the potential problem that they will miss something important.
In a presentation, there are at least two things that divide the audiences attention: the speaker and the slides. Thus, it is crucial (1) that the speaker be aware at all times which one he/she intends the audience to be attending to, and (2) that the speaker effectively directs the audience’s attention to that place.
To achieve this effect successfully, there two presentation styles you should follow:
Speaker Leads: In this presentation style, the speaker is the main focus of the audience’s attention, and the slides are merely there to support the speaker. The speaker should face the audience and speak while the slides show just a few relevant keywords in the background to help keep the audience oriented. Designing slides for this style often amounts to a game of cutting as many unimportant words as possible to leave only the most relevant keywords. See Quinn’s Acceptable Style #2 for more on this.
Slide Leads: In this presentation style, the slide is the main focus of the audience’s attention, and the speaker’s job is to guide the audience through the slide. This style should be used when presenting even moderately complex slides, such as charts, figures, or tables. The speaker faces the slide and points at and explains each part of the slide. That way, the audience is always looking at the part of the slide to which the speaker is referring. If the speaker doesn’t do this well, the audience may be attending to one thing on the slide, and miss what the speaker is saying about another thing. See Quinn’s Acceptable Style #1 for more on this.