A presentation cannot convey nearly as much information as a paper or thesis. Your audience has too short an attention span to take it all in. Therefore, you need to keep your key message foremost in mind. To ensure your audience remembers your key message, you must be able to express your hypothesis and conclusion in three sentences or less.

The beginning of your presentation is crucial. Starting out by saying ‘My presentation is going to be about…’ or ‘I want to talk about…’ is far too predictable. It is important to capture your audience’s attention right from the outset. Therefore, you are better off beginning with a captivating image or quote, or a clear, provocative question, and then linking this to your topic.

A live audience cannot rewind or turn the page back and read your story over again. Therefore, the structure of your presentation must be crystal clear. Deliver your key message (your hypothesis and conclusion), move on to context and examples, and then return to your key message. This ensures that no one will miss the core of your presentation.

Be explicit about the structure of your argument: ‘This raises three questions. The first one is whether….., etc.’ Also build in moments where you explicitly recap what you have just argued: ‘I just discussed two ways in which … . Now I want to move on to …  .’

Remember the power of repetition. It is a tool you can use to order your presentation, and it serves your audience too. Repetition ensures that information sticks; your audience will come away remembering your key message. Obviously you should take care not to overdo this.

Depending on the goal of your presentation, you can make time for feedback from the audience or for debate.

To support your structure, you can use a visual element like a copy of an important archival document, TV images, photos or objects. You can write or draw something on a whiteboard, hand out copies of a document or use a slide presentation.

End your story with a memorable closing statement in which you summarize your key message once more and, if possible, indicate its wider implications. For example, if you are planning to write another paper or your thesis on this topic, you could describe which aspects you are planning to research. Never end by saying ‘Well, that’s all.’ If you have little to add, at least show gratitude toward your audience: ‘Thank you for your attention.’