Giving a Presentation in an Interview

It is becoming more and more common for an interviewer to ask a candidate to deliver a presentation at the second interview stage. This is an excellent opportunity to show the potential employer your ability to communicate, how you go about researching a topic, your time management skills, IT skills (if using PowerPoint) and how you cope under pressure.

General Presentation Hints and Tips

1. Make sure you fully understand what the interviewer wants you to present. Find out how long the presentation should be and under no circumstances overrun.
2. A good presentation should follow a structure with a clear beginning, middle and conclusion/summary. Following this format makes the presentation easier to prepare as well as making it easier to follow for your audience.
3. Find out beforehand what presentation methods you will be able to use: PowerPoint, overhead projector (OHP), flipchart or white board.
4. Try to use interesting visual aids and if you are using PowerPoint, keep slides attention grabbing with tables, graphs and pictures.
5. Try not to use too many technical words, abbreviations or jargon.
6. Body language is really important - Speak slowly, clearly and avoid waffling or mumbling. Make regular eye contact with the interviewers and remain calm and confident.
7. Practise, practise, practise! Know your presentation inside out so you don’t have to keep referring to notes to prompt you. Run through your presentation in front of friends or family and get them to give their opinions and positive criticism.
8. Practise your presentation against the clock. This is important as you don’t want to be running overtime or under time in an interview situation. This gives you time to add extra points or take them out to fit the time allocated. Allow extra time in your presentation for questions and don’t forget when people are nervous they speak faster.
9. Interact with the interviewers but let your audience know in advance that you will be willing to take questions at the end so they don’t disrupt the flow of you presentation.