How to do an oral presentation

An oral presentation concentrates on communicating something that matters to the speaker to a familiar audience of peers. Presentations are generally prepared ahead of time in writing and sometimes include visual elements that engage the audience.

Watch this!

Context
You will often do an oral presentation once you have completed a project in class. The purpose is to inform, explain, persuade or even to entertain.
Related Resources
Steps

Step 1

Choose a topic

You can do an oral presentation on any number of subjects:

  • an issue
  • a news story
  • a fact
  • a project
  • an experiment
  • a novel
  • an event
  • a theme
  • a work of art

Think of some oral presentations that you have done in the past or that you have experienced as an audience member.

You can also use the following tool to brainstorm ideas for your presentation:

Step 2

Gather information

  • What important information do you want to share?
  • What is your point of view on the subject?
  • What are the key points of your presentation?

Step 3

Prepare your presentation

Use key words or sentences (in point form) to remember important information.

If you decide to use a visual or media element to support your oral presentation, use the following planning tool:

Step 4

Revise your presentation

You can ask a classmate, a teacher or a parent to give you feedback and improve your presentation.

Step 5

Present!

How you present is as important as what you present. Be aware of your body language, tone and audience. Remember, a presentation is a lot like a performance!