Helpful Presentation Tips (for all workshops)

These tips can help you prepare for any workshop.

Advice from Consultants

Presenters should dress up as a matter of respect for the Writing Center. Professional dress also generates respect for the presenter.
While the workshops are informative, they are also linear and aren’t conducive to individual experience. When you customize the workshop, speak about what you know or how you’ve tackled issues with clients. By doing so, the presentation itself will come across as more natural.
Change the slides to fade out all the wrong answers and have the correct ones remain.
It is frustrating when professors and instructors requesting workshops want something super specific but do not let the presenters know ahead of time. Ask them to be specific about their expectations, and suggest they review the slides. Also pin them down on how much time you can spend.
Encourage instructors to print the slides beforehand and distribute to the class or post them to a class website.
Crack jokes, make eye contact, talk to people before the presentation (increases the rapport between you and the class), and be familiar with the presentation.
Some of the slides you almost can’t elaborate on they’re so simple. In that case, I usually give a personal example either about myself or about a client that relates to the topic .

Background Reading and Preparation (books and DVDs available from the UWC book shelf