Delivering your presentation

style of delivery
overcoming nerves
visual aids
length
answering the judges' questions
equipment
technology

One aspect of good communication is being able to present information in a clear and interesting way. The Challenge gives you the chance to develop and demonstrate these skills. Here we offer you some guidance on how to go about it.

style of delivery

Clarity of argument and familiarity with your material will take you a long way, but your audience will be more receptive if you can present it in a relaxed and confident style.

Do not read
Spontaneous speech is much more lively and interesting to listen to than a text being read. Referring to short notes on cards is acceptable but make sure that you use your notes only as prompts and that you look at the audience as much as possible. Teams who read verbatim from scripts, laptop screens or visual aids or rely exceptionally heavily on notes will not automatically be disqualified from winning but they will be marked down by the judges. Try to believe in what you are saying - if you are convinced, then you are more likely to convince your audience.

Speak loudly and clearly
Speak loudly enough so that the person furthest away from you can hear, and speak more slowly than usual. Try to avoid sounding hesitant with expressions such as 'um' and 'er'.

Establish a relationship with your audience
Try to establish eye contact with as many members of the audience as you can. Wherever possible face the audience and not your visual aids. It might be helpful to include some humour but the overall impression you must give is of a serious and thoughtful analysis.

Pause
When you are making a point, pauses can give you authority and they give the audience time to get to grips with your arguments.

Gesture
You may be feeling too nervous to gesture spontaneously, but gesturing can help to reinforce your points and to liven up your talk. But make sure that it does not distract the audience from what you are saying.

Practise
Practising will improve the flow of your presentation and give you confidence and poise. It will also provide an opportunity to make improvements and spot any errors or inconsistencies in what you are saying. Good speakers practise everything, including not only what they will say, but also their style and using their visual aids.

overcoming nerves

Nerves are to be expected. Knowing your subject thoroughly and practising aloud with your visual aids will help.

Even regular speakers are nervous, but there are some tricks of the trade to overcome the symptoms. A glass of water can help with a dry mouth. Trembling hands can be calmed by resting them on the table or by making gestures. Try not to put them in your pockets. And do not use a pointer as this draws attention to the shaking. Butterflies or a thumping heart can be soothed by taking deep, steady breaths to relax. Overall, try to enjoy the event.

visual aids

Listening to a talk is very different from reading the same words. When a member of the audience's attention wanders momentarily, there is no written word to remind them what was being said, and they cannot re-read the argument - the speaker will already have moved on to the next subject. Visual aids provide a useful reminder and an opportunity to recap.

Whiteboards, overhead projector slides and computer-generated graphics can all keep the audience's attention. And you do not have to create your visual aids from scratch - simple yet powerful visual aids such as charts on many aspects of the economy can easily be found in major newspapers, business journals and the publications of financial institutions. They can also be found, of course, in the Bank of England's own publications, particularly the Inflation Report, which is available on our website.

When giving your presentation, you should describe to the audience precisely what is on each visual. For example, if you decide to show a graph of inflation you might say: 'This slide shows the annual rate of inflation over the past two years'. If it is not obvious, you might need to explain things in more detail - for example, what the axes on a graph show. Once the audience understand what they are seeing, they will be more receptive to your explanation of it, for example 'As you can see from this slide, investment appears to be increasing more slowly than before'.

It is important not to cram too much into your slides, otherwise it becomes confusing. Too few points are always better than too many. And you could vary the number to add interest. Occasionally putting only one point on a slide will change the pace of the presentation and help to keep the audience alert.

Text is the most widely used form of visual aid. It is usual to set out key ideas as bullet points. But keep the bullet points simple. Whatever you do, be sure to leave lots of space so your points are easy to read.

Graphs are useful for showing how variables change over time, or for showing how one variable relates to another. Beware of including more than three variables on one graph as they may confuse. Too many charts might diminish your main points, so be selective.

Tables might be useful to draw attention to the latest data.

length

The Challenge rules specify that your presentation should be no more than 15 minutes long. You may decide that you can present a well-argued case which covers all the relevant points in less than 15 minutes. It is the quality of your arguments and your ability to put your case across in a clear and convincing way that matters, rather than the length of your presentation.

Aim to finish in under 15 minutes. The real thing usually takes longer than practice runs.

answering the judges' questions

After the presentation, the judges will ask each team a series of questions. You may confer before answering the judges' questions, but you will be pressed for an answer if you take too long.

There are several ways to answer questions. You should agree on which method you are going to use and practise it as part of your preparation. The approach used is at the descretion of teams. The key point is that the judges will want to see all team members making a significant contribution to the answers. Answers should not be dominated by one or two team members. You could consider using one or more of the approaches below.

Team members could specialise in certain topics and field any questions on their specialism.

Team members could agree that a team spokesperson or the team captain will answer.

Teams could select whoever is best placed to answer. Perhaps the team captain might make the choice, particularly if more than one team member wishes to make a contribution.

Teams will also have to consider how they handle questions if there has been a split decision on interest rates. Answers may differ depending on what view the individual team members took of the outlook for the economy and inflation.

You may want to think in advance of questions that the judges might ask, and to prepare answers. You might also consider how you will respond if you do not know the answers. You might find it helpful to get teachers and friends to ask you a few difficult questions, to give you practice in answering in a formal setting.

equipment

In the regional heats and area finals, your presentation can be in any format. The Bank will provide the presentation equipment listed below at all the venues for the regional heats and area finals.

PowerPoint equipment - Laptop or PC, projection equipment and screen.

Teams are required to use PowerPoint in the national final in London.

PowerPoint presentations must be Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 compatible. They should be stored on a CD, disk or USB memory stick but should not be compressed i.e no zip files. Speakers for the laptop or PC will not be provided.

If your presentation is dependent on equipment that is not mentioned above, you will need to ask us to provide it or bring your own. If you want us to provide equipment or you intend to bring your own, please notify us as soon as possible so that we can make any special arrangements.

Teams are required to use PowerPoint in the final round.

technology

PowerPoint has the advantage of enabling teams to present to a professional standard, in colour and with a variety of graphics and special effects. But using technology has its drawbacks. The more sophisticated the presentation, the greater the risk that something will go wrong, either with the presentation itself or with the equipment. The risks can be minimised by:

Rehearsing your presentation with technology
Practising your presentation before the event in front of friends will not only help you to familiarise yourselves with your visual aids but will also enable you to identify any problems. For example, you should ensure that the visual aids are sufficiently large and clear for the audience to read. If you have incorporated graphics you should ensure that they appear where and when you expect them to.

Rehearse your presentation without technology
Since you cannot plan for every eventuality, it is advisable to have a back-up presentation that is not dependent on technology, and to have practised with them in advance. This will enable you to perform to a high standard if something unforeseen happens on the day - for example software incompatibility or computer failure.

But do not be discouraged if you are not masters of the technological wizardry - judges will always think more highly of a carefully reasoned argument than of a colourful display.

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