Good presentation skills are essential. Many excellent courses are available for improving your presentation skills. We strongly recommend you take one if you have not previously done so. What follows are some hints on issues to consider if you are presenting a training course.

Check that you know how to use any equipment you plan to use (or ensure you have technical help on hand). Practise using the equipment. Make sure you have whiteboard pens that work and anything else you need, such as flipcharts or handouts.

Practise your presentation aloud – it is totally different to reading the presentation. Try practising in front of a mirror and in the location where the training sessions will be held. Use your own words instead of sticking to the words in the training material.

Ensure all equipment, handouts and examples are on hand. Set them out in a way you can access them easily when required. Then you can avoid rifling through piles of paper during the session.

Plan the room layout carefully, bearing in mind the amount of activity involved. Do participants need a table to work on? Do you want them in groups? Do you want a friendly and open feel (a u-shaped arrangement) or a formal lecture style?

Prepare nametags if you think it appropriate – do the participants know each other? Do you know them? How much interaction do you expect?

Provide water in the training room, and organise tea and coffee for a refreshment break. Your supply of refreshments will depend on the duration of the training, and whether participants will have easy access to refreshments in breaks. 

Avoid reading your presentation. Cards with dot points – rather than one long script – will enable you to look at your audience, use your own language and keep your voice interesting.

Speak clearly, concisely, and loud enough to be heard easily by everybody. Use a microphone if you are comfortable with one and it is available. Lapel microphones mean you can move around the room and still be heard. Try not to lock yourself behind a lectern.

Pace yourself. Try not to speak too quickly – this can be difficult if you are nervous. Pause between sections of the training, and allow time to look at visual aids or to answer questions.

Make personal contact with each participant. Make eye contact. Provide opportunities for your audience to contribute. Use names where you know people (or can read them from their nametag).

Visual aids can greatly assist in understanding. But they can also be irritating or distracting if not used well. Turn off the overhead or data projector if it will be dormant for a while. And remember to turn up the lights. If possible, use visual aids with half-lighting rather than none. Dark rooms are conducive to sleep! Allow time for participants to view or read what you are showing them. Pause when new visual material appears.

You will have adapted the presentation to include activities relevant to your audience. Introduce activities by clearly explaining

• what participants have to do
• the purpose of the activity, and
• how long they have to complete the task

Allow sufficient uninterrupted time for the group to work on the task. Avoid giving ongoing comment or instruction during this time. Instead, walk around the room to ensure that people are on the right track, and answer any questions they might have (without doing the task for them).

Allow sufficient time to share and discuss the results of activities. Be careful to avoid situations where participants feel they are wrong. Sometimes 'wrong' answers can be useful for discussion. Often, they come about because someone has interpreted a question or statement in a new or different way. 

Allow your audience to contribute and become actively involved in the training. As adult learners, your participants will bring various experiences to the training. Find ways to allow participants to contribute, by answering questions, sharing their experiences or discussing issues in small groups. In instances where you are feeling nervous or uncomfortable, you can open the discussion up to your wider audience and this both actively involves your participants, but it shares some of the focus.

You can also actively involve participants by providing relevant, practical exercises. For example, you could ask them to look at a number of items and decide whether or not they can be destroyed under 'normal administrative practice' provisions. When participants apply what you are saying to what they already know or do, they are more likely to leave with a clear understanding of their responsibilities.