Presentations

[Fragony]

If you know the topic well, just keep a general structure of the discussion in your mind, most definitely do NOT just read off of a 1000 word paper, people can read by themselves, and if they wanted to read the paper you can just email it to them...

Stand upright, take one encompassing look around the room, take a big breath, smile, and say

'Welcome, thanks for coming, I'm Rhyfelwyr, and today we will talk about blah. I encourage you all to listen and participate, otherwise I will just make you read the paper on your own time...'

You're the Master of Ceremonies. Hell, if you wanted to, you could make the audience read the paper aloud, one person per sentence, with one person only reading even words, or something equally ludicrous. You can dismiss the paper altogether, and instead come up with a graphical representation of what you're discussing, or tell the story in your own words.

Be comfortable in your clothes, keep a glass of water nearby in case you need a second, avoid light shining directly into your face (personal pet peeve, i feel like i should wear sunglasses...), and don't be afraid to ask people to participate. It's your discussion, do with it whatever you want.

Yeah and casually look at every person once. I hate it personally, teach your monkey tricks, but alas. It always turns out badly because I'm not very good at not being sarcastic.

[Andres]

I'm the type of guy who starts sweating and is very nervous, but once I'm busy, it all goes very naturally. Getting started is the hardest part, I think. Once you're going, it goes automatically smooth; at least that's how it went with me at such occasions.

Hypothetical questions, as TinCow suggested, are definitely a very good way to go. They also give opportunity to add a fun factor, like making up silly names instead of just "person A and person B" or

Other fun factors could be:
- do overacted voices when you talk about a certain important historical figure
- instead of "King X declared war on Y", say something like "On a sunny sunday morning, King X stood up, looked at his petty subjects and decided to annoy them, and their children, and grandchildren, and eventually you and me, certainly me, forcing me to stand here in front of you which I absolutely hate and makes me nervous, don't mind the sweaty smell, it's all King X's fault, but anyway, on a sunny Sunday morning, he decided to force me to talk today about the war he declared against Y".

Be creative, stay on the subject of course (you're not a stand-up comedian after all) but make sure your presentation has a few lighthearted pieces in it and be sure the fun stuff is easy to catch; it'll draw the attention of your public which will result in more feedback and discussion. It'll also make for a more relaxed atmosphere.