Effective Presentation Skills

Course eligibility and registration

This course is for students in the second and third year of their PhD.

Please click on the relevant course name to register. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. If this course is full and you are unable to register for it, there will be further course opportunities to practise speaking about your research in the coming months of your programme.

Autumn term 2024 classes 

Course overview

This is a 4-week course (1.5 hours once a week) aimed primarily at 2nd-year and 3rd-year doctoral students who would like to improve their presentation skills. The course focuses on voice control, confidence, designing effective PowerPoint slides, judging one’s audience, improving pronunciation of key terms and performance evaluation.

Course structure

• Each week there will be materials, accessed remotely, to prepare you for the scheduled live session. The remote session is not timetabled, but you are expected to spend a minimum of 30 minutes on the activities. 
• The group will then meet for a 90-minute live session in which you will have the opportunity to speak (usually in small groups), receive feedback and develop the effectiveness of your oral communication. Sessions focus on both specific tasks and key speaking skills. 
• After each session, you will be encouraged to reflect on feedback received in class (from your peers and your teacher), to build on this and to further practise in order to hone your skills. This can take a further 30 minutes.