A common task in a technical interview is giving a short presentation. This may be on a topic you are familiar with such as your final project or one selected by us. This is as much about presenting yourself as your ability to disseminate key facts & figures.
Be clear on what your objective is – are you being asked to explain something or to persuade your audience? Can you entertain them at the same time? Tailor it to your audience – drop the mathematical proofs and in-depth theory if you know you are likely to be presenting to a non-specialist audience but keep that information in the appendix just in case!
If you have a choice pick a subject you know a lot about and enjoy so you don’t have to think too hard about the content and can concentrate on your delivery. If it helps jot headings and main points onto prompt cards, we won’t be expecting a virtuoso performance and if it gives you that added confidence you may not actually need to use them on the day.
It can help to script your opening lines but after that do not use a script, trust your preparation, you want to build a connection with your interviewers. In the age of AI-generated content this has become even more important.
Finally rehearse your presentation and make sure you stay within the prescribed timing and/or number of slides.
Always introduce yourself first – use a supporting slide with plenty of visuals (your home town, interests, eye-catching images from your projects or studies) to leave a memorable impression and connect with the audience. Then outline the structure of your presentation either verbally or using a slide.
If it is a technical presentation, for example on your project, then start with an executive summary slide which clearly states your project objective/measure of success and the conclusion/current status of your project. Then follow this with slides on the background theory, the details of your methodology, key results and a more in-depth discussion of your conclusions.
This is a better approach because your audience knows what to expect upfront and can interrogate your later slides more intelligently; it also avoids the rush to the end when you realise you have spent too long on your methodology and not got onto your conclusions.
Avoid abstract phrases and scientific jargon and talk in images wherever possible – text wants to be the bare minimum required; there are few things worse than watching people reading out the text on their slides verbatim. Involve audiences by using you and we; try and pause every so often to give yourself some breathing space and let the audience digest your words. Don’t worry if you have a slight tic or nervous habit when presenting, most people do, and if you are not comfortable maintaining eye contact, at a minimum try and look in the direction of your audience.
It bears repeating try not to script your presentation, on the day trust your preparation. Most importantly make sure you understand everything in your presentation, particularly if its an unfamiliar topic. As an interviewer, you would rather have someone say there were areas they were not confident on so they have omitted them or focused on another aspect, instead of trying to bluff their way through.
