How to present well as a group
11/03/2025

You will have put a lot of work into your research or project and want to show everyone what you have achieved or discovered, so you need to impart this knowledge as clearly as possible. Don’t let your lack of presentation skills bring your message down.
Delivering an impactful presentation to an audience is all about thoughtful design, thorough preparation and plenty of practice. Here are some key tips to help you make the most of the experience:
Plan your presentation
This sounds obvious but its importance can be underestimated. Group presentations should be well co-ordinated with everyone contributing their part. So, before you start anything decide exactly who will be presenting which parts of your presentation, for how long and in which order.
Stick to the plan – avoid last minute changes as this could throw the whole presentation off. The key to a coherent, smooth running, professional presentation is to practise it all together (including entering and leaving) until it all runs smoothly and you look like a great team.
There are more details about planning and designing your presentation and tips for presenting smoothly with others in the Study Skills Hub.
Play to individual strengths
Use your practice time to identify who is the best person to present each section of the talk. Some are better at introducing a talk with the right tone for the audience, others are better at talking through data or answering questions at the end.
Be prepared!
Plan what you will do if someone forgets key information or runs over their time. Other people might need to adapt their talk subtly to cope with this. Practice covering potential problems and tricky questions so they are manageable if they occur on the day.
Listen carefully during practice runs
Know what everyone else is going to cover and what they will say. It will help if you have to cover someone’s absence on the day and avoids you repeating what has already been said.
Practice transitions from one person to the next
Agree your cues. Practice opening and closing the talk: these contribute to the impression you make.
Let your body talk
Smile! You will appear more relaxed even if you do not feel it. Think about your voice tone as well as use of hands – try to keep elbows to your sides to reduce distracting arm waving.
Make proper eye contact with the whole audience but try not to keep looking at only one or two audience members.
Overcoming nerves
Nerves before presenting are very common, even celebrities suffer from this. You can calm nerves and build self-confidence using a few techniques, some of which you will need to practice, such as good thought patterns, developing pre-speaking routines and positive self-talk. There are simple tips to help you overcome nerves in the Study Skills Hub.
Above all – enjoy it – remember you are the experts here and anything you say will be of interest to your audience. Develop your study skills and find out more tips for presenting in the Study Skills Hub.
Categories & Tags:
Leave a comment on this post:
You might also like…
Finding full-text Economist articles…
If you’re looking for The Economist, the place to go is ProQuest One Business. Follow these step-by-step instructions to get full-text access. Login here and click on the Publications option at the top, above the ...
Changes to Library Services over Easter, 18-21 April
Libraries on the Cranfield site Both Kings Norton Library and the School of Management Library (Building 111, first floor) will be open 24/7 over the Easter weekend. You will be able to use the study ...
Searching Statista: Effective strategies and Research AI tips
Statista is a global data and business intelligence platform with an extensive collection of statistics, reports, and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries. It offers data on the global digital ...
Introducing…. BankFocus (Orbis)
For anyone researching the financial sector, BankFocus is a great place to start, providing financial and company data for finance institutions and companies from across the world. The service allows you to search for a ...
The Implications of US Tariffs on global supply chains
US President Donald Trump's new tariff policies announced on April 2, 2025 are expected to cause significant disruptions to the global supply chains, affecting multiple sectors and countries. A simple mathematical equation uses a country’s ...
Mastering the art of revising your writing
You’ve done the research and written your first draft. Now it’s time for one of the most crucial jobs as a writer - revising your writing to ensure your reader does not have to work ...