To present a great case is an important skill, not only during study in Australia but also later in your career as students who learn how to present will be more successful in their job. Kangaruni gives you the next ten great tips for becoming a better presenter.

1. Know your audience and tell a story – Do not read of the slides. Presentations are all about the story you want to tell. Naturally a presentation for Venture Capitalists is very different from presenting to a conference about the history of ideas, so your story should always fit the occasion and target group. And whatever your visuals may be, keep them simple and don’t put too many words on them. The audience isn’t there to read your slides, they are there to listen to you present.
2. Presenting is like acting – To become a great presenter you need a bit of talent and a lot of practice. Great presenting is like acting and most actors go to acting school to learn the trade. Actors know their lines but more importantly they present their character in such a way that the audience is convinced and taken in by the story. Presenting is no different, the more you do it the better you will become, so consider a presenting course.
3. Don’t be afraid to talk – Standing in front of an audience can be scary, especially if English is not your first language. You may have heard about professional actors with stage fright, so don’t think you are the only one being scared to death. The good thing is that you are in charge and the best advice is to remain close to who you are. Honesty is a great way to engage an audience. And remember: if you prepared well than a black out does not really matter. Just take your time, look at the slides and get back into your story.
4. Look at the audience – To convince an audience you must start by looking at them. Don’t just single out one person, but instead try to make eye contact with numerous people throughout the room. And don’t just look, but make them `feel` what you mean. If you don’t do this then you aren’t engaging the audience, you are just talking to yourself. Instead be sure to create a conversation. Ask questions and let people ask you questions, either during the presentation or afterwards.
5. Make them laugh – Laughs are a great way to keep the audience alert. A joke or a funny cartoon can `break the ice` and explain something difficult without using many words. It will make people think about what you have to say and they will be more engaged.
6. Don’t over prepare – Rehearsal is great but don’t overdo it. If you rehearse your presentation too much it will sound like you have memorised it word by word and it will not sound natural. Know your story but don’t memorise it word by word. Be prepared to improvise and trust your knowledge about the subject.
7. Be an animated speaker - No one likes watching a stiff person. People are more engaged with an animated speaker so use non verbal communication to get your story across.
8. Differentiate yourself - If you don’t do something unique compared to all the other presenters the audience has heard, they won’t remember you. You are branding yourself when you speak, so make sure you do something unique and memorable.
9. Adjust your slides to fit your goal and audience – To illustrate your story about the history of ideas you will need a lot of good looking, nicely designed, slides. Have a look at www.slideshare.net and learn from how others do it. Presenting a business case to Venture Capitalists on the other hand requires less slides with little amount of text (big font):
   1. Problem
   2. Your solution
   3. Business model
   4. Underlying magic/technology
   5. Marketing and sales
   6. Competition
   7. Team
   8. Projections and milestones
   9. Status and timeline
   10. Summary and call to action 
10. Enjoy! – Most important is that you enjoy the occasion. Go out there and entertain people with your story. If that is your starting point at least you will have fun.