This document outlines a 5-step process for preparing an effective presentation: 1) Determine your topic, 2) Select 3 supporting points and evidence, 3) Draft an introduction, 4) Draft a conclusion, 5) Name a catchy title. It uses preparing a presentation on bicycle helmets as an example. The process emphasizes determining the topic, finding supporting evidence, and crafting an introduction, conclusion, and title to attract the audience. It also recommends practicing presentations by filming yourself and getting feedback to improve delivery and credibility over multiple rounds. Joining a Toastmasters club provides opportunities for regular practice and feedback on different types of presentations.

1. Life-hacking Your
Presentation Preparation
Stanley Lee
UBC IEEE Toastmasters Club

2. About the Presenter
• Current Club President
• Founding charter member
• Membership w/ diverse backgrounds
• IEEE = Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (the UBC Student
Branch is a sponsor)
• Professionally: writer and college success
consultant

3. Benefits of This Workshop
• Simplified procedures
• Effective content and delivery
• Time efficiency

4. Overall Procedure
• Content Preparation (50%)
• Practice (50%)

5. Content Preparation (in 5
Simple Steps)

6. Step 1: Determine Your Topic
• Don’t rush to confirm on the title yet
• Same goes for your take-home message
in introduction and conclusion
• Answer this question (feel free to refine
later in the process): What do you want
to talk about?

7. Step 1: Determine Your Topic
• As an example for this workshop, pretend
the topic is chosen to be bicycle helmets

8. Step 2: Select Supporting Points
• List 3 supporting points for your
presentation (listeners can only remember
that many points)
• Add supporting evidence with sufficient
citations to clarify, emphasize, and prove
the fact/idea it supports
• Support material including statistics,
testimony, examples/stories/anecdotes,
visual aids, facts

9. Step 2: Select Supporting Points
• Topic: bicycle helmets
• Supporting points
– Safety research and statistics showing helmets
benefits
– Studies of traffic accidents involving cyclists in
jurisdiction w/ regulations vs. those w/o regulations
• Australian study of mandatory regulations (http://www.cycle-
helmets.com/helmet_damage.html)
– Common sense cyclists

10. Step 3: Draft an Introduction
• You want to pique the interest from your
audience on your topic
• You want to make sure it’s short but
memorable
• Examples: question or challenging
statement, quotation or story, display
object or image, statistics

11. Step 3: Draft an Introduction
• Topic: bicycle helmets
• Introduction: Arguments about bicycle helmets
are not as straight-forward as you think
• Supporting points
– Safety research and statistics showing helmets
benefits
– Studies of traffic accidents involving cyclists in
jurisdiction w/ regulations vs. those w/o regulations
• Australian study of mandatory regulations (http://www.cycle-
helmets.com/helmet_damage.html)
– Common sense cyclists

12. Step 4: Draft a Conclusion
• What behaviors do you want your
audience to change as a result of your
presentation, if anything?

13. Step 4: Draft a Conclusion
• Topic: bicycle helmets
• Introduction: Arguments about bicycle helmets are not as
straight-forward as you think
• Supporting points
– Safety research and statistics showing helmets benefits
– Studies of traffic accidents involving cyclists in jurisdiction w/
regulations vs. those w/o regulations
• Australian study of mandatory regulations (http://www.cycle-
helmets.com/helmet_damage.html)
– Common sense cyclists
• Conclusion: Just b/c you wear helmets doesn’t mean
you’re immune to serious injury. But not wearing one will
surely jeopardize your head if you run into an accident.

14. Step 5: Name a Catchy Title
• Why? You need it to attract your
audience!
• Typical ways to attract them:
– Benefit providing (audience attend b/c your
talk has something to offer for them)
– Controversy (there’s minimal difference
between audience who react positively and
negatively with respect to attracting attention)

15. Step 5: Name a Catchy Title
• Topic: bicycle helmets
• Title: Helmets does not Equal Injury Immunity
• Introduction: Arguments about bicycle helmets are not as
straight-forward as you think
• Supporting points
– Safety research and statistics showing helmets benefits
– Studies of traffic accidents involving cyclists in jurisdiction w/
regulations vs. those w/o regulations
• Australian study of mandatory regulations (http://www.cycle-
helmets.com/helmet_damage.html)
– Common sense cyclists
• Conclusion: Just b/c you wear helmets doesn’t mean
you’re immune to serious injury. But not wearing one will
surely jeopardize your head if you run into an accident.

16. Overall Procedure
• Content Preparation (50%)
• Practice (50%)

17. Practice

18. Practice: General Tips
• Separate content preparation and practice
into its own work sessions  maximize
your attention
• Film your practice session with a camera
(e.g. camcorder, digital point-and-shoot
camera, smartphones)

19. Practice: General Tips
• Critique areas of improvement to improve
your credibility
• Repeat the process for the next round of
practices on a different session (ideally
different days, at the minimum after a
meal break)

20. Overall Procedure
• Content Preparation (50%)
• Practice (total: 50%)
– First round (30%)
– Second round (15%)
– Third round (2.5%)
– And so on…

21. About the Club
• It’s one thing to learn the techniques of
this workshop
• Execution quality is a different matter
(public speaking is like personal fitness)
• You can have the opportunity to practice
the different types of speaking (e.g. job
interviews, keynote presentations, sales
pitches, etc.) on a regular basis with peer
feedback during weekly club meetings

22. About the Club
• Details:
– Where? Fred Kaiser Building, Room
2020/2030
– When? Mondays, 15:00 to 16:00
• Also check out other clubs by going to
www.d21toastmasters.ca

23. Supplementary Material
• If you leave your email after this
workshop, you will receive the following
supplementary material electronically
(regardless whether you join the club or
not):
– Presentation planning worksheet for the
example
– Blank presentation planning worksheet for
your own presentations (for projects or
research thesis)

24. Questions?