"Beware lest you lose the substance in grasping at the shadow" (Aesop)

Beginning, middle, end. Contents, body, summary. Bad presenters invariably stray from the simple approach. So, to begin:

	Set out your intentions/objectives in making the presentation.
	Give your audience an overview of the content – a recurring agenda slide or progress bar can be very useful for this.
	Indicate the duration of the presentation or of the individual sections if you are going to be on your feet for a long time.
	For a lengthy presentation, cover any housekeeping issues - toilet facilities, refreshments, etc..
	Indicate whether you will be taking questions as you go along or if you will take Q&A at the end.

Obviously, all the skill in the world at presentation is not going to save you if your content is poorly-researched, inappropriately pitched or doesn't address a need/concern of your audience.

So, for a presentation as part of the selection process, you should be 100% mindful of the following:

	Why have they chosen this topic? Are they looking for new ideas? Checking your ability as a researcher? Deliberately assigning a controversial subject to see where you stand?
	Gather your data - a good rule of thumb is to have three times more material than you need for the time allotted.
	Decide on your message and build your presentation on the beginning, middle, end model.
	For a lengthy presentation, decide where to insert your breaks. Don't interrupt a train of thought - pick a natural end-point. Finishing with a teaser on what comes after the break is cheesy, but still a good tactic.
	Anticipate questions as you build your presentation and if the answer is going to be complex, prepare a back-up slide (or slides) for use in the Q&A session.

And finally, some pointers on appearance ....