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Throughout your professional career you may be asked to present a number of ideas and cases for discussion in a variety of different formats. This can be a daunting task and knowing your audience is key to the success of the presentation. Articulating the key points of your topic is essential for the audience to understand and comprehend the purpose of the presentation.
Once you have your presentation title/scope it is essential that you do your research around the topic. Collating your ideas before writing the presentation will help with subject content and focus. It is also essential to think about the audience from the get-go to ensure the language used is appropriate. Once your thoughts have been collated, key points can be teased out to home in on specific points that need to be on each slide.
- Think about the timing of the presentation. For example, a 10 mins presentation should have no more than 10 slides i.e 1 minute a slide
- Think about the font size and readability of the slides. Some colours may look nice but do not necessarily read well for example yellow writing on a white background. Keep the presentation simple, consistent and clean in design
- It is also important to start strong with a hook to draw in your audience.
- An outline of the presentation is also good practice so the audience knows what to expect and helps with setting the scene
- Each slide should in turn have it’s own clear sub-heading and purpose
- Practice your timings and delivery of the presentation before the day
On the day
- Ensure that you are familiar with the IT system or there is support to help with the presentation set up
- Think about the delivery and projection of your voice in the room. Delivering a presentation in a lecture theatre will be very different to a small classroom
- Prepare and handouts and copies, if needed
- Be confident and introduce yourself
- Keep to time; have sight of a watch/clock or ask someone in the audience to give you a signal
- Be prepared to answer questions and clarify points in your presentation
Printable version of this guidance
Study Advice guide on giving presentations
The aim of a case presentation is to assess clinical judgement in clinical cases. The discussion is based around the actual case and not hypothetical events and the assessor will ask questions to elicit evidence of competence within the clinical area. The case presentations should evolve in complexity over time to reflect development in your professional practice.
Before you present your case, think about the delivery and environment as this will influence how you present:
- Ward based case presentations may need to be quick and concise to a senior healthcare professional. Summarise key points and interventions
- Presenting a case to fellow peers in a classroom setting may need a different approach. Think about how to design and present your slides
- Presenting a case to a senior healthcare professional as part of a portfolio assessment, perhaps on a 1:1 basis again will change the scope and approach. This is likely to be a structured interview
Data gathering of the case is essential, especially accessing medical notes in a timely manner. Setting the scene for others is integral here as the patient case may not be familiar to the audience. Think about what are the issues raised in this case and what conflicts are you trying to resolve. Discuss why you found it difficult/challenging?
A useful acronym SOAP, can help with the structure and organisation of your case presentation. Subjective Objective Assessment Plan:
Other points for consideration
- Your contributions to the patient case/treatment
- Prioritise pharmaceutical interventions
- Referral to other teams
- Handover to senior colleagues or follow up
- What’s the evidence for treatment rationale or choices
- What was your involvement in patient care