How to Prepare an Interview Presentation

An interview is a place to create a positive impression about your technical and communication skills. A personal interview with an interviewer - candidate talk cannot always be the perfect platform to express your talents. In such a situation, presentations always come handy. Presentations at interviews are mostly done if they are required by the company. Interview presentations are mandatory for management, sales and teaching professionals, where communication is at the heart of the job.

Preparing and delivering are two phases of an interview presentation. Following points need to be kept in mind while preparing the presentation.

Choose a topic that you are comfortable with and you can speak about without preparation. The technology you used in your 5-year long project would be comfortable. Choose a sensible topic.
Research about the company and its products and choose a topic more relevant to its products and current market scenario. Talking about an advanced technology that has entered the market recently may be a good idea. Remember not to present the competitor's technology.
Collect information about the topic and make sure you can answer all questions raised during the presentation. For new technologies, make sure you add an advantages section.
Do not dump loads of text into a presentation slide. Create bullets for better appearance; provide ample spacing with readable font and size. A visual presentation would increase the reach-ability of the information. Do not add large tables that fill the entire slide.
Do not create a large number of slides, as the interview panel may not be comfortable. Limit the number of slides to a maximum of 20 and provide clear and crisp information.
Complete the presentation a few days before the interview. Proofread the contents for grammatical and logical mistakes. Rehearse at least two times for proper and error-free communication.
Save the presentation in a removable drive, compact disc or any other reliable storage media. Save a copy in your email and send it to the recruiter. Make sure you have copied the presentation and not the shortcut of the presentation placed on your desktop.

Once you are ready with the presentation and rehearsing, it is time for the real show. Following point will help you while delivering the presentation.

Attire is the most important scoring factor in a presentation. Make sure you dress properly as colorful dresses can distract the panel during the presentation.
Handouts are extra additions that can help the interviewer clear doubts without interrupting the presentation.
It is important to introduce yourself with name, qualifications, experience, topic and description about the presentation.
Start the presentation with a positive note and make the panel believe that you have selected a good topic and have good command in it. You can sample your oratory skills here.
Maintain proper communication and deliver the presentation in such a way that everyone will understand it/ it is comprehensible to all.
Do not rush through the presentation. Maintain an optimum speed and voice clarity
Make sure you use gestures and proper body language. They are directly proportional to your confidence.
During the question session, make sure you hear the question properly, understand it and give the right answer. Do not give wrong answers if you do not know the answer.
End the presentation by thanking the interview panel.