ONS Career Guide ONS CAREER GUIDE 2018.web | Page 9
Develop the Skills to Improve Your Presentation Prowess
P
resenting in front of a crowd is not an
easy task but might be an important
step in your nursing career. By using
general guidelines and honing your presen-
tation skills, oncology nurses can become
stronger speakers, opening the door to new
opportunities for advancement.
Presenting Clinical Information
Public speaking about clinical information,
including the following, can help others learn
from your experience or give you ideas to
find new ways to manage clinical work:
• Clinical manifestations of disease
• Mechanism of action of treatment
• Adverse events (AEs) related to treatment
• Management of clinical signs/symptoms
• Patient education
• Case studies
Keep in mind some general guidelines for
presenting clinical information, said Teresa
Knoop, MSN, RN, AOCN®, assistant direc-
tor, clinical operations of the clinical trials
shared resource at the Vanderbilt Ingram
Cancer Center in Nashville, TN:
• Prepare several hours for each hour of
presentation.
• Define your purpose and organize your
thoughts.
• Practice as much as you can.
• Learn from your mistakes.
If you forget a drug in your presentation or pro-
nounce it wrong, “just admit it! Say ‘well, that
left me entirely! Let’s move on,’” Knoop said.
Before you present officially, make sure
you know your audience, so you are pre-
senting the appropriate information in the
most effective way possible, Knoop said.
Developing Your Presentation
Your presentation will generally have three
components: an introduction, a body, and
a conclusion. The introduction must be
powerful and capture the attention of the
audience: tell them what you are going
to present and convey your purpose. In
the body, you’ll present the details of the
overview you offered in your introduction.
When you conclude, you will summarize
what you told them and what message you
want them to take away.
Microsoft PowerPoint can be helpful
in making your presentation interesting
to look at so “try to become a PowerPoint
guru,” Knoop said. However, less is more:
don’t make your presentation too busy
because it can distract your audience from
absorbing the information.
When presenting clinical information,
strategies include:
• Convey a professional image.
• Disclose any conflicts.
• Use slides to your advantage.
• Reference all material, even when taken
from areas of public domain.
• Know your audience.
• Relate to your audience.
• Use analogies.
• Create mental images to help people
remember.
• Use stories and real-life experiences.
• Use humor.
• Ask for audience stories or experiences.
When discussing
information for
patients and
caregivers, be clear
on specific AEs or
information that both
sides need to know.
“Patient stories mean so much,” Knoop said.
“When you can share a story, people will
remember that.”
Try to include a question-and-answer
session when you can after your presenta-
tion; it’s a great way to start a dialogue in
the audience. If a question seems hostile,
briefly respond and offer to discuss after the
presentation and bring the audience back to
the key points.
“If you don’t know the answer [to
someone’s question], don’t make it up,”
Knoop said. “Someone will call you out
on it.”
Presenting Specific Information
The number-one rule of presenting: don’t
just read the slides.
“[The audience wants] to say, ‘You can
move on, because I can read that!’” Knoop
said. Instead, share something that makes
the audience relate to what you’re discuss-
ing.
For AEs, report the actual AEs; don’t
just throw out percentages. And be clear on
what the duties are for nurse management
of signs, symptoms, and AEs (e.g., moni-
toring fatigue levels, maintaining glucose
and lipid control, skin assessment/rash
management).
When discussing information for
patients and caregivers, be clear on specific
AEs or information that both sides need to
know, Knoop said.
Presenting case studies can be over-
whelming because they contain many data
points, so be concise and clear when you
present. Do not assume that your audience
knows all of the abbreviations, and explain
any unfamiliar concepts or words.
Most importantly, be enthusiastic and
engaging. “If you’re passionate, and you’re
passionate about your presentation, you will
be dynamic,” Knoop said. “The more you do
it, the more comfortable you will be.” n
Knoop, T. (2018). Presentation skills for nurses. Session
presented at the ONS 43rd Annual Congress, Washington, DC,
May 18, 2018. Retrieved from https://ons.confex.com/ons/2018/
meetingapp.cgi/Session/1614
ONS 2018–2019 CAREER GUIDE
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