Preparing a presentation for an interview

An interview presentation is a short talk on a set topic, usually five to ten minutes, given to the panel before or at the start of the questions. Stay inside the time limit, answer the exact question in the brief and finish with time to spare. Panels score presentations against criteria they agreed in advance, so a well-structured talk that covers what was asked will beat a polished one that drifts.

When you will be asked to present

Presentations are common for posts with any element of leadership, planning or communication: NHS band 6 and above, team leader and manager roles in councils, Civil Service posts from around HEO upwards, and middle and senior leadership in schools. Some lower-graded jobs use them too, especially training, project or communications roles.

You normally get the topic with the interview invitation, a few days to a week ahead. Some employers set it on the day, giving you a short preparation slot in a separate room with paper or a laptop. The invitation should say which. If it does not, ask the recruitment contact.

Reading the brief

Copy the question out and underline each part of it. A brief such as “What would your priorities be in the first 90 days, and how would you measure progress?” has two parts, and panels often have a mark for each. Missing the second half is the most common way to lose marks.

Then check the practical details:

• the time limit, and whether questions come inside or after it
• whether slides are allowed, required or banned
• what equipment the room has, or which video platform is used
• whether you need to send slides in advance, and by when
• whether handouts are welcome

If the brief says “no slides”, use none. Following instructions is part of what is being tested.

Structure that fits the clock

Plan to finish a minute or two inside the time allowed. Nerves make most people speak faster, but questions from the panel and technical hiccups eat into the clock, and running over looks worse than finishing early. Many panels stop candidates at the limit.

A simple shape works for most topics:

1. One sentence stating what you will cover and your main answer.
2. Two or three points, each with a reason and something concrete: an example from your experience, a figure from the organisation’s published data or a step you would take.
3. Risks or what you would need to find out first.
4. A short close that repeats your answer to the question.

For a ten-minute slot, that is roughly one minute to open, two minutes per main point, a minute or two on risks and a minute to close. Aim for no more than one slide per minute, and fewer is usually better.

Research and content

Panels want to see that you understand their organisation. Read what is public: the trust’s annual report and board papers, the school’s Ofsted report and website, the council’s corporate plan, or the department’s annual report. Use one or two facts from these, correctly attributed. Do not invent figures or claim inside knowledge you do not have.

Link your points back to the job description and person specification. If the post asks for “managing change”, show how you would plan and communicate change. In the Civil Service, the presentation is often mapped to one or two behaviours from the Success Profiles, and the invitation usually names them. In the NHS, panels often look for the trust’s values in how you talk about patients and staff.

Be realistic. A plan that says you will transform a service in a month is less credible than one that starts by listening to staff and checking data.

Slides and handouts

Keep slides plain: a title, a few words per point, and large text. Avoid paragraphs, small tables and animations. Use the organisation’s name correctly but not its logo or branding unless told to.

Bring a backup. Save the file in a common format, email it to yourself, carry it on a memory stick if allowed, and print a copy for each panel member in case the screen fails. If it is a video interview, practise sharing your screen on the platform beforehand and close other windows and notifications.

Rehearsal

Practise aloud, standing up, with a timer, at least three or four times. Reading silently does not show you where you stumble or how long the talk really takes. Record yourself on your phone once and watch it back.

Use brief notes or cue cards. Reading a script word for word loses eye contact with the panel and sounds flat. Know your opening two sentences by heart so you start steadily.

Prepare for questions. Panels usually ask one or two follow-ups on the presentation, often about what you left out, how you would handle resistance, or how you would measure success. Write down the three questions you would least like to be asked and plan an answer to each.

On the day

Arrive early or log in early. Check the equipment if you are in the room before the panel starts. Hand out printed copies only if the panel wants them.

When you begin, say how long you will take. Speak to the whole panel, not only the chair. If you lose your place, pause, look at your notes and carry on; panels see this all the time and it costs little.

If you finish early, stop. Do not pad. If you are about to run over, skip to your closing slide and summarise. After the presentation the interview normally moves to standard questions, often in a competency-based or values-based format, so keep some energy back.

If you need adjustments, such as extra preparation time, a seat while presenting or the brief in a different format, ask the recruitment contact in advance. Employers must consider reasonable adjustments in recruitment for disabled candidates.