Cancelling job interview because of the presentation?

[SanFranciscoCalling]

I have a job interview this week for a non-clinical role in the NHS. Part of the interview process is a 10 minute presentation. I've written it and designed the slides but for the life of me I can't memorise it at all. I have notes but from Googling it looks like interviewers are not keen on the use of notes. I'm 45 and menopausal which isn't helping. I feel like withdrawing as it's just going go be a waste of time. I'm so upset. Does anyone have any tips?

Don't cancel, take your notes and just use them as prompts, as long as you're not reading word for word and still engage with the audience it's fine.

Forget about Google. Use bullet points on your slides to jog your memory and most of all make sure you know the material well. Either you will successfully meet their essential criteria or you won’t. Best of luck!

turn your notes into flash cards. Dont read off slides.

This is what i do. Bullet points or keywords on slide as a prompt

Just use bullet points in the slides.
Can you use the notes function on PowerPoint so you see the notes and they don't.
Be confident, you'll have a lot to give I'm sure - just be confident - menopausal brain fog is shit but you'll be fine!

Thanks all. Even with bullet points on the sides it's not helping! I'll try and expand on the bullet points on flash cards and see if that helps

If you're usually confident and happy about giving presentations, just do it in your usual style, using notes if you need to.
If you're not a natural presenter I would say this might be a sign that the jobs not for you. However, I would still go to the interview and mention that you haven't had experience in presenting, but you'd like the opportunity to up your skills and you're willing to work at it.
There's a recruitment crisis at the moment which might work in your favour.
Good luck!

Notes and/or flash cards are absolutely fine! It's just reading from a script that is usually disliked, are you confident getting through it all with prompts? Perhaps a card per slide with just the main prompts/points listed.

Interviewers aren't keen on people reading notes verbatim in a monotone, especially if the sides have bullets saying the same thing.

What I do is have pretty slides with pictures not bullets. I have prompt cards which have the following on them (example):

FACILITATION SLIDES
Slides, bullets, pictures, meaning.
The best practise in facilitation is to have slides which aid concentration and participation rather than tell the whole story. Bullets points are overused and people don't like them. They are lazy facilitation. Meaning is better served with something lovely to look at while the facilitator talks the participants through the material.

Basically:
BLUNT PROMPT
Brief notes
Script in case I completely brick it.

I never need the script but it's just in case I'm too nervous.

Another tip is to punch a hole in the card and pit them on a key ring. Never drop them or get out of order!

Could you turn your slides into a series of picture prompts instead?
Also, no one knows what you had planned to say so if you go off piste and say something different it is likely that no one will notice!

I’ve sat on many an interview panel that’s required a presentation (also NHS and non clinical) and don’t care if people use notes or not. They’ll be looking to make sure you grasp the subject matter and can competently convey the information to others. No points deducted for being nervous or fluffing it slightly. What band is it for? Definitely allowances for note reading at 6 and below, some allowances for 7, would be expecting a bit more polished at 8a and above.

The only thing I’d say which may be harder to hear is that there’s possibly (probably?) a presentation because you’ll be required to do similar in the role, and if you think that might be something you’ll struggle with then it may not be the role for you. But appreciate it could just be interview nerves (and the panel will probably expect a bit of that).

Just reciting stuff - either from memory or from notes - is not a presentation. The slides themselves are your aide memoire, so if you understand the topic then they are your prompts to just talk naturally. Don't be afraid to pop in the occasional aside, sound interested and be open to questions. It's not a memory test, it's to see whether you can engage with people.

Participants massively prefer pictures prompts.

Endless bullets are interminable.

Hi OP don’t cancel. I was a trainer for several years and have sat through some bloody poor presentations. The biggest tip is to keep it simple and clean. Don’t write too much on the slides just have 3 or 4 bullet points instead. The biggest mistake I see is long, dense text in tiny writing that the presenter reads ( what is the point of the presenter in that case). If you summarise the key points you will remember the main information (unless it’s a subject you know nothing about.)

If there are any statistics or figures try and find an infographic to represent it. Put in a couple of relevant images if you can because pure text can be very dry. If you’re worried about filling time Include a little introduction that tells them what you will be covering and than at the end a little summary that tells them what you have told them. Find someone to listen to you while you practice ( I hate practicing but it’s always paid off for me). It will be fine…. It’s 10 minutes of your life and you can do it! Good luck.

Mind/memory palace technique is amazing for this kind of thing I've always found.

Is the presentation relevant to the role ie its to gauge how much you know about x topic, or is it to see how you communicate and about something and not being marked on the content itself?

Write the presentation speech you would like to make
Put key phrases on separate cards for each slide.
Don't use lots of words for the slides themselves
Practice it 500 times or more.
The key phrases will help get you started on each section
Don't put full sentences on your cards - literally the key words to get you going
Practice some more

That’s great advice. So much more interesting than the bullet points!

@MrsTerryPratchett

I think a presentation of just pictures would be cool - (and probably unique in that interview process) but you’ve got to be pretty confident to pull it off. It also depends on the subject matter as to how easy it is to pull off.

Sent too soon!
You will find that the original written speech is now totally different - throw it away
Tighten up the card key phrases and you are good to go
Oh - and practice some more

I think you are making your presentation harder by thinking you need a script that you need to have memorised.

Don't use a script.

Just use a slide to prompt you to tell them what you know.

You can do this. You've already written it. Keep your slides simple.

Record yourself speaking the presentation and play it over and over until the day. Listen to it as you go to sleep.

If you have time, call your doc and get propranolol which is good for anxiety and used lots by people who are nervous about public speaking. Or try Dr Bachs Rescue Remedy.

If all else fails, just read it out in an engaging manner and make eye contact.

Good luck! The presentation is only a small part of the assessment and you've done well to get to this point already.

If you cancel the interview you won't get the job.
If you go to the interview you just might get the job and if you don't you will have had valuable interview practice and hopefully feedback if you ask for it.

You don’t need to memorise it. Just make the slides interesting and talk around the slides, otherwise it’ll be like you’re reading for a script.

Take your notes, on small cards, try and read them without it looking like you’re totally reading them (ie have some expression in your voice and add some extra bits if you can). It’s pretty common in NHS roles to not manage a fully memorised presentation. Whether for an interview or in the job.