Higher Education Language & Presentation Support Giving an Oral Presentation
UTS:HELPS Location: CB01.03.08 Telephone: 9514 9733 Email: helps@uts.edu.au Website: ssu.uts.edu.au/helps Christine Vella UTS:HELPS 2
Is standing in front of a group of people and delivering a presentation one of your biggest challenges at university? Share your concerns with your group members. Why? UTS:HELPS 3
• In your groups of 4 discuss the qualities of a good presentation and a bad presentation. In other words, what makes a presentation ‘good’ or ‘bad’? Make 2 lists. Think! UTS:HELPS 4
In groups of 3 or 4 prepare & deliver a one minute presentation. You should: • introduce yourself • say where you are from • inform your group what you are studying including how far into your course you are • one thing you like & one thing you dislike about studying at university • one more interesting thing about yourself Warmer UTS:HELPS 5
• Delivering a seminar presentation involves presenting a structured talk on a given topic, employing appropriate academic conventions and leading an inclusive group discussion with your peers. The presentation should be based on academic research and supported by relevant visual aids. What is an academic presentation? UTS:HELPS 6
• What do you want your listeners to do or think? (Are you trying to inform/ convince/ guide/ entertain them?) • What is the main point of the presentation? (Can you put it into one sentence?) • What are the main ideas/ concepts/ theories / arguments/ information that supports this main idea? • What is the most logical order to present these in? • What language is appropriate? Oral delivery requires less formal delivery than written presentations, so avoid overly-formalised language. What questions should guide you? UTS:HELPS 7
• What are the stages of an academic presentation? • Introduction • Body • Conclusion • Discussion Stages UTS:HELPS 8
• The introduction • The function of the introduction is to: • attract and focus the attention of the audience • assist in developing rapport with the audience • outline the presentation and orientate the audience to its main ideas. Introductions UTS:HELPS 9
What is the structure of an introduction? • an attention grabber • a brief orientation to topic • a clear statement of purpose • a brief outline of the main ideas to be presented. Introductions UTS:HELPS 10
Introduction • Capture your listeners’ attention: Begin with a question, a funny story, a startling comment, or anything that will make them think. • A brief orientation to the topic of your presentation, including context, i.e. background and definitions. • The purpose of your presentation. What are you trying to achieve? What do you want the audience to know at the end of your presentation? ‘I’m going to talk about...’ ‘This morning I want to explain…’ UTS:HELPS 11
• Present an outline of your talk; for example: ‘I will concentrate on the following points: First of all…Then… This will lead to… And finally… Stages of an introduction UTS:HELPS 12
• What are some techniques that could be employed in the introduction of a presentation to help engage the audience and grab their attention? Attention grabbers UTS:HELPS 13
• A surprising statement – this could be fact (e.g. statistics) or opinion, a reality or a projection. • Hypothetical illustration – either a projection into the future or a view of how the past might have been. • Question or series of questions – usually these are rhetorical questions which aim to stimulate thinking rather than to give an answer. • Reference to some current event – this can be effective as it can help to make the presentation relevant to the audience. • Quotation – if a quotation is used it is important to explain who you are quoting (reference to source). UTS:HELPS 14
• We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our own ocean floor!” • Which techniques from the list are being employed? • What is the likely topic of this presentation • What is your reaction to this statement? Why do you think this might be an effective way of leading into a presentation on the topic of the earth’s marine ecosystem? An E xample UTS:HELPS 15
• I will give each person in the group a different topic. • You have three minutes to prepare. • Plan an introduction no longer than one minute in length. • Include the four components. • Stand & deliver Now you try. UTS:HELPS 16
The body • The body of the presentation serves an important role.; it is used to convey and develop the main points outlined in the introduction. • These points should be expanded upon and supported with: • reasons and explanations • details and examples • evidence and data. • This is very similar to the body paragraphs in an academic piece of writing. The body UTS:HELPS 17
• Take A MESYL approach to the body of the presentation. • Break into main ideas. For each idea… • M ake the point • E xplain the point (elaborate, reasons and explanations) • S upport the point (references, citations, evidence and data, details and examples) • Y our voice (critical reflection) • L ink it back to your thesis or purpose statement Structure UTS:HELPS 18
• Plan & develop one main idea for a presentation Have a go… UTS:HELPS 19
The Conclusion • It is important not to let the talk just “fizzle” out. Make it obvious that you have reached the end of the presentation. Use language such as: • ‘ To sum up...’ ‘So, in conclusion...’ • Restatement of thesis, purpose statement Conclusions UTS:HELPS 20
• It is also very important to leave your audience with a clear summary of everything you have covered. • Summarise the main points again, using phrases like: ‘ OK, to recap the main points • Then a ‘future statement’ • Then announce it is the end of the presentation Conclusions UTS:HELPS 21
• Be open to questions. • If you can't answer a question, turn the question back out to the audience and let someone else answer it! Questions are good. They show that the audience is listening with interest. They should not be regarded as an attack on you, but as a collaborative search for deeper understanding. After presenting UTS:HELPS 22
• Be ready to get the discussion going after your presentation. Just in case nobody has anything to say, have some thought-provoking focus questions or points for discussion ready to ask the group. • Think about how you may respond to feedback. After presenting UTS:HELPS 23
Who are your audience? • Who are they? • What do they know about the subject? What terminology would they know? their level of knowledge (assume less than yours) • What do they want or need to know? What is their motivation for listening to you? • What aspects of your subject would they be interested in? • How to gain their attention and interest? • How much information can they absorb? If they are new to the topic, their level of absorption may be lower than for an expert audience. • How are you going to involve them in your presentation? Planning: Ask yourself… UTS:HELPS 24
• Start by preparing an outline • In general, follow the 4 part structure: • Introduction - tell them what you're going to tell them. • Body - tell them! • Conclusion - tell them what you have told them! • Discussion – questions from both you & the audience. Plan UTS:HELPS 25
• Write a rough outline. • Research your topic. Don’t get carried away— remember you have a limited time for your presentation. • Organise your material and write a draft — think about the length of time you have to talk. • Summarise your draft into points to write on your visuals. • Which audio/visual aids will enhance your presentation: PowerPoint? Prezi? Which are you most confident with? Brainstorm and Organise UTS:HELPS 26
PowerPoint • You can use PowerPoint or Prezi software to produce very professional visuals. Remember that PowerPoint may look great, but if the technology goes wrong you may be very embarrassed. It's a good idea to print out a handout, or have some overheads as a backup just in case. • Do not over-use visuals (a trap when using PowerPoint). The visuals are not the presentation, their purpose is simply to summarise prompt. Visual Aids UTS:HELPS 27
AV E xample 1 UTS:HELPS 28
AV E xample 2 UTS:HELPS 29
AV E xample 3 UTS:HELPS 30
Attractive Informative Convenient AV E xample 4 UTS:HELPS 31
• Dot or bullet points • Verb or noun phrases • 26 - 30 point font size • 4-5 points each slide • Clear, simple diagrams and pictures • Don’t read from the slides How? UTS:HELPS 32
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