ORAL PRESENTATION

Prof. Dr. Helmut J. Vollmer, February 2, 2002 Universität Osnabrück. English Department

Part I: PREPARING AN ORAL PRESENTATION

This is an orientation paper designed to help you anticipate what you will have to do (among
other things) when you prepare for an oral presentation within a seminar/course and how to
write up a research paper. The steps in preparing an oral presentation and those in writing
a research paper are very similar. The main goal of presenting orally within a seminar is to
make yourself understood to your fellow students, they are your audience, they are the ones
to whom you speak and who will have to be convinced (not so much your
instructor/professor). At the same time you have one of the rare opportunities at university
to practice your ability to speak in connected utterances (coherently), to speak more and
more freely and also to practice your English in a topic-oriented discourse manner.

The steps to go through are as follows (this is just an idealized model):

1. Choosing a topic
2. Using the library and the internet
3. Reading, processing and comparing carefully a number of sources
4. Taking Notes
5. Developing a deeper understanding of the issue(s) involved, coming to your own position
6. Compiling a working bibliography
7. Writing up a first draft of your presentation (outline and notes)
8. Documenting your findings/your process/all of your sources
9. Practicing your oral presentation (based on your outline and notes)
10.Deciding what to prepare for handouts, as transparencies or tasks/examples
11. Planning how to make yourself understood, how to interact with the group and how to
engage your fellow students into active learning (group work, individual work, inductive
learning)
12. Revising your concepts (content, language, style etc.) and preparing a second version
for the oral presentation
13. The presentation itself

1. CHOOSING A TOPIC
Before choosing or accepting a topic, inform yourself what it is all about and what it implies.
Feel free to ask and insist on prior information before you make your choice. In other word,
clarify the assignment for yourself and with your instructor; also clarify what exactly is
expected of you. Other considerations that might/should influence your selection of topic are
the time allotted and the required length of presentation. The topic you choose, will always
lead you to central issues of the field, area or discipline of your studies or interests.
2. USING THE LIBRARY AND CONSULTING THE INTERNET
Once you have chosen your topic you should consult the university library and the internet
for finding references. One of the basic principles of scientific work is to read and study what
others have found out before you and thus to make yourself acquainted with the research
situation, the so-called state of the art in your specific field. .
Here are some useful hints:
Check reference works (like dictionaries, handbooks, encyclopedias etc.).
Locate the library materials, borrow them out or order them respectively.
3. READING, PROCESSING AND COMPARING SOURCES CAREFULLY
This is the most important phase for beginners in which you develop an understanding of
the issue(s) involved, of the findings of others and of the ongoing discussions among
researchers related to you topic. Hopefully, you will have more than one source in dealing
with your topic because it is sometimes easier to find out what a person is trying to bring
across when comparing it with the arguments and message of another researcher on the
same topic and especially with those of a critical opponent. If everyone agrees on certain
findings and interpretations, however, you will have to report on this particular situation.
4. TAKING NOTES
While you are reading and processing your sources of information, you should record the
results of these readings by way of taking notes, asking questions, marking out specific
points and beginning to build up cross-references to other sources (either on paper or on
the computer). Taking notes could include writing a short summary (in your own words) or a
paraphrase (still in your own words, but closer to the original text) of what you read or
someone said, it could also include a literal quotation (set off in quotation marks) or simply
noting down key words/terms that you might want to come back to later.
Double check the exact wording of your quotations and references (author, titles, year of
publication, page number(s); the latter ones are particularly important so that you can find
the place of reference again in an article, book or journal quickly).
Each borrowing, coming either as a summary, paraphrase or quotation need full and specific
documentation. Avoid plagiarism (= appropriating/copying other people’s thoughts or
products without naming them)!!!
5. DEVELOPING A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ISSUE(S) INVOLVED,
DOCUMENTING YOUR FINDINGS, COMING TO YOUR OWN POSITION
In the course of your reading and note taking process you will identify what you already
know, what you have processed and stored as new information, how to link it to other pieces
of information and what is still missing so as to complete the picture. You might also notice
certain contradictions between authors, a difference in focus, theoretical approach or
interpretative procedure and last, but not least, in formulating a certain finding or result. How
convincing are their arguments, how much empirical/rational support do they provide, are
there any shortcuts or even flaws in their interpretation, what do you think yourself of the
different findings, issues and questions involved. At this point you have to define yourself as
a thinking person in relation to your topic. You have to develop and find your own position
(if possible and as much as possible). In other words, one could say: Research is adding
your own thoughts to the ideas and borrowings from others. Distinguish clearly in your
wordings between what others say and what you yourself say.
6. DOCUMENTING YOUR OWN PROCESS
You may also want to document your own work and learning process, the different stages,
learning difficulties and problems and how you solved them, how your perception changed
over time, how you finally arrived at the position stated etc. This helps you to reflect on your
own learning and working style, to make decisions about possible improvements and to work
more effectively in the future.
7. DOCUMENTING ALL OF YOUR SOURCES / COMPILING A WORKING
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Since complete documentation is so important you should keep track in an organized way
of what kinds of sources you have used and how you have used them. Therefore, write an
index card for each source (with all the exact and necessary pieces of formal information)
or enter it into your PC, either under WORD or within an indexing program – OR JUST
NUMBER YOUR DOCUMENTS AND SOURCES THROUGH. The earlier you start doing
this and the more precise you are in holding unto all the necessary information, the easier it
will be later – for the written version – to return to your sources, your bibliography and insert
it into the research paper.
8. WRITING UP A FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR PRESENTATION (OUTLINE / NOTES)
At this point you should outline the contents of your notes either on paper (hand-written
outline) or on the word processor (strongly recommended!). It helps if you formulate at least
one thesis statement for your presentation and thus for your later paper: it helps the
audience to focus and to be challenged or stimulated.
You will probably have to revise your first draft several times; this is quite natural and
happens also to experienced researchers. So feel free to revise the organization of your
thoughts, their logic and sequence, the highlights of your topic, the summary and conclusion,
the choice of language and style. Also check your spelling, punctuation, names, titles etc.
Most importantly, however, you will have to check the pronunciation of difficult words,
especially for central terms which are used repeatedly!
9. PRACTICING YOUR ORAL PRESENTATION (BASED ON THE OUTLINE / NOTES)
Remember, the oral presentation is meant to make your fellow students interested in your
topic, to make them understand and follow what you are presenting and to stimulate them
into active participation and discussion. Therefore, the time span for an oral presentation
should not exceed 30 minutes (roughly speaking); beyond that you cannot count any more
on attentive listening of your audience, unless you have changed the method of presentation
in between and get everyone actively involved (i.e. through group work, interactive tasks,
individual suggestions etc.).Because you normally have so little experience in connected
oral discourse performance (especially in English as a working language) you should
practice your presentation at home by using someone as a mock audience.
10. DECIDING WHAT TO PREPARE FOR HANDOUTS, AS TRANSPARENCIES OR
TASKS/EXAMPLES
In order to support the comprehension process on the part of your listeners you should think
in advance about possible handouts (at least a table of contents as an outline for your
presentation), transparencies, pictures, cartoons, graphs, tables or any other type of
visualization which might help us to follow you and get the main point(s) without any
misunderstanding.
If appropriate, you should also use other types of media and practice with them, above all
the blackboard, recordings, videos, power point presentations (with Microsoft Office) or even
illustrating points from the internet.
11. PLANNING HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF UNDERSTOOD, HOW TO INTERACT WITH
THE GROUP AND HOW TO ENGAGE THEM INTO ACTIVE LEARNING (GROUP WORK,
INDIVIDUAL WORK, INDUCTIVE LEARNING)
Closely related to recommendation No. 10 are the steps in your planning process
immediately before the session takes place. You will have to think of ways to make sure that
you will have the full attention of your audience (at any time/most of the time), that you
take everyone along with your line of thoughts, that they understand you and the arguments
put forward by you and relate to them based on their prior knowledge and interests. In
particular, you should plan how to interact successfully with the group, how to elicit feedback
from your fellow students, what steps and language to use in achieving this goal, where to
insert phases of reflection, of active participation by way of individual/group work and phases
of summarizing (parts or the whole of a certain section).
This aspect of your presentation is, of course, highly didactic and demands to see yourself
in your role as a guide/a teacher (rather: teacher student); the more you are sure of your
content and the basic line of thoughts, the more you can now focus on this pedagogical
side of your presentation and practice presentation and interaction techniques.
 12. REVISING YOUR CONCEPTS (CONTENT, LANGUAGE, STYLE ETC.)
PREPARING A SECOND VERSION FOR THE ORAL PRESENTATION
You are now ready to draw up your second/final version of your oral presentation which is
the one you will most likely present in reality.
Once more: Avoid being too long (30 minutes at the most plus tasks, feedback, interaction,
discussion). Everything else is not acceptable to your audience. Make yourself little marks
what you could eventually leave out, what is less important and where you could jump to in
case of time shortage: this situation will happen again and again to almost all of us,
independent of practice and experience – so be prepared for it. If you then present later on
and you are indeed running out of time (for whatever reasons), you can use those marks for
shortcutting the length of your presentation. You can also do this shortcutting and
summarizing process on-line, during the presentation itself, of course, but that is much more
difficult if you are inexperienced.
13. THE PRESENTATION ITSELF
Before starting your presentation, breathe deeply, relax, look at your audience and enjoy the
chance to practice presenting orally. It is a very important skill in life.
In starting your presentation, make sure that you will embed your topic into the overall
seminar plan and give us a clear orientation as to what we might expect in your presentation.
Be sure to speak slowly, clearly and interactively, looking up from your notes as often as
you can. Many advanced students use indexing cards only as a support system to speak
more or less freely, others rely on what they have prepared as a handout or as a
transparency. There are many good ways to do a good presentation.
After the end of your presentation you continue to be responsible for two more steps:
1. Be sure to announce and moderate a question-and-answer period; try to answer the
questions as comprehensively as possible, otherwise turn them over to the seminar
leader
2. If it comes to a longer discussion you could also moderate it (or pass this job on to
someone else), observing the sequence of speakers, making sure that we always come
back to your topic(s): they are the focus of your session/part of a session which you are
responsible for.

Discourse markers

Discourse markers are sign posts that let your audience know what you are going to speak
about next. These sign posts are very important in an oral presentation because your
audience has only one chance to listen to you. Remember that spoken language is usually
more informal than written language so these words and phrases might be quite different
to the discourse markers you would use in a written essay.

To introduce yourself: For those of you who don’t know me… I’m… My name is… I’d like
to introduce myself…

To introduce your topic: Have you ever heard about… I wonder how much you know
about… Today, I’d like to talk about… What do we mean by…

To outline the main points. I’ll start by outlining… The main points of my topic today
are… What I’m going to talk about…
 To put points in order: First of all… To begin with… Let’s start with… Then… After
that… Finally…To finish up… Firstly… secondly… Thirdly… Finally… The first point is…
The second point is… The third point is…

To move to another main point: Let’s move on to… Let’s turn to… This brings me to the
next point… I’ve already spoken about… I’ll come back to that point later…

To summarise: In summary… To summarise the main issues…I’ll just go over the main
points again…

To signal the end of the presentation: That brings me to the end of this presentation…
Before I finish my presentation…I hope you have found my presentation interesting… In
conclusion… I’d like to conclude by saying…

To invite questions: I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have…

To thank the audience: Thank you for listening… Thank you for your attention… I
appreciate your attention today…

Prof. Dr. Helmut J. Vollmer February 2, 2002 Universität Osnabrück English Department

Powerpoint: Presentation Tips

PowerPoint slideshows should enhance your presentation, not detract from it. Here are a
few simple tips to start you on the right track.
A. Presentation structure:
1. INTRO SLIDE:
 Title of presentation, date, presenter name
2. OUTLINE SLIDE:
1. Main points of what you will talk about
2. Then follow the structure you’ve laid out
3. Start broad, finish specific
4. Rank Information (What NEEDS to go on the slide)
5. Simplify
3. CONTENT SLIDES:
1. Cover detailed information based on your outline
2. As many slides as you need, as many as 1-2 per minute
3. Remember Powerpoint is more visual than verbal: “a picture is worth a thousand words”
4. FINAL SLIDE:
1. Audience will likely take away the last thing you say
2. So make a point to have the last slide be meaningful
o provide contact information for followup?
o pose a question for discussion?
o finish with a joke/or light hearted conclusion?
3. At the very least put a blank slide at the end
o provides a non-distracting placeholder for discussion
o prevents clicking through back to Powerpoint application
5. Slide types:
TEXT:
1. Highlight your presentation, don’t create a substitute for it
2. Bullet points, not complete sentences
3. 4-6 points per page
4. No large blocks of text, audience stops listening, and reads
5. Consider showing one point at a time, using animation
o helps the audience focus on what you are saying
6. IMAGES:
1. Avoid clip art… everyone has seen it before, lacks emphasis
2. Images should be good: not pixilated, out of focus, too dark
3. Cropped to remove distractions
7. GRAPHS/DIAGRAMS:
1. Make them as simple as possible
2. To be grasped in just a few moments, not studied at length
8. Design issues:
TEMPLATES:
1. Use a consistent background and layout for all slides
2. The template sets the tone of your presentation
3. choose it carefully
4. Avoid really bright backgrounds, or cluttered layouts
9. FONTS:
1. Choose two at most, nothing cursive or ornamental
2. Stick to sans-serif fonts, for legibility
3. Minimum of 18 point, 20 to 24 is better
4. Main points/titles bigger than subpoints/content
10. COLOR:
1. High contrast dark on light, or light on dark
2. Use color with care, to emphasize your talk
3. Avoid extremely bright colors, hot pink, neon orange, acid green
4. Do not combine red/green, yellow/purple, or blue/orange
 11. ANIMATION:
1. Use sparingly, and be consistent
2. Avoid distracting or annoying sound effects
12. Check your work carefully:
1. Check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
2. Check for logic and the flow of information
3. Try to test your presentation in the room before your talk
o you may need to adjust the colors/templates/font size for the room/equipment
4. Be prepared to give your talk without a PowerPoint slideshow
o technical glitches do happen
B. Presentation hints :
1. Practice your presentation
2. Make eye contact with your audience
3. Do not read the slides to your audience
4. Leave time for Q&A at the end
5. Don’t forget to summarize your main points
6. Use Powerpoint to enhance your talk
7. (NEVER the reverse)
Adapted by Nohra Vargas, Ma in ELT