Best Practices for Presenting Research

Key Feature 1: A clear structure

Spoken presentations need to have a clear beginning, middle, and end so that your audience can easily follow the information you're presenting. Structure is especially important when delivering information orally; your listeners can't just go back and "reread" what you've said!

A beginning that engages and forecasts the main points of your presentation, a middle that focuses on a few main points your listeners can be expected to retain after your presentation is over, and an ending that leaves your audience with some resounding final thought (perhaps a "So what?" or "Who cares?", those all-important questions) are key to a well-structured spoken presentation.

Key Feature 2: Signpost language to keep your audience on track

It is a good idea to provide cues that help your listeners stay on track and engaged with your content. These cues can include transitions, which lead your audience from one point to the next, and summary, where you stop and summarize a main point or idea before moving on to the next. Summary is an effective way to help your audience follow the development of your ideas, especially complex ones.

Key Feature 3: A tone to suit the occasion

Just like any other aspect of your rhetorical situation, it is important that you carefully consider your tone to make sure it suits the occasion of your spoken presentation.

In your multimodal presentation for this class, you should think about your audience as well as the subject of your profile. How can you make sure your tone is befitting of both elements?

Think of some different spoken presentations you've given in your life. What kind of tone did you use? Why? How did you convey this tone (word choice, sentence structure, body language, etc.)?

Key Feature 4: Repetition and parallel structure

When giving a presentation, repetition and parallel structure makes it easier for your audience to follow and (hopefully) remember your main points. The most memorable and effective orators, such as Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., used these organizational strategies to create a rhythm that engaged and unified their message.

But repetition and parallel structure are not just for the "Great Speakers" of history, of course; any speaker can use them in any kind of presentation, you all included.

Key Feature 5: Slides and other media

Slides and other visual media often accompany spoken presentations, especially academic and professional presentations. Slide-based programs like PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, and Canva are some of the most popular ways to create an audiovisual aid to complement one's presentation, but these are not the only ways: one can also use a whiteboard, handouts, etc. to create an effective, multi-dimensional presentation.

For your research presentation in this class, you will need to have a visual aid in the form of slides. Remember, though, that effective media enhances, not distracts or detracts from one's spoken presentation! So don't just have text, pictures, or videos just to have them. Make sure they have a point.

Rhetoric: It Never Goes Away!

PURPOSE

AUDIENCE

• Are you informing?
• Persuading?
• Entertaining?
• Trying to evoke another kind of emotional response?

• Whom are you addressing, and how well do you know them?
• Do you need to get them interested in your subject?
• How can you maintain their attention?
• How can you establish common ground?
• How much will they know about your subject?

GENRE

STANCE

• What is your genre?
• How does it affect the way you'll structure and present your information?

• What attitude do you want to express?
• Serious? Thoughtful? Passionate? Well-informed? Something else?
• How will your word choice and media affect your stance?

Time Is Precious!

Consider the following math: Generally, a five-minute presentation calls for about two and a half double-spaced pages of writing. A ten-minute time allotment means only four our five double-spaced pages. Furthermore, your intro and conclusion should each take only about one-tenth of the total time you have available.

For your presentation in this class, you will have six to eight minutes to present your information. While six to eight minutes may seem like a long time, it's really not at all. Consequently, you need to make sure your points are clearly organized, your visual aid is laid out in order, and you've practiced your presentation enough to know that you're well within the time requirements.

Organizing Is key!

Because you don't want to read directly from paper or note cards, it's important you take time to thoughtfully structure and organize your presentation before you actually present. As stated previously, an audience of listeners cannot go back and reread a spoken presentation if they don't understand or remember something. With that in mind:

• Craft an introduction that engages your audience's interests and tells them what to expect;

• Present your main points in the body of your presentation, which is where you'll also provide more details;

• Let your readers know when you're concluding, and then use your remaining time to restate your main points and to explain why they're important.

Choose to Enhance, Not Distract!

Visuals are a great way to help your listeners (especially those who are visual learners) follow your presentation. Visuals can also help break down complex information. However, visuals should be used as the means to convey information, not simply serve as decoration.

For your presentation in this class, you will need to create a visual aid using some type of slide-presentation software. No matter what you choose to use, however, consider the following suggestions:

• Use lists or images, not paragraphs;

• Make your text easy for your audience to read;

• Choose colors carefully;

• Use "bells and whistles" sparingly, if at all

Tips for Delivering Presentations

1. Practice! Timing yourself, recording yourself, and/or rehearsing in font of your friends are all great ways to practice.

2. Speak clearly. Some of us speak quickly, and others of us speak slowly. Often, when we're nervous, we have a tendency to speed through material. Try to keep a consistent pace throughout your presentation and clearly enunciate all of your words.

3. Pause for emphasis. A well-timed pause is a powerful thing! Use pauses to signal the end of a thought, to give listeners a moment to consider, or to prepare them for a surprising or amusing statement.

4. Stand up (or sit up) straight and look at your audience. Looking at your audience and standing (or sitting up) straight projects confidence and makes others more likely to believe in what you're saying.

5. Use gestures for emphasis. Emphasize specific points by using one or both hands.