HOW TO PREPARE AN

ORAL PRESENTAION Dana Al-Sudairi

The time needed for a good presentation:

It is conventional wisdom, that 95% of the work needed for a good presentation is done before you face your audience.

As a rule:30 minutes preparation for 1 minute

presentation!

A- Analyzing the situation:

BEFORE you decide on a topic for your speech:

• know your audience! Know how to make your presentation interesting to your teacher and classmates. How does my audience (probably) see the topic? What is their basic attitude? What does the audience expect from this presentation? What is their knowledge background?

• Know how much time you have.

• Know how many people will be in the audience.

These facts will help determine the depth of your talk, the visual aids you can use, and the environment for your presentation.

B- Choosing a topic and a focus:• Choose a topic that not only excites you• Try to relate your topic to current issues

In order to focus on a topic, follow these steps:

1. Determine your general goal2. Develop a precise objective3. Develop a one-sentence summary4. Develop a title

Some important main goals include:• Interest• Inform• Persuade• Motivate

C- Researching the Topic

•Collect more information than you think you need

•Organize your information the same way that you would for a research paper.

•Read through your finished notes and label each section with a number so you can quickly skim and organize your notes

Introduction:

In general, there are two critical phases in a presentation: starting and landing.

your introduction determines if you keep your audience interested. What can make your start interesting? Easy: Don’t do what your audience expects! For example:

•Refer to a local event or a recent event in the news

• Tell a personal story, preferably one that is humorous

• Start with a good quote

• Ask a surprising question.

•give a surprising piece of information

• Start with provocation.

• Refer to something that’s just happened in class.

What belongs to an introduction?* Welcoming the audience and introducing yourself.

* A starting part with your surprises, quotes, provocations etc.

* A theme sentence.

*The background information ( can be very short); e.g. relevance of your theme, history, or personal relation to the theme.

*An orientation. It should contain most, if not all of the following:

- Contents and structure.

- Time plane

- What kind of documents are handed out to the participants

*The introduction should be within about 15% of the total time allowed for the presentation!

BodyThe body should be well structured, divided up logically, with plenty of carefully spaced visuals.

Remember these key points while delivering the body of your presentation:

• Do not hurry

• Be enthusiastic

• Give time on visuals

• Maintain eye contact

• Modulate your voice

• Look friendly

• Keep to your structure

• Use your notes

• Remain polite when dealing with difficult questions

Conclusion (sum up)

•The attention level always goes up before the ending.

•Give recommendations if appropriate

• Thank your audience

• Invite questions.

• Don’t just fade away because the time is up, or you run out of things to say, plan your ending.

• Remember to remind your audience of what you’ve just told them.

• You should allow about 10 % of your time for the end part of your presentation.

• there are some time-provide endings:

Announcement:

Let me finally summarize….

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the main problem is…

The proposal for further action thus is…

To summarize, the following results were obtained…

Moving to the discussion:

I expect questions to this point… and am perfectly willing to answer…

There is a simple rule: there is no manuscript for the presentation! Never ever read from a paper while giving a presentation! However:

* It is useful to write down some of what you are going to say for yourself!

* It is admissible to write down the important opening or closing sentences and to look at them when they come up.

* It is recommended to write down a “skeleton” of your presentation to which you can refer.

Manuscript:

PHRASING THE SPEECH

•You should use different language for an oral presentation than you would for a research paper.

•A speech should not sound as formal as a report. Remember that you’re talking, and that people will respond better when the language is familiar.

•Here are a few ways in which oral communication differs from written:

• More audience-specific• More interactive• More immediate• More personal• More informal• More opportunities to use visual communication

VISUAL AIDS

Visual aids are used to illustrate and emphasize a point.One picture says more than a thousand words.    

Everything you offer your audience to look at (including yourself) is a visual aid to your presentation. But not all possible visualizations are good visualization!

Equipment

•The Overhead Projector (OHP)

•The Data-Show Projector

•The Whiteboard or Blackboard

•Markers

•The Eraser

•The Magnets

•The Flipchart

•Laptop

•Handouts – Not Before You Present The Topic !!

"A good workman never blames his tools."

Tips for Visual, Video and Audio Aids

• KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE

• USE THICK, HARD PAPER FOR PAPER VISUAL AIDS

• USE LIGHT PAPER AND DARK, THICK PENS FOR WRITING

• KEEP VISUAL AIDS BIG, BIG, BIG! Plus--write big!

• USE AIDS THAT LOOK PROFESSIONAL

• SHOW = DISCUSS

• DO NOT TALK TO YOUR VISUAL AID

• STEADY HANDS

The talk: *Talk loudly, clearly and slowly

do not scream

do not mumble

do not talk e x t r e m e l y s l o w l y

*Make small breaksThe more important the statement, the longer break after it!

*Use short sentencesRule of thumb:15 words per sentence is about right

*Use the active not the passive mode!

*You instead of meAddress your audience, not yourself. Say “What you see

here…” and not “ I will show you”…But say “me” whenever it is necessary. “I am of the opinion

that”…

*Emphasize intentionally the main points. There are many tricks:

Raise your voice- or lower your voice. Use breaks.

Repeat the sentence after a short break.

*avoid meaningless noises to gain timeFill words or clauses as, e.g. “in principle”, “so to speak”, “in

other words”, “as I have said before…,”