Oral Presentation Skills

Today we will begin the final portion of our class time together dedicated to discussing and practicing the skills necessary to give a good and effective oral presentation in English. No matter your field, communication is important and, more often than not, you will be asked to speak in front of other people from time to time. Through good preparation and practice, this can be a really enjoyable experience. We'll talk about how to do both of these things in class today. 

An outline for today's class can be found below:

Oral Presentation Skills: An Overview

Objectives: Students will be able to...

1. Describe a process approach to preparing for an oral presentation
2. Identify, describe and exemplify tactics for promoting an appropriate appearance during a presentation
3. Identify, describe and exemplify "best practices" for speaking during a presentation
4. Begin giving short, spontaneous presentations in front of classmates and the instructor
5. Recognize the importance of reflection as part of the presentation preparation process

I. Warm-Up 

How are you? How are things? How was your weekend? What's new? How are your other classes going? Do you have any questions about this class? 

II. Vocabulary Quiz

End of the line... I hope you studied! 

III. Reviewing the IMRD Critical Analysis Assignment

I want to spend a few minutes discussing the final writing assignment for class. Details can be found here. Remember, you are not writing your own article. You are analyzing the article from your field that you have chosen and answering the questions laid out in the prompt. This assignment is due by next Tuesday (December 9th, 2014) at 4:20pm. 

IV. An Overview of Presentation Skills

We will begin talking about presentations by viewing my favorite speech example of all time, Charlie Chaplin's final speech from the film, "The Great Dictator". We will then continue with a few discussion questions (found here). From there, we will discuss the "3 P" process (prepare, practice and present) using this sequencing activity. 

Then, we'll move on to a little practice. You will be given a topic from this list and asked to prepare a :30 - 1 min speech for or against the topic in question in front of the class. 

Finally, once we've had the chance to discuss you knowledge and describe the process, we'll take a look at the features of an effective presentation using this presentation as a guide. As part of the presentation, you will be asked to do three activities, which can be found below: 

1. Appearance Activity
2. Voice Activity One
3. Voice Activity Two

V. Audiences: General vs. Expert

Occasionally, you will be faced with the challenge of adapting the content of your speech to a general audience. This activity offers a few tips on how to do so as well as some practice on adapting the content for a use with a general audience.  

Homework for Next Tuesday (December 9th, 2014)

1). Finish your IMRD Critical Analysis. Email it to me (as a MS Word or PDF document) and name the file "IMRDAnalysis_YourName". If you have not sent me your article yet, I will need a copy of that, too. It is due by December 9th at 4:20pm.

2). Sign-up for a presentation topic here by this Friday (December 5th) at 11:55pm. The information for the presentation schedule can be found here. We will be doing a rehearsal without visuals on Tuesday, December 16th. The final presentations (with visuals) will be on Tuesday, December 23rd. We will have a small holiday gathering after. 

3). Start preparing your speech using this guide. 

4). Prepare for a short vocabulary quiz on these words.