Advanced Technical Writing

1. Advanced Technical Writing Lecture 12 Oral Presentation 12/10/2005

2. Oral Communication is different from written communication Listeners have one chance to hear your talk and can't "re-read" when they get confused

3. Important of Oral Presentation • Oral presentation is part of the professionals Career. • Presenting your talent and skills • Present your ideas clearly and persuasively with self-assurance and dynamic energy.

4. Preparing for your presentationI. Define Your Task • Identify the topic of your presentation • Specify the kinds and amount of information • Identify many key points that you want the audience to understand. • List the important questions that you want to answer in your presentation.

5. II. Know your audience • What are the notable characteristics of this audience? Curious? Inhibited? Cautious? Eager? Expert? • Does this audience respect a formal or informal style? • Does this audience value simplicity or complexity?

6. III. Collecting Data • Gather information more than you need for the presentation to build confidence. • Use all sources of information like brainstorming, written material, interviewing others, and your own background

7. IV. Developing (Organizing) the Topic Select the best organizational strategy • Problem-solution method of development • Comparison method of development • Cause-and-effect method of development • Specific-to-general method of development • General-to-specific method of development • Increasing-order-of-importance method of development

8. V. Outlining the presentation • Opening (Introduction) • Body • Closing (Conclusion)

9. The Opening Your opening is the most important part of your speech. It should catch the interest of your audience, stimulate their curiosity, and impress them.

10. Ways to start your opening • A rhetorical question Example: “Will colonizing outer space ever be practical?” • A dramatic story Example: Terry Fox’s attempt to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research • A quotation from a famous person Example: “Good order is the foundation of all good things.” Edmund Burke

11. Ways to start your opening Continue • A historical events Example: “Do you remember where you were when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon?” • A reference from literature or the holly book

12. The Body • Begin the body with a statement of your theme. • Then state all the evidence and proof necessary to support your theme statement. • The strength of your proof will sell your ideas. • Use analogies, stories, testimony, logic, statistic, and examples to support your theme.

13. The closing • Plan your closing as you planned your opening. • It is as important as the opening, because what you say in the closing is what your audience is most likely to remember. • Review, highlight and emphasize - key points, benefits, recommendations • Draw conclusions - where are we? ... what does all of this mean? ... what's the next step?

14. A Generic Talk Outline This talk outline is a starting point, not a rigid template. Most good speakers average two minutes per slide (not counting title and outline slides), and thus use about a dozen slides for a twenty minute presentation

15. A Generic Talk Outline Continue • Title/author/affiliation (1 slide) • Forecast (1 slide)Give gist of problem attacked and insight found (What is the one idea you want people to leave with? This is the "abstract" of an oral presentation.) • Outline (1 slide)Give talk structure. Some speakers prefer to put this at the bottom of their title slide. (Audiences like predictability.) • Background • Motivation and Problem Statement (1-2 slides)(Why should anyone care? Most researchers overestimate how much the audience knows about the problem they are attacking.) • Related Work (0-1 slides)Cover superficially or omit; refer people to your paper. • Methods (1 slide)Cover quickly in short talks; refer people to your paper

16. A Generic Talk Outline Continue • Results (4-6 slides)Present key results and key insights. This is main body of the talk. Its internal structure varies greatly as a function of the researcher's contribution. (Do not superficially cover all results; cover key result well. Do not just present numbers; interpret them to give insights. Do not put up large tables of numbers.) • Summary (1 slide) • Future Work (0-1 slides)Optionally give problems this research opens up. • Backup Slides (0-3 slides)Optionally have a few slides ready (not counted in your talk total) to answer expected questions. (Likely question areas: ideas glossed over, shortcomings of methods or results, and future work.)

17. VI. Select Visuals Aid Identify the purpose of your visual aid • to clarify a key point • to provide an illustrative example • to model • to summarize

18. Select Visuals Aid Continue If you pay attention to these four concept as you put the visuals together, the end products will be more effective:     1) Make it BIG     2) Keep it Simple     3) Make it Clear     4) Be Consistent

19. Select Visuals Aid Continue Select types of visual aids well matched to the needs of your audience with respect to specific portions of your presentation. Examples: Table, bar graph, line graph, flow chart, pie graph, diagram, organizational chart

20. table - good for presenting groups of detailed facts bar graph - can represent numerical qualities line graph - shows how one quantify changes as a function of change in another quantity pie graph - effective for depicting the composition of a whole diagram - similar to a drawing but relies upon symbols flow chart - means of representing successions of events organizational chart - usually depicts hierarchical arrangement

21. Bar graph

22. Organizational chart

23. Pie graph

24. Select presentation vehicles • Overhead • Chalkboard • Hand-out • Slides • Model • Computer screen • Poster

25. Critique your visual aid • Is it large enough to be easily seen or is it too small and detailed? • Is the contrast/color effective or distracting? • Does it clarify a difficult concept or introduce confusion? • Is the visual aid necessary or superfluous?

26. VII. Practice your presentation • Maintain eye contact with the audience. • Eye contact gives • self-confidence • feedback (speed up, slow down, repeat your self) • Keep body movement quiet and natural. • Maintain appropriate voice volume. • Avoid wearing distracting clothing or accessories. • Maintain a constant rate of speech

27. Practice your presentation Continue • won’t be able to duplicate the real audience stress. • Avoid being nervous by: • Practice in front of classmates, colleagues, family or friends. • taking deep breaths • distributing weight equally on both feet • Use Body Language Effectively: relaxed gestures, eye contact; don't play with a pen or pointer. • don't block visual aids

28. Be sensible about transparencies • The optimal number 6-10 per 10 minutes talk • Avoid transparencies with 1 or 2 lines. • Avoid jam-packed transparencies • Text to be concise and self-explanatory

29. Most people find the more they practice, the more at ease they feel when they give their presentation.

30. Questions from the floor • Let questioner finish the question • Be prepare to rephrase the question • Keep the answer short • Deflect hostile questions and Never argue with questioner Example I am sorry, but it appears we have a difference of opinion. This probably is not the proper forum for a debate but I’ll be happy to discuss the matter with you in private.

31. Group Presentation Evaluation Form Rate the Group Presentation (5= Excellent; 1= Poor NA= not applicable)Comments would be very helpful. Group Number:____ Group Topic:________________________________ ____1. Introduction: Did the introduction capture your interest; was necessary background given; was a clear purpose conveyed ___2. Organization: Was there a clear organization; were transitions between sections clear and effective; did the organization lead to a clear conclusion?___3. Content: Did the group support their points; was the supporting material relevant, up to date?___4. Visual Aids: Were visual aids used effectively and appropriately, carefully prepared?___5. Conclusion: Were key points reinforced; was a sense of closure provided; if appropriate, was a course of action proposed?___6. Delivery: Were the speakers natural, enthusiastic; did they speak clearly; were appropriate gestures, posture, expreesions used___7. Discussion: Were questions answered accurately, clearly, effectively?___8. Overall Rating General Comments (use back):

32. Have a nice weekend