English and
Communication
Advice for Students on
Individual Presentation at
Higher
5928
September 1999
HIGHER STILL
English and
Communication
Advice for Students on
Individual Presentation at
Higher
Support Materials


A NOTE TO STUDENTS
This advice is arranged into four sections in order to help you with:
 the purpose of your presentation
 the preparation of your presentation
 the delivery of your presentation
 checking the standard of your performance.
English and Communication: Advice for Students on Individual Presentation at Higher
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English and Communication: Advice for Students on Individual Presentation at Higher
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1. PURPOSES, TOPICS AND CONTEXTS
The crucial first questions are:
What is the aim?
What do I talk about?
Where do I get the ideas?
As with a piece of writing, no talk will be convincing and effective unless you, the
speaker, care about the topic and have a desire to convey your grasp of it, or your
point of view on it, to the audience.
It is important, therefore, to choose a topic that matters to you and which you know a
lot about – and to select a purpose for your talk which you think worthwhile and
which you want to achieve.
At Higher, topics and purposes should be sophisticated: they should go beyond
simple descriptions, explanations, arguments or points of view.
Some examples of types of purpose and topics are:
Personal/reflective purpose
Topics might be, e.g.:


ambitions, “identity dreams”: the kind of person you would like to become – but
going beyond straightforward ideas about jobs and relationships to aspects of
personal growth, independence, the value of an ambition or a life-style;
change(s) in your outlook on life, or your understanding of something important,
as a result of a significant experience.
Philosophical purpose
Exploration of ideas about such topics as:




moral issues in society;
important values in life – or differences in the values held by different groups of
people;
questions about existence, the purpose of life;
aspects of politics, economics, religious belief.
Critical purpose
Taking a point of view, policy, value position and analysing it, questioning its
assumptions and underlying values. This is a particular form of “philosophical
purpose”.
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Topics could be found in the context of a wide range of studies, e.g.:
 language and literature;
 media;
 social science (history, geography, modern studies, politics, economics, education,
psychology);
 sciences (chemistry, physics, biology/genetics);
 art;
 music.
Persuasive purpose
Presenting a case, taking account of alternative viewpoints and arguments, but seeking
to persuade to a particular point of view. Topics could include:




point of view on a current affairs issue;
a political standpoint;
an initiative or policy in an organisation;
action on a local or national issue, etc.
Reporting purpose
Selecting, summarising, organising logically, interpreting and evaluating, where
appropriate, and presenting complex information (i.e., going beyond simple factual
material). Possible topics could include information arising from:
 discussion of texts and topics;
 print and other sources;
 investigations, questionnaires.
An oral report might, of course, like a written one, have a specific remit. It might, for
instance, aim to recommend action after weighing arguments for and against, or the
advantages and disadvantages of different policies or initiatives.
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2. PREPARATION
The key to effective oral presentation is really thorough preparation and plenty of
practice.
In the preparation stage, you need to have a clear idea of:
 the aim of the talk;
 the ideas and/or information you will include;
 the order in which they will be presented most effectively (“Structure”);
 an opening which will gain the audience’s interest and attention;
 a conclusion which rounds off the talk definitely and (usually) which is clearly
linked to the original aim in some way;
 your own point of view on the topic, the attitude towards it which you intend to
convey (e.g., informative, objective, critical, impassioned, humorous, satirical ...) –
and what you need to do to convey this (choice of words, structure, gestures, eyecontact with audience ... );
 the needs of the audience: e.g., enough ideas/information given to be clear; logical
order, to avoid confusion; keeping them interested with, e.g., humour, examples of
main points, relevant anecdotes.
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Some Helpful Techniques for the Preparation Stage
 Brainstorm ideas, everything you know about the topic, noting key words down
quickly, to get as long a list of ideas as possible.
 Read and summarise ideas/information from suitable sources, if you need to. The
summarising is important: if you simply copy other people’s text directly, you
will find it very hard to make it your own, to understand the ideas well enough to
present them confidently. You need to grasp them and note them in your own
words.
 Group related points together, either under “key point” headings or using a
“mind-map” (or “spider diagram”): e.g. –
Key Point
Key Point
Key Point
or
________
________
________
________
________
________
Topic
________
________
________
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You can decide on the best order for presenting the key points and their
supporting points after the brainstorming and grouping of ideas. Sometimes,
having a good range of ideas available can make it possible to see more than one
way of structuring them. It is not necessary to use all the ideas you have thought of
or read/heard about. The process of finding the best structure is also one of
selecting the best ideas/information to achieve your purpose. (Even though you
will be selecting your material for the talk and leaving some out, it will often be
useful for you to understand fully all the ideas and information you gather together.
Some of it may be used in expanding or explaining points in the talk when you are
responding to questions from the audience.)
 Write it out, or not?
Effective talks are not mere readings or recitals of written text, which tend to
constrain the speaker’s relationship with the audience. They have to have a ‘live’
spontaneity. Even so, some effective speakers like to write out in advance what
they are going to say, while others prefer to practise the presentation only orally,
working from notes.
The advantages of ‘writing out’ are that:
–
it guarantees that you can find the words to convey your ideas, and so boosts
confidence that you will not ‘dry up’;
–
it allows a check on the structure and any possible need for additional ideas or
information or examples or an anecdote at different points in the talk.
The disadvantages are that:
–
if you read or recite it without paying attention to ‘connecting’ with the
audience through eye-contact and ‘body language’, which shows you are
relating to them as people listening to you, you will lack spontaneity and
‘life’, your talk will sound uninteresting, no matter how good the content is;
–
you will tend to try to learn the actual words, rather than the ideas and the
order they come in, if you rely on learning the words off by heart.
 Prepare cards to speak from, whether or not you ‘write out in full’.
Postcards, A5 cards or small record cards are a suitable size. One approach is to
have one or two cards for each main point, with five or six key words to remind
you of the related points, which expand, explain or give examples of the key point.
This gives you at a glance the overall structure of the talk and the structure of each
of its main sections. You will be able to maintain good eye-contact with the
audience, while feeling confident that, when you have finished the section of the
talk you are currently on, you will know what is coming next.
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 Use ‘signposts’ or ‘markers’ at the start and end of the talk, and at the start and
end of each section of it. These let the audience know what the shape of the whole
talk is, where you have got to in it and what is coming next. The following shows
some examples of ‘Start of talk signposting’.
Ladies and gentlemen (1) I’m going to talk to you today about why, as Scots, we
should (2) take more pride in our own language – and by that I mean Scots.
(3)I’ve
divided my talk into three main sections. (4)Firstly, I’m going to explain
why Scots can be regarded as a language in its own right. (4)Secondly, I’ll focus
on attitudes to Scots and how I believe these are changing. (4) And finally, I’ll
outline what I see as the future of Scots, with reference to the experience of the
autonomous regions of Spain.
So, (5) to start with, the status of Scots as a language ............
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Signals topic
States topic
States structure of talk
Signals content of sections
Signals start of section
Examples of signposts/markers for middle sections and the conclusion are:
Now I’d like to turn to ....
That rounds off what I have to say about .....
To recap, ......
To put it another way, ......
That concludes my argument, or report.
You might use your ‘signpost’ words or phrases on your cards, to remind you of
how to move from one key point to another.
 Use repetition judiciously. Obviously, too much (or unnecessary) repetition will
make your presentation boring. However, in a talk there are advantages in using
some repetition. Listeners need support to enable them to get a good sense of the
main ideas you want to tell them about. Traditional advice for speakers is:
– Tell them what you’re going to say
– Say it
– Tell them what you’ve said.
An example has already been given of ‘Telling them what you’re going to say’
(see ‘signposts’ above). A conclusion which summarises what has been said is
shown in the following example.
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So that concludes the main part of my talk. I’ve done my best to convince you that
Scots should be thought of as a language in its own right. I hope you’ll recognise
from your own experience how attitudes towards using Scots have changed, and,
finally, I’d like to think that you’ll agree that Scots now has a place as a
revitalised national language.
Thank you for listening. I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you have now.
Another way of using repetition is to emphasise a point. In this case you have to
re-phrase the idea in an interesting way. An example from the same talk about
Scots already quoted is:
Scots has become acceptable in many formal and informal contexts. In other
words, you can use it not only in conversation with your friends, but also when
you talk to your boss or in an after-dinner speech or a letter to a newspaper.
 Think about the register of the language in your talk – that is, the degree of
formality you will use. Because, at Higher, your talk should present complex
ideas, you will almost certainly need to use some complex language – perhaps
technical terms, or extended sentences.
Speakers presenting complex ideas or information (e.g., on ‘Tomorrow’s World’,
‘Newsnight’ or any serious documentary programme) often show features of style
likely to be suitable for Higher presentations:
–
–
–
–
some long, complex sentences and technical terms
explanation of any technical, specialist terms
some short, colloquial sentences to change the pace and to vary the formal
register, e.g., But that’s not all.
use of contractions (she’s, they’ve, won’t, etc.) and of colloquial expressions to
give the impression of natural speech.
This mixture of formal and informal register is often what is needed to convey
complex ideas effectively in a talk.
The register you use depends, of course, on the purpose and aim of your
presentation, and also to a fair extent on the audience. (It might be different for,
say, young people and adults). Sometimes, you might want deliberately
contrasting registers – e.g., very formal and very colloquial – to contrast two
points of view or two people.
 Prepare visual aids, if you want to use them. Overhead (projection)
transparencies (OHTs) can be helpful to ‘signpost’ your talk for the audience.
They are particularly suitable for informational, explanatory or ‘reporting’
presentations.
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If you decide to use OHTs, keep these practical rules in mind:
–
Points on one OHT should be few and expressed very briefly (e.g., keywords
only, as on your ‘prompt’ cards).
–
The words need to be large enough for all of the audience to read easily – and
neat; use clear handwriting, if you cannot access a word-processor and a
photocopier which can make OHTs from printed pages.
–
Remember that lower-case print (large) is easier to read than capital letters.
–
Only use pictures or show objects if they are large enough for the audience to
see easily.
 Practise delivering the talk – the whole presentation – standing up, working from
the cards and using visual aids, if required, as often as four or five times. This
practice will greatly increase your confidence (and your skills as a speaker). It is
best done with an audience (friends, family ..), but is valuable even without one. A
video-camera, or even a mirror, can let you see what you look like and give you a
target for eye-contact.
The point of such practice is not to memorise the words of the talk. It is to
guarantee your awareness of the whole structure of ideas and, at any point in the
talk, of what comes next and of how you are going to get that idea over to the
audience effectively, using ‘signposts’, appropriate choice of words and non-verbal
communication.
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3. DELIVERING THE PRESENTATION
If you have prepared thoroughly, you will, in the process of working out the purpose,
the content and your point of view, also have done much to ensure effective delivery.
For example, you will have developed a confident understanding of what you are
going to say. You will also have thought about the best ways of making sure that
your attitude to the topic and your point of view on it are made clear. So you will
already have taken some steps to create the appropriate tone (enthusiastic, objective,
humorous ... ) for your presentation, through choice of words and the way in which
ideas are related to one another. You will also have made decisions about the register
of the language of the talk and, perhaps, a good mix of formal and informal.
A good deal of the non-verbal communication – the ‘body language’ – which will
contribute to making your talk effective and show that you are relating well to the
audience, will come naturally if you have prepared really well. If you have interesting
ideas which you know thoroughly and want the people in the audience to understand,
you will feel confident about putting them across. This confidence will mean that
your voice, eye-contact and movements will convey your own interest and enthusiasm
– or whatever your attitude to the topic is – to some extent automatically.
There are, even so, aspects of technique to which you need to give conscious
attention when practising and when actually delivering a presentation.
Voice, Volume and Clarity
Just being loud enough is the absolutely basic requirement. Make sure in your
practice sessions that you raise your voice enough to ensure that someone at the back
of a fairly large room can hear you clearly.
When giving the talk, remain aware of the need to keep your voice up.
A particular point to keep in mind, in practising and in the presentation itself, is the
tendency even some very experienced speakers have to drop their voice as they reach
the end of sentences. Make sure your sentences do not ‘die away’.
Do not rush – take individual words and whole sentences at a reasonable pace, to
avoid any impression of ‘swallowing’ syllables in words or gabbling the talk.
Variety
In practising, try out variations in pace and volume – e.g., slowing down or building
up pace to create particular effects, such as a dramatic one, or a climax. Varying the
loudness of your voice (without dropping to inaudibility) can also help in creating
effects. Pauses – e.g., to get a laugh or to create a moment of suspense – can also be
tried out.
In actually making your presentation, you will need to remain aware of what you have
planned and practised.
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Eye-contact
Eye-contact is a crucial aspect of any effective face-to-face communication. In a
presentation, it is important to establish it from the start. Even before beginning, look
from one face to another, without sticking on any particular ones, and thus convey
your interest in the audience as people (and not merely as a means of helping you to
get through the requirements of a Higher presentation!). Then start with your wellrehearsed introduction. If you establish eye-contact in this way from the beginning,
there are two advantages. The audience becomes well-disposed towards you straight
away; and you make it easier for yourself to relate to them and maintain eye-contact
as you continue.
Posture
Stand up straight and don’t fidget!
Traditional and perhaps rather irritating advice, but still well-founded.
If you watch confident speakers like politicians or TV presenters, you will see that
they don’t slouch or pick at their nail varnish or fiddle with their hair. If you are
nervous, put on an act in which you ‘think confident’. This will help you to look
confident and avoid nervous behaviour.
Two practical points –
 Stand with feet slightly apart, weight evenly distributed.
 Hold your cards in one hand, with the other hand ready to turn each card over
when you finish it.
Gesture
Some people ‘talk with their hands’, while some rarely use gesture. Using your hands
to emphasise a point shows enthusiasm, but too much arm-waving is distracting. If
you’re a natural gesturer, by all means use your hands, but don’t overdo it. If you
tend not to use your hands when you talk, that’s fine; just make sure you don’t fidget
and distract your audience.
Interaction with the Audience and Taking Questions
These guidelines have emphasised strongly the importance of planning and
preparation, not only for the content of the presentation, but also for how you will
interact with the audience. If you take good account of all the advice offered about
the preparation stage and the delivery of the talk, it is very likely that your
relationship with the audience will be good.
It can happen, however, that, during a presentation, you become aware that something
is amiss: for instance, members of the audience look puzzled by something you have
said, or appear to disagree with your opinion, or just look bored. Alternatively, you
may be getting very good audience reaction – laughs, smiles of approval, heads
nodding agreement, lots of obvious interest.
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Very skilled speakers can respond to such audience reactions as they speak, by
changing the content or style of their presentation, by ‘off the cuff’ remarks showing
their awareness of what is happening. In a relatively short presentation you may have
little opportunity to depart significantly from your plan, but you should at least show
awareness of how the audience is reacting. You might do this, e.g., by pausing to
allow laughter or by mentioning that people seem to agree or disagree with your
argument or opinion. If they are disagreeing – or if you know you are expressing
views with which people are likely to disagree – you could tell them that they will
have a chance to offer alternative views in the ‘question session’ at the end.
The question session need not be just questions and answers. Certainly, you should
answer questions and this is the minimum requirement. Avoid one-word or extremely
brief answers, if you can. Try to give a bit more information, an explanation of the
point the questioner is asking about, a justification for your own view. Do not,
however, give another extended talk: keep answers reasonably brief, while moving
beyond the points you covered in the presentation. If your talk has been about a
matter of controversy in some way, it may be possible to initiate a discussion among
members of the audience and yourself about alternative points of view. You could
ask questioners, or the audience in general, what they think about what you have said.
Especially if few questions are asked, you might invite them to offer views about
some aspect of your topic which you yourself did not cover, but which you know is
controversial, e.g., “I didn’t raise in my talk the question of teaching the Scots
language in all schools. What do you think of that idea?”.
If your question session becomes a discussion, you will have been very successful in
engaging your audience’s interest. You will need, in effect, to chair this discussion
yourself, inviting different people who want to contribute to do so. You should also
contribute significantly to the discussion yourself, expanding on or explaining your
ideas and views and taking account of what others have said.
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4. A CHECKLIST FOR ANALYSING INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION
This checklist might be used in considering ‘models’ of oral presentation, such as the
work of TV presenters or lecturers. It will also be useful for evaluating presentations
by fellow students, or by yourself, if you can arrange for them to be video-taped.
The checklist is organised under the four headings which sum up the performance
criteria for oral presentation.
Content
 Significant, complex topic?
 Depth of thought? Ideas/information going beyond the simple?
 Enough information/ideas/explanation to be clear and thorough?
 Evidence that the speaker fully understands what s/he is talking about?
 Appropriate ideas/information to achieve the purpose of the talk?
 All content relevant to purpose?
 If visual or audio-visual aids are used, do they help to clarify the
ideas/information?
Structure
 Good ‘signposting’?

–
Shape of whole talk indicated (e.g., in Introduction)?
–
Links between sections?
–
Summing up in conclusion?
Effective juxtaposition/ordering of ideas for the purpose of the talk? E.g.,
–
main idea – examples?
–
comparisons?
–
contrasts?
–
step-by-step argument to conclusion?
–
build up to climax?
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Expression
 Clear and audible?
 Confident and fluent?
 Good pace?
 Speaker’s attitude(s)/point(s) of view clear?

How conveyed? (style and tone)
– Choice of words?
– Use of, e.g., emotive, pejorative, approving language?
– Structure of sentences?
– Intonation and expression in voice?
– Variety of types of sentence?
– Register of language?
– Variety of register?
– Body language?
– Special effects (e.g., pauses, rhetorical questions, change of pace, strong
assertion, repetition ...)?
 All of the above appropriate for purpose and audience?
Interaction with Audience
 Clear attention to the needs of the audience (e.g., enough explanation)?
 Good eye-contact?
 Facial expression, gesture and other body language strengthening relationship with
audience?
 Sense of speaker talking to the audience (not just talking in its presence)?
 Account taken during the presentation of audience reactions (e.g., re-phrasing, reorganising, explaining)?
 Full response to each question (but leaving time for others)?
 Interaction/discussion with audience, taking account of their questions/ statements?
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ANOTHER TYPE OF SELF-ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST
You are achieving the basic
criteria for Higher.
You are doing well, but can
still achieve more.
You are doing very well
indeed. Check for any gaps.
You made clear what you
intended to do and, taking
your audience’s requirements
into account, you did it
competently.
You did what you set out to
do quite skilfully.
You did what you set out to
do very skilfully.
What you had to say was
relevant, thoughtful and fully
developed.
What you had to say was
quite perceptive.
What you had to say was
very perceptive and
particularly well selected for
your purpose and audience.
You made appropriate links
between information, ideas
and opinions and attempted
to shape your thoughts in
ways that would create
impact.
You shaped your thoughts so
effectively that they did
create some impact.
The structure you adopted
was highly effective and
enhanced the clarity and the
impact of your presentation.
You spoke clearly and your
use of language was
appropriate to your purpose
and audience.
You made quite skilful use of
a range of language
structures and vocabulary.
Your command of language
demonstrated oral
communication skills of a
high order.
You varied the pace and tone
of your delivery, maintained
eye contact with your
audience and related to them
quite well through body
language.
You made effective use of a
range of non-verbal
techniques.
The whole tone and style of
your presentation was very
sophisticated.
You clearly acknowledged
the reactions of your
audience and handled their
questions competently.
You handled audience
reactions and questions quite
skilfully.
You related very well to your
audience and interacted with
them sensitively and with
insight.
You were clearly interested
in your topic.
You were consistently
engaged with your topic and
established your point of
view quite effectively.
You were genuinely
committed to your topic, took
an appropriate stance towards
it and communicated your
point of view convincingly.
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