AP1E-2
Making Oral Presentations
PLANNING (Brainstorm ideas)
When planning a presentation, make sure you know the reason you are presenting. Do you want to inform,
persuade, teach or entertain your audience? You might want to think about the information, visual aids
and tools you want to include. It’s important also to think about your audience. Your audience will most
likely include fellow classmates and your teacher. Ask yourself:
 What do they know about your subject?
 What background information do you need to provide?
 What vocabulary will you need to explain?
 How can you keep them interested?
 What questions might they ask?
 Will your presentation be graded? If so, what are the grading criteria?
PREPARING (Make an outline)
The introduction
Introduce yourself and your talk with a brief overview of the points you will cover. Describe what the
presentation is about and how it will develop. For example:
‘I’m going to talk about ...’
‘This morning I want to explain ...’
‘The points I will focus on are first of all ...Then ...This will lead to ... And finally...’
Try to begin with a hook to capture your audience’s interest
 a startling fact
 a cartoon
 a pertinent question
 an interesting statistic
 a dramatic visual aid
The body of the presentation
Decide the main ideas and group them into ‘chunks’ of information.
 Choose important and necessary main points.
 Provide support for your points.
 Use these transitions to move from point to point:
‘The next point I want to make is ...’
‘From this we can see that ...’
‘As a consequence ...’
‘In spite of this, the results showed that ...’
‘An example of this was when ...’
‘On the other hand, it is also true that ...’
The conclusion
Conclude by briefly re-state everything that you have covered. For example:
‘To sum up…’
‘From this we can see ...’
‘To recap the main points ...’
‘My intention was to show that ... and the results confirmed that ...’
You might also like to predict the future, make a suggestion or give an opinion. Finally, thank the audience
for their attention and ask if there are any comments or questions.
TLC Project 2010 – Permission granted for classroom use only
AP1E-2
PRACTICING
You must practice your presentation many times. Use family, friends, or a mirror. This will increase your
confidence and allow you to feel more relaxed and sure that everything will work on the day. As you
practice try the Presentation Practice Checklist.
DELIVERING
 Make sure you know how to use any equipment or tools.
 Do not read from pages of notes. (Try not to memorize your talk)
 Use appropriate language.
 Practice pronunciation.
 Watch your ‘filler speech’. (ums, ahs, like and you know etc.)
 Speak loudly for those in the back of the room.
 Speak at a moderate pace. (Not too fast or too slow)
 Avoid nervous gestures. (fidgeting, tapping your foot, waving your hands, etc.)
 Stand up straight and make eye contact with your audience.
Presentation Practice Checklist
Y
N
Did you introduce yourself?
Did you begin with a clear introduction?
Were your ideas presented clearly with a logical flow from one point to the next?
Did you conclude by summing up what you had covered?
Did you give the right amount of facts and figures? Could your audience understand them?
Did you avoid reading too much from your notes?
Did you look comfortable and relaxed?
Did you display any nervous gestures?
Did you look and sound interested and enthusiastic?
Was your voice loud enough to be heard?
Did you speak too quickly or too slowly?
Were there any words you had problems pronouncing?
Did you get your timing right? Too long? Too short?
Did you allow time for questions, and invite your audience to make comments?
References
Hay, I., Bochner, D., & Dungey, C. (1997). Making the Grade. Auckland: Oxford University Press.
Wallace, A., Schirato, T., & Bright, P. (1999). Beginning University. St Leonards, N.S.W: Allen and Unwin.
TLC Project 2010 – Permission granted for classroom use only