PWR2
Objects of Argument
Fall 2004
John Tinker
jtinker@stanford.edu
Bldg. 460, Room 020
Group oral presentation of your concept proposal
For the next several weeks we will work in groups of three to prepare and present
proposals for the reinstallation of the Cantor Center’s 19th century gallery. This
assignment describes the next step in the process of preparing oral exhibition proposals
for the curators.
Your group will deliver a formal oral presentation of your concept proposal. You will
introduce your idea for reinstallation of the 19th century gallery and explain what you
hope to accomplish by addressing this topic with an arrangement of objects in a museum
exhibition. Presentations will be 7 minutes, and each member of the group should have
roughly the same amount of speaking time. Each member should also contribute equally
to preparations for the talk.
To begin. For your last assignment, you prepared individual written concept proposals.
This assignment will require you to discuss each of your individual proposals and to
collaboratively decide on a theme for your group proposal. Each member’s ideas should
be taken into account, and each member should fully agree with the group’s decision.
Ideally, this will involve synthesis of the group’s various perspectives. No one idea or
perspective should dominate the group.
Once you have decided on your group’s focus, your purpose is to convince a
professional audience (imagine your audience to be the CCVA board of curators) that
your idea is precisely designed for the reinstallation of the 19th century gallery and that
the development of your concept to a full proposal will benefit the museum. To do this,
you will need to:
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Present a memorable introduction and conclusion. Capture your audience’s
attention, set the context in which you want them to respond to your concept, and
leave them with a powerful lasting impression.

Make sure that your idea is precisely articulated. Unnecessary ambiguity will
not impress your audience, and it will make your project difficult to
conceptualize.
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Explain some of the implications of your proposal. Why is it important to a
museum-goer’s understanding of 19th century art, history, and culture? You
might refer to your individual concept proposals for models, or to the proposal for
“Revolutionary Tides,” attached with the previous assignment.
You may also present some preliminary ideas for specific artworks and their
arrangement, but this isn’t required at this stage. (It will be soon!)
To organize your material effectively for oral presentation:

Prepare your text and practice your presentation. You may write the entire
text out and read it, or you may work from notes. Whichever method you use, be
sure that you prepare a text specifically designed to be heard. Some questions
that might help:
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Is your organization clear, and will your audience be able to easily follow
your train of thought?
Do you guide your audience by using signpost words, such as “first,”
“second,” “third”; by repeating key terms; by using parallel phrases; by
using the qualities of voice and gesture to emphasize key ideas.
Are your sentences straightforward (subject-verb-object)?
Do you illustrate abstract ideas with concrete examples?
Do you use concrete language whenever possible?
Have you timed your presentation?
Outstanding presentations will:

Engage an audience of museum professionals from the start and leave the
audience with a powerful lasting impression.

Offer a precisely articulated concept for the exhibition.

Show that you have a productive and innovative way of thinking about that
concept.

Be designed for oral presentation, drawing on the techniques listed above.
You may use visual information with your oral presentation, but it is not required. (And I
think it is not necessary for this presentation.)
Drafts of presentations will take place in class on Tues. October 26. These drafts
will be videotaped, and we will schedule group conferences to review the tapes. The
draft will not be graded.
Revised presentations will take place in class on Tues. Nov. 2. These presentations
will be graded. They will also be videotaped, and I encourage your group to make
an appointment with me or one of the OCTs to review the tape.
There are no alternative times for either of these in-class presentations.
Grading criteria
A successful oral presentation will consider the rhetorical situation and compositional
elements, just as any successful written assignment does. Be sure to design your
presentation to be heard, not read.
A Excellent: Oral presentation is of consistently outstanding quality, presenting a clearly
articulated concept for the exhibition and successfully showing how this concept yields
insights into topics appropriate for the 19th century gallery; such a presentation will be
designed to be heard and will successfully handle the interaction among topic, audience,
purpose, and persona in relation to organization, style, and form.
Topic: a clearly articulated concept for the 19th century gallery, carefully introduced and
consistently developed in insightful and informative ways appropriate for a collaborative
7-minute presentation.
Audience: a sophisticated understanding of a professional audience’s values,
assumptions, and expectations.
Purpose: present a clearly articulated concept for your project and show the importance
of this topic to the reinstallation of the 19th century gallery.
Persona: a rhetorical voice and stance that demonstrate your serious engagement with
your topic and with a professional audience.
Content: sustained development of ideas that arise from your exhibition idea, showing
an ability to form concepts and to connect them to themes appropriate for the 19th century
gallery.
Organization: an engaging introduction, clear presentation of your concept, appropriate
explanation of how this idea illuminates 19th century art and values and ideas associated
with it, and powerful conclusion; your presentation clearly leads the audience from idea
to idea, clarifies relationships and connections, and is carefully designed for oral
presentation.
Style: sentences are shaped to be heard, and you speak to the audience with pace, tone,
and gestures that are appropriate for a formal oral presentation.
Form: strong control of the conventions of formal academic presentation, including
syntax, enunciation, gesture, and diction; any visual or multi-media components are
clearly integrated and presented, and the control is strong enough to allow you to push the
boundaries of this genre in imaginative and effective ways.