TUTORIAL PRESENTATIONS
Introduction
You will be expected to make tutorial presentations while studying at UTAS. A
tutorial presentation basically means that you have the role of teacher. This requires
you to:

demonstrate and share your knowledge and understanding of the topic
with your tutor and your fellow students in your class.

help your classmates to understand and learn new information and skills.
A tutorial presentation involves far more than you simply reading to your audience or
telling them how much you know. This section is designed to help you find out more
about the purpose of tutorial presentations and to provide some guidelines for
helping to make them an effective learning experience for you and your audience.
It is quite likely that you have never made a tutorial presentation before – it is
something new for you. Understandably, you might feel worried about this. One of
the best ways to learn something new is to be actively involved in it. This means that
each time you participate in someone else’s tutorial presentation you will improve
your understanding. Every time you give your own presentation you will be
improving your tutorial presentation skills. The information in this section is,
therefore, designed to help you ‘get started’.
What is the purpose of tutorial presentations?
A presentation assignment provides you and your audience with a good learning
opportunity. In effectively organised and presented tutorials, you are all engaging in
active learning. You are all participating in the learning experience – thinking about
what is being discussed and contributing to the discussion. This means that you are
more likely to be genuinely understanding and making sense of the new information
presented. In a Western education system, understanding is considered to be the
most important goal of your university studies.
You are also practising oral and social skills and these are highly valued by
employers. Being able to work successfully in a group is a fundamental skill in a
global economy.
Presentations provide opportunities for:
 critical thinking;
 organising ideas;
 questioning other people’s ideas;
 defending a position;
 explaining clearly;
 arguing a point;
 reflecting;
 listening;
 negotiating;
 co-operating;
 problem solving etc.
How are tutorials assessed?
Tutorial presentations will form part of your assessment in some units. Sometimes
you might be assessed on an assignment that you hand in after the tutorial.
Sometimes you might be assessed on the tutorial delivery (what you do and say
during the actual presentation) only. Sometimes it might be a combination of these
two. Often, an assessment is given for how well you participate (as a member of the
audience) in other people’s tutorial presentations. (Please see the section in this
booklet titled ‘How Classes are Taught’, to find out more about tutorials and how you
can participate effectively as a member of the audience).
Typically, assessment criteria for tutorial presentations focus on:

quality of research;

understanding of the topic;

structure of presentation;

delivery (use of supporting material, handouts, visual aids, etc.); and,

facilitation of class discussion.
.
1. Planning your tutorial
A tutorial presentation is an assignment. This means that the guidelines you
would use to prepare and present any written assignment (essay, report etc.)
are very similar.
Reading and researching
Just like any other assignment, your tutorial presentation requires reading
about and researching your topic. You must read widely and make sure that
you cover all the key areas related to your topic. The points you make in the
tutorial need to be supported by evidence from your reading and research.
Similarly, you will be expected to show evidence of critical thinking (see
section in this booklet titled ‘Critical Thinking’).
Think about how much time you have to present your tutorial and how many
marks the presentation is worth. This will help you decide how much time
you should be spending reading and researching the topic.
Deciding on content
Just as in any assignment, the content of your tutorial presentation should be
directly related to the tutorial topic. Understanding what the presentation
question means and what it is asking you to do are important steps in the
tutorial presentation process. Making an error here will mean your
presentation will probably fail to meet your audience's expectations, so a
careful analysis of the question is necessary.
Tutorial questions are often multi-dimensional and can include a range of
elements: they can contain a statement of fact to orient the student to the
topic, a question (or several questions), instructions to the student, and
guidelines as to the scope of the presentation. Tutorial questions nearly always
contain at least one instructional word: that is, a word that tells you what
your presentation should do. Instructional words are terms such as discuss,
identify, compare, evaluate.
It is very important that you carry out the task/job implied by the instructional
words in the presentation question. If you don't do this, your presentation
probably won't answer the question clearly enough and you may receive a
poor mark. Your marker will be looking for the discussion, the analysis, or the
explanation that was asked for in the question.
In any presentation it is important to think about what your audience already
knows. Remember, part of your role as the presenter is helping the audience
learn and think about new things. Sometimes this might involve spending a
small amount if time revising some key points, but you shouldn’t spend the
whole tutorial telling the audience things they already know.
Organising materials
You must organise any materials that you might need to use during the
presentation, such as ,photocopies of handouts, blank sheets of paper, pens,
overhead projectors.
It is a good idea to arrive early to the classroom so that you can set up your
equipment and notes before the rest of the class arrives. If you are planning to
have the audience discuss issues or talk in small groups you need to think
about the arrangement of the furniture in the room. Placing chairs in a circle
can help.
Practising your presentation
One of the ways to help ensure your tutorial presentation is successful is to
practise. You could practise with friends or family members before the
presentation day. You could practise:

projecting your voice

answering questions (this might involve predicting [guessing] what
questions the audience might ask on the day of the presentation

asking questions

giving instructions

the order/sequencing of your presentation

the timing of different sections
Ask you friends or family to give you some feedback.
2. Structuring your presentation
Just like any assignment, a tutorial presentation should be carefully structured.
Here is one suggestion for structuring your presentation:
The GSTT approach
The GSTT approach involves:

Gaining your audience's interest

Stating what you are going to tell them:
The topic
The purpose
The main points

Telling them about each of the main points and any associated evidence
Point 1 + evidence
Point 2 + evidence
Point 3 + evidence
Point 4 + evidence etc.

Tell them again in a conclusion what you have told them in the
presentation
The GSTT provides a simple way to begin thinking through the structure of
your presentation. It also provides a model for a logical and coherent
presentation. Remember, unlike a written assignment, your audience will not
have a chance to look back at the building blocks of your argument if they get
confused or lose the flow of your presentation. It is critical that your
presentation is logical and easy to follow. Try to make links between the
different sections of the presentation.
Your presentation should have a clear introduction, body (middle) and
conclusion.
Introduction
The introduction to your tutorial should be brief. You could include the
following:

Greet/welcome the class.

State clearly what your tutorial presentation topic is.

Share with the audience your goal or aim for this tutorial presentation.
For example, you might say something like, “My aim in this tutorial
presentation is to highlight the important role that context plays in
business management. Through discussing case studies we will have
an opportunity to think about some of the problems in transferring
business management theory to real life situations and how these
problems might be overcome.”

Provide an outline of what you have planned to do in the tutorial (you
might include time slots). For example ‘Introduction’ – 5 mins
‘Definition of terms’ – 5 mins
‘Explanation of theory’ – 10 mins
‘Small group discussion of case study ’
– 10 mins
‘Whole group sharing of discussion points’
- 10 mins
‘Conclusion’ – 5 mins
You might display this outline on a whiteboard, overhead projector or
PowerPoint slide.

Remember to give the audience very clear instructions for any
activities you wish them to participate in.
Body (Middle)
Most of your tutorial time will be spent in this section. Here are some
guidelines for how you might use this section:

It is your responsibility to provide structure and direction during the
tutorial. Ideas need to be presented in a logical sequence and you
should create links between the different sections of the tutorial.
Throughout the presentation you could restate the main points.
Another thing you can do is have some questions prepared. These
questions should encourage critical thinking – not factual recall.

A substantial amount of time should be spent with your audience
actually doing something, not just sitting and listening. Design
activities that will actively involve your classmates. For example, you
could set discussion questions, group problem-solving tasks, drawing
tasks, computer tasks, writing activities. If you use small groups, those
groups need to elect a reporter to share their finding with the rest of
the class. These tasks should have a purpose. They should be designed
to help your classmates learn about your tutorial topic or practise
some important skills. These activities should not just be included to
fill in time or have fun. Plan activities that require critical thinking.
Walk around the classroom visiting groups or individuals while they are
completing these activities/tasks. Check to make sure that they understand the
task you have set. Talk with them also about some of the things they are
discovering from participating in the activity. What things have they learnt?
What things are they confused by? What suggestions/ideas do they have?

Be aware of the time. You should look at your tutorial plan and make
sure that you stop activities and discussion on time.
Conclusion
The conclusion to a tutorial presentation should be brief. You could include
the following:

A summary of the main points that have been discussed/raised/learnt
during the tutorial.

Some time for questions from the audience.

Some ideas/suggestions that your audience might like to follow up on
after class. For example, if your tutorial topic was about the way that
some business people use language to persuade or encourage others
to purchase items, you might say something like, “Next time you are
in a shop or watching an advertisement on television, listen carefully.
See if you can identify some of the language we have been talking
about in today’s tutorial.”

A thank you to the audience for participating.
3. Communicating during the tutorial
You are likely to feel nervous during your tutorial presentation. When you are
nervous it is more likely that you will forget about the way you are
communicating. Here are some suggestions to help you communicate effectively:

Speak more slowly than you normally do.

Use more informal, relaxed language than you would for a written
assignment.

Speak loudly enough so that everyone in the room can hear you. You
could say, “Would you please raise your hand if you cannot hear me”.

Look at the audience while you are speaking.

Take charge of the class by directing the discussion. For example, you
could say, “Would the reporter for group 1 please share their main
discussion points.”

Be prepared to answer questions from the audience. The University of
South Australia offers some useful advice about this.
What if...
... you don't know the answer?
You are not expected to be an expert. (Even experts don't know all the
answers!) Sometimes you can begin with "That's an interesting question ..."
and then you could say you are not sure but suggest a possible answer or it
may be safer to say that you do not know the answer and ask others attending
to suggest an answer. You could also suggest that you will find the answer and
get back to the person later.
What if ...
... you can't understand the question?
Where you don't understand the language of the question you could tell the
person that you are not sure that you understand the question and ask the
person to rephrase it. You could say "Would you mind rephrasing that for
me?" or "I'm not sure that I understand the question...could you say it in a
different way for me, please?" Another way to handle this difficulty is to say
that you are not sure of the question and check your understanding with the
person.
(http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/oralpresentations/)
4. After the presentation
As with any aspect of your university learning, it is a good idea to reflect upon
your presentation. Ask yourself questions like: What worked well? Why?
What didn’t work very well? Why not? How can I improve my presentation
next time?
Involving Your Audience
It is important in tutorial presentations to include the audience in discussions and
activities. You must do more than simply read to them. This is because one of the
purposes of tutorial presentations is to help the audience to learn. It also allows you
to show the teacher how much you understand. If you have read the section on ‘What
is my preferred learning style’ you will remember that people learn in different ways.
If you simply read to your audience you are meeting the needs of those people who
learn best by hearing. You need to provide opportunities for people in the audience
who learn best by seeing, writing and ‘doing’ as well.
Here are some suggestions to help you involve the audience in your tutorial
presentation:
o Ask them to write down the answer to a question. Then ask them to
share their answer with the person sitting next to them.
o Ask them to participate in an activity such as reading a short piece of
information (like a case study or newspaper article) or drawing or making
something. Then ask them some questions about that activity. You might
say “What did you find interesting or difficult about that activity? What
have you learnt from that activity?”
o Ask them to think about an experience they’ve had that is related to the
information you are presenting in your tutorial. For example if your
tutorial topic is about Internet safety, ask them to think about a time they
experienced a safety problem on the Internet. Ask for volunteers to share
their experiences.
o Set some topics for students to discuss in small groups. Then ask one
person from each group to give you a summary of their group’s
discussion.
o Remember, some people can feel uncomfortable about sharing ideas in a
tutorial. You must encourage your audience to participate by making
them feel as comfortable as possible – for example, thank people who
talk in your tutorial. Smile at the audience.