Lecture Ready Presentations
ESL 261.62 Himes W09
At the end of every unit you will find “Unit Wrap-Up” activities. You are going to work with
a small group and complete one of these activities and present your findings to the
class.
The Rules
♦ Each group will have about 3 people depending on the activity and the size of
the class.
♦ You will present for 5-8 minutes and all members of the group are expected to
speak for an equal length of time.
♦ You must use visual aides. Overheads should be in a 36-point font. Power
point should be in a 24-point font. Give me one-week notice if you need a
computer projector. Do not pass around anything; it is distracting.
Dates and Topics
Tip: When you do survey activities, speak only English. Also ask your
questions of someone who has not been asked these questions before.
Each team member must survey at least two people.
Presentation 1 January 29th
Do activity 2 on page 22. Conduct a survey of employees about ethics in
the workplace. You may add your own questions if you wish.
Presentation 2 February 5th
Do activity 1 on page 44. Conduct a survey about media use in children
and young adults compared to older generations.
Or
Do activity 3 on page 44. Interview teachers about whether they believe
increased media use affects student performance.
Presentation 3 February 26th
Do activity 1 on page 66. Research alternative or traditional medicine or
treatments.
Or
Do activity 2 on page 66. Share a robot or a computer from a science
fiction movie or novel with the class.
Presentation 4 March 12th
Do activity 3 on page 88. Work with a partner and, between you, interview
one set of siblings that is not your own. Find out about their personal
characteristics.
Or
Do activity 2 on page 110. Conduct a survey to find out how people in
your community feel about graffiti.
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Presentation Steps
Step 1: Find a group of people to work with and pick a date and a topic that
you would like.
Step 2: Turn in your first and second choices for a date to the teacher who
will have to balance the requests with the dates to make sure that all
dates are covered as evenly as possible.
Step 3: Give your presentation.
Step 4: Turn in copies of your surveys and your presentation notes.
Organizing your Presentation
Think about what your audience already knows about the topic and what you
must do to make your presentation relevant to them. Also think about how you can keep
them interested in what you are saying.
♦ Start with an introduction. An introduction usually contain the following elements:
1.
a short attention getter
a.
a quote
b.
a question
c.
a personal story
d.
an appropriate joke
2.
your purpose/thesis “Tonight we are going to share with you the results of
our survey about…”
♦ The body comes next. The body will be the bulk of your presentation. It will be broken
up into sub topics. Students often take turns presenting these subtopics.
3.
4.
Transitional words hold the body together.
a.
Sequence: first, second third, next, then after that, at first, earlier,
now, since
b.
Additional information: furthermore, in addition, in fact, besides that
c.
Cause/effect: as a result, for this reason, therefore, so, since hence
d.
Comparison/contrast: on the one hand, on the other hand, however,
although, in spite of this
Pause between subtopics and the body.
♦ The conclusion is how you wrap up your presentation and how people will remember
it.
5.
The conclusion summarizes the main points of the presentation and restates
the main idea (thesis of the presentation).
6.
You may want to finish with an appropriate quotation, brief story or a
surprising fact.
7.
Finish with a concluding sentence such as, “Thank you for listening. Are
there any questions?” DO NOT say “I am finished,” or “That’s it.”
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Helpful Hints
A.
Exchange e-mail and phone numbers so that you can easily contact each
other. Appoint a leader for your group who will divide your tasks among group
members and organize your efforts. Work together outside of class anyway that
is convenient.
B.
You will be receiving a group grade, so everyone’s hard work is important.
Ideally, each member of the group should do equal quality and equal amounts
of work. This is not always the case though, so check each other’s work when
possible. Unfortunately in the past, students have plagiarized summaries and
lowered the grade for the entire group.
Because this is a group assignment with a group grade, you will have to
work around any who are unable or unwilling to do their share. You will all
receive the same grade. This is not fair, but that’s how group activities are
judged in school and in life. Also, if you find that you will not be able to
complete your assigned task, please let the other members of the group know
as soon as possible beforehand so that they can take up the slack.
C.
In case some one has an emergency and cannot make it to class, be prepared
by having duplicate copies of each other’s notes or other vital information.
D.
You may practice your presentation and even video tape it in the Listening and
Speaking Lab.
E.
Use note cards during your presentation. Do not read your presentation this is
BORING and hard to understand. Also, do not memorize your presentation
because you will not speak naturally.
F.
Speak clearly. For example, speak loudly enough for the entire class to hear
you. Use your diaphragm (the muscle under your lungs that allows you to
breathe) to project your voice to the back of the classroom. Do not mumble or
talk to your bellybutton, and do not chew gum. Remember, most people are
lazy and will strain for only a short time to hear you if you are too quite. Relax
and speak at a normal pace with enough variation in intonation to keep your
audience’s interest.
G.
Make eye contact with the whole audience. Look at both sides of the room as
well as people in the front and people in the back. You are not just talking to
the teacher; you are talking to everyone. When you don’t look at people, they
start to feel left out and bored. Good eye contact includes removing any hat or
other article of clothing that interferes. Look at your notes as little as possible.
H.
Remember that you have a friendly and supportive audience. If you make a
mistake, just go on and don’t worry about it. We all make mistakes, and the
point is to learn from them. Everyone in the class wants you to succeed, so
relax and enjoy your chance to be the center of attention.
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