Oral Communication

Objective

To provide experience and to encourage confidence in making oral presentations.

Background

Communicating information orally plays an important role in the undergraduate course. Project and laboratory work in the second, third, and fourth years is presented orally. Oral presentations are increasingly being used as part of job interviews and selection processes. Whatever future career is chosen, competence and confidence in making presentations is likely to be very important. Practice coupled with constructive feedback will build this competence and confidence.

To aid in the process of constructive feedback a self evaluation form (pdf, 32kB) is available for the presenter, and there is also an evaluation form (pdf, 23kB) for the audience.

Preparing content

Preparation is the key to a successful presentation, and it's important to allow sufficient time for it.

To plan a presentation, you need to have a clear picture of what you want to communicate, how you intend to achieve it, and the objective of the presentation, i.e. what constitutes a 'successful' presentation. The objective will depend on the purpose - a lecture has a different objective to a sales presentation, for example.

Once the presentation has been prepared, it should be rehearsed. The rehearsal can be used to check timings, and should be done with someone watching, in order that they can give constructive criticism. Notes can be used as a memory jogger about what points you want to expand on or explain further, rather than relying solely on any prepared slides.

Structure

A presentation should have:

  • A clear beginning. This should include a well-chosen title, your name, a clear statement of the objectives of the talk, and the area to be covered.
  • A clear and logical exposition. This should include an explanation of any equipment used, and of any science involved. Explain the science in simple terms where possible, rather than a detailed mathematical exposition.
  • A short summary.

Preparing slides

By slides, we are referring to materials created either on transparency or on a PC using PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress. A common mistake is to prepare too many slides - four to five for a ten minute talk should be sufficient. Some points to note are:

  • Use the first slide as a title slide. It should include the title of the talk, your name (and any co-workers), and the date and occasion of the talk. This can be very useful if an electronic version of the slides is stored or released via the internet because it gives a context to the presentation.
  • Use one slide per major area of interest.
  • Write clearly in a large font. Text should be legible from the back of the room. Try to summarise the points to be made and use this as a prompt to talk around when giving the presentation.
  • Never include large chunks of text and read it out. This is related to the point above. We want to avoid the 'speaking clock' syndrome where we're simply reading from the slide. It bores the audience and they can read faster than we can speak anyway.
  • Don't include complex mathematical derivations - emphasize the key points of mathematical arguments and quote the most important results.

Making a presentation

With the materials prepared and any lessons learnt from the rehearsal, the next step will be the live presentation. Things to bear in mind include:

  • It's normal to be nervous. Even experienced presenters will be nervous. Good preparation will reduce nervousness.
  • A presentation is a performance. Try to show some of your personality as well as the content.
  • Speak confidently with a natural voice. To relax yourself and aid voice production, scrunch your shoulders up around your ears for a few seconds and then drop them. Take a deep breath, breathe out fully, then take the breath to speak.
  • Put up the title slide before starting the presentation and ensure all of it can be seen by the audience. OHP slides can sometimes 'fall off' the bottom of the projection screen.
  • Face the audience and speak directly to them. Make eye contact with different members of the audience. Give the impression that you're speaking directly to each of them.
  • Try and avoid mannerisms ('umms' and 'ahhs'), cliches, and distracting body movements. The rehearsal is an important part of avoiding these.
  • Respond politely to questions from the audience. If the question makes it clear that someone has misunderstood something in the presentation then clarify the points without making them feel foolish for having asked - a 'stupid' question is often an indication that the presentation wasn't as clear as we thought it was.

Other resources

  • Advice on oral presentations.
    From the University of Birmingham 4S study skills site.
  • Martin Greenhow's study guide at Brunel University External link icon.
  • Advice on oral presentations from Online Technical Writing External link icon.