All academic research needs to be presented in front of a panel of distinguished supervisors, researchers as well as professors in order to gain interest for funding, the pursuit to dicovery and proving the thoeries presented as well as possibly making a change in the scientfic or technological community.
Remember! The ability to be effective in oral communication is a life skill. If you have not prepared yourself well enough it is not going to be easy for you to stand in front of the audience and deliver a speech with power and impact. To leave a lasting impression with others after you have spoken to them, you need to do your research and preparation well.
Preparing, Research and Writig a presentation
Structure: – A presentation has a simple structure, it consists of a: –
- Beginning – Introduction – You say what you are going to say.
- Body or middle – The detailed version – You say it again in much more detail.
- End – Conclusion – You say what you have already said.
A complete letter or a complete conversation, as you are going to have, must have an introduction, body and a conclusion.
- When you start with preparing your presentation it is advisable to start writing the body part first, as that is the part with all the details on what you are going to talk about. It will take one or many paragraphs depending on the amount of key issues / subordinate information you want to share with your audience.
- After knowing the topic, main focus and idea of what your presentation is going to be all about, and once you are aware of the most important points / key and subordinate issues, it is time to write your introduction (beginning). Your introduction has to be interesting and eye catching. You have to catch the attention of your audience right from the beginning and you want them to hang in there right until the end – the conclusion.
- The conclusion is the last part you can focus on as it is the summary of what you have just discussed. Summarize the main points and their findings. End the conclusion with an appeal of what you what your audience to do after you have completed the presentation.
In your conclusion there is no new information that has to be added.
When you are about to do your research, you must first think of the following:
- Decide on your TOPIC and MAIN IDEA and PURPOSES.
- Analyse the need of your AUDIENCE such as:
- Who are they? (demographics) – including their age, gender, culture, ethnic and racial background, income, race, position as leader, interests.
- How much do they know? – Consider their educational level, experiences and qualifications.
- Do they have social requirements? Beliefs, food preferences and other choices.
- What are they looking for? – Expectations.
- Employment – You might be interested in a particular line of work, or in people who are unemployed.
- Health – People at risk or experiencing high blood pressure, diabetes or an eating disorder. This can also include people that exercise regularly and eat healthily.
- Behaviours – You may be targeting your message / presentation to smokers, excessive drinkers, latecomers, procrastinators, or youth engaged in violence.
- Attitudes – Are you trying to change the minds of people or bring them to the next level of understanding?
- Geography – Where is it – is it the whole town or just one neighborhood.
- Decide on what you would like them to know at the end of the presentation.
What you want them to do or think about etc.
During the planning phase and use of the spider, and when you are familiar with all the above, you need to brainstorm your ideas of what you want to say using the ‘Mind map’.
Writing your presentation
- After brainstorming your ideas, select only the important ideas and key points by grouping them together according to the flow and transition of your speech. This is called prioritization: add it to your ‘Mind map’.
- Now write the body of your presentation with all the detail, bells and whistles. This will become your first draft.
- Remember this part is always the weakest part of your presentation; the speaker must constantly attract and re-attract the attention of the audience.
- Now write a catchy but memorable introduction by summarizing the body.
- Summarize the main points and their findings. End the conclusion with an appeal of what you what your audience to do after you have completed the presentation. In your conclusion there is no new information that has to be added.
- Read the first draft carefully so that you can make corrections.
- Edit and proofread your first draft and make the necessary changes. Correct spelling and grammar mistakes, punctuation etc.
- Re-write your presentation as the second draft and check it again and edit it if there is a need, until you are satisfied with it.
- Write your final presentation neatly and without any errors.
- Develop the audio-visual aids. (Power Point Slides and Videos etc.)
Note: – When writing a Paragraph:
We need to go through almost the same steps as when we write a document such as, for instance, a presentation – a paragraph will start off by mentioning the main point, and then the detail will follow describing the point you want to make, and then you will end it off by stressing the importance of the main point so as to conclude the paragraph.
When you are done writing make a checklist of the important things that your presentation should have, and check if everything is done.
Below is only an example of a checklist.
The beginning, the middle and the conclusion of your presentation
The beginning
This is where you decide on how you are going to begin your presentation after writing it down and preparing the slides.
Decide on how you are going to initiate or start your presentation:
- Are you going to start off your presentation by asking specific questions, and then continue with the presentation?
- Are you going to refer to current related events, things that are happening or something that was on the news the previous day, which relates to what you are going to talk about?
- Are you going to begin the discussion with an unusual statement, something that is totally off the point?
- Are you going to start by referring to a specific problem you or the company suffers at the moment?
- Are you going to start by showing a diagram, picture, object or statement (charts or diagrams)?
- Are you going to state the main and key points of the presentation?
The above are powerful ways to start your presentation, to grab their interest, and to focus their attention on what is important and what will follow.
The beginning of a talk is very important as the listener will very quickly to make up their mind if they want to continue to listen or not.
The moment you start talking they are going to think and feel about what you are going to say. They will evaluate their interest in the subject, look at the situation and decide on what they are going to do – stay or leave. They start thinking of certain things: do they really want to be part of that presentation, will that be necessary for them, and what is in it for them.
This means that the beginning should really be something special, interesting, and positive, and must be in line with what you want your audience to hear.
Make sure you start off with a positive attitude, towards them and towards the subject in discussion. Show a willingness to share the information in the most delightful way, and if there are any questions make sure you listen actively and answer these to the satisfaction of the audience.
It is also important to know your subject and to be knowledgeable about what you are talking about: never under estimate your audience, as this will also have an effect on them.
The middle of your presentation
- Remember this is always the weakest part of your presentation. The speaker must constantly attract and re-attract the attention of the audience.
- Organize your presentation well and ensure a good flow of information and transition between the paragraphs.
- Ensure that all the material is presented in a coherent / logical way.
- Make sure you develop or use good audio-visual aids – with all the detailed information shown as main or key points to back up your presentation.
- Make it exciting and attractive for your audience.
- When they have a discussion with you, listen to them in an active way. Ensure you attend to all of them and make them feel important. Remember it is not about your speech, it is all about them and how they are going to enjoy your delivery of your speech.
The End
Make sure that you end off your presentation on a positive and high note and that your conclusion will uphold and leave a lasting impression with your audience.
The impact can be achieved by the following:
- Summarize the main points;
- End with an appeal for action – What do you expect the audience must do immediately after you presentation?
- Ask a challenging question;
- Use a quotation or statistic or a vivid illustration to sum up the main idea;
- Remind the audience why the main points are important.
Remember not to introduce new information at this stage; it would only confuse the audience.