oral presentation about music

Presentation Skills

Presentation Guide

When preparing for a presentation start with a script, create slides and rehearse before giving your talk.

Guide for script writing:

1. Introduce the topic  - state your position, start with a hook. Engage with your audience and make them care.

2. Explain your idea  - clearly and with conviction       

3. Describe your evidence         

4. Call to Action  - how and why you are implementing your idea

5. Conclusion  - reveal the new reality, how the audience lives will be affected if they act on your idea.

(Wilkes, 2018) 

• Script Writing Example (Wilkes, 2018) Download this example script on the Physics of Car Safety.

Guide for creating a slide presentation:

1. Should I use slides ?  If slides clarify information use them but keep it simple.

2. What goes on the slide : - Images and photos to help the audience remember the person place or thing - Infographics - One point per slide - As little text as possible - No bullets points

3. Formatting the slide - Use consistent graphics and fonts - Use a common font like Helvetica or Verdana  - Font readable 42 points or larger

4. Reference material  - Images and text must be referenced

Modified from TedTalks Speakers Guide (2017).

(Mohylek, 2006)

Script Template

IB.ATL.COM.1.05 Use appropriate forms of writing for different purposes and audiences

• Script Template (Wilkes, 2018) Download and modify this template for your presentation script.

Speaking Guide

IB.ATL.COM.1.04 Use a variety of speaking techniques to communicate with a variety of audiences.

• Speaking Techniques for Delivering a Presentation (Skillsyouneed.com, 2017) Download guide for speaking techniques.

Additional Resources

Music Analysis: Oral Presentations

• Music Analysis
• Comparative Analysis
• Oral Presentations

What is an Oral Presentation?

Making a good oral presentation is an art that involves attention to the needs of your audience, careful planning, and attention to delivery. You can make an oral presentation for a number of reasons:

• to inform 
• to persuade
• to entertain

Terminology

Colloquialism

A colloquialism is a word, phrase, or other form used in informal language. Colloquialisms include words, phrases such as "raining cats and dogs" and "dead as a doornail"; and aphorisms such as "There's more than one way to skin a cat".

Voice Register

Fallseto - talking through nose and throat. Talking in a lower voice makes your presentation carry more weight.

The way that your voice feels. Rich smooth and warm.

Having a question sound like a statement or a statement sound like a question. Prosody is the patterns of stress, intonation and rhythm of oral language.

How fast or slow are you talking? Using silence to place emphases a point that you have just made. The audience will stop and think as well.

Same sentence can mean different things if you use a different pitch. 

Build your oral presentation skills

Tips and Hints

• Tips on How to Deliver a Speech for School or Work
• Top 10 Public Speaking Exercises Tips and hints to improve your public speaking skills
• ‘Picture Your Audience Naked,’ And Other Terrible Speaking Tips to Ignore
• 12 Ways to hook an audience in 30 seconds
• Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presentations

Watch " How to give a great TEDx talk" for some great tips on how to structure your talk.

Although the video is specifically geared towards delivering a TED talk, there is plenty for VCE students to take away.

• Make sure you use a strong opening hook .
• Order your points so they follow naturally in the sequence of your talk.
• Craft a great closing story with a call to action.
• Add images to help tighten transitions and augment your stories.
• Rehearse and practice in front of real audiences for several weeks

Click here for: Strategies for an effective oral presentation

Please visit your Teacher Librarians for help preparing your 'oral'. Don't leave a practice session to the last minute.  Come early and we can endorse or improve.   Teacher Librarians can help with: 

• Researching your topic
• proof reading your written piece
• practising your presentation
• presentation design
• moral support
• << Previous: Comparative Analysis
• Last Updated: Jul 5, 2020 2:31 PM
• URL: https://materchristi.libguides.com/musicanalysis

Get the Reddit app

Reddit’s #1 Music Community

Oral presentation on music (needing help)

So basically I have to do an oral on music. I didn't really know where to start but I figured out I could start by talking about its history. But my oral needs to be at least five minutes long and I don't want it to be boring. So, do you have any recommendations on things I could talk about? Like any stuff I could "teach" about music. (I don't play music that much so I can't just talk about music theory and all that stuff)

By continuing, you agree to our User Agreement and acknowledge that you understand the Privacy Policy .

Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app

You’ve set up two-factor authentication for this account.

Enter a 6-digit backup code

Create your username and password.

Reddit is anonymous, so your username is what you’ll go by here. Choose wisely—because once you get a name, you can’t change it.

Reset your password

Enter your email address or username and we’ll send you a link to reset your password

Check your inbox

An email with a link to reset your password was sent to the email address associated with your account

Choose a Reddit account to continue

Search form

Search This Site

Recipient Directory

• Getting Started
• Policies for Grants
• Double Hoo Award
• Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards
• Kenan Award
• University Undergraduate Award for Arts Projects
• URN Conference Grants
• USOAR Program
• UVA Summer Programs
• Other Opportunities
• Faculty Support
• USOAR Mentor
• Presentation Format Details
• Information For Mentors

Oral Presentation Tips

• Poster Presentations
• Research Journals

How To Make an Oral Presentation of Your Research

You’ve been working on your research for months, and now that it’s finished, or almost there, you need to make an oral presentation. Perhaps you are applying to attend the ACC Meeting of the Minds undergraduate research conference. Maybe you would like to participate in the Undergraduate Research Symposium in the spring semester here at UVA. Here are some tips to help you bring order to the ideas swirling in your head—and communicate the key points about your research to an audience.

Timing. Find out how long your talk should be. As you decide what to present, keep in mind that a ten-minute talk is very different from a 45-minute lecture. If you only have ten minutes, you’ll need to focus on the most important points. With more time, you’ll still need to focus on those points, but you’ll be able to present additional supporting detail. Time yourself giving your talk, and make cuts if you need to. It is fine to end a bit early. Going overtime shows your lack of preparation.

Audience. Find out what sort of audience will listen to your talk. Specialists in your field will bring a different sort of understanding to your presentation from a general audience; you may be able to use certain technical terms without defining them, but always beware of jargon and acronyms. With a general audience, you need to ask yourself what educated people not in your field will know, define any terms that may be unfamiliar to them, and make an effort to explain the significance of your research in terms the listeners are likely to understand.

Content. Students often think they need to explain every single thing they know or be perceived as knowing too little. This is not true. Giving a talk is a great opportunity to think about the big picture rather than focusing on details. This can be hard if you are immersed in the specifics of your project.

Step back for a moment to before you became the expert on your particular topic. What piqued your interest? Why did you start asking the questions you asked? Now step into the future. When you look back on this research, what will you remember as the most interesting or compelling thing you learned? Were there surprises?

Now you are ready to ask yourself: What are the points I want to convey? What do I want the audience to learn? When audience members remember my talk the following day, what main point do I want them to remember?

• introduce yourself;
• present your research question and why it matters;
• describe how you conducted your research,
• explain what you found out and what it means; and
• conclude with a summary of your main points.

Depending on your topic, you may need to provide background information so that the audience understands the significance of your inquiry. Be judicious in the amount of information you give, and do not let this discussion get you off track. Once you’ve provided sufficient background, bring the focus back to your research by reminding the audience of your research question.

Do not even think of opening PowerPoint until you have organized your ideas and decided on your main points. If you need guidance, see below for a sample oral presentation outline.

PowerPoint. You should treat PowerPoint as a useful tool. You can use it to incorporate images into your presentation , to emphasize important points , and to guide your audience in following your argument . You should not use it for anything else.

This means:

Don’t present too much information on the slides. The audience cannot read a long section of text and simultaneously listen to you speak about it. If you really must provide a long quotation, then highlight the words and phrases you want to emphasize, and read the quote out loud, slowly, so the audience can absorb it.

Do explain to your audience what each chart or graph indicates. Use charts and graphs to convey information clearly, not simply to show that you did the work.

Don’t spend extra time on making a fancy PowerPoint presentation with moving images and graphics unless they are vital for communicating your ideas.

Do be prepared to give your talk even if technology fails. If your charts don’t look quite right on the screen, or you forget your flash drive, or there’s a power outage, or half the audience can’t see the screen, you should still be able to make an effective presentation. (Bring a printout to speak from, just in case any of these disasters befalls you.)

Tone. It is best to approach your prepared talk as a somewhat formal occasion. Treat your audience—and your topic—with respect. Even if you know everyone in the room, introduce yourself. Don’t address audience members as “you guys.” Dress neatly. Most of all, share your enthusiasm for your subject.

Practice speaking slowly and clearly. If you want to emphasize an important point, repeat it. Practice speaking slowly and clearly.

You don’t need to read your talk, and in fact you should avoid doing so. But you should speak it out loud enough times that you know when there are points that tend to trip you up, where you might have a tendency to throw in something new and get off track, and whether some of your transitions are not smooth enough.

And, of course, time yourself. Make cuts if you need to.

Practice again.

Sample Oral Presentation Outline

Introduction Hello, my name is ____.  I am a ___-year student at the University of Virginia majoring in ____.  I’m going to talk to you today about my research on _____. 

Context of research

• I had the opportunity to join Professor ____’s lab, where the research focus is____.
• This is research for my Distinguished Majors thesis….
• I got interested in this area because ….

Research question and significance

• I wanted to find out _______[insert your research question].
• This is an important question because _____. OR This question interested me because ______.

Research methods/design

• I thought the best way to answer this question would be by ______. 
• I chose this method because….

Research activity Here’s what I did:  _______.

Results Here’s what I found out:  ______.

Significance of results/where this research might lead

• This result matters because….
• Now that I’ve learned this, I see that some other questions to ask are….

Conclusion/Summary of main points I set out to answer ______ [research question] by _______ [research methods].  And I discovered that ______ [brief statement of results].  This was interesting because _____ [significance]/This will help us understand ____.<

Acknowledgments

• I am grateful to my advisor, Professor _____, for her guidance.…
• My work was supported by a _____ award.  OR I’d like to thank the ____ Family for their generosity.

Questions I would be happy to take your questions.

Presentation Background Music Free Download . 83 tracks

Presentation background music works great in slide-shows, PowerPoint (ppt), education, class and school presentations or training tutorial videos.

Related tags

Search Music

Questions? check the Frequently Asked Questions page. * All the rights for these music tracks belong to their authors who let their music free use in exchange for crediting them in your project (except works that are in the public domain - no credit is required). We advise you to check the licence details in each track page.

• - Google Chrome

Intended for healthcare professionals

• My email alerts
• BMA member login
• Username * Password * Forgot your log in details? Need to activate BMA Member Log In Log in via OpenAthens Log in via your institution

Search form

• Advanced search
• Search responses
• Search blogs
• How to prepare and...

How to prepare and deliver an effective oral presentation

• Related content
• Peer review
• Lucia Hartigan , registrar 1 ,
• Fionnuala Mone , fellow in maternal fetal medicine 1 ,
• Mary Higgins , consultant obstetrician 2
• 1 National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
• 2 National Maternity Hospital, Dublin; Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medicine and Medical Sciences, University College Dublin
• luciahartigan{at}hotmail.com

The success of an oral presentation lies in the speaker’s ability to transmit information to the audience. Lucia Hartigan and colleagues describe what they have learnt about delivering an effective scientific oral presentation from their own experiences, and their mistakes

The objective of an oral presentation is to portray large amounts of often complex information in a clear, bite sized fashion. Although some of the success lies in the content, the rest lies in the speaker’s skills in transmitting the information to the audience. 1

Preparation

It is important to be as well prepared as possible. Look at the venue in person, and find out the time allowed for your presentation and for questions, and the size of the audience and their backgrounds, which will allow the presentation to be pitched at the appropriate level.

See what the ambience and temperature are like and check that the format of your presentation is compatible with the available computer. This is particularly important when embedding videos. Before you begin, look at the video on stand-by and make sure the lights are dimmed and the speakers are functioning.

For visual aids, Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Mac Keynote programmes are usual, although Prezi is increasing in popularity. Save the presentation on a USB stick, with email or cloud storage backup to avoid last minute disasters.

When preparing the presentation, start with an opening slide containing the title of the study, your name, and the date. Begin by addressing and thanking the audience and the organisation that has invited you to speak. Typically, the format includes background, study aims, methodology, results, strengths and weaknesses of the study, and conclusions.

If the study takes a lecturing format, consider including “any questions?” on a slide before you conclude, which will allow the audience to remember the take home messages. Ideally, the audience should remember three of the main points from the presentation. 2

Have a maximum of four short points per slide. If you can display something as a diagram, video, or a graph, use this instead of text and talk around it.

Animation is available in both Microsoft PowerPoint and the Apple Mac Keynote programme, and its use in presentations has been demonstrated to assist in the retention and recall of facts. 3 Do not overuse it, though, as it could make you appear unprofessional. If you show a video or diagram don’t just sit back—use a laser pointer to explain what is happening.

Rehearse your presentation in front of at least one person. Request feedback and amend accordingly. If possible, practise in the venue itself so things will not be unfamiliar on the day. If you appear comfortable, the audience will feel comfortable. Ask colleagues and seniors what questions they would ask and prepare responses to these questions.

It is important to dress appropriately, stand up straight, and project your voice towards the back of the room. Practise using a microphone, or any other presentation aids, in advance. If you don’t have your own presenting style, think of the style of inspirational scientific speakers you have seen and imitate it.

Try to present slides at the rate of around one slide a minute. If you talk too much, you will lose your audience’s attention. The slides or videos should be an adjunct to your presentation, so do not hide behind them, and be proud of the work you are presenting. You should avoid reading the wording on the slides, but instead talk around the content on them.

Maintain eye contact with the audience and remember to smile and pause after each comment, giving your nerves time to settle. Speak slowly and concisely, highlighting key points.

Do not assume that the audience is completely familiar with the topic you are passionate about, but don’t patronise them either. Use every presentation as an opportunity to teach, even your seniors. The information you are presenting may be new to them, but it is always important to know your audience’s background. You can then ensure you do not patronise world experts.

To maintain the audience’s attention, vary the tone and inflection of your voice. If appropriate, use humour, though you should run any comments or jokes past others beforehand and make sure they are culturally appropriate. Check every now and again that the audience is following and offer them the opportunity to ask questions.

Finishing up is the most important part, as this is when you send your take home message with the audience. Slow down, even though time is important at this stage. Conclude with the three key points from the study and leave the slide up for a further few seconds. Do not ramble on. Give the audience a chance to digest the presentation. Conclude by acknowledging those who assisted you in the study, and thank the audience and organisation. If you are presenting in North America, it is usual practice to conclude with an image of the team. If you wish to show references, insert a text box on the appropriate slide with the primary author, year, and paper, although this is not always required.

Answering questions can often feel like the most daunting part, but don’t look upon this as negative. Assume that the audience has listened and is interested in your research. Listen carefully, and if you are unsure about what someone is saying, ask for the question to be rephrased. Thank the audience member for asking the question and keep responses brief and concise. If you are unsure of the answer you can say that the questioner has raised an interesting point that you will have to investigate further. Have someone in the audience who will write down the questions for you, and remember that this is effectively free peer review.

Be proud of your achievements and try to do justice to the work that you and the rest of your group have done. You deserve to be up on that stage, so show off what you have achieved.

Competing interests: We have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: None.

• ↵ Rovira A, Auger C, Naidich TP. How to prepare an oral presentation and a conference. Radiologica 2013 ; 55 (suppl 1): 2 -7S. OpenUrl
• ↵ Bourne PE. Ten simple rules for making good oral presentations. PLos Comput Biol 2007 ; 3 : e77 . OpenUrl PubMed
• ↵ Naqvi SH, Mobasher F, Afzal MA, Umair M, Kohli AN, Bukhari MH. Effectiveness of teaching methods in a medical institute: perceptions of medical students to teaching aids. J Pak Med Assoc 2013 ; 63 : 859 -64. OpenUrl

Helpful Test

English sba on positive effects of dancehall music.

NOTE: This SBA is a sample/Guide and should NOT be copied and submitted as your own work

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements……………………………………………..……ii

Plan of Investigation……………………………………….…………

Indicators of Group Activity Scoring Rubric ……………………..…

Participation Measure Scoring Rubric …………………………….…

Written Report ………………………………………………………

The Reflection

First Entry – Thematic ……………………………………………….

Second Entry – Language Skills …………………………..…………

Third Entry – Process …………………………………….……….…

Oral Presentation Plan and Scoring Rubric ………….…….…………

Reference Page………………………………………………………

• Print Data ……………………………………………………
• Visual Data ………………………………………………….
• Audio Data ………………………………………………….

Group Materials

• Printed Data………………………………………………
• Visual Data……………………………………………….
• Audio Data………………………………………………..

Plan of investigation

My topic is the positives effects of dancehall music on secondary students. The tasks to be done in completion of this research are: to find a suitable topic, collect three piece of material to support topic, a plan of investigation should be written, three reflection entries, copy of the final group report and a oral presentation will be done . My reasons for selecting this topic are it is interesting and in today’s society many people fail to look at the positive effect dancehall music has.

            My sources of data collected were an article from the gleaner online, a YouTube video and an image online these sources are secondary research. Some language skills used to analyze this data are correct language usage, summary writing, oral skill and paraphrasing.

            Some conclusion that maybe be obtained from this topic are positive dancehall music teaches and uplift. Secondary students can enjoy themselves with positive dancehall music. Three factors that can interfere with the validity finding of this research not enough information to carry out this research, plagiarism information may not be factual. I will conduct a thorough research to recognize to valid and peer reviewed sources to ensure all information gain is factual.

  Reflection #1

                                                   Thematic

My research topic is the positive effect of dancehall music of secondary students. This will reflect how dancehall music helps students positively even educationally. Some question I would like to be answered is: can dancehall music fun for teen? Will students gravitate to the positive lyrics of dancehall music if it is sung by their favorite artist?

The three pieces of material collected shaped my understanding to know that dancehall music can be positive to teens. Shown in my written article dancehall is now teaching teenagers’ maths and science. Subject that most persons have difficulty passing is a welcome positive. Students now have the chance to pass these subjects by singing these educationally catchy dancehall songs. Dancehall music uplifts students in school empowering them to aim high with the help of these artists seen in my audio. My visual data showed the importance of music and how it affects the well being of a child. In my three pieces collected each enhanced my topic and made it more factual relating to my topic.

Dancehall music can be positive to secondary students. Many people downgrade it yet never take the chance to look on the positive effect it has.

Reflection #2            

                                                Language skills

My written article entitled “the gleaner dancehall music helps to teach maths and science” the language contrast used was Standard English. In my picture entitled “music helps me to” the language used was Standard English. In my video entitled “I Octane school tour of the Guys Hill High School” the video showed a mixture of both Standard English and Jamaica Creole

The language use in my written piece is formal language. This use of language helped me to get a clearer understanding about what the author is saying. In my picture the author used formal language as well. My audio is informal.

The data that stood out more out of the three materials I have collected is the audio piece why?  Because I found it more interesting and it was easily understood. This video highlighted and explained my topic more. The mixture of the two contrasts along with jargons and slangs grasp.

Oral Presentation

Positive effects of dancehall music on students

Dancehall this beat!

This riveting pulsating beat

Look how the people moving their feet

Positive effects for the students yuh seet!

Even the teacher them a seet

Peace yuh want? Peace yuh need?

Dancehall promote unity for everybody fi real

Artistes come on please!

Sing positive tune fi the yute

And look how dem reciprocate and start dweet

Motivation is the key, play to chronix

And look how the school yute dem mind at ease

if yuh think a lie, check the  streets

Dancehall music tek nuff yute outta di scene

Concentration fi di yute dem believe!

Ask the dancers if learning one-two moves rope

Positive vibes the world need

And dancehall music clearly fit een

Dancer boy Trevor say it contribute to it

High grade and honor roll di dream!

Welcome to the site. Our aim is to help students improve in their studies/exams. We believe each students learn in a different and unique ways our website provides information on variety of learning techniques and subjects to boost a person skills area. We provide a wide range of questions and answers on the following subjects: Mathematics, English Language, Human and Social Biology, Social Studies, Principle of Accounts, Information Technology, Physics, Science, Biology, and Chemistry. Sample SBA, Exam tips, and much more. We aim to enable persons to practice a subject they might find challenging. All quizzes consist of mostly past paper questions, which will help persons to get better exam passes. We advise that participants continue to practice these quizzes to gain further knowledge. Motto: Helping you advance in learning one blog at a time!!!!

Square root

The digestive system, you may also like, how to study for your social studies exam, mathematics sba on lunch offered by school canteen, example of mathematics sba ideas and topic you..., mathematics terms, social studies sba on single parent ( complete..., social studies sba guideline, social studies sba on street children, social studies sba on unemployment, english language sba on dancehall music, social studies sba on poverty.

• Terms of Conditions
• Privacy Policy

Helpful Test Copyright @ 2022

LOGIN 

Annual Report

• Board of Directors
• Nomination Process
• Organizational Structure
• ATS Policies
• ATS Website
• MyATS Tutorial
• ATS Experts
• Press Releases

Member Newsletters

• ATS in the News
• ATS Conference News
• Embargo Policy

ATS Social Media

Breathe easy podcasts, ethics & coi, health equity, industry resources.

• Value of Collaboration
• Corporate Members
• Advertising Opportunities
• Clinical Trials
• Financial Disclosure

In Memoriam

Global health.

• International Trainee Scholarships (ITS)
• MECOR Program
• Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS)
• 2019 Latin American Critical Care Conference

Peer Organizations

Careers at ats, affordable care act, ats comments and testimony, forum of international respiratory societies, tobacco control, tuberculosis, washington letter.

• Clinical Resources
• ATS Quick Hits
• Asthma Center

Best of ATS Video Lecture Series

• Coronavirus
• Critical Care
• Disaster Related Resources
• Disease Related Resources
• Resources for Patients
• Resources for Practices
• Vaccine Resource Center
• Career Development
• Resident & Medical Students
• Junior Faculty
• Training Program Directors
• ATS Reading List
• ATS Scholarships
• ATS Virtual Network

ATS Podcasts

• ATS Webinars
• Professional Accreditation

Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT)

• Calendar of Events

Patient Resources

• Asthma Today
• Breathing in America
• Fact Sheets: A-Z
• Fact Sheets: Topic Specific
• Patient Videos
• Other Patient Resources

Lung Disease Week

Public advisory roundtable.

• PAR Publications
• PAR at the ATS Conference

Assemblies & Sections

• Abstract Scholarships
• ATS Mentoring Programs
• ATS Official Documents
• ATS Interest Groups
• Genetics and Genomics
• Medical Education
• Terrorism and Inhalation Disasters
• Allergy, Immunology & Inflammation
• Behavioral Science and Health Services Research
• Clinical Problems
• Environmental, Occupational & Population Health
• Pulmonary Circulation
• Pulmonary Infections and Tuberculosis
• Pulmonary Rehabilitation
• Respiratory Cell & Molecular Biology
• Respiratory Structure & Function
• Sleep & Respiratory Neurobiology
• Thoracic Oncology
• Joint ATS/CHEST Clinical Practice Committee
• Clinicians Advisory
• Council of Chapter Representatives
• Documents Development and Implementation
• Drug/Device Discovery and Development
• Environmental Health Policy
• Ethics and Conflict of Interest
• Health Equity and Diversity Committee
• Health Policy
• International Conference Committee
• International Health
• Members In Transition and Training
• View more...
• Membership Benefits
• Categories & Fees
• Special Membership Programs
• Renew Your Membership
• Update Your Profile
• ATS DocMatter Community
• Respiratory Medicine Book Series
• Elizabeth A. Rich, MD Award
• Member Directory
• ATS Career Center
• Welcome Trainees
• ATS Wellness
• Thoracic Society Chapters
• Chapter Publications
• CME Sponsorship

Corporate Membership

Webinars and podcasts, professionals.

• Respiratory Health Awards
• Clinicians Chat
• Ethics and COI
• Pulmonary Function Testing
• ATS Resources
• Live from the CCD
• Pediatric Division Directors

Date: February 17, 2021

Host: Christine Freeman, PhD, University of Michigan

Faculty Expert Panel:  Robert (Bob) Dickson, MD, University of Michigan

Oral presentations are an important tool to communicate research results and are also essential for career growth.  If you have ever felt uninspired by your PowerPoint presentations or are looking for a way to deliver content more effectively, this webinar will help you gain the skills to deliver an impactful and engaging oral presentation.

• Grab em By the Throat: How to Give a Great Oral Presentation
• Slide Design Tips

The American Thoracic Society improves global health by advancing research, patient care, and public health in pulmonary disease, critical illness, and sleep disorders. Founded in 1905 to combat TB, the ATS has grown to tackle asthma, COPD, lung cancer, sepsis, acute respiratory distress, and sleep apnea, among other diseases.

AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY 25 Broadway New York, NY 10004 United States of America Phone: +1 (212) 315-8600 Fax: +1 (212) 315-6498 Email: [email protected]

Privacy Statement | Term of Use | COI Conference Code of Conduct

This page has been archived and is no longer updated

Oral Presentation Structure

Finally, presentations normally include interaction in the form of questions and answers. This is a great opportunity to provide whatever additional information the audience desires. For fear of omitting something important, most speakers try to say too much in their presentations. A better approach is to be selective in the presentation itself and to allow enough time for questions and answers and, of course, to prepare well by anticipating the questions the audience might have.

As a consequence, and even more strongly than papers, presentations can usefully break the chronology typically used for reporting research. Instead of presenting everything that was done in the order in which it was done, a presentation should focus on getting a main message across in theorem-proof fashion — that is, by stating this message early and then presenting evidence to support it. Identifying this main message early in the preparation process is the key to being selective in your presentation. For example, when reporting on materials and methods, include only those details you think will help convince the audience of your main message — usually little, and sometimes nothing at all.

The opening

• The context as such is best replaced by an attention getter , which is a way to both get everyone's attention fast and link the topic with what the audience already knows (this link provides a more audience-specific form of context).
• The object of the document is here best called the preview because it outlines the body of the presentation. Still, the aim of this element is unchanged — namely, preparing the audience for the structure of the body.
• The opening of a presentation can best state the presentation's main message , just before the preview. The main message is the one sentence you want your audience to remember, if they remember only one. It is your main conclusion, perhaps stated in slightly less technical detail than at the end of your presentation.

In other words, include the following five items in your opening: attention getter , need , task , main message , and preview .

Even if you think of your presentation's body as a tree, you will still deliver the body as a sequence in time — unavoidably, one of your main points will come first, one will come second, and so on. Organize your main points and subpoints into a logical sequence, and reveal this sequence and its logic to your audience with transitions between points and between subpoints. As a rule, place your strongest arguments first and last, and place any weaker arguments between these stronger ones.

The closing

After supporting your main message with evidence in the body, wrap up your oral presentation in three steps: a review , a conclusion , and a close . First, review the main points in your body to help the audience remember them and to prepare the audience for your conclusion. Next, conclude by restating your main message (in more detail now that the audience has heard the body) and complementing it with any other interpretations of your findings. Finally, close the presentation by indicating elegantly and unambiguously to your audience that these are your last words.

Starting and ending forcefully

Revealing your presentation's structure.

To be able to give their full attention to content, audience members need structure — in other words, they need a map of some sort (a table of contents, an object of the document, a preview), and they need to know at any time where they are on that map. A written document includes many visual clues to its structure: section headings, blank lines or indentations indicating paragraphs, and so on. In contrast, an oral presentation has few visual clues. Therefore, even when it is well structured, attendees may easily get lost because they do not see this structure. As a speaker, make sure you reveal your presentation's structure to the audience, with a preview , transitions , and a review .

The preview provides the audience with a map. As in a paper, it usefully comes at the end of the opening (not too early, that is) and outlines the body, not the entire presentation. In other words, it needs to include neither the introduction (which has already been delivered) nor the conclusion (which is obvious). In a presentation with slides, it can usefully show the structure of the body on screen. A slide alone is not enough, however: You must also verbally explain the logic of the body. In addition, the preview should be limited to the main points of the presentation; subpoints can be previewed, if needed, at the beginning of each main point.

Transitions are crucial elements for revealing a presentation's structure, yet they are often underestimated. As a speaker, you obviously know when you are moving from one main point of a presentation to another — but for attendees, these shifts are never obvious. Often, attendees are so involved with a presentation's content that they have no mental attention left to guess at its structure. Tell them where you are in the course of a presentation, while linking the points. One way to do so is to wrap up one point then announce the next by creating a need for it: "So, this is the microstructure we observe consistently in the absence of annealing. But how does it change if we anneal the sample at 450°C for an hour or more? That's my next point. Here is . . . "

Similarly, a review of the body plays an important double role. First, while a good body helps attendees understand the evidence, a review helps them remember it. Second, by recapitulating all the evidence, the review effectively prepares attendees for the conclusion. Accordingly, make time for a review: Resist the temptation to try to say too much, so that you are forced to rush — and to sacrifice the review — at the end.

Ideally, your preview, transitions, and review are well integrated into the presentation. As a counterexample, a preview that says, "First, I am going to talk about . . . , then I will say a few words about . . . and finally . . . " is self-centered and mechanical: It does not tell a story. Instead, include your audience (perhaps with a collective we ) and show the logic of your structure in view of your main message.

This page appears in the following eBook

Topic rooms within Scientific Communication

Within this Subject (22)

• Communicating as a Scientist (3)
• Papers (4)
• Correspondence (5)
• Presentations (4)
• Conferences (3)
• Classrooms (3)

Other Topic Rooms

• Gene Inheritance and Transmission
• Gene Expression and Regulation
• Nucleic Acid Structure and Function
• Chromosomes and Cytogenetics
• Evolutionary Genetics
• Population and Quantitative Genetics
• Genes and Disease
• Genetics and Society
• Cell Origins and Metabolism
• Proteins and Gene Expression
• Subcellular Compartments
• Cell Communication
• Cell Cycle and Cell Division

© 2014 Nature Education

• Press Room |
• Terms of Use |
• Privacy Notice |

Visual Browse

Main Navigation

• Contact NeurIPS
• Code of Ethics
• Code of Conduct
• Create Profile
• Journal To Conference Track
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Proceedings
• Future Meetings
• Exhibitor Information
• Privacy Policy

NeurIPS 2024, the Thirty-eighth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, will be held at the Vancouver Convention Center

Monday Dec 9 through Sunday Dec 15. Monday is an industry expo.

Registration

Pricing » Registration 2024 Registration Cancellation Policy »

Conference Hotels NeurIPS has contracted Hotel guest rooms for the Conference at group pricing, requiring reservations only through this page. Please do not make room reservations through any other channel, as it only impedes us from putting on the best Conference for you. We thank you for your assistance in helping us protect the NeurIPS conference.

Announcements

• See the Visa Information page for changes to the visa process for 2024.
• The  accepted competitions  have been released.

Latest NeurIPS Blog Entries [ All Entries ]

Important Dates

If you have questions about supporting the conference, please contact us .

View NeurIPS 2024 exhibitors » Become an 2024 Exhibitor Exhibitor Info »

Organizing Committee

General chair, program chair, workshop chair, workshop chair assistant, tutorial chair, competition chair, data and benchmark chair, diversity, inclusion and accessibility chair, affinity chair, ethics review chair, communication chair, social chair, journal chair, creative ai chair, workflow manager, logistics and it, mission statement.

The Neural Information Processing Systems Foundation is a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to foster the exchange of research advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, principally by hosting an annual interdisciplinary academic conference with the highest ethical standards for a diverse and inclusive community.

About the Conference

The conference was founded in 1987 and is now a multi-track interdisciplinary annual meeting that includes invited talks, demonstrations, symposia, and oral and poster presentations of refereed papers. Along with the conference is a professional exposition focusing on machine learning in practice, a series of tutorials, and topical workshops that provide a less formal setting for the exchange of ideas.

More about the Neural Information Processing Systems foundation »