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Organise the Presentation Material

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Regardless of whether your presentation is going to be delivered formally, such as at work or informally, for a club or perhaps a Best Man's speech. You should always aim to give a clear, well-structured delivery.  That is, you should know exactly what you want to say and the order in which you want to say it. 

Having thought about and planned a good structure will also help to alleviate any nervousness you may be feeling in the build up to your talk.

Clarity of ideas and good organisation should help result in a lively, logical and compelling message, delivered in a confident and professional way

Organising the presentation material may include:

• Blue Sky Thinking (the ideas).
• Selecting the main points.
• Deciding whether to illustrate.
• Introduction and conclusion.

Blue Sky Thinking (The Ideas)

Keeping your objectives in mind ( see our page: Preparing Your Presentation ), write down all the points you wish to make, irrespective of order.

For an introduction to Blue Sky Thinking, see our section on Brainstorming - part of our guide to problem solving.

Select Your Main Points

The talk/presentation should be divided into three sections:

• Introduction (beginning)
• Main Content (middle)
• Conclusion (end)

A useful structure would be the following:

Tell the audience in the introduction what your subject is and how you have organised the presentation (by stating the key elements).

Then tell them the details of the key elements and/or messages (by expanding and qualifying the key points in more detail and providing supporting evidence).

Then tell the audience what you have just told them (by summarising the key points, concluding with the main subject again).

Work on the main content first.

From your notes decide on the most important things that need to be said. If you have too much material, be selective.

As a guide:

3 key points are sufficient for a 10-15 minute presentation.

6 key points are sufficient for a 30 minute presentation.

8 key points are sufficient for a 45 minute presentation.

Arrange the key points in logical order and expand them with supporting material - discussion, argument, analysis and appeal.  If you are hoping to persuade people then it is advisable to address potential objections within the presentation so that you present a reasoned, well-balanced view.

Decide Whether to Illustrate

Most talks benefit from personal anecdotes, real-life situations or hypothetical examples to bring them to life. 

If the presentation is short and informal it is probably not necessary to use any visual aids.  Use visual illustrations if anything requires expanding, clarifying or simplifying.  Illustrations of any type should be relevant and fully explained.  Bear in mind that a talk will last longer if visual aids are used.

PowerPoint or other presentation software is often used to support a presentation, although care needs to be taken to ensure that this technology aids the presentation and does not detract from the main essence of your talk. Do not use visual aids or PowerPoint just for the sake of it or to show off your technological prowess, there is nothing more distracting than whizzy and pointless PowerPoint animations in a presentation.

See our page: Visual Aids for more information.

Introduction and Conclusion

The introduction should give a preview of what you are going to say and should gain the attention of the listeners with a statement of purpose.  Make it clear whether you wish to accept questions as they arise during the presentation, thereby breaking your flow and risk being side-tracked, or will invite questions at the end.

The conclusion should repeat the main points but this time try to use different words and summarise the main point and argument.   End decisively, so that no-one is in any doubt that your presentation is finished. This is also the time to ask the audience whether they have any questions.

Continue to: Writing Your Presentation Working with Visual Aids

See also: Deciding the Presentation Method | Managing the Presentation Event Coping with Presentation Nerves | Dealing with Questions

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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Presenting Material in Multiple Ways

It is tempting, even natural, to want to present material exactly how you like to receive it, but if you do this you may be reaching only a small cohort of students. In reality, students receive and process information in a variety of ways. Lecturers may reach more students by varying the ways they present material and offering multiple entry points for complex concepts. In this video, Bob Kegan describes the range of tactics he uses to teach students in his large-enrollment lecture course.

Robert Kegan , William and Miriam Meehan Research Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development

Student Group

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Adult Development

~200 students

• Classroom Considerations
• Relevant Research
• Related Resources
• Consider what types of texts and learning activities could lend themselves well to your content area and help you illustrate key concepts in different ways. For example, general readings, visual aids, and activities such as role plays may complement more technical explanations of concepts in a textbook or journal.  
• Especially when it comes to complex content, aim to reinforce major points in multiple ways. Instead of just presenting material through a lecture, you might increase the likelihood of student understanding through metaphors, anecdotes, and illustrative case studies.
• Studies of the use of multiple representations in mathematics, science, and computer science demonstrate how multiple representation can be used to enhance learning ( Ainsworth, 1999 ; Ainsworth et al., 2009 ; Wood et al., 2007 )
• In “Lecture Preparation,” MIT professor Lorna Gibson uses anecdotes, images, and artwork to convey key ideas and concepts to her engineering students
• Two professors at the University of Iowa describe how “Teaching with Cartoons” helps students synthesize and convey complex ideas
• Vanderbilt University provides an overview of research on multiple intelligences but suggests it is more important to connect “Learning Styles” to disciplines, not specific activities

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Modeling Thought Processes and Sharing Personal Experience

Using Discussion Protocols

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How to Prepare for a Presentation, with Examples

February 15, 2021 - Dom Barnard

This guide covers everything you need to know to prepare for your presentation. including what you need to think about beforehand, during and after the presentation.

1. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse (always aloud)

Once you have your presentation worked out, you will need to practice it, but even though you might think it’s the best way to have a flawless presentation, don’t memorise what you’re going to say.

That might sound like incredibly bad advice, but here’s why:

• If you memorise your speech, you’ll get stuck in thinking you can only deliver your ideas in that way, and that stifles your creativity, and the chance for new thoughts and ways to put things that come up as you speak.

Not only that, but every  audience is different . Sometimes they laugh out loud, sometimes they sit and smile, and you never know which type of audience you’ll have until you’re live.

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If you’re going off a memorised presentation, it’s much more difficult to break away from that to go with the flow on the day, and respond naturally to your audience.

• If you forget your speech in the middle of it, you will be thrown, and you’ll have more chance of complete brain freeze, which really will knock your confidence.
• Memorising your presentation gives you a false sense of security, which could leave you high and dry if something goes wrong. If you’ve only got your memorised speech, for example, what will you do if your PowerPoint freezes or your props break, and you can’t do what you were going to do?

Rehearse in front of colleagues, friends, a mirror, in virtual reality – always aloud. Make sure you spend plenty of time practising your presentation, it will make you feel much more relaxed if you know your material.

Courses where you can rehearse with interactive exercises:

• Essential Public Speaking
• How to Present over Video

Video showing how you can prepare for your presentation using virtual reality.  Learn more about virtual reality training .

2. Memorise your opening line

Do, however, memorise your opening line. If you know how you’re going to begin, you’ll get a strong start and that will build your confidence.

Many speakers and stage actors find that the minute they’ve actually delivered their first line, the nerves are gone and they’re well into their stride.

3. Practise your speech from written notes

Writing your presentation out in your own handwriting will help you clarify your ideas and may well bring you new ones.

• How to Write a Speech to Engage your Audience

4. Practise presentation flow

As well as practising for the ideas and what you want to say, practise how you want your presentation to flow. Think of it almost as a symphony, with high points, slow movements and crescendos. If it’s important, think about how you want your audience to feel, what emotions you want them to have, and when.

5. The power of silence

Don’t be afraid to pause and use the power of silence. A good pause can have a huge emotional impact. It allows people to really absorb what you are saying and react, and it’s vital to pause if you’re using humour so that the next part of your presentation doesn’t get lost underneath people’s laughter.

For more on the ‘Power of the Pause’, watch this short from video Brian Tracy:  The Power of the Pause

• 10 Effective Ways to use Pauses in your Speech

6. Have a backup

There’s nothing worse than the projector dying or finding that your laptop won’t communicate with the projector for some reason. If you know you have a backup, even if it’s only a pre-prepared flip chart, you’ll feel better, and you’ll be more confident.

7. Arrive early

Following on from that, arrive at least half an hour early so you aren’t feeling rushed, and so you have time to check your equipment and get your notes laid out ready to go. That gives you time to breathe and relax before you go on, knowing everything is as set as it can be.

8. Use physical props for a demo

Use physical props, if possible, for a demo. This can make you stand out and be more memorable among all the other speakers who only use PowerPoint, and it can add greatly to the impact of your presentation.

Video showing an example of using physical props during a live demo.

9. Structure your presentation

First, find out how much time you have to present, is it 10 minutes, 15, an hour? Prepare enough material for this time and have a couple of extra slides as backup – we tend to speak much quicker when nervous so you might find you finish your presentation too early. At some large conference events, timings may change on the day, be aware of this have a shorter version of your presentation in mind (i.e. know which slides to skip over).

• How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples
• Examples of Corporate Presentation Structures

10. Prepare for questions

Have a few backup slides for questions you think will arise from your presentation. It is sometime a tactic to explain a section briefly in your speech, so that you get a question about it afterwards. If you don’t understand the question, ask for it to be rephrased.

If there are no questions, it is not an indication how good or bad your presentation was. You many have explain your material extremely well, or simply that people are tired at the end of the day and want to go home.

• Guide for Handling Questions after a Presentation

11. Prepare for where you are presenting

If you can, go to the room you are speaking in before the actual event. It gives you an idea of furniture layout, podium height, location, room size, audience size and lighting. You can then visualise the room while practising and avoid the shock of suddenly being faced with a huge room when you expected a tiny one.

Ask the organiser if you need any particular props, for example a table to help with your live demo.

Additional planning to think about before your presentation:

1. Purpose  – what outcome are we trying to achieve? How can results be measured? What will success look like?

2. Topic  – Novelty? Complexity? Technical?

3. People  – Who should attend? What do they already know? How are they going to help?

4. Timing  – When will it happen and how long will the presentation take?

5. Location  – Where will the presentation be held? Do you have access to the correct facilities for the presentation?

6. Papers  – Who is keeping minutes? Do you need to send out an agenda before the presentation? Background information required?

7. Visual aids  – Is a  projector required ? Boards?

8. Style  – Structure or unstructured, discussion style? How assertive should you be? How should the meeting items be organised?

12. Choose the signals to give to your audience

Before the presentation, think about these 5 topics:

• Eye contact
• Facial gestures
• Body language

Decide how you will use each of these to reinforce your message. Use the table below for help.

Additional courses to help you prepare for your presentation:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

Example from Steve Jobs

Think about these 10 techniques while you are preparing your presentation..

• Planning in Analog.  Tell a story, create stunning visuals and videos to complement video, use demonstrations and other speakers, keep the audience engaged.
• Creating a Twitter-Friendly Description  Single description sentence, condensed his message into 140 characters.
• Introduce the Enemy  Story needs villains or a problem to be solved. Jobs highlighted IBM and useless mobile phones (during iPhone release) as his villains.
• Focusing on Benefits  Keep reinforcing the benefits of your product, create top 10 lists, understand this is what customers care about.
• Sticking to Rule of Three  Classic Literary technique, things are best remembered and reinforced in threes. Read this article on  Literary Techniques  for more detail.
• Sell Dreams, Not Products  Create a vision people believe in, create a vision which will make people’s lives better
• Create Visual Slides  Use as few words as possible and use colourful graphics on the slide to highlight points.
• Make Numbers Meaningful  Compare large numbers to things people understand.
• Use Plain English  Use easy to say and easy to remember words, keep it simple.
• Large Reveals  Due to Apple secrecy, Jobs was able to deliver unexpected products to the world at his product launches.

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by Tom Rielly • June 15, 2020

Keeping your presentation visuals minimalistic, simple, and clear is just one important step to remember when designing a hit presentation. Leaving nothing to chance, great presenters prove quite methodical as they prepare. Here’s a checklist for everything you need to keep in mind before your next presentation:

1. Choose the right software for your needs

The easiest way to select the right presentation software for you is to simply find the one that is native to your device. For example, if you have a Mac, use Apple Keynote, if you work on Windows, use PowerPoint. Google Slides is recommended if you’re working with someone, as it makes collaboration very easy. Another software option is Prezi: a specialty tool called Prezi that creates a presentation using motion, zoom, and panning across one giant visual space.

2. Organize your files

As you develop your script and visuals, you will need to start assembling all the assets for your slides. Create a unique folder on your computer to hold these items. Keep the folder organized by media type (presentation drafts, photos, videos, scripts) and back them up frequently to the Cloud or external disk. Label each file with a specific descriptive name, e.g. “Susan Johnson singing magpie 2020”, as opposed to “IMG_4043.jpg”, which can make it confusing to find your assets. The more organized you are up front, the easier preparing for your presentation will be.

3. Prepare your presentation materials

Make sure your presentation materials (script, graphics, actual slides) are saved in at least two safe spots (for example, your computer and an external USB drive) and are backed-up frequently. If you are using an online presentation software, such as Google Slides, be sure to also download a copy of your presentation in case the internet connection is unreliable. Having all the individual assets on hand in addition to your presentation slides can be helpful if you experience tech issues before presenting, or if you need to make any last minute changes. Make sure to label your final presentation with the title and your name so it’s easy to find.

4. Practice, practice, practice!

Remember, practice makes perfect. People often run out of time making their presentations and have no time to practice. Most TED speakers practice at least ten times. Neuroscientist Jill-Bolte Taylor gave one of the most successful Talks in TED history with nearly 27 million views. How did she do it? She practiced her Talk over 40 times! By rehearsing multiple times you will naturally memorize your Talk, which means you won’t need note cards when you give your final presentation.

5. Do a final test run

Before presenting, make sure the equipment you need is working properly. It’s generally good practice to rehearse standing on the exact stage with the exact lighting using the exact computer that you will be using in your final presentation.

Here’s a quick checklist of what to look for when testing your equipment:

• If you're not using your own computer, the one provided might be slower and have trouble playing media. If you have videos or other media, make sure they play correctly
• Test the projector to make sure it’s HD
• Make sure images are clear
• Test the sound of any clips you use, as this is what goes wrong most frequently
• If you’re using a mic, test the volume

Don’t let technical issues or other blunders overshadow your presentation. By following these guidelines, and with a little preparation, you can engineer out the problems BEFORE they happen.

Ready to learn more about how to make your presentation even better? Get TED Masterclass and develop your ideas into TED-style talks

© 2024 TED Conferences, LLC. All rights reserved. Please note that the TED Talks Usage policy does not apply to this content and is not subject to our creative commons license.

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The word educate comes from Latin, meaning "to bring up, to rise, and to nourish, to train." To educate is an active enterprise. In comparison, the word  teach comes from German, meaning  "show, declare, warn, persuade." To teach is a more passive activity. 

The difference between these words, educate and teach, has resulted in many different instructional strategies, some more active and some more passive. The teacher has the option to choose one in order to successfully deliver content.

In choosing an active or passive instructional strategy, the teacher must also consider for other factors such as subject matter, the resources available, the time allotted for the lesson, and the background knowledge of the students. What follows is a list of ten instructional strategies that can be used to deliver content regardless of grade level or subject matter.

Lectures are instructor-centered forms of instruction given to a whole class. Lectures come in many different forms, some more effective than others. The least effective form of lecture involves a teacher reading from notes or the text without differentiating for student needs. This makes learning a passive activity and students may quickly lose interest.

The lecture is the most used strategy. An article  in "Science Educator" titled "Brain Research: Implications to Diverse Learners" (2005) notes:

"Although lecturing continues to be the most widely employed method in classrooms across the country, research on the way we learn indicates that lecturing is not always very effective."

Some dynamic teachers, however, lecture in a more free-form manner by including students or providing demonstrations. Some skilled lecturers have the ability to engage students using humor or insightful information.

The lecture is often coined as "direct instruction" which can be can be made into a more active instructional strategy when it is part of a mini- lesson .

The lecture portion of the mini-lesson is designed in a sequence where the teacher first makes a connection to previous lessons. Then the teacher delivers the content using a demonstration or a think-aloud . The lecture part of the mini-lesson is revisited after students have an opportunity for hands-on practice when the teacher restates the content one more time. 

Socratic Seminar

In a whole group discussion , the instructor and the students share the focus of the lesson. Typically a teacher presents information through questions and answers, trying to ensure that all students are involved in learning. Keeping all students on task, however, may be difficult with large class sizes. Teachers should be aware that using an instructional strategy of whole-class discussions may result in passive engagement for some students who may not participate .

To increase engagement, whole-class discussions may take several different forms. The Socratic seminar is where an instructor asks open-ended questions allowing students to respond and build on each others thinking. According to education researcher Grant  Wiggins , the Socratic seminar leads to more active learning when,

"...it becomes the student’s opportunity and responsibility to develop habits and skills that are traditionally reserved for the teacher."

One modification to the Socratic Seminar is the instructional strategy known as the fishbowl. In the fishbowl, a (smaller) inner circle of students respond to questions while a (larger) outer circle of students observes. In the fishbowl, the instructor participates as a moderator only.

Jigsaws and Small Groups

There are other forms of small group discussion. The most basic example is when the teacher breaks the class up into small groups and provides them with talking points that they must discuss. The teacher then walks around the room, checking on the information being shared and ensuring participation by all within the group. The teacher may ask students questions to ensure that everyone's voice is heard.

The Jigsaw is one modification on small group discussion that asks each student to become an expert on a particular topic and then share that knowledge by moving from one group to another. Each student expert then "teaches" the content to the members of each group. All members are responsible to learn all content from one another.

This method of discussion would work well, for example, when students have read an informational text in science or social studies and are sharing information to prepare for questions posed by the instructor. 

Literature circles are another instructional strategy that capitalizes on active small group discussions. Students respond to what they have read in structured groups designed to develop independence, responsibility, and ownership. Literature circles can be organized around one book or around a theme using many different texts.

Role Play or Debate

Roleplay is an active instructional strategy that has students take on different roles in a specific context as they explore and learn about the topic at hand. In many ways, role-play is similar to improvisation where each student is confident enough to offer an interpretation of a character or an idea without the benefit of a script. One example could be asking students to participate in a luncheon that is set in a historical period (ex: a Roaring 20s "Great Gatsby" party). 

In a foreign language class, students might take on the role of different speakers and use dialogues to help learn the language . It is important that the teacher has a firm plan for including and assessing the students based on their role-playing as more than participation.

The use of debates in the classroom can be an active strategy that strengthens skills of persuasion, organization, public speaking, research, teamwork, etiquette, and cooperation. Even in a polarized classroom, student emotions and biases can be addressed in a debate that begins in research. Teachers can foster critical thinking skills by requiring students to provide evidence to support their claims before any debate.

Hands-on or Simulation

Hands-on learning allows students to participate in an organized activity best evidenced in stations or science experiments. The arts (music, art, drama) and physical education are those recognized disciplines that require hands-on instruction.

Simulations are also hands-on but are different than role-playing. Simulations ask students to use what they have learned and their own intellect to work through an authentic problem or activity. Such simulations might be offered, for example, in a civics class where students create a model legislature in order to create and pass legislation. Another example is having students participate in a stock market game. Regardless of the kind of activity, a post-simulation discussion is important for assessing student understanding.

Because these kinds of active instructional strategies are engaging, students are motivated to participate. The lessons do require extensive preparation and also require the teacher to make clear how each student will be assessed for their participation and then be flexible with the results.

Software Program(s)

Teachers can use a variety of educational software on different platforms to deliver digital content for student learning. The software might be installed as an application or a program that students access on the internet. Different software programs are selected by the teacher for their content ( Newsela ) or for the features that allow students to engage ( Quizlet ) with the material.

Longterm instruction, a quarter or semester, can be delivered over software platforms online such as Odysseyware or Merlot . These platforms are curated by educators or researchers who provide specific subject materials, assessment, and support materials.

Short term instruction, such as a lesson, can be used to engage students in learning content through interactive games ( Kahoot !) or more passive activities such as reading texts.

Many software programs can collect data on student performance which can be used by teachers to inform instruction in areas of weakness.  This instructional strategy requires that teacher vets the materials or learns the software processes of the program in order to best use the data that records student performance.

Presentation Through Multimedia

Multimedia methods of presentation are passive methods of delivering content and include slideshows (Powerpoint) or movies. When creating presentations, teachers should be aware of the need to keep notes concise while including interesting and relevant images. If done well, a presentation is a kind of lecture that can be interesting and effective for student learning. 

Teachers may want to follow a 10/20/30 rule which means there are no more than 10  slides , the presentation is under 20 minutes, and the font is no smaller than 30 points. Presenters need to be aware that too many words on a slide can be confusing to some students or that reading every word on the slide aloud can be boring for an audience that can already read the material.

Movies present their own set of problems and concerns but can be extremely effective when teaching certain subjects. Teachers should consider the pros and cons of using movies before using them in the classroom.

Independent Reading and Work

Some topics lend themselves well to individual classroom reading time. For example, if students are studying a short story, a teacher might have them read in class and then stop them after a certain time to ask questions and check for understanding. However, it is important that the teacher is aware of student reading levels to make sure that students do not fall behind. Different leveled texts on the same content may be necessary.

Another method some teachers use is to have students select their own reading based on a research topic or simply on their interests. When students make their own choices in reading, they are more actively engaged. On independent reading  selections, teachers may want to use more generic questions to assess student understanding such as:

• What did the author say?
• What did the author mean?
• What words are the most important?

Research work in any subject area falls into this instructional strategy. 

Student Presentation

The instructional strategy of using student presentations as a way to present content to the class as a whole can be a fun and engaging method of instruction. For example, teachers can divide up a chapter into topics and have the students "teach" the class by presenting their "expert" analysis. This is similar to the Jigsaw strategy used in small group work.

Another way to organize student presentations is to hand out topics to students or groups and have them present information on each topic as a short presentation. This not only helps students learn the material in a deeper manner but also provides them with practice in public speaking. While this instructional strategy is largely passive for the student audience, the student presenting is an active demonstrating a high level of understanding.

Should students choose to use media, they should also adhere to the same recommendations that teachers should use with Powerpoint (ex: a 10/20/30 rule) or for films.

Flipped Classroom

Student use of all manner of digital devices (smartphones, laptops, i-Pads, Kindles) that allow access to content brought the beginning of the Flipped Classroom. More than a switch of homework to classwork, this relatively new instructional strategy is where the teacher moves the more passive elements of learning such as watching a powerpoint or reading a chapter, etc.as an activity outside of the classroom, usually the day or night before. This design of the flipped classroom is where valuable class time is available for more active forms of learning.

In flipped classrooms, one goal would be to guide students to make decisions on how to learn better on their own rather than having the teacher deliver information directly.

One source of materials for the flipped classroom is Khan Academy, This site originally began with videos that explained math concepts using the motto "Our mission is to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere."

Many students preparing for the SAT for college entry might be interested to know that if they are using Khan Academy, they are participating in a flipped classroom model.

• Whole Group Discussion Pros and Cons
• 6 Tips to Liven Up Your Lectures
• 10 Ways to Keep Your Class Interesting
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Lecturing
• Using Effective Instructional Strategies
• 6 Teaching Strategies to Differentiate Instruction
• 5 Keys to Being a Successful Teacher
• Topics for a Lesson Plan Template
• How to Facilitate Learning and Critical Thinking
• Teaching Strategies to Promote Student Equity and Engagement
• Strategies for Teachers to Develop Positive Relationships With Students
• The Pros and Cons of Block Schedules
• How to Make Lesson Plans for Adult Students
• Strategies for Teachers: The Power of Preparation and Planning
• 5 Free Assessment Apps for Teachers
• Standard Lesson Plan Format for ESL Teachers

13 Best Practice Tips for Effective Presentation Handouts

by Olivia Mitchell | 75 comments

Your presentation handout is the lasting concrete manifestation of your presentation. It’s an important part of the total experience for the audience:

But most of us focus on preparing what happens during the presentation, not what happens afterwards . Here are the benefits of having handouts:

Benefits for the presenter

• They allow you to cut down on the amount of material you cover in your presentation and so not commit information overload .
• They allow you to stop worrying about forgetting what you want to say .
• Audience members will have a concrete reminder making your presentation more memorable.
• Audience members can easily contact you later.

Benefits for audience members

• They allow audience members to relax about having to note down what you’re saying.
• If they like taking notes, they’ve got a place to do it.
• If they’re inspired by your topic, they’ve got more information on it.
• If they want to refresh themselves later on what you covered they’ve got a place to go.

Tips for Presentation Handouts

1. prepare your handouts in plenty of time.

Don’t leave it till the last moment to create your handout. I’ve been guilty of this. We’re most concerned about the actual presentation and not making a fool of ourselves up on the stage so you work on what you’re going to say and the slides, and then 30 mins before your presentation you realise you should have a handout and hurriedly put something together. Handouts are much too important to be relegated to an afterthought.

2. Don’t just print out your slides

This is lazy and not effective. If your slides are bullet-point slides (not recommended) then they will often be cut-down sentences which will no longer make sense to the reader a week later. And if they are visual slides (recommended) then they’re also unlikely to make sense without additional text. If you’re presenting with visual PowerPoint slides, one of the easiest ways of creating a handout is to type the text of the handout in the “Notes” pane of the PowerPoint edit screen. Then print your slides as “Notes”. You’ll have an effective handout.

3. Ensure your handout reflects your presentation

An audience member should be able to relate the handout to the presentation they’ve just attended. If you use the Notes pane of PowerPoint as I’ve suggested above this will happen naturally as you’ll be guided by the visuals you’re using in the presentation. You handout should have the same title as your presentation and should follow the same structure so that audience members can easily find the information they want.

4. Add more information

Presentations are not a good format for transferring a lot of information . However, they are good for inspiring people to find out more about a topic. That extra information can be in the handout. And if you’re the sort of person who wants to tell the audience everything you know about the topic… you can put it in the handout.

5. Include references

If you’re citing research do include the references in the handout. For most presentations (scientific presentations to a scientific audience would be an exception), don’t clutter up your presentation or your slides with references. But do be able to say: “The reference for this research is in your handout.” Let your audience know where they can find out more: books, websites, blogs etc.

6. Consider creating an action sheet

Handouts are a great place to help people put ideas from your presentation into action. You could either list a series of actions that people can take, or provide a worksheet that people fill in on what actions they will take as a result of your presentation. Have people fill in the action sheet near the end of your presentation.

7. Make your handout stand-alone

The handout may be passed onto people who were not at your presentation. Or an audience member may look at it a year from now when they’ve forgotten most of your presentation. Make sure that it will make sense to them. For people who weren’t present include brief credibility-establishing information about you.

8. Provide white space

Some people like to take notes during a presentation. Provide plenty of white space (or even some blank pages at the back) so that they can take notes on the handout and so keep all the information related to your presentation in one place.

9. Make your handout look professional

The handout is the concrete reminder of your presentation. It may also get passed onto other people who were not at your presentation. So it should enhance the perception people have of you:

• Have someone proofread it
• Create a consistent look and feel with your brand (this may include a logo and colors)

10. Consider what additional resources you can provide for your audience

You’re not limited to paper. My bioethics teacher friend who presents at bioethics and education conferences across the globe provides each of her attendees with a DVD with lesson plans and resources.

11. Consider creating a webpage

Cliff Atkinson suggests creating a “home page” for your presentation in his book The Backchannel . If you don’t have a website, you could create a squidoo lens or a Facebook Fan page . Or if you’d like to do more than that, create a wiki website (try pbworks or wikispaces ) or use blog software. Both of these can be done for free and just a little technical courage (techphobics shouldn’t try this). All of these options allow readers to comment on what you’ve written, so it’s a great way of continuing the conversation with audience members. For instance, audience members can ask you questions they weren’t able to ask at the time.

If you decide to go the web way, you can cut down the hard copy handout to one page with the most important points from your presentation, your contact details and the web address.

12. Distribute the handout at the beginning of your presentation

This is a perennial topic of debate amongst presenters. Some people are concerned that if they distribute the handout first, people will stop listening and start leafing through it. The problem here is not the handout, it’s that your presentation is not engaging enough.

Not distributing it till after the presentation suggests that you think you know best how people should pay attention to your information. Let your audience decide for themselves.

Recent research suggests that providing handouts to university students before the lecture does not harm their learning.

Update: In the comments to this post, Cathy Moore , Mike Slater and Adam Lawrence have identified three good reasons for distributing your handout after your presentation. I’ve highlighted these reasons in a new post: Three good reasons to distribute your handout after your presentation .

13. Do tell people if it’s not in the handout

Finally, if you go off on a tangent in reply to a question, do let them know that the answer is not in the handout.

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How to Tame your Fear of Public Speaking 

• Do you have to perform perfectly?
• Do you beat yourself up if you don't?
• Would you talk to a friend the way you talk to yourself?
• Does it make sense that if you changed the way you talked to yourself, you could reduce your fear of public speaking?

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• Effective Presentation Skills Tutorial
• Designing Effective Presentation Materials

Visual aids can enhance a presentation by illustrating complex content, sometimes better than actually talking about it. However, visual aids can detract from an oral presentation if they do not support the message or are used inappropriately.

Depending on the type of presentation and delivery technologies available, you will have to select appropriate presentation tools or audio-visual aids to deliver your presentation.

The audio-visual aids in general can be presentation slides, audio (music, sounds, narration), video clips, real or scaled objects, etc.

The audio-visuals you select must be suitable for the size of the audience, room layout, lighting, sound system, etc. For example, in a large auditorium with an audience of several hundred people, showing a video clip with audio may not work well if there is no sound system.

You should have a good idea about the presentation set up from the preparation stage to select the appropriate audio-visual aids for delivery.

Did You Know?

People remember 65% of information from a visual and oral presentation, 35% from a visual presentation, and 10% from an oral-only presentation.

Audio-Visual Aid Design Principles

The following are general principles to remember in designing audio-visual aids:

Use Simple or No Background in Presentation Materials

Keep your presentation materials simple. Do not use complicated background designs that can distract from the content.

Use Colors That Provide Adequate Contrast and Make it Easier to Read

For example, use dark letters on a light background; and do not use light letters on a light background or dark letters on a dark background. It is better to use black or dark blue letters on a white background.

Slide With Light Background and Dark Text

Slide with dark background and light text, slide with light background and light text, slide with dark background and dark text.

If colors used have meaning, remember that people with color blindness or visual impairment may not recognize the meaning.

Use Adequate Font Size That Allows Easy Reading of Text From the Last Row of the Room

Prepare a sample presentation screen, and see if you are able to view it from the last row of the room (if you know the location and have advance access to it).

Use Distinct Font Sizes for Titles and Section Headings

Use distinct font sizes for titles or section headings compared to points covered in those sections, and make sure they are consistent throughout. Turn off any "auto size" feature in presentation software to help with this.

Limit Bullet Points to Four to Five Points per Slide, and Not More Than Seven Bullet Points

Slide with four bullets, slide with more than seven bullets, limit each point to no more than two, or at most three, lines of text.

Do not have whole paragraphs of text on the screen as the audience may not be able to read it.

Slide With Two Lines of Text

Slide with many lines of text.

Note that bullet points need not be complete sentences (unless it is a quote or a definition) and can be partial sentences or phrases.

Sample Slide With Bullets in Phrases

Sample slide with bullets not in sentences, ensure images are legible from the last row of the room and convey the intended content.

If you have a large figure, show a high-level outline of the figure and then focus on the specific details of the figure on the following slide.

Ensure Animations or Transitions Don't Distract

When using animations or transitions in presentation materials, make sure they do not distract from the content and do not have a jarring effect, as some transition styles can cause seizures for people with certain disabilities.

Ensure Chart Scales Don't Mislead

If you use graphs or charts in your presentation materials, make sure axis scales do not mislead the audience on the trends. Stacked bar graphs are also difficult for the audience to comprehend when you move through the slide quickly.

Sample Bar Chart

Stacked bar chart.

Example graphs below show the same data in both charts but the first chart can mislead the audience about the data trend.

Chart Showing Misleading Trend

Chart showing realistic trend, show video clips at easily viewable size.

If you include video clips, make sure the size of the clip (¼, ½ or full size) on the screen is viewable for the audience.

Do Not Use Offensive or Stereotypical Visuals

If you use cartoons or animations or clip arts, make sure they are not offensive and do not stereotype people.

Play Audio at Easily Heard Levels

If you use audio clips, the sound system in the room should be adequate for the audience to hear.

Share Real or Scaled Objects at Easily Viewed Sizes

If you show real or scaled objects during your presentation, make sure they are viewable from the last row or use a document camera to display it.

Test Audio-Visual Aids in Advance

Test the audio-visual aids, especially if you use special plug-ins or players or different versions of software for display.

Design Your Audio-Visuals So All Members Can Experience Them

If you will have audience members with particular disabilities, then you will have to design the audio-visuals accordingly. Common disabilities may include color-blindness, visual impairment, hearing impairment, etc.

Proofread and Spell-Check

Proofread and spell-check presentation materials for grammar and spelling errors. Even minor errors will be glaring on a large screen!

When Using the Board or Flip Charts, Write Large Text and in a Logical Flow

If you plan to use the board or flip charts, learn to write in big letters or draw appropriately-sized figures so that the audience can view the information easily.

When writing on the board or flip charts, write from left to write and from top to bottom, so the audience can follow the logical flow of information.

Cite Sources Properly

If you include content from external sources in your presentation, include in-text citations where necessary and list the corresponding references at the end of the presentation materials.

Acknowledge Your Contributors

Acknowledge those who helped you with the presentation, including your team members, at the end of the presentation materials.

Remember Your Visuals Are To Enhance and Not Distract

Most importantly, design materials to enhance your presentation and help you deliver the content effectively, not to distract from it!

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• Organizing the Presentation
• Rehearsing the Presentation
• Delivering the Presentation
• Handling Questions and Answers
• Presentation Skills Quiz
• Presentation Preparation Checklist
• Common Reasons for Ineffective Presentations

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Chapter 4: Developing and Supporting Your Ideas

Types of Supporting Materials

The types of supporting materials that you will use for your presentation depend partly on the topic you’ve chosen and the audience that you will address. We have already discussed how important it is to try to reach as many listeners in your audience as you possibly can.  Choosing several types of supports is one way to ensure that your speech is well rounded and will appeal to many different listeners.  Let’s use the topic of buying a hybrid vehicle as an example. Some members of your audience will want to hear facts and statistics as they listen to your presentation. They may be mostly interested in hearing about rebates and gas mileage. Or perhaps they’ll want more information on how the vehicle actually functions or how the components within a hybrid, such as engine and motor, differ from a standard vehicle. But some audience members will also want to hear personal examples and anecdotes, as they find the human connection in the presentation more interesting and relatable. They want to know what personal reasons car buyers have for switching to hybrid vehicles. Do some individuals switch to hybrids due to environmental and ecological concerns? By providing both of these types of supporting material within one presentation, the speaker is able to reach more listeners within the group. Here are some of the basic types of supports that you may want to include in a speech.

An  example  is an item of information that is typical of a class or group and acts to represent the larger group. You use examples as a means to explain yourself every day. When you tell a friend that you are overwhelmed and then mention a particularly time-consuming assignment that must be completed in two days, you’ve given your friend an example -one specific item from a list of many items that are causing you stress at that moment. You will often find that providing an example is equally helpful in a presentation.

If you tell your audience that you researched and found thousands of individuals who reported near-death experiences, I can assure you that your audience has no desire to hear all of these reports. But if you choose one or two incidents from this research to use as examples, it will provide them with specifics that help them better understand the phenomenon from an individual point of view. Examples, then, are used by the speaker to clarify information and to provide a narrower focus from the research.

Hypothetical Examples

A speaker might also choose to use a hypothetical example during a presentation.  A  hypothetical example  allows the speaker to use an example that describes an imaginary item, event, or incident, rather than an actual one.  Hypothetical examples could be used to describe a situation in which most listeners would never find themselves. For example, if you asked your audience to imagine that they have survived a plane crash and find themselves the sole survivor on a deserted island, your audience can picture this situation even though they probably have never found themselves in this predicament. Hypothetical examples can also be used to expand your audience’s imagination. You could choose to open a presentation with a humorous example of the possible responses a human might have when first encountering a being from another planet. No one that I know of has actually found themselves in this particular situation; your example is simply a “what if ” scenario designed to make your point and to arouse interest. As you can see, examples, both actual and hypothetical, are effective in making your ideas and points clear to your audience. By giving your audience a detailed example, you help them to hone in on the smaller, more specific event or situation. This can be helpful in focusing your audience and keeping their interest.

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Module 5: Choosing and Researching a Topic

Supporting materials, learning objectives.

Explain the different types of supporting materials to use in a speech and when to use them.

Have you ever heard the term Exhibit A ?

Here are some examples: In a movie review we read, “ Nothing to Lose  is Exhibit A  in what’s right and what’s wrong with current Hollywood comedy.” [1]  A news article quotes a senator as saying, “The massive data breach at Equifax Inc. is ‘ Exhibit A ‘ on the need for strong U.S. regulation, including higher fines against companies that mishandle consumers’ personal information.” [2]  An article about football claims that “Green Bay is  Exhibit A  in an NFL trend that emphasizes mesmerizing passing games above all else.” [3]

It can sometimes be helpful to think about public speaking as an argument before a jury.

The term Exhibit A  comes from courtroom trials. Wikipedia tells us that “an exhibit, in a criminal prosecution or a civil trial, is physical or documentary evidence brought before the jury. The artifact or document itself is presented for the jury’s inspection. [. . .] The exhibits in any one law case are often labelled Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C, etc. to distinguish between them.” [1] In a trial, lawyers use exhibits, or evidence, to try to make their case to the jury. Evidence is extremely important in a jury trial: jurors are instructed that they should “base their conclusions [only] on the evidence as presented in the trial.” [2]

In this (imperfect) comparison, your audience is the jury and you’re the lawyer making your case. No matter how eloquently and passionately you speak, you can’t make a convincing case without evidence (presented in court as exhibits).

Types of Support

In a speech, you’ll be providing evidence to support your main points with supporting materials.  The best speeches are composed of a variety of relevant, insightful, and interesting supporting materials. A good rule of thumb is that each main point in your speech should include at least three types of supporting material: examples, data, and testimony. This section will review three categories of supporting materials and when to use them.

Including a variety of examples throughout your speech will add depth and specificity to your main points. Examples provide concrete illustrations to what might otherwise be an abstract or vague ideas. They are also more memorable and personalized for your audience. Cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner maintained that learners are 22% more likely to retain information when it is presented as a story rather than facts alone. [3] Because examples typically involve elements of storytelling and narrative, they engage different parts of the audience’s brains and senses to create an emotional engagement with the story and the speaker.

Examples can take different forms, and you will determine what types will best enhance your speech.

• Strong action verbs will stand out and catch the eye of hiring managers. For instance, instead of writing that you “led” a project, try verbs like “coordinated, spearheaded, or supervised” the project. Instead of writing that you were “responsible for daily totals,” try verbs like “finalized, headed, or produced” daily totals.
• Long Examples include narratives and stories that add imagery and vividness to a speech. A long example might be integrated throughout a main point or throughout an entire speech. For instance, you might begin your speech on the long-term impact of concussions on cognitive, physical, and emotional functioning with the story of when you got a concussion playing basketball in high school. As you move through your speech, you will return often with specific details or moments from your own concussion and recovery. Long examples not only add structure to a main point or entire speech, but they do so with the emotion and drama of real-life, personalized illustrations.
• Hypothetical Examples are imaginary but realistic examples that allow speakers to paint a picture of a plausible scenario that the audience can put themselves into. They might begin with the phrase “imagine that” or “what if.” If you wanted your audience to understand how health crises can lead to homelessness, you might use the following hypothetical example to put your audience in the shoes of the person in this situation:

You’re in your early 30s and have a decent job and apartment. You’re a college graduate and are almost done paying your college loans, but have no savings. Out of the blue, you get a devastating diagnosis: cancer. The symptoms and treatments are awful, but you are grateful for your employee-based health insurance. Except that, in the first year of treatment, you start getting bills for thousands of dollars. As it turns out, your out-of-pocket co-pays, deductibles, and premiums add up fast. You’ve maxed out your credit cards and your family has helped as much as they can. Within a few years, you’re $52,000 in debt. Not only are you dealing with a health crisis, but you’re about to lose your apartment and your car.

Hypothetical examples are effective when combined with other evidence to show that they are typical of a particular situation. The hypothetical example above should be tied to statistics about causes of homelessness and the impact of healthcare-related debt on housing instability.

In her powerful TEDTalk about a reporting system for sexual assault, Jessica Ladd effectively uses an extended hypothetical example of young college students and an assailant to both clarify and personalize her speech. Ladd consistently shows how the hypothetical situation is realistic and plausible.

To Watch: Jessica Ladd, The Reporting System That Sexual Assault Survivors Want

Jessica Ladd is the founder of Callisto, a platform for survivors of sexual assault to electronically document and report what happened to them. Please note that this video contains a discussion of sexual assault.

You can view the transcript for “The reporting system that sexual assault survivors want | Jessica Ladd” here (opens in new window) .

What to watch:

Since the topic of sexual assault is so painful and upsetting, Ladd carefully controls her affect (the outward appearance of her emotions) throughout the speech. She only smiles briefly at the beginning, when describing “Hannah’s” excitement about going to college. After that, Ladd conveys the concern and seriousness appropriate for her subject through her facial expression, body language, and tone of voice. She doesn’t try to add to the intensity of the story by using grand gestures or vocal volume, instead letting the audience feel the emotions created by the facts of the story.

Short, long, and hypothetical examples work well in conjunction with research and statistics (see next section) to provide personalization and depth to each main point. Short and hypothetical examples can also be highly effective “hooks” to begin your speech in a personalized and engaging way.

Data—that is, facts and statistics—provide credibility and clarity in a speech, giving concrete, specific numbers or results about the extent or impact of a particular situation. Compare the effect of the following two statements:

• A lot of children in America are hungry.
• A 2018 report from Food Research & Action Center states that more than 18% of American households—that’s nearly one in five!—have food hardship where they haven’t had enough money to buy food.

Example A is vague and easily forgettable. Example B adds credibility and specificity to the extent of childhood hunger. Combining that statistic “more than 18%” with “nearly one in five” re-emphasizes the extent of the problem and makes it more relatable to an audience.

In addition to numerical statistics, findings from research can add depth and meaning to your speech. The speaker in this five-minute speech on “The Benefits of Doodling” includes a brief description of a study to support her first main point about the impact of doodling on memory retention:

To Watch: The Benefits of Doodling

You can view the transcript for “Doodling” here (opens in new window) .

What to watch for:

This speaker does a nice job of incorporating data into the presentation. One of the main pieces of supporting material comes from a 2009 study claiming that doodlers in the study remembered 29% more information. This data is made memorable by two things. First, the speaker frames the data in terms of a story, rather than just dropping it in out of context. This way, the listener remembers the point of the story, even if the number is forgotten. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the speaker translates the number (29%) into a piece of information that is directly relevant to the listener: the difference between getting an A and a C on a quiz.

Jackie Andrade is a professor at Plymouth University in England and in 2009 did a study to test the correlation between memory retention and doodling. She had participants in another study stay behind and had them listen to a really, really mundane voicemail of a guest list to a party. She told both groups not to pay any mind to what they were listening to, but half the participants got shapes . . . to shade in while they listened. After listening to the voicemail, they asked all the participants, ‘who’s planning on attending the party?’ Unsurprisingly, the doodlers retained 29% more information. For you or [me], that’s the difference between an A and a C on a 50-point quiz.”

While statistics and research findings add credibility, specificity, and depth to a speech, they need to be integrated thoughtfully. First, too many statistics and numbers can be overwhelming and boring to audiences, so use them only as needed, and be sure to translate complex or overly-technical ideas into clear language. Likewise, rounding large or complex numbers and using relatable comparisons can help (e.g., the speaker in the doodling video compared the memory retention from doodling to the grade on a test). For instance, rather than stating, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 1.6 million square kilometers”—a number that most audiences can’t easily understand—try something like, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of the state of Texas or three times the size of France.” Likewise, showing statistics with visual aids, including simple charts or graphs or objects might help your audience understand and retain the information (Jessica Ladd in the TED Talk in the previous section uses charts effectively to make statistics understandable). Statistics and research typically are included as initial supporting evidence for each main point. A particularly shocking or surprising statistic might be used as a hook in the introduction.

The final type of supporting material is testimony. A testimony is an endorsement or point of view from a person who is credible and connected to your topic. Most speeches will include  expert testimony from someone who is authoritative on the topic to add weight to your points. Peer testimony comes from a non-expert who has direct experience on your topics and is relatable to your audience. A speech about the treatment of type 1 diabetes might include expert testimony from medical professionals and other experts in the field of diabetes treatment. The experience of a family member who has type 1 diabetes but is not a medical expert is an example of a peer testimonial, where an ordinary person has firsthand experiences or points of view on the topic. Your roommate’s experience and opinions would provide a more personalized view about diabetes treatment.  Personal testimony  is when you use your own firsthand experience as support for a particular viewpoint. Like peer testimony, personal testimony is not very generalizable; it speaks to a particular case, but does not represent the experience of others.

Expert testimonials will add credibility and weight to your main points. Peer or personal testimonials add specificity and personalization. In your speech, the testimonial might be presented as a short quote if the source’s wording is especially meaningful or powerful. However, in most cases, you will paraphrase the testimony in your own words to keep the tone and style consistent with your speech. In either case, make it clear that the information came from someone else, and indicate verbally if you are quoting them.

Great speeches benefit from a balance and variety of supporting material. Too many numerical statistics can be overwhelming to an audience, but simply supporting a speech with an example is not adequate. Aim to weave a variety of types of supporting evidence throughout your speech to create an interesting and tightly researched presentation.

• Wikipedia contributors. "Exhibit (legal)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 May. 2019. Web. 8 Oct. 2020. ↵
• American Bar Association. “How Courts Work.” https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work/juryinstruct/ ↵
• Atkinson, R.C. and Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). “Human Memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes.” In Spence, K.W. and Spence, J.T. The psychology of learning and motivation, (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–195. ↵
• Courtroom Trial with Judge. Authored by : Wannapik. Located at : https://www.wannapik.com/vectors/31064 . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Doodling. Authored by : BelmontSpeechLab. Located at : https://youtu.be/91YaCI21aa4 . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
• The reporting system that sexual assault survivors want | Jessica Ladd. Provided by : TED. Located at : https://youtu.be/orumugzJpt0 . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
• Supporting Materials. Authored by : Susan Bagley-Koyle with Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

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What is a Presentation of Learning and Why Do We Do It?

Alec patton.

A Presentation of Learning (POL) requires students to present their learning to an audience, in order to prove that they are ready to progress. Effective POLs include both academic content and the student’s reflection on their social and personal growth.  They are important rituals – literally “rites of passage” for students.

At my school, every student gives two POLs per year – one at the end of fall semester, and one at the end of the year. They happen at the same time that most schools have their final exams, and serve a similar function. However, unlike exams, POLs happen in front of an audience that includes their teachers, parents, and peers. By requiring students to present to an audience, reflect on their learning, and answer probing questions on the spot, we are helping students build skills that they will use for the rest of their life. Taking an exam, on the other hand, is a skill that students will rarely, if ever, need to utilize after they finish college.

Every team’s POL expectations are slightly different, but they all fall into one of two broad categories: “presentation” or “discussion”.

Presentation

The presentation is the “classic” version of the POL. A student gives a prepared presentation on their own, and takes questions. Designing a POL structure is a balancing act for the teacher: require students to cover too much material, and every one of your students will march in and recite a near-identical list of assignments completed and skills learned. On the other hand, make the requirements too open-ended and the POL can become an empty facsimile of reflection – or, as students have described it to me, “BS-ing”!

I once saw a POL assignment that included the phrase “it has to have some magic”, which students were free to interpret as they saw fit. It led to unpredictable and delightful presentations, and inspired more thought and extra work than any rubric could have.

The “Discussion of Learning” trades the presentation structure for a seminar structure: a small group of students facilitates their own hour-long discussion, with the teachers initially just listening, then adding questions to enrich and drive the discussion. The parents are invited in for the final fifteen minutes, when the students summarize the discussion thus far and invite the parents to participate.

In my experience, this format tends to lead to meatier, more honest reflection than presentations. Especially when students are allowed to choose their own groups, they tend to make themselves more vulnerable than in other contexts. This format also opens up a space for students whose voices aren’t always heard in the classroom. The most memorable POL I’ve ever been a part of was a discussion by a group of girls, all  them native Spanish speakers, who talked about having been made uncomfortably aware of their accents by peers, and struggling to make their voices heard within our team. It was powerful, effective, thoughtful – everything I would have wanted from a POL, but it never would have happened if the structure had been different.

Which format should I choose, and when?

Students will be best-served by experiencing both the “presentation” and “discussion” format at some point in their academic careers.

I like to end fall semester with a presentation, because individual presentations give me the clearest sense of which skills a student has successfully developed, and what they will need more help with in the coming semester. I then end the year with a discussion, because at this point I know the students very well, and in a small-group setting we can speak frankly both about their successes, and the potential problems they will face in the coming year. I end this discussion with every student setting goals for the summer and coming year that I record and email to the student and their parents, so that they leave my class with the best possible trajectory into the future.

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Mastering Scientific Presentations pp 21–54 Cite as

From the Collation of Material to the Scientific Talk—Preparation as the Key to Success

• Barbara Hey 2  
• First Online: 30 March 2024

Excellent research requires an equally professional form of presentation. Talks are considered a classic opportunity to present one’s own research to a larger audience, to discuss it and to increase one’s own profile. Conferences, workshops and seminars are popular science communication formats that can be beneficial for academics in many ways. In addition to enhancing one’s own reputation, further developing one’s own research and exchanging ideas with colleagues, numerous networking opportunities also arise.

Excellent research requires an equally professional form of presentation. Talks are considered a classic opportunity to present one’s own research to a larger audience, to discuss it and to increase one’s own profile. Conferences, workshops and seminars are popular science communication formats that can be beneficial for academics in many ways. In addition to enhancing one’s own reputation, further developing one’s own research and exchanging ideas with colleagues, numerous networking opportunities also arise. For these reasons, it is worthwhile for every researcher to reflect on what might interest and captivate the audience. Strictly speaking, each talk is unique, as the audience is different and varying levels of knowledge and expectations should be taken into account. Consequently, it is correct and important to revise, adapt and, if necessary, redesign your presentations accordingly.

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Hey, B. (2024). From the Collation of Material to the Scientific Talk—Preparation as the Key to Success. In: Mastering Scientific Presentations. Springer, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-44184-5_3

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