ACADEMIC PRESENTATION I. INTRODUCTION The introduction is a very important - perhaps the most important - part of your presentation. This is the first impression that your audience have of you. You should concentrate on getting your introduction right. It usually consists of: 1. GREETING 2. INTRODUCING ONE´S NAME AND POSITIONS 3. TOPIC / TITLE / SUBJECT 4. PURPOSE 5. TIME 6. OUTLINE 7. VISUAL AIDS 8. QUESTIONS 1. Match the structural points with the sentences from the text. (1) So, I´ll begin with several comments on the background to the project, then I´ll go on to explain how the project works and finally, I´ll highlight what I see as the main advantages of videoconferencing. (2) Good afternoon, everyone. (3) I plan to be brief, it´ll take some 15 minutes. (4) I´m Tom Lukes, a postgraduate student of Information Science. (5) This morning I´m going to be talking to you about the videoconferencing project. (6) Thanks for coming. (7) The aim of this presentation is to get more people involved in the project. (8) Feel free to interrupt me, if there’s something which needs clarifying, but don´t worry, there´ll be plenty of time left over for discussion at the end. (9) I will also show you a few bits from the videoconference we had three days ago. 2. Complete this introduction with words from the list. questions talk about look at points of view thank you go along hear brief finally Good morning and ___________ for being here today. My name’s Rebeca Pomponio and I’m responsible for student language programmes. What I’d like to do today is _______ the new system of languages taught at this university. I´m going to be _____________, about ten minutes, not more. I’m going to ____________ the language programmes from three _________: firstly, what languages we offer; secondly, the system of courses; and _____________, the exam requirements. If you have any ___________, just interrupt me as I ____________ . Your point of view may well be different, and we’d like to ___________ from you. 3. Introductions can become repetitive. It is important to have a choice of words and expressions at your fingertips. Use one of the following expressions to replace each of the expressions in italics in this introduction. don’t hesitate a chance I take care I’m delighted sections divide go through in more depth my purpose is finally Good morning, everyone. If I may have your attention, please? Thank you for coming. It’s a pleasure to be with you today. My name is Emma Gold and I’m in charge of the Department library. We are here today to review some key principles and to get information about the loan system. So what I intend to do is to break down this presentation into three parts, first, the system and its rules; second, benefits, and third, the e-loans. If you have any questions, please, feel free to interrupt me, but I should also say there’ll be an opportunity to discuss issues at greater length after my talk. II. MAIN BODY The body is the 'real' presentation. If the introduction was well prepared and delivered, you will now be 'in control'. You will be relaxed and confident. The body should be well structured, divided up logically, with plenty of carefully spaced visuals. Remember these key points while delivering the body of your presentation: o do not hurry o do not read from your notes o be enthusiastic o give time on visuals o maintain eye contact o modulate your voice o keep to your structure o signpost throughout o remain polite when dealing with difficult questions 1. STYLE Academic speaking is similar in many ways to academic writing, however, it is less complex and objective than written language. Spoken language has shorter words, less grammatical complexity, it is lexically less dense and it has a less varied vocabulary. Spoken language is different from written language for many reasons. One important reason is that it usually has to be understood immediately whereas written language can be read many times. What is the most efficient way of communicating ideas to your audience? (Choose the best answer) a) formulate each complete thought in a short sentence of 15-20 words. b) formulate more thoughts in a short sentence of 15-20 words. c) formulate your complete thought in a sentence of more than 40 words. d) formulate more thoughts in a sentence of more than 40 words. 2. Spoken language has many different features: tick those which characterise spoken language. 1) Variation in speed 2) Spelling 3) Gestures - body language 4) Intonation 5) Paragraphs 6) Stress and rhythm 7) Pausing and phrasing 8) Formal Grammatical Precision III. CONCLUSION The ending, similarly to the opening, is the vital element of an oral academic presentation. It helps create the final impression on what you have been talking about and it is also the part most likely to be remembered by the audience. The final section should reinforce and re-emphasize the main points of your speech or highlight the importance of specific ideas you have presented. Such a summary will be followed by a conclusion, which is an original idea drawn from effective arguments. Use the conclusion to: 1. Sum up 2. Conclude 3. Thank your audience 4. Invite questions 1. Make full sentences by matching the correct halves. a) Before we come to an end, 1. there are two key theories. b) I’d be glad to answer 2. we start the discussion now. c) To summarize, 3. by quoting a well-known saying. d) We can conclude 4. we should try the second method. e) In my opinion, 5. your questions now. f) I’d like to suggest 6. I’d like to thank you for your attention. 2. Use one of the following expressions to replace each of the expressions in italics in the following conclusion. I’d be glad talk then main lastly reliable now idea covers everything in As you can see it seems to me that listening sum up to put it simply That brings me to the end of my presentation. Let me just run over the key points again. Very briefly, there are three. First, water-related problems continue to affect millions of people and, contrary to what most people believe, future water supplies will not last for ever. Second, the growing number of projects trying to provide ever-increasing supplies of water indicate that a growing number of countries are aware of the present problems and of those to come. Third, current solutions are mostly highly expensive, not very practical and also very time-consuming. From what you have heard, there are some very good reasons to believe that the eventual solution would definitely be to conserve water worldwide and control pollution. In other words, we need to respect our most valuable natural resource much more than we do. At this point, I’d like to leave you with the following thought: it is certainly true that the twentieth century gave us some advantages by, for example, making us richer, healthier and freer to enjoy our lives. However, in my opinion, it did not make us wiser. The twentieth century also made our earth dirtier, our people less humane, and our spiritual lives poorer. We should, of course, continue to enjoy the benefits of technological advancements because they free us to pursue our interests and goals. However, we must make a concerted effort to preserve our natural environment for future generations. Thank you for your attention and now, if you have any questions, I’d be pleased to answer them. (Adapted from Effective Public Speaking – CJVA1S)