172 English Compuisory-Year

VII. B. PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL.

Ihe first sage in the making of a presentation is the preparation of the material
Your material will o doubt be ready in the shape of the research report but you cannot
present the whole report verbally in a limited time So you will have to esercise reat
judgment in what to include and exclude, and here your summary skills wiil come into
play. Once you have decided on this and the presentation material is ready, it needs to te
given a structure.
Organizing the material to be presented is the heart of the effort. Apresentation
displays the shape of your thinking and if you want to exhibit the shape of your thinking
you will bave to design it. Managing the material is a design process Many a
prescntation is a failure not because the presenter is weak but because the presented
material is haphazard, disorderly and lacks coherence For the delivery of a successful
presentation you have to carry out the following three things:
set objectives W
. structure and timethe delivery of the material
the actual delivery of the material

Define your objective(s): The first question you must ask your self is why an I
making this presentation? All other things - the material to include, its order, level of
detail, length of the presentation, what visual aids to use- will depend on your answer to
this question. Is your purpose to inform or describe? to instruct or explain? to persuade.
convince or inspire Your answer will depend on the subject of your research
Start by breaking down the main theme into key ideas and work out how these
may best be presented, illustrated and put together in acoherent way. Next, construct a
simple outline of the presentation into main points. Write down each point and its
development which would require a reason(s) and an illustration(s) on a card. The
advantage of jotting down headings on cards is that they do not rustle like paper and you
can use them during the delivery of the presentation. When delivering the talk give
verbal signals to the audience
 AMakto a Aadeti Pesentatiot 171

Unit - VI
MAKING AN ACADEMIC PRESENTATION

A. PREPARING FOR THE EVENT

B. PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL
C. DELIVERY OF MATERIAL-USE OF EYES VOICE BODY &
TIME MANAGEMENT
D. OPENING AND CLOOSING THE PRESENTATION

Exercises and Activities - VII

LANGUAGE FOR USE- VII

A. PREPARING FOR THE EVENT

In the final stage of your studies you will be required to give an oral presentation
to your fellow students and/ or a group of tutors of the research project undertaken by
you, a requirement of the degree program of the university. This may be an individual
effort or you may be one of a simall group. The purpose is to give you an opportunity to
display your verbal communication and presentation skills. This is easier said than done.
To stand up and speak before a group of people and that too in a foreign language is no
easy task. For this reason it is important that you understand the basic rules
presentation that can make your presentation great.(A good presentation is one that is
informative, thought-provoking and generally stimulating to the audience) This section
will help you in the preparation for that event.
As stated earlier, speaking before an audience is not everyone's cup of tea. It is a
stresful activity. Ofen speakers are pre-occupied with fears of the audience. This is
natural but these should not dominate you. Your audience will not only be judging your
ideas and your evidence but you also. So if you know your material well which you
should as you will have worked on it - it will give you natural confidence. It is really not
that difficult to make a presentation ifa few factors are kept in mind.
Chief among them is your attitude towards the event and the audience. A positive
attitude goes a long way in making the speaker confident as well as an assertive
communicator. Asuccessful presentation involves more than the availability of adequate
material with the spea7er. Non-verbal communication also plays a role in making the
presentation cflective. For an effective presentatiçn you nced to have control of three
elements the materials, the audience and youselh
 Conypulsory-Yaar l

DELIVERY OF MATERIAL - Use of Eyes Voice Body &

liatManagement
ood delivery means
supporting your ideas with
tine maagement ie. your effective body
eyes, voice, body posture andbehaviour and
AIagenneL During a nresentation maintain eye good tme
contact
mddon t look througlh them. You can break
with your listeners. Focus on
tetCes eye contact when you are
# oes or when you pause lo think
what you are going to say next. glancing
put on
voice and ry not lo an accent. Your Speak in your
voice should not be too high or too
Aw ak ing
CAre all the time tlhat vou can be heard by those sitting
at the back Your face.
eyucskon And body posture will all contribute to the total effect
your presentation will
ave o the dience.
Ihe last and the most important point is to keen
to the allotted time All
wleals have dillieulty mannging time. Rehearsing is one way of
overcoming this
lea Ihere is a world of' a difference in thinking about your
presentation., writing it
l down Ad in actally doing i. You may think you know what you are going to say but
ulil you dtually say it, you will never really know. So, one good way to overcome this
moblem is to rehearse. Always rehearse:
-belore a friend who keeps an eye on the watch
with cards (notes) in hand
with the visual aids you are to use
- time each stage of the presentation.
-a few tines if need be

VIL.D, OPENING& CLOSING THE PRESENTATION

First, introduce your_elf at the beginning of the presentation - who you are, why
for being there.
Nnd vhat you are doing. Next, acknowledge the audience and thank them
lheir time, followed by a clear statement of the objective/ purpose of your presentation.
presentation
Then state how you will take the questions from your audience - during the
or at the end. It is advised that questions be handled at the end.
the
Close the presentation with a summary of the key points. Rememoer to thank
question
adience once again this time lor their patience and altention followed by a
questions to be asked
swer session. A good presenter anticipates the most likely
can hear your
Answer the questions briefly and truthfully making sure that everyoneat the back of the
iswer. You may repeat le question if you leel it has not reached those
audience, and if vou don't know the answer, don't hesitate to say so.