Structure

It is very important to give due consideration to the order of the things that you have to say in your presentation.

There are many resources that are available to help you out with ways to structure your ideas. ACU's The Academy website has a series of Foundation pages that give you an excellent insight into the way that you can structure your essays. (Although the essays are specifically targeting Literature and Drama students, the principles are the same for many other students). The tips given here with regard to Argumentative Writing and Descriptive Writing will be very useful for you. Many of the same guidelines for structuring your essays apply to the structure of an oral presentation.

Here are some general guiding principles:

1. Think about how much content can be covered in the allocated time.
2. Prioritise your ideas to make sure that you only cover the most important things are covered.
3. You will need to make sure that all of the content is interesting for your readers. Leave out boring or unimportant facts. Think about what it's like to be an audience member--by the end of a presentation it's often hard to keep concentrating on what the speaker is saying. If your points are all building towards an argument you will be able to sustain your audience's attention.
4. The formal structural features that your listeners will be anticipating are: an interesting introduction which rouses curiosity in your audience and sets the tone and direction of the speech; the body of your speech should contain information presented in a logical order which builds appropriately towards a climax; and, finally, the conclusion should be the obvious pulling together of all of the separate ideas which together form an argument.

Introduction

A good introduction must attract and focus the audience’s attention. Be creative here. Choose an interesting anecdote or an unusual photograph to get your audience instantly involved in your topic. You need to establish a relationship with your audience and this is achieved by effective use of space, body language, tone of voice, and demeanor.

Other things that might appropriately fit into you introduction are an explanation of the purpose of your presentation and an outline your key points. Your audience should be actively engaged and have a good idea of what the presentation is about within the first couple of minutes.

It is essential that you grab the audience’s attention in the introduction. Once you lose them it will be very difficult to get them back. Posing a question is often a good attention getter. Of course you must make sure that the question is relevant to your presentation and is likely to mean something to your audience. Introducing controversy into your speech is often a good strategy. Don't underestimate the role of devil's advocate. If you pose a controversial proposition to your audience you may find that lively debate will arise.

Graphics can also be used powerfully within an introduction. A women’s studies student once began a presentation on "Women in Australian Politics" with a visual attention grabber. On a PowerPoint slide she had the map of Australia. With every click of the mouse came the face of a past prime minister. Simultaneously, she solemnly read out each name. When the map was covered with the faces of all Australian past Prime ministers she posed the question “What is missing from this picture?” The main point of her presentation reached everybody without it actually being stated.

Gimmicks, if used appropriately are an effective attention grabber; just make sure they are well planned. One ACU nursing lecturer recalls a very memorable presentation where the students were asked to give a presentation on a virus. The students selected Hepatitis C which is a sexually transmitted virus.  The students dressed as nurses and with the help of a picture of picture of hep C, which just happened to have the face of the lecturer, proceeded to explain to the class all the dangers of this dreaded virus. The audience understood the connotations and everyone was highly amused.

Another Lecturer recalled an excellent presentation from a Masters level advanced student. The topic was grief and loss and the presenters were looking specifically at neonatal death. The students borrowed an actual baby-sized coffin from a funeral home and brought that into the lecture room before they started their presentation. This was an outstanding way to get the audience's attention.

You may wish to provide some statistics for thought, or some historical background. It will often stimulate the audience interest if you link what you are saying to something controversial in the news.

By all means use humour if you feel confident. One Lecturer recalled a group presentation on performance management when the students produced and acted out a very funny skit showing the right and wrong way to conduct a performance review. It was exceptionally funny and got all the material across. It is likely that this comical approach will be more memorable for your audience.

Whatever you do ensure you make the most important and interesting points in the first few minutes of your talk.

 

Body

The body of the presentation is where you develop your key points and provide evidence and elaboration. This is where you explain and justify your ideas. Start by writing down your key points. What are the most important things you really want your audience to hear?  Be clear about what your points are and what the overall purpose of your presentation is. Take your key points one at a time, explain each one, give some evidence to support it. You may need a detailed description to reinforce it. Examples or anecdotes may be useful and entertaining depending on your topic. Most topics will lend themselves to recounting some real life examples. Use visual aides to assist you in explaining your points. Use photos, diagrams graphs and other visual media to help the audience visualise the points you have made. Of course don’t forget that you need to do all of this while maintaining the audience's interest. Link your points logically from one to the other, ensuring that they all contribute to your overriding thesis.

There are some techniques in public speaking that will help the audience keep up with you. Often, for example, it is a good idea to pause between major ideas. This gives your listeners an opportunity to reflect on what you have just said and to be prepared for your next points. If you have spent a long time covering quite complex material, it is a good idea to briefly summarise what you have just said and make it clear how everything you have just said fits together.

Rhetorical techniques such as using phrases like "there are three major issues that I would like to discuss in more detail" are extremely useful. This can be followed with words such as "firstly", "secondly", "finally", etc. This helps the audience to keep up with you and to make sure they hear all of the points that you are making.

Have something important to say and make sure you say it in the best possible order. Try to use the image of 'building an argument'. When a builder begins to create a skyscraper s/he lays solid foundations, adds as many layers of important floors as required, uses strong supporting beams to maintain balance, and finally reaches its conclusion in the sky. In the world of the building, everything is connected and links in an effective and essential manner. Use this metaphor to help you create a solid argument.

 

Conclusion

A conclusion draws everything together. This is where you tell us what it all means and make insightful comments which help your audience to neatly comprehend your argument. You have the opportunity to remind the audience of your key points and reinforce  your analysis and main thesis. End on a high note. Try not to show relief that it is all over and done with (this might be what you're feeling but it would be better to keep up the professional image until the very end--breathe your sigh of relief in the canteen over a Mars bar later). Leave your audience with something to remember. Ask them a question, tell them a story, or call them to action.

A good conclusion is more than just a summary of "things I said in my speech". It is the ultimate conclusion to your argument. It reminds your audience of the importance of your findings and posits directions for future study or discussions. You should try to use your conclusion to make your audience feel that the time they have invested in listening to you has been well worth their effort.

http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/skills/oral.htm#outline

 

For more helpful hints, follow the link to Fred.