Essay Oral Presentation

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Essay Oral Presentation

You’ve been assigned to give an oral presentation of the ideas you wrote about in an essay or a paper. Everyone—even the President of the United States—gets nervous when they have to speak in front of a crowd. But it doesn’t have to be a miserable experience. The more carefully you prepare, the better you’ll feel when it’s time to make your presentation.

Task 1: Requirements

Make sure you understand the task at hand and know exactly what your teacher expects of you. Review all of the information you have and make sure you can answer the following questions. If you don’t know, ask your teacher.

When are you scheduled to give your presentation?

How much time will you be allowed?

Did your teacher provide any other guidelines for your presentation?

Task 2: Topic

1. Read through your essay and make a list of its most important points.

2. If necessary, narrow your point of focus for your presentation. No one in your audience wants to hear every word of your essay. Your goal is to pick one or two aspects of your essay topic to focus on. What do you need or want to tell people about your topic?

3. List the key concepts you want to introduce to your audience. Keep it short: More than five main points will make your audience’s eyes glaze over.

Task 3: Audience profile

You discuss a movie differently with those who have seen it than with those who haven’t. This same principle applies to public speaking.

Take a few minutes to think about your audience:

Who is your audience?

Is everyone in the audience as familiar with your topic as you are?

How can you make your topic interesting to everyone?

Task 4: Outline

A speech consists of three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Plan what you’re going to cover in each section of your presentation.

1. List the things you want to cover in each section. You may choose to translate your outline to note cards or slides later, or you may want to work directly from your outline. Be sure to write legibly—you don’t want to get up in front of the class and find out you can’t read your own writing.

2. Introduction. Plan to introduce your presentation with an attention-grabber, like a joke or an anecdote about your topic. Telling it will help you relax and warm your audience to the presentation. Also in the introduction, tell the audience what they’re about to hear by summarizing the most important parts of your presentation.

3. Body. Use the body of your presentation to make your main points. In your outline, list each main point and two or three supporting facts. When you’re finished, take a minute to consider the flow—are your main points presented in a logical sequence?

4. Conclusion. Use your conclusion to remind the audience what they’ve heard. Restate your most important conclusions and reiterate your most convincing evidence. Give the audience a sense of closure by wrapping up your presentation.

Task 5: Visual Aids

Remember the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words?” It’s true.

1. Go over your outline looking for opportunities to illustrate your presentation visually. Collect pictures, maps, charts, and other visual aids to reinforce your main points.

2. Sort through the collection and select the very best candidates. Limit yourself to one visual aid for the introduction, one or two for each main point, and one for the conclusion. Make sure each visual aid is clear and easy to read and that it reinforces an important aspect of your presentation. Plan to briefly discuss each visual aid that you display. You want your audience to understand what they’re looking at and why you’re showing it to them.

3. Note in the outline where you will show each visual aid to the audience. List the key things about the visual aid that you intend to call out. This will help you remember to display the right visual aid at the right time, even if you’re nervous.

4. Make arrangements with your teacher for any special equipment you require, such as a laptop computer, overhead projector, or slide projector.

Task 6: Rehearse

Practice, practice, practice. Repeat your presentation speech over and over again. Give it to your family. Give it to your friends. Give it to your pets. Practice in front of a mirror. Practice in front of a camcorder. Practice in your imagination.

1. Time yourself to make sure your presentation fits in the allotted time.

2. Practice with your visual aids. Make sure they’re easy to see and understand, and that they illustrate your points without detracting from them.

3. Speak slowly, clearly, and not too softly. Be careful not to say “um” or fidget.

4. Ask your friends and family if your presentation is interesting. Do they get the main point?

Task 7: Live presentation

Relax! You know your material well and you’ve practiced it relentlessly. Have faith in yourself because YOU CAN DO IT!

Keep your thoughts on what you are saying rather than on how you are feeling.

Speak informally and conversationally. Be friendly. Smile!

Make eye contact with a friend you trust, or focus on a spot at the back of the room and imagine someone you love is sitting there,

Cheering you on.

Have fun!