学术英语写作Unit 11 Oral Presentation

Preparing your oral presentation (1)


First of all, think....... Think about what you want to achieve: do you want to inform your audience, inspire them to think about your topic, or convince them of a particular point of view? Think about your audience: what background knowledge do they have about your topic? Do they have any particular interests? How are you going to involve them in your presentation?
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Results (4-6 slides) Present key results and key insights. This is main body of the talk. Its internal structure varies greatly as a function of the researcher's contribution. (Do not superficially cover all results; cover key result well. Do not just present numbers; interpret them to give insights. Do not put up large tables of numbers.) Summary (1 slide)
Structure of an oral presentation
Introduction Body Conclusion

Intr oral presentation at international academic conference is often given to introduce the research done and the achievements made by the presenter. The introduction of the presentation usually includes: greetings, self-introduction (name, position, affiliation and other related information), title or subject of the presentation, and an outline of the main parts of the presentation.
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Future Work (0-1 slides) Optionally give problems this research opens up. Backup Slides (0-3 slides) Optionally have a few slides ready (not counted in your talk total) to answer expected questions. (Likely question areas: ideas glossed over, shortcomings of methods or results, and future work.)

A Generic Conference Talk Outline

This conference talk outline is a starting point, not a rigid template. Most good speakers average two minutes per slide (not counting title and outline slides), and thus use about a dozen slides for a twenty minute presentation.
Giving an Oral Presentation
Preparing your oral presentation Organising the content Delivering your presentation Using visual aids Dealing with nervousness
Unit 11 Oral Presentation


Structure of an oral presentation Things to think about A Generic Conference Talk Outline Giving an Oral Presentation Ten ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ for a student preparing a presentation Conclusion
Organising the content




Introduction (may be written last) Capture your listeners’ attention: Begin with a question, a funny story, a startling comment, or anything that will make them think. State your purpose; for example: ‘I’m going to talk about...’ ‘This morning I want to explain…’ Present an outline of your talk; for example: ‘I will concentrate on the following points: First of all…Then… This will lead to… And finally…’
a dozen slides for a twenty minute presentation


Title/author/affiliation (1 slide) Forecast (1 slide) Give gist of problem attacked and insight found (What is the one idea you want people to leave with? This is the "abstract" of an oral presentation.) Outline (1 slide) Give talk structure. Some speakers prefer to put this at the bottom of their title slide. (Audiences like predictability.)
Body (1)
In the body part of the presentation, the speaker either analyzes the problem step by step, or follows the procedure below: Motivation and problem statement. Related work (cover superficially or omit; refer people to your paper). Methods (cover briefly in short talks; refer people to your paper).
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Background (2-4 slides) ○ Motivation and Problem Statement (1-2 slides) (Why should anyone care? Most researchers overestimate how much the audience knows about the problem they are attacking.) ○ Related Work (0-1 slides) Cover superficially or omit; refer people to your paper. ○ Methods (1 slide) Cover quickly in short talks; refer people to your paper.
The body



Present your main points one by one in logical order. Pause at the end of each point (give people time to take notes, or time to think about what you are saying). Make it absolutely clear when you move to another point. For example: ‘The next point is that ...’ ‘OK, now I am going to talk about ...’ ‘Right. Now I'd like to explain ... ’ ‘Of course, we must not forget that ...’ ‘However, it's important to realise that...’ Use clear examples to illustrate your points. Use visual aids to make your presentation more interesting.