MAKING EFFECTIVE ORAL PRESENTATIONS

MANUEL FAJARDO MEDICAL SCHOOL

ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT

2006

MAKING EFFECTIVE ORAL PRESENTATIONS

AUTHORS:

Eduardo Garbey Savigne, BEd, Cert TEB,M.A.

José F. Tápanes Maza, BEd.

Mercedes Aluart Rodríguez, BEd.

Teresita Rojas González, BEd.

Sarah León López, BEd.

The Manuel Fajardo School of Medicine English staff realized that this skill has not been taught or developed at any school level in Cuba and that the students needed it for their present and future development. Besides, there is no bibliography or courses to let teachers and students learn the steps and its methodology.

Our department suggests that this Oral presentation skill should be taught to medical and nursing students when they start their second year. This will help them to be better presenters when they graduate. As most of the medical and nursing students participate in the Students' Scientific Workshops held in all medical schools, and they have to make oral presentations in their seminars in class. Therefore, this is a good chance to learn the way to make an oral presentation.

Our English staff will provide you with the necessary and basic tools to develop an adequate oral presentation in English. The oral presentation steps are as follows:.

Introducing yourself

Preparing the audience

Delivering the message

Summarizing and concluding

Good morning...

Let me introduce myself. My name ...

I am a specilaist in.

English is not my mother tongue,

I hope you'll excuse

me if I make any

mistake

Today, I will be talking about ...

First, I will talk about...

Then, I will move on to....

Finally, I will deal with ...

If you do not mind, leave the questions to the end

Let's start with the background (or rationale)

As you probably know...

I must emphasize ..

Referring to visuals

If you look at the graph

Please draw your attention to the chart...

To digress for a little

Back to my earlier point..

Right, Let's now move on to

Finally, I would like

Before concluding, I would like to summarize the main points again..

Well, this is all for today

Any questions?

I'll be happy to answer them.

That's all I had to say.

Thank you very much for listening

This set of phrases and words are just a guide for your presentation. Their main intention is to provide you with a set of useful phrases to pave the way for a good presentation.

Giving an Oral presentation is not an easy matter. Its structure is one aspect but there are many others to be taken into account. For example: the audiovisual aids you are going to use. They all have positive and negative aspects. It is you who should decide which to use according to the audience, location where the presentation will take place and also your own possibilities and personal charisma..

Let's take a close look at some of the most common audiovisual aids:

1. Overhead transparency. Use of Overhead projector (OHP)

*Strengths*	*Possible problems*
Easy to prepare Low-cost Flexible (pre-constructed or spontaneous) Easy to see on large screen Materials are lightweight	Overuse Too much printing on one transparency Noise of OHP fan may distract Need of white area for projection Incorrect handling Technical breakdown

2. Posters

*Strengths*	*Possible problems*
Colorful May be humorous Concise Can be displayed anywhere	Too small for size of the room Audience reads ahead Needs lots of time for preparation Needs other supplies (tacks,tape,etc)

3. Audio-tape presentation

*Strengths*	*Possible problems*
Offers variety. Encourages listeing Easy to repeat Low-cost May be complemented with other media	Technical breakdown Not enough sound for size of the room Overuse may bore the audience If repetition is needed a recorder with a 'meter' is a must

4. Power Point (Data Show) presentation

*Strengths*	*Possible Problems*
Colorful, attractive - places attention on screen Realistic - photos may be included Pre-constructed Stimulates sound and sight together Puts less emphasis on speaker	May be out of synchronism (voice may run ahead of picture) Technical difficulties Needs to be computer literate (or have a skilled assistant) Too much technology needed Not all venues have this facility Too much reliance on the aid by presenter

The presentation of your information can be done in different ways. Look at the following ways and see their strengths and weaknesses.

Ways to present information
PICTURES	DIAGRAMS, MAPS
Strengths Realistic Believable Colorful	Strengths Respected by experts Very detailed
Possible Problems Too small for audience Too much detail Audience distracted by irrelevant things	Possible Problems May distract viewer Too detailed for understanding
BAR & PIE CHARTS	LISTS
Strengths Colorful Concise Size relationship shown Simple	Strengths Concise Simple Memorable
Possible Problems Bars (too fat or thin) Not enough difference in height Be distracted by other pieces of the pie.	Possible Problems Too much points to remember Lacks originalitity

Finally, we would like to provide you a list of D0's (things you should do) and Don'ts (what you should not do) when making oral presentations

DO'S

DON'TS

Plan , write and rehearse your presentation with some time ahead
Find out about your audience before the presentation
Limit the amount of information
Speak clearly and slowly
Keep to the time allotted to you
Keep the eye contact with audience
Check transparencies, slides, and cassettes, before the presentation
Smile, give confidence to your audience
Care about your physical appearance

Look at the ceiling or floor
Use jargon words
Memorize the whole presentation,only the first two minutes of it
Gesture too much. People may get distracted
Speak too fast or too loud
Play with the cards, pointers, etc while you are presenting.
Go to a presentation unprepared
Mumble words
Repeat OK, Right, Well during the presentation
Hesitate

All what we have shown here, it is just a guide for your presentation. This means that you can start adding your ideas and comments to our suggestions and we are sure you will become a good speaker in a short while.

Knowing how to organize your ideas and how to present them to others will undoubtedly help you convey your ideas more clearly and achieve your goals.

(Publicado como artículo multipáginas en www.uvfajardo.sld.cu [1]