{"id":5233,"date":"2018-05-13T22:37:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T05:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/?page_id=5233"},"modified":"2018-05-13T22:46:28","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T05:46:28","slug":"spring-how-to-prepare-and-deliver-an-oral-presentation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/spring-2\/spring-how-to-prepare-and-deliver-an-oral-presentation\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring: How to Prepare and Deliver an Oral Presentation"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Giovanna Fogli<\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>The final writing assignment in Humanities Core is the research paper, a challenging, and perhaps daunting task<\/span> on which have you started working from the beginning of Spring Quarter<\/span>. <\/span>As you have surely realized by now, t<\/span>he research paper is a complex project which requires you to <\/span>independently <\/span>select<\/span>,<\/span> research and carefully explore a feasible topic, strictly connected to the material we have explored through the year. This complex assignment includes various steps which may slightly vary, depending on your <\/span>seminar<\/span>, but that will surely include: an Annotated Bibliography, a Prospectus and a final draft. <\/span>As part of the project, y<\/span>ou will be required <\/span>as well <\/span>to prepare an Oral P<\/span>resentation and introduce your proposed research project to the class (depe<\/span>nding on your instructor, this Oral P<\/span>resentation may be in lieu of the Prospectus and may or may not accompany some other kind of written document). Over the year, you have had excellent models of oral presentations: the lectures you attended weekly and that offered you many different styles of how to deliver an oral argument. Just like those lectures, your presentation will follow rigorous academic criteria, requiring you to adopt the same scholarly approach you would use for any written assignment. However, an oral presentation is indeed different from a written assignment, and it helps to consider how specifically. On the one hand, you will have the advantage of using more than one medium to deliver your point and to retain your audience\u2019s attention; on the other hand, dealing with a viewer instead of a reader may pose a challenge to the organization of evidence and effective presentation of a logic thread. E.g. when in doubt, a reader can peruse previous sections of a given written text (e.g. an <\/span>academic essay) to\u00a0<\/span>verify that there is appropriate support for a specific point \u2013 this advantage is lost in a live presentation: <\/span>clarity<\/span><\/strong>, <\/span>efficient layout<\/span><\/strong> and <\/span>convincing delivery<\/span><\/strong> are key to successfully proving the validity of an argument presented orally.<\/span><\/p>\n

DRAFTING THIS ORAL PRESENTATION<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>As already stated, it is important that you consider the scholarly nature of your assignment. <\/span>F<\/span>or the purpose of this assignment<\/span>, <\/span> a prospectus is <\/span>a concise document describing your research project<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span>It<\/span> briefly illustrates questions, materials and methods you will use in your research. Therefore, you should make sure you present to the class what makes your research project worthwhile, what questions you plan to address<\/span><\/span> and what answers you expect to find (hypothesis). It is also important that you show how the project is well-organized, feasible and based on well-conducted research (e.g. your Annotated Bibliography). <\/span>The end result should be an effective short presentation leaving your audience with the clear notion of what you <\/span>are <\/span>researching and why.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Focusing on the rhetorical aspects of your presentation can help you deliver a convincing and engaging presentation. Specifically, you should consider:<\/span><\/p>\n