the importance of oral presentations for university students

Academic Development Centre

Oral presentations

Using oral presentations to assess learning

Introduction.

Oral presentations are a form of assessment that calls on students to use the spoken word to express their knowledge and understanding of a topic. It allows capture of not only the research that the students have done but also a range of cognitive and transferable skills.

Different types of oral presentations

A common format is in-class presentations on a prepared topic, often supported by visual aids in the form of PowerPoint slides or a Prezi, with a standard length that varies between 10 and 20 minutes. In-class presentations can be performed individually or in a small group and are generally followed by a brief question and answer session.

Oral presentations are often combined with other modes of assessment; for example oral presentation of a project report, oral presentation of a poster, commentary on a practical exercise, etc.

Also common is the use of PechaKucha, a fast-paced presentation format consisting of a fixed number of slides that are set to move on every twenty seconds (Hirst, 2016). The original version was of 20 slides resulting in a 6 minute and 40 second presentation, however, you can reduce this to 10 or 15 to suit group size or topic complexity and coverage. One of the advantages of this format is that you can fit a large number of presentations in a short period of time and everyone has the same rules. It is also a format that enables students to express their creativity through the appropriate use of images on their slides to support their narrative.

When deciding which format of oral presentation best allows your students to demonstrate the learning outcomes, it is also useful to consider which format closely relates to real world practice in your subject area.

What can oral presentations assess?

The key questions to consider include:

• what will be assessed?
• who will be assessing?

This form of assessment places the emphasis on students’ capacity to arrange and present information in a clear, coherent and effective way’ rather than on their capacity to find relevant information and sources. However, as noted above, it could be used to assess both.

Oral presentations, depending on the task set, can be particularly useful in assessing:

• knowledge skills and critical analysis
• applied problem-solving abilities
• ability to research and prepare persuasive arguments
• ability to generate and synthesise ideas
• ability to communicate effectively
• ability to present information clearly and concisely
• ability to present information to an audience with appropriate use of visual and technical aids
• time management
• interpersonal and group skills.

When using this method you are likely to aim to assess a combination of the above to the extent specified by the learning outcomes. It is also important that all aspects being assessed are reflected in the marking criteria.

In the case of group presentation you might also assess:

• level of contribution to the group
• ability to contribute without dominating
• ability to maintain a clear role within the group.

See also the ‘ Assessing group work Link opens in a new window ’ section for further guidance.

As with all of the methods described in this resource it is important to ensure that the students are clear about what they expected to do and understand the criteria that will be used to asses them. (See Ginkel et al, 2017 for a useful case study.)

Although the use of oral presentations is increasingly common in higher education some students might not be familiar with this form of assessment. It is important therefore to provide opportunities to discuss expectations and practice in a safe environment, for example by building short presentation activities with discussion and feedback into class time.

Individual or group

It is not uncommon to assess group presentations. If you are opting for this format:

• will you assess outcome or process, or both?
• how will you distribute tasks and allocate marks?
• will group members contribute to the assessment by reporting group process?

Assessed oral presentations are often performed before a peer audience - either in-person or online. It is important to consider what role the peers will play and to ensure they are fully aware of expectations, ground rules and etiquette whether presentations take place online or on campus:

• will the presentation be peer assessed? If so how will you ensure everyone has a deep understanding of the criteria?
• will peers be required to interact during the presentation?
• will peers be required to ask questions after the presentation?
• what preparation will peers need to be able to perform their role?
• how will the presence and behaviour of peers impact on the assessment?
• how will you ensure equality of opportunities for students who are asked fewer/more/easier/harder questions by peers?

Hounsell and McCune (2001) note the importance of the physical setting and layout as one of the conditions which can impact on students’ performance; it is therefore advisable to offer students the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the space in which the presentations will take place and to agree layout of the space in advance.

Good practice

As a summary to the ideas above, Pickford and Brown (2006, p.65) list good practice, based on a number of case studies integrated in their text, which includes:

• make explicit the purpose and assessment criteria
• use the audience to contribute to the assessment process
• record [audio / video] presentations for self-assessment and reflection (you may have to do this for QA purposes anyway)
• keep presentations short
• consider bringing in externals from commerce / industry (to add authenticity)
• consider banning notes / audio visual aids (this may help if AI-generated/enhanced scripts run counter to intended learning outcomes)
• encourage students to engage in formative practice with peers (including formative practice of giving feedback)
• use a single presentation to assess synoptically; linking several parts / modules of the course
• give immediate oral feedback
• link back to the learning outcomes that the presentation is assessing; process or product.

Neumann in Havemann and Sherman (eds., 2017) provides a useful case study in chapter 19: Student Presentations at a Distance, and Grange & Enriquez in chapter 22: Moving from an Assessed Presentation during Class Time to a Video-based Assessment in a Spanish Culture Module.

Diversity & inclusion

Some students might feel more comfortable or be better able to express themselves orally than in writing, and vice versa . Others might have particular difficulties expressing themselves verbally, due for example to hearing or speech impediments, anxiety, personality, or language abilities. As with any other form of assessment it is important to be aware of elements that potentially put some students at a disadvantage and consider solutions that benefit all students.

Academic integrity

Oral presentations present relative low risk of academic misconduct if they are presented synchronously and in-class. Avoiding the use of a script can ensure that students are not simply reading out someone else’s text or an AI generated script, whilst the questions posed at the end can allow assessors to gauge the depth of understanding of the topic and structure presented. (Click here for further guidance on academic integrity .)

Recorded presentations (asynchronous) may be produced with help, and additional mechanisms to ensure that the work presented is their own work may be beneficial - such as a reflective account, or a live Q&A session. AI can create scripts, slides and presentations, copy real voices relatively convincingly, and create video avatars, these tools can enable students to create professional video content, and may make this sort of assessment more accessible. The desirability of such tools will depend upon what you are aiming to assess and how you will evaluate student performance.

Student and staff experience

Oral presentations provide a useful opportunity for students to practice skills which are required in the world of work. Through the process of preparing for an oral presentation, students can develop their ability to synthesise information and present to an audience. To improve authenticity the assessment might involve the use of an actual audience, realistic timeframes for preparation, collaboration between students and be situated in realistic contexts, which might include the use of AI tools.

As mentioned above it is important to remember that the stress of presenting information to a public audience might put some students at a disadvantage. Similarly non-native speakers might perceive language as an additional barrier. AI may reduce some of these challenges, but it will be important to ensure equal access to these tools to avoid disadvantaging students. Discussing criteria and expectations with your students, providing a clear structure, ensuring opportunities to practice and receive feedback will benefit all students.

Some disadvantages of oral presentations include:

• anxiety - students might feel anxious about this type of assessment and this might impact on their performance
• time - oral assessment can be time consuming both in terms of student preparation and performance
• time - to develop skill in designing slides if they are required; we cannot assume knowledge of PowerPoint etc.
• lack of anonymity and potential bias on the part of markers.

From a student perspective preparing for an oral presentation can be time consuming, especially if the presentation is supported by slides or a poster which also require careful design.

From a teacher’s point of view, presentations are generally assessed on the spot and feedback is immediate, which reduces marking time. It is therefore essential to have clearly defined marking criteria which help assessors to focus on the intended learning outcomes rather than simply on presentation style.

Useful resources

Joughin, G. (2010). A short guide to oral assessment . Leeds Metropolitan University/University of Wollongong http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/2804/

Race, P. and Brown, S. (2007). The Lecturer’s Toolkit: a practical guide to teaching, learning and assessment. 2 nd edition. London, Routledge.

Annotated bibliography

Class participation

Concept maps

Essay variants: essays only with more focus

• briefing / policy papers
• research proposals
• articles and reviews
• essay plans

Film production

Laboratory notebooks and reports

Objective tests

• short-answer
• multiple choice questions

Patchwork assessment

Creative / artistic performance

• learning logs
• learning blogs

Simulations

Work-based assessment

Reference list

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• Presentations

Although standing up to speak in front of the class can be a nerve-wracking experience (Adams, 2004; Barton, Heilker & Rutowski, n.d.; De Grez, Valcke, & Roozen, 2013; Shaw, 1999), students stand to reap many benefits from doing so (De Grez et al. 2013; Kirby & Romaine, 2009; Shaw, 1999). Instructors may assign presentations for a variety of reasons, including to strengthen students’ oral communication skills, to give the students a role in carrying out some of the teaching, to formally diversify the voices who are participating in classroom discourse, and as a method of evaluating students’ learning that goes beyond traditional exams and essays (University of Pittsburgh, n.d.). 

Despite the fact that oral communication is a key professional skill (Fallow & Steven, 2000; Maes, Weldy, & Icenogle, 1997; Pittenger, Miller, & Mott, 2004; Shaw, 1999), efforts to help undergraduates develop this skill are often confined to an isolated course on public speaking, if they are formally addressed at all (Shaw, 1999). Similar to writing skills, oral presentations may be integrated into content courses across the disciplines, thus giving students ample opportunity to practice and polish this skill (Barton, Heilker & Rutowski, n.d.). Requiring students to prepare and deliver oral compositions is rooted in rhetoric, the ancient art of effective and persuasive speaking (Barton, Heilker & Rutowski, n.d.; Haber, & Lingard, 2001).

Depending on the instructor’s pedagogical goals, as well as time constraints, students may be asked to complete presentations in groups or as individuals. Although one study found that group presentations, which activate cooperative learning processes (McCafferty, Jacobs & Iddings, 2006), were more effective than individual presentations in improving students’ speaking skills in a second language, students indicated a preference for completing individual presentations nonetheless (Chou, 2011). Problems associated with group presentations include that group members often have difficulties scheduling time to work together, making joint decisions about the presentation, and believing that all members contributed equally to the work (Chou, 2011). Nevertheless, instructors may think that it is important for students to work through the challenges associated with collaborative work, and researchers have noted that group, relative to individual, presentations tend to relieve students’ performance anxiety (Chou, 2011; Tucker & McCarthy, 2001). Some instructors address the problem of unequal group member contributions by letting the students know in advance that one portion of their presentation grade will be based on the instructor’s evaluation of the finished product (the presentation itself), while another portion will be calculated from group members’ evaluations of each other’s contributions to the product (Shaw, 1999). 

The research literature on oral presentations has been called  “fragmented” (De Grez, Valcke & Roozen, 2009a, p. 112); however, key topics in this literature include the need to set clear expectations and explicitly model good presentation skills (Barton, Heilker & Rutowski, n.d.; De Grez, Valcke & Berings, 2010; De Grez, Valcke & Roozen, 2009a; De Grez, Valcke & Roozen; 2009b; De Grez, Valcke, & Roozen, 2013; University of Pittsburgh, n.d.), the importance of providing students with constructive feedback on their presentations and giving them multiple opportunities to present within a semester so they can refine their skills (Arias et al., 2014; De Grez, Valcke & Roozen, 2009a; De Grez, Valcke & Roozen, 2013; Shaw, 1999), the need to provide supports around students’ public speaking anxiety (Barton, Heilker & Rutowski, n.d.; Hartman & LeMay, 2004; Shaw, 1999), and the importance of evaluating students’ presentations (Arias et al., 2014; Barton, Heilker & Rutowski, n.d.; Chen, 2010; Garcia-Ross, 2011; Shaw, 1999; Sterling, 2008; Weimer, 2013). There is a relatively robust literature on assigning student presentations to strengthen the oral proficiency of English Language Learners (Adams, 2004; Hill & Storey, 2003; Hincks, 2010; Kibler, Salerno & Palacios, 2014).

Students gain confidence in expressing themselves verbally through making presentations (De Grez, Valcke & Berings, 2010; De Grez, Valcke & Roozen, 2009a; De Grez, Valcke & Roozen, 2009b; De Grez, Valcke & Roozen, 2013; Weimer, 2013). If students will be later required to write a paper on the same topic as their presentation, instructors note that the feedback students receive during the presentation tends to improve the quality of their final papers (Shaw, 1999). In practicing the skills required to deliver an effective oral presentation, students also improve their higher-order thinking skills (Kirby & Romaine, 2009; Maes, Weldy & Icenogle, 1997; Ulinski & O’Callaghan, 2002). Although instructors may shy away from assigning presentations because of the pressure they feel to cover content (De Grez, Valcke & Roozen, 2009b; Hill & Storey, 2003),    Shaw (1999) notes that when students present material, they experience the twofold benefit of improving their oral communication skills while simultaneously strengthening their mastery of the content they present.

Written by Julia  Hayden Galindo, Ed.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education

References:

Adams, K. (2004). Modeling success:  Enhancing international postgraduate research students’ self-efficacy for research seminar presentations. Higher Education Research & Development, 23 (2), 115-130. DOI: 10.1080/0729436042000206618

Arias, M., Pando, P., Rodríguez, A., Miaja, P.F., Vázquez, A., Fernández, M., & Lamar, D.G. (2014). The master’s thesis:  An opportunity for fostering presentation skills. IEEE Transactions on Education, 57 (1), 61-68.

Barton, J. Heilker, P., & Rutowski, D. (n.d.). Teaching oral presentation skills in first-year writing courses. Virginia Tech. English Department. Retrieved June 4, 2014 from: https://www.brandeis.edu/das/downloads/TeachingOralPresentationSkillsinFirst-YearWritingCourses.pdf

Chen, C. (2010). The implementation and evaluation of a mobile self- and peer-assessment system. Computers and Education, 55 (1), 229-236.

Chou, M. (2011). The influence of learner strategies on oral presentations:  A comparison between group and individual performance. English for Specific Purposes, 30, 272-285.

De Grez, L., Valcke, M., & Berings. (2010). Peer assessment of oral presentation skills. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2, 1776-1780.  

De Grez, L., Valcke, M., & Roozen, I. (2009a). The impact of an innovative instructional intervention on the acquisition of oral presentation skills in higher education. Computers and Education, 53, 112-120.

De Grez, L., Valcke, M., & Roozen, I. (2009b). The impact of goal orientation, self-reflection and personal characteristics on the acquisition of oral presentation skills. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 24 (3), 293-306.

De Grez, L., Valcke, M., & Roozen, I. (2013). The differential impact of observational learning and practice-based learning on the development of oral presentation skills in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development 33 (2), 256-271. DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2013.832155

Fallow, S. & Steven, C. (2000). Building employability skills into the higher education curriculum:  A university-wide initiative. Education & Training, 42, 75-82.

Garcia-Ross, R. (2011). Analysis and validation of a rubric to assess oral presentation skills in university contexts. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 9 (3), 1043-1062.

Haber, R.J. & Lingard, L.A. (2001). Learning oral presentation skills:  A rhetorical analysis with pedagogical and professional implications. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16, 308-314.

Hartman, J.L. & LeMay, E. (2004). Managing presentation anxiety. The Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, 46 (3), 145-154.

Hill, M. & Storey, A. (2003). SpeakEasy :  Online support for oral presentation skills. English Language Teaching Journal, 57 (4), 370-376.

Hincks, R. (2010). Speaking rate and information content in English lingua franca oral presentations. English for Specific Purposes, 29 (1), 4-18.

Kibler, A.K., Salerno, A.S., & Palacios, N. (2014). ‘But before I go to my next step’:  A longitudinal study of adolescent English language learners’ transitional devices in oral presentations. TESOL Quarterly, 48 (2), 222-251.

Kirby, D. & Romaine, J. (2009). Developing oral presentation skills through accounting curriculum design and course-embedded assessment. Journal of Education for Business, 85, 172-179.

Maes, J.D., Weldy, T.G., Icenogle, M.L. (1997). A managerial perspective:  Oral communicative compentency is most important for business students in the workplace. The Journal of Business Communication, 34, 67-80.

McCafferty, S.G., Jacobs, G.M., & Iddings, A.C.D. (2006). Cooperative learning and second language teaching. Cambridge, England:  Cambridge University Press.

Pittenger, K.K.S., Miller, M.C., & Mott, J. (2004). Using real-world standards to enhance students’ presentation skills. Business Communication Quarterly, 67, 327-336.

Shaw, V.N. (1999). Reading, presentation, and writing skills in content courses. College Teaching, 47 (4), 153-157.

Sterling, D.R., (2008). Assessing student presentations from three perspectives. Science Scope, 31 (5), 34-35.

Tucker, M.L. & McCarthey, A.M. (2001). Presentation self-efficacy:  Increasing communication skills through service-learning. Journal of Managerial Issues, 13 (2), 227-244.

University of Pittsburgh (n.d.). Speaking in the Disciplines. Tips for Assigning Oral Presentations. Retrieved June 5, 2014 from: http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/instructor/oral-assignments.html

Ulinski, M., & O’Callaghan, S. (2002). A comparison of MBA students’ and employers’ perceptions of the value of oral communication skills for employment. Journal of Education for Business, 77, 193-197.

Weimer, M. (2013). Student presentations:  Do they benefit those who listen?  Retrieved June 3, 2014 from: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/student-presentations-do-they-benefit-those-who-listen/

Further Resources:  

• Pittenger, K.K.S., Miller, M.C., Mott, J. (2004). Using real-world standards to enhance students’ presentation skills. Business Communication Quarterly, 67, 327-336. Includes an assessment form that may be used to evaluate students’ presentations
• Sterling, D.R., (2008). Assessing student presentations from three perspectives. Science Scope, 31 (5), 34-35. Includes various rubrics and guides for assessment
• Shaw, V.N. (2001). Training in presentation skills:  An innovative method for college instruction. Education, 122 (1), 140-144.
• University of Pittsburgh:  Speaking in the Disciplines. http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/student/public-speaking/basics.html
• Research on Learning Objectives
• Concept Map
• Pair and Share
• Peer Instruction
• Quick Write
• Speed Dating
• Additional Research

• Effective Teaching Strategies

Building Student Confidence in Oral Communication: The Importance of Low-stakes Presentations

• August 17, 2022
• Elizabeth Dunham, MLS

Most students dread presentations. Every time I start a new semester, and I announce that presentations are a requirement, the fear and tension in the room rises and becomes palpable. Granted, not every student hates presenting, but according to Marinho et al. a majority of college students, 63.9% to be exact, have a fear of public speaking (2017). However, the authors also note that “in the corporate world, oral communication is a critical tool for professional survival” (Marinho et al., 2017, 127.e8).

Knowing all of this, I have wrestled with how to build my students’ oral communication skills.

I teach a second year communications course that is required for business majors, and one of the outcomes for the course is to produce and present effective oral, visual, and written content.

In order to meet this outcome, I used to assign three graded presentations in a given semester. Following the completion of a written assignment, students would present their findings to the class. Along with the written work, these presentations were a sizable portion of the students’ grades.

Over the past few years, I started noticing a trend on my student evaluations. While most students stated they appreciated the opportunity to hone their public speaking skills, they felt the presentations were weighted too heavily. Additionally, some felt overwhelming pressure to deliver a “perfect” presentation without much past experience in doing so.

Given this, I needed to find a way to improve oral communication skills over the course of 16 weeks. I decided to experiment with non-graded presentations, at least in the beginning of the semester.

As documented by Grace and Gilsdorf, delivering a solid presentation is more a “matter of confidence than of brilliance” (2004, 166). I recognized my students lacked confidence to orally present. This was even more pronounced post-Covid, given the months spent in remote learning and out of the physical classroom. Therefore, my goal was to help students feel more comfortable standing up and presenting to their peers. So, I did the following:

Introducing presentations as “low-stakes”

On the first day, I introduced the presentations as “low stakes.” I explained the first three presentations weren’t graded, which reduced a lot of anxiety. I added that the final presentation was the only one worth a significant amount, which helped eliminate stress.

• First presentation (second or third day of the semester): Introduce yourself to the class — NOT GRADED

The first presentation was not graded, although I did award completion points for it. It was a good old-fashioned ice breaker.

During the second or third class meeting, I had students stand up at their seat and introduce themselves with three unique attributes about themselves.

I started off the exercise and then the students took turns introducing themselves. As expected, some students were more open than others, but it encouraged students to speak in front of the class. As an added benefit, it allowed me a glimpse into their respective personalities within the first week.

• Second presentation (three weeks into the semester) : Research update — NOT GRADED

This presentation, three weeks into the semester, was also not graded. This time, I instructed the students to stand up in front of class and give a 3-5-minute update on their research for the first assignment, a case study.

I stressed there was no “right or wrong” way to do this. Some students created PowerPoints, for example, while others just relied on notecards. This also lessened the anxiety but accomplished the goal of orally speaking in front of the class.

After this presentation, I awarded completion points, and I provided feedback. I suggested one or two areas (no more) for improvement. I made suggestions such as, “Speak slowly” or “Make better eye contact.”

• Third presentation (six weeks into the semester): Research paper presentation—NOT GRADED

I scheduled the next presentation six weeks into the semester. This presentation followed the completion of their first major paper, the case study.

I instructed them to create a PowerPoint and stick to a 5-7-minute timeframe.

Prior to this, we spent a class period discussing strategies for what should be in the presentation (e.g., what their case study was about, history/background of the company, potential solutions, and one final solution). Also, as a class activity, we discussed what a good presentation entails, such as speaking with clarity and engaging your audience.

After each student presented, I again provided feedback and awarded completion points but not actual grades. This time, I also had them reflect on their respective presentations. Most student assessments aligned with the feedback I provided.

• Fourth presentation (eight weeks into the semester): Presentation on findings —GRADED

Their fourth presentation came halfway through the semester. This time, I graded these, but they were only worth 25 points (the entire class is out of 1,000 points).

I had them create a 5-7-minute presentation to present their findings on their next assignment, and I provided feedback along with a grade.

Once again, I also had them reflect on how they saw themselves improving in terms of public speaking. Thankfully, I saw increased confidence across the board.

• Fifth presentation (12 weeks into the semester): White paper research—GRADED

Their fifth presentations were similar to their second presentations. At this point, the students were working on their final assignment, a white paper on a business controversy. I had them give research updates to the class, and these were only worth 10 points.

• Sixth presentation (15 weeks  into the semester): Final presentation—GRADED

Their final presentation came at the end of the semester and was worth 50 points. I asked them to create a PowerPoint and deliver an 8-10-minute presentation on their white papers.

They also wrote one more short reflection on how they felt about their final presentation versus their earlier presentations. I provided the following prompts:

• How did their confidence increase?
• What worked for them in order to improve their performance and decrease their anxiety?
• Did they like the ungraded presentations early on?
•  When do they see themselves presenting in their future careers?

Almost all of the final reflections from the students yielded what I had hoped: an increased level of confidence in presenting. And not surprisingly, while several students commented they still didn’t like speaking publicly, they appreciated the opportunity to hone their skills in a safe environment.

Elizabeth Dunham, MLS, is retired marketing executive and current adjunct lecturer at York College of Pennsylvania. She teaches courses in business communication as well as the first-year experience.

References :

Ferreira Marinho, Anna Carolina, Adriane Mesquita de Medeiros, Ana Cristina Côrtes Gama, and Letícia Caldas Teixeira. “Fear of Public Speaking: Perception of College Students and Correlates.” Journal of Voice 31, no. 1 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2015.12.012 .

Grace, Debra M., and Jeanette W. Gilsdorf. “Classroom Strategies for Improving Students’ Oral Communication Skills.” Journal of Accounting Education 22, no. 2 (2004): 165–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccedu.2004.06.001 .

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Oral presentations

Oral academic presentations can have a range of structures and purposes, from seminar or tutorial presentations to conference papers. Being prepared and using effective presentation strategies will help you successfully communicate your ideas and information.

Prepare your presentation

• Structure your presentation
• Audiovisual aids
• Speaking tips

Preparation is essential for a successful presentation.

You need to carefully analyse the assignment instructions and other information about your presentation. It’s important to have a clear understanding of the presentation topic and its purpose. Speak to your lecturer, tutor or supervisor if you need to clarify what’s expected of you.

Consider if the purpose is to be informative, instructional or persuasive.

• In informative presentations, you need to be brief, clear, relevant and use logical sequencing.
• In instructional presentations, your aim is to provide participants with a new skill. You need to cover the topic thoroughly and design activities to develop and apply new skills.
• In persuasive presentations, you need to use detailed examination to convince the audience to accept your proposal or solution to a controversy/problem.

Your audience will affect the content and delivery of your presentation. Think about what your audience already knows about the topic, why they’re there and whether you need to adjust your tone or level of technical and formal language.

Prepare your presentation like you would any other assignment. This might include research, selecting and analysing information, coming up with examples, developing an argument and thinking carefully about the structure .

Make sure your content is relevant and you have a sound understanding of the subject matter.

Putting it together

Once you’ve worked out the content of your presentation, think about what equipment or audiovisual aids you might want to use.

You should also create notes or an outline you can refer to during your presentation. Your notes should be brief, and could be:

• a printed copy of your slideshow
• a list of bullet points
• a ‘tree-diagram’ of the structure of the talk, with a keyword for each point
• a note card for each part of your presentation.

Don’t read out a written script. Written language is harder for your audience to follow, it’s easier to lose your place, and you can’t keep good eye contact with the audience. Try to be more conversational and rely less on notes.

Practise your talk and check the timing. Work out how many minutes you want to spend on each part, and allow time for any necessary pauses. Try practising your presentation with a friend to find out if any parts are unclear, too fast or slow.

Finally, do some preparation to build your confidence and reduce nerves .

This material was developed by the Learning Hub (Academic Language and Learning), which offers workshops, face-to-face consultations and resources to support your learning. Find out more about how they can help you develop your communication, research and study skills .

See the handout on Oral presentations (pdf, 3.2MB) .

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

In the social and behavioral sciences, an oral presentation assignment involves an individual student or group of students verbally addressing an audience on a specific research-based topic, often utilizing slides to help audience members understand and retain what they both see and hear. The purpose is to inform, report, and explain the significance of research findings, and your critical analysis of those findings, within a specific period of time, often in the form of a reasoned and persuasive argument. Oral presentations are assigned to assess a student’s ability to organize and communicate relevant information  effectively to a particular audience. Giving an oral presentation is considered an important learning skill because the ability to speak persuasively in front of an audience is transferable to most professional workplace settings.

Oral Presentations. Learning Co-Op. University of Wollongong, Australia; Oral Presentations. Undergraduate Research Office, Michigan State University; Oral Presentations. Presentations Research Guide, East Carolina University Libraries; Tsang, Art. “Enhancing Learners’ Awareness of Oral Presentation (Delivery) Skills in the Context of Self-regulated Learning.” Active Learning in Higher Education 21 (2020): 39-50.

Preparing for Your Oral Presentation

In some classes, writing the research paper is only part of what is required in reporting the results your work. Your professor may also require you to give an oral presentation about your study. Here are some things to think about before you are scheduled to give a presentation.

1.  What should I say?

If your professor hasn't explicitly stated what the content of your presentation should focus on, think about what you want to achieve and what you consider to be the most important things that members of the audience should know about your research. Think about the following: Do I want to inform my audience, inspire them to think about my research, or convince them of a particular point of view? These questions will help frame how to approach your presentation topic.

2.  Oral communication is different from written communication

Your audience has just one chance to hear your talk; they can't "re-read" your words if they get confused. Focus on being clear, particularly if the audience can't ask questions during the talk. There are two well-known ways to communicate your points effectively, often applied in combination. The first is the K.I.S.S. method [Keep It Simple Stupid]. Focus your presentation on getting two to three key points across. The second approach is to repeat key insights: tell them what you're going to tell them [forecast], tell them [explain], and then tell them what you just told them [summarize].

3.  Think about your audience

Yes, you want to demonstrate to your professor that you have conducted a good study. But professors often ask students to give an oral presentation to practice the art of communicating and to learn to speak clearly and audibly about yourself and your research. Questions to think about include: What background knowledge do they have about my topic? Does the audience have any particular interests? How am I going to involve them in my presentation?

4.  Create effective notes

If you don't have notes to refer to as you speak, you run the risk of forgetting something important. Also, having no notes increases the chance you'll lose your train of thought and begin relying on reading from the presentation slides. Think about the best ways to create notes that can be easily referred to as you speak. This is important! Nothing is more distracting to an audience than the speaker fumbling around with notes as they try to speak. It gives the impression of being disorganized and unprepared.

NOTE:   A good strategy is to have a page of notes for each slide so that the act of referring to a new page helps remind you to move to the next slide. This also creates a natural pause that allows your audience to contemplate what you just presented.

Strategies for creating effective notes for yourself include the following:

• Choose a large, readable font [at least 18 point in Ariel ]; avoid using fancy text fonts or cursive text.
• Use bold text, underlining, or different-colored text to highlight elements of your speech that you want to emphasize. Don't over do it, though. Only highlight the most important elements of your presentation.
• Leave adequate space on your notes to jot down additional thoughts or observations before and during your presentation. This is also helpful when writing down your thoughts in response to a question or to remember a multi-part question [remember to have a pen with you when you give your presentation].
• Place a cue in the text of your notes to indicate when to move to the next slide, to click on a link, or to take some other action, such as, linking to a video. If appropriate, include a cue in your notes if there is a point during your presentation when you want the audience to refer to a handout.
• Spell out challenging words phonetically and practice saying them ahead of time. This is particularly important for accurately pronouncing people’s names, technical or scientific terminology, words in a foreign language, or any unfamiliar words.

Creating and Using Overheads. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Kelly, Christine. Mastering the Art of Presenting. Inside Higher Education Career Advice; Giving an Oral Presentation. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra; Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking . 12th edition. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015; Peery, Angela B. Creating Effective Presentations: Staff Development with Impact . Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2011; Peoples, Deborah Carter. Guidelines for Oral Presentations. Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries; Perret, Nellie. Oral Presentations. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Speeches. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Storz, Carl et al. Oral Presentation Skills. Institut national de télécommunications, EVRY FRANCE.

Organizing the Content

In the process of organizing the content of your presentation, begin by thinking about what you want to achieve and how are you going to involve your audience in the presentation.

• Brainstorm your topic and write a rough outline. Don’t get carried away—remember you have a limited amount of time for your presentation.
• Organize your material and draft what you want to say [see below].
• Summarize your draft into key points to write on your presentation slides and/or note cards and/or handout.
• Prepare your visual aids.
• Rehearse your presentation and practice getting the presentation completed within the time limit given by your professor. Ask a friend to listen and time you.

GENERAL OUTLINE

I.  Introduction [may be written last]

• Capture your listeners’ attention . Begin with a question, an amusing story, a provocative statement, a personal story, or anything that will engage your audience and make them think. For example, "As a first-gen student, my hardest adjustment to college was the amount of papers I had to write...."
• 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…"

II.  The Body

• Present your main points one by one in a 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 clear when you move to another point . For example, “The next point is that...”; “Of course, we must not forget that...”; “However, it's important to realize that....”
• Use clear examples to illustrate your points and/or key findings .
• If appropriate, consider using visual aids to make your presentation more interesting [e.g., a map, chart, picture, link to a video, etc.].

III.  The Conclusion

• Leave your audience with a clear summary of everything that you have covered.
• Summarize the main points again . For example, use phrases like: "So, in conclusion..."; "To recap the main issues...," "In summary, it is important to realize...."
• Restate the purpose of your talk, and say that you have achieved your aim : "My intention was ..., and it should now be clear that...."
• Don't let the talk just fizzle out . Make it obvious that you have reached the end of the presentation.
• Thank the audience, and invite questions : "Thank you. Are there any questions?"

NOTE: When asking your audience if anyone has any questions, give people time to contemplate what you have said and to formulate a question. It may seem like an awkward pause to wait ten seconds or so for someone to raise their hand, but it's frustrating to have a question come to mind but be cutoff because the presenter rushed to end the talk.

ANOTHER NOTE: If your last slide includes any contact information or other important information, leave it up long enough to ensure audience members have time to write the information down. Nothing is more frustrating to an audience member than wanting to jot something down, but the presenter closes the slides immediately after finishing.

Creating and Using Overheads. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Giving an Oral Presentation. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra; Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking . 12th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015; Peery, Angela B. Creating Effective Presentations: Staff Development with Impact . Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2011; Peoples, Deborah Carter. Guidelines for Oral Presentations. Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries; Perret, Nellie. Oral Presentations. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Speeches. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Storz, Carl et al. Oral Presentation Skills. Institut national de télécommunications, EVRY FRANCE.

Delivering Your Presentation

When delivering your presentation, keep in mind the following points to help you remain focused and ensure that everything goes as planned.

Pay Attention to Language!

• Keep it simple . The aim is to communicate, not to show off your vocabulary. Using complex words or phrases increases the chance of stumbling over a word and losing your train of thought.
• Emphasize the key points . Make sure people realize which are the key points of your study. Repeat them using different phrasing to help the audience remember them.
• Check the pronunciation of difficult, unusual, or foreign words beforehand . Keep it simple, but if you have to use unfamiliar words, write them out phonetically in your notes and practice saying them. This is particularly important when pronouncing proper names. Give the definition of words that are unusual or are being used in a particular context [e.g., "By using the term affective response, I am referring to..."].

Use Your Voice to Communicate Clearly

• Speak loud enough for everyone in the room to hear you . Projecting your voice may feel uncomfortably loud at first, but if people can't hear you, they won't try to listen. However, moderate your voice if you are talking in front of a microphone.
• Speak slowly and clearly . Don’t rush! Speaking fast makes it harder for people to understand you and signals being nervous.
• Avoid the use of "fillers." Linguists refer to utterances such as um, ah, you know, and like as fillers. They occur most often during transitions from one idea to another and, if expressed too much, are distracting to an audience. The better you know your presentation, the better you can control these verbal tics.
• Vary your voice quality . If you always use the same volume and pitch [for example, all loud, or all soft, or in a monotone] during your presentation, your audience will stop listening. Use a higher pitch and volume in your voice when you begin a new point or when emphasizing the transition to a new point.
• Speakers with accents need to slow down [so do most others]. Non-native speakers often speak English faster than we slow-mouthed native speakers, usually because most non-English languages flow more quickly than English. Slowing down helps the audience to comprehend what you are saying.
• Slow down for key points . These are also moments in your presentation to consider using body language, such as hand gestures or leaving the podium to point to a slide, to help emphasize key points.
• Use pauses . Don't be afraid of short periods of silence. They give you a chance to gather your thoughts, and your audience an opportunity to think about what you've just said.

Also Use Your Body Language to Communicate!

• Stand straight and comfortably . Do not slouch or shuffle about. If you appear bored or uninterested in what your talking about, the audience will emulate this as well. Wear something comfortable. This is not the time to wear an itchy wool sweater or new high heel shoes for the first time.
• Hold your head up . Look around and make eye contact with people in the audience [or at least pretend to]. Do not just look at your professor or your notes the whole time! Looking up at your your audience brings them into the conversation. If you don't include the audience, they won't listen to you.
• When you are talking to your friends, you naturally use your hands, your facial expression, and your body to add to your communication . Do it in your presentation as well. It will make things far more interesting for the audience.
• Don't turn your back on the audience and don't fidget! Neither moving around nor standing still is wrong. Practice either to make yourself comfortable. Even when pointing to a slide, don't turn your back; stand at the side and turn your head towards the audience as you speak.
• Keep your hands out of your pocket . This is a natural habit when speaking. One hand in your pocket gives the impression of being relaxed, but both hands in pockets looks too casual and should be avoided.

Interact with the Audience

• Be aware of how your audience is reacting to your presentation . Are they interested or bored? If they look confused, stop and ask them [e.g., "Is anything I've covered so far unclear?"]. Stop and explain a point again if needed.
• Check after highlighting key points to ask if the audience is still with you . "Does that make sense?"; "Is that clear?" Don't do this often during the presentation but, if the audience looks disengaged, interrupting your talk to ask a quick question can re-focus their attention even if no one answers.
• Do not apologize for anything . If you believe something will be hard to read or understand, don't use it. If you apologize for feeling awkward and nervous, you'll only succeed in drawing attention to the fact you are feeling awkward and nervous and your audience will begin looking for this, rather than focusing on what you are saying.
• Be open to questions . If someone asks a question in the middle of your talk, answer it. If it disrupts your train of thought momentarily, that's ok because your audience will understand. Questions show that the audience is listening with interest and, therefore, should not be regarded as an attack on you, but as a collaborative search for deeper understanding. However, don't engage in an extended conversation with an audience member or the rest of the audience will begin to feel left out. If an audience member persists, kindly tell them that the issue can be addressed after you've completed the rest of your presentation and note to them that their issue may be addressed later in your presentation [it may not be, but at least saying so allows you to move on].
• Be ready to get the discussion going after your presentation . Professors often want a brief discussion to take place after a presentation. Just in case nobody has anything to say or no one asks any questions, be prepared to ask your audience some provocative questions or bring up key issues for discussion.

Amirian, Seyed Mohammad Reza and Elaheh Tavakoli. “Academic Oral Presentation Self-Efficacy: A Cross-Sectional Interdisciplinary Comparative Study.” Higher Education Research and Development 35 (December 2016): 1095-1110; Balistreri, William F. “Giving an Effective Presentation.” Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 35 (July 2002): 1-4; Creating and Using Overheads. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Enfield, N. J. How We Talk: The Inner Workings of Conversation . New York: Basic Books, 2017; Giving an Oral Presentation. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra; Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking . 12th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015; Peery, Angela B. Creating Effective Presentations: Staff Development with Impact . Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2011; Peoples, Deborah Carter. Guidelines for Oral Presentations. Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries; Perret, Nellie. Oral Presentations. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Speeches. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Storz, Carl et al. Oral Presentation Skills. Institut national de télécommunications, EVRY FRANCE.

Speaking Tip

Your First Words are Your Most Important Words!

Your introduction should begin with something that grabs the attention of your audience, such as, an interesting statistic, a brief narrative or story, or a bold assertion, and then clearly tell the audience in a well-crafted sentence what you plan to accomplish in your presentation. Your introductory statement should be constructed so as to invite the audience to pay close attention to your message and to give the audience a clear sense of the direction in which you are about to take them.

Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking . 12th edition. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015.

Another Speaking Tip

Talk to Your Audience, Don't Read to Them!

A presentation is not the same as reading a prepared speech or essay. If you read your presentation as if it were an essay, your audience will probably understand very little about what you say and will lose their concentration quickly. Use notes, cue cards, or presentation slides as prompts that highlight key points, and speak to your audience . Include everyone by looking at them and maintaining regular eye-contact [but don't stare or glare at people]. Limit reading text to quotes or to specific points you want to emphasize.

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How to prepare and deliver an effective oral presentation

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• Peer review
• Lucia Hartigan , registrar 1 ,
• Fionnuala Mone , fellow in maternal fetal medicine 1 ,
• Mary Higgins , consultant obstetrician 2
• 1 National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
• 2 National Maternity Hospital, Dublin; Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medicine and Medical Sciences, University College Dublin
• luciahartigan{at}hotmail.com

The success of an oral presentation lies in the speaker’s ability to transmit information to the audience. Lucia Hartigan and colleagues describe what they have learnt about delivering an effective scientific oral presentation from their own experiences, and their mistakes

The objective of an oral presentation is to portray large amounts of often complex information in a clear, bite sized fashion. Although some of the success lies in the content, the rest lies in the speaker’s skills in transmitting the information to the audience. 1

Preparation

It is important to be as well prepared as possible. Look at the venue in person, and find out the time allowed for your presentation and for questions, and the size of the audience and their backgrounds, which will allow the presentation to be pitched at the appropriate level.

See what the ambience and temperature are like and check that the format of your presentation is compatible with the available computer. This is particularly important when embedding videos. Before you begin, look at the video on stand-by and make sure the lights are dimmed and the speakers are functioning.

For visual aids, Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Mac Keynote programmes are usual, although Prezi is increasing in popularity. Save the presentation on a USB stick, with email or cloud storage backup to avoid last minute disasters.

When preparing the presentation, start with an opening slide containing the title of the study, your name, and the date. Begin by addressing and thanking the audience and the organisation that has invited you to speak. Typically, the format includes background, study aims, methodology, results, strengths and weaknesses of the study, and conclusions.

If the study takes a lecturing format, consider including “any questions?” on a slide before you conclude, which will allow the audience to remember the take home messages. Ideally, the audience should remember three of the main points from the presentation. 2

Have a maximum of four short points per slide. If you can display something as a diagram, video, or a graph, use this instead of text and talk around it.

Animation is available in both Microsoft PowerPoint and the Apple Mac Keynote programme, and its use in presentations has been demonstrated to assist in the retention and recall of facts. 3 Do not overuse it, though, as it could make you appear unprofessional. If you show a video or diagram don’t just sit back—use a laser pointer to explain what is happening.

Rehearse your presentation in front of at least one person. Request feedback and amend accordingly. If possible, practise in the venue itself so things will not be unfamiliar on the day. If you appear comfortable, the audience will feel comfortable. Ask colleagues and seniors what questions they would ask and prepare responses to these questions.

It is important to dress appropriately, stand up straight, and project your voice towards the back of the room. Practise using a microphone, or any other presentation aids, in advance. If you don’t have your own presenting style, think of the style of inspirational scientific speakers you have seen and imitate it.

Try to present slides at the rate of around one slide a minute. If you talk too much, you will lose your audience’s attention. The slides or videos should be an adjunct to your presentation, so do not hide behind them, and be proud of the work you are presenting. You should avoid reading the wording on the slides, but instead talk around the content on them.

Maintain eye contact with the audience and remember to smile and pause after each comment, giving your nerves time to settle. Speak slowly and concisely, highlighting key points.

Do not assume that the audience is completely familiar with the topic you are passionate about, but don’t patronise them either. Use every presentation as an opportunity to teach, even your seniors. The information you are presenting may be new to them, but it is always important to know your audience’s background. You can then ensure you do not patronise world experts.

To maintain the audience’s attention, vary the tone and inflection of your voice. If appropriate, use humour, though you should run any comments or jokes past others beforehand and make sure they are culturally appropriate. Check every now and again that the audience is following and offer them the opportunity to ask questions.

Finishing up is the most important part, as this is when you send your take home message with the audience. Slow down, even though time is important at this stage. Conclude with the three key points from the study and leave the slide up for a further few seconds. Do not ramble on. Give the audience a chance to digest the presentation. Conclude by acknowledging those who assisted you in the study, and thank the audience and organisation. If you are presenting in North America, it is usual practice to conclude with an image of the team. If you wish to show references, insert a text box on the appropriate slide with the primary author, year, and paper, although this is not always required.

Answering questions can often feel like the most daunting part, but don’t look upon this as negative. Assume that the audience has listened and is interested in your research. Listen carefully, and if you are unsure about what someone is saying, ask for the question to be rephrased. Thank the audience member for asking the question and keep responses brief and concise. If you are unsure of the answer you can say that the questioner has raised an interesting point that you will have to investigate further. Have someone in the audience who will write down the questions for you, and remember that this is effectively free peer review.

Be proud of your achievements and try to do justice to the work that you and the rest of your group have done. You deserve to be up on that stage, so show off what you have achieved.

Competing interests: We have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: None.

• ↵ Rovira A, Auger C, Naidich TP. How to prepare an oral presentation and a conference. Radiologica 2013 ; 55 (suppl 1): 2 -7S. OpenUrl
• ↵ Bourne PE. Ten simple rules for making good oral presentations. PLos Comput Biol 2007 ; 3 : e77 . OpenUrl PubMed
• ↵ Naqvi SH, Mobasher F, Afzal MA, Umair M, Kohli AN, Bukhari MH. Effectiveness of teaching methods in a medical institute: perceptions of medical students to teaching aids. J Pak Med Assoc 2013 ; 63 : 859 -64. OpenUrl

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21 Tips and Strategies Supporting Learners’ Oral Presentations

Design & assign.

There are many options to consider when assigning an oral presentation. As you answer the following questions, reflect on your own commitment to continue using traditional oral presentations for evaluation.

Determine Oral Presentation Type

If you answered “No” to at least half of the questions, you may want to consider the following alternative formats that mitigate some of the specific anxieties your ELLs experience with oral presentations. While the default may be the traditional individual or group presentation of concepts in front of the whole class, there are a number of alternatives that may serve the same purpose.

Consider the different types of presentations and the steps that you can do to help your learners succeed.

Types of Oral Presentations

Short oral talks in a group

Usually a short oral talk in a group is informal with little time to prepare for this type of speech. Learners  share their thoughts or opinions about a specific topic. This type of talk follows a structure with a brief introductory statement, 2-3 ideas and a concluding statement.  These brief oral talks can help students develop confidence because they are presenting to a small group rather than the whole class. They do not have to create and coordinate visuals with their talk and the talk is short. There still needs to be substance to the talk, so participants should be given advance warning that they will be asked to speak on a particular topic.  One advantage is that several students in the class can be presenting simultaneously; however, as a result, in-process marking is not possible.

Formal oral presentations in front of class

Formal oral presentations in front of the class usually require individual students to make a longer presentation, supported with effective visual aids. Adequate time has been given for the presenter to prepare the topic. This type of presentation can be used to present research, information in general, or to persuade. The presenter is often put in charge of the class during the presentation time, so in addition to presenting, the presenter has to keep the class engaged and in line. Formal oral presentations often involve a Q & A. Most of the grading can be done in-process because you are only observing one student at a time. It is very time consuming to get through a whole class of presentations and have the class engaged and learning and you are giving up control of many course hours and content coverage.

Group Presentations

• Tips for giving a group presentation

Sharing Presentations Online

Students can be made the presenter in online platforms to complete presentations.  Zoom, Blackboard, WebEx and other similar software allow the moderator (Professor) to make specific participants hosts which enables them to share their screens and control the participation options of other students in the class.  As each platform has variations on how to share documents and control the presentation, it is important that students are given specific instructions on how to “present” using the various platforms.  If possible, set up separate “rooms” for students to practice in before their presentation.

• Instructions for screen sharing in Zoom
• Instructions for screen sharing in WebEx
• Instructions for screen sharing in Blackboard Collaborate

Use Oral Recordings of Presentations Synchronously or Asynchronously

Consider allowing students to record their presentations and present the recording to the class.  While this would not be appropriate for a language class where the performance of the presentation is likely more important than the content, in other classes providing the opportunity for learners to record multiple times until they are satisfied with the output is an ideal way to optimize the quality of the presentation as well as reduce the performance related stress. The presentation can then be shared synchronously in class or online with the presenter hosting and fielding questions, or asynchronously posted on a discussion board or other app such as Flipgrid with the presenter responding to comments posted over a set period of time. A side benefit to the use of some of these tools such as Skye and Google Meet is that they are commonly used in the workforce so it good practice for post-graduation application of skills.

Possible Tools for Recording and Sharing

• Flipgrid – an easy to use app that lets students record short video clips and resubmit as many times as needed. The video stays in the Flipgrid app for other students to see (if shared) and allow for easy teacher responses whether via video or text. (Asynchronous)
• Skype   – Follow the instructions to record and share a video on the MS website (Either if posted on course platform)
• Google Meet – Follow the i nstructions to record and share a presentation on Google Meet . (Either if posted on course platform)
• Zoom – students can share their narrated PPT slides via Zoom (don’t forget to enable the sound)
• Powerpoint – Recording of narrations for slides
• Youtube – Recorded videos can be uploaded to Youtube to share by following instructions to upload Youtube video
• OneDrive – most institutions provide OneDrive accounts for faculty and students as part of Office 365. Students can save their video in OneDrive and choose who to share it with (faculty member, group, class)

Presenting in Another Language

If the goal of the presentation is to demonstrate in depth understanding of the course content and ability to communicate that information effectively, does the presentation have to be done in English?  Can the student’s mastery of the subject matter be demonstrated in another language with a translator? It would still be possible to evaluate the content of the presentation, the confidence, the performance, the visual aids etc.  On the global stage, translated speeches and presentations are the norm by political leaders and content experts – why not let students show the depth of their understanding in a language they are comfortable with?

If a more formal type of oral presentation is required, is it possible to give students some choice to help reduce their anxiety?  For example, could they choose to present to you alone, to a small group, or to the whole class?

Teach Making a Presentation Step by Step

Don’t assume that all the students in your class have been taught how to make a presentation for a college or university level class. Furthermore, there are many purposes for presentations (inform, educate, persuade, motivate, activate, entertain) which require different organizational structure, tone, content and visual aids.

• Ask the class to raise their hands if they feel ♦ very comfortable presenting in front of the class, ♦ somewhat comfortable presenting in front of the class or ♦ not comfortable presenting in front of the class.  This will help you gauge your learners’ prior experience / comfort and also let learners in the class see that others, both native speakers and ELLs are nervous about presenting orally in class.

Provide Clear Instructions

• Write clear, detailed instructions (following the suggestions in Module 3).
• Ask students to download a copy to bring to class and encourage them to record annotations as you discuss expectations.
• Example: How many slides should you use as your visual aid? Do you need to use outside sources? What tools can you use to create this presentation?
• Include the rubric that you will use to grade the presentations and explain each section, noting sections that have higher weighting.

Provide a Guide to Planning

• Have students write a description of the target audience for their presentation and explicitly state the purpose of the presentation.

• Encourage students to read widely on their topic. The more content knowledge the learner has about the topic, the more confident the learner will be when presenting.
• Teach students how to do an effective presentation that meets your course expectations (if class time does not permit, offer an optional  ‘office hours’ workshop). Remember – many of your students many never have presented a post-secondary presentation which may cause significant anxiety. Your ELL’s experiences with oral presentations may be limited or significantly different in terms of expectations based on their prior educational contexts.
• Have students view examples of good presentations and some bad ones – there are many examples available on YouTube such as  Good Presentation vs Bad Presentation .
• Provide specific guidelines for each section of the presentation. How should learners introduce their presentation? How much detail is required? Is audience interaction required? Is a call to action expected at the end?
• If audience interaction is required, teach your students specific elicitation techniques (See Module 3)
• Designing Visual Aids Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo
• Presentation Aids Video
• Paralinguistic features like eye contact are potentially culture – bound. If the subject that you are teaching values eye contact, then include this expectation in the presentation. On the other hand, if your field of study doesn’t require presentations typically, consider valuing the cultural diversity of your learners and not grading learners negatively for not making eye contact.
• Review the rubric. Let learners know what you are specifically grading  during the presentation. The rubric should be detailed enough that learners know what elements of the presentation are weighted the heaviest.

Model an Effective Presentation

A good speech is like a pencil; it has to have a point.

• Provide an exemplar of a presentation that you have presented yourself and recorded, or a presentation done by a previous student for which you have written permission to share.

Require Students to Practice

• Practice saying the presentation out loud
• Practice with a room mate/ classmate / family member / friend
• Go on a walk and talk – encourage students to get outside, and go for a walk – as they walk, they can say their presentation orally out loud. The fresh air and sunshine helps one to relax and reduce anxiety, so it is easier to focus on the talk.
• Record a practice presentation. Encourage students to find a quiet place to record and to use headphones with a mic to improve quality of the recording.
• If time allows, build formative practice presentations into the schedule. Have students practice their presentation in small groups and have other group mates give targeted feedback based on content, organization and presentation skills. Provide a checklist of expectations for the others in the group to use to provide specific, targeted feedback to the presenter. Students can watch their performance at home along with their peer’s feedback to identify areas for improvement.

• If you have assigned oral presentations in your class, review the course outcomes and the content covered in the assignment and determine if a formal oral presentation is necessary. 
• Think of one alternative you could offer to students who struggle with individual assignments.
• Annotate your assignment with notes indicating possible modifications you could make to improve the inclusivity and equity of the assignment.

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Presentations: Oral Presentations

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Oral Presentations Purpose

An Oral Research Presentation is meant to showcase your research findings. A successful oral research presentation should: communicate the importance of your research; clearly state your findings and the analysis of those findings; prompt discussion between researcher and audience.  Below you will find information on how to create and give a successful oral presentation.  

Creating an Effective Presentation

Who has a harder job the speaker? Or, the audience?

Most people think speaker has the hardest job during an oral presentation, because they are having to stand up in a room full of people and give a presentation. However, if the speaker is not engaging and if the material is way outside of the audiences knowledge level, the audience can have a difficult job as well. Below you will find some tips on how to be an effective presenter and how to engage with your audience.

Organization of a Presentation  

Introduction/Beginning

How are you going to begin?  How are you going to get the attention of your audience? You need to take the time and think about how you are going to get started!

Here are some ways you could start:

• Ask the audience a question
• make a statement
• show them something

No matter how you start your presentation it needs to relate to your research and capture the audiences attention.  

Preview what you are going to discuss .  Audiences do not like to be manipulated or tricked. Tell the audience exactly what you are going to discuss, this will help them follow along.  *Do not say you are going to cover three points and then try to cover 8 points.

At the end of your introduction, the audience should feel like they know exactly what you are going to  discuss and exactly how you are going to get there.  

Body/Middle

Conclusion/End

Delivery and Communication

Eye Contact

Making eye contact is a great way to engage with your audience.  Eye contact should be no longer than 2-3 seconds per person.  Eye contact for much longer than that can begin to make the audience member feel uncomfortable.

Smiling lets attendees know you are happy to be there and that you are excited to talk with them about your project.

We all know that body language says a lot, so here are some things you should remember when giving your presentation.

• Stand with both feet on the floor, not with one foot crossed over the other. 
• Do not stand with your hands in your pockets, or with your arms crossed.
• Stand tall with confidence and own your space (remember you are the expert).  

Abbreviated Notes

Having a written set of notes or key points that you want to address can help prevent you from reading the poster. 

Speak Clearly

Sometimes when we get nervous we begin to talk fast and blur our words.  It is important that you make sure every word is distinct and clear. A great way to practice your speech is to say tongue twisters. 

Ten tiny tots tottered toward the shore

Literally literary. Literally literary.  Literally literary.

Sally soon saw that she should sew some sheets.

Avoid Fillers

Occasionally we pick up fillers that we are not aware of, such as um, like, well, etc. One way to get rid of fillers is to have a friend listen to your speech and every time you say a "filler" have that friend tap you on the arm or say your name.  This will bring the filler to light, then you can practice avoiding that filler.

Manage Anxiety

Many people get nervous when they are about to speak to a crowd of people.  Below are ways that you can manage your anxiety levels. 

• Practice, Practice, Practice - the more prepared you are the less nervous you will be.
• Recognize that anxiety is just a big shot of adrenalin.
• Take deep breaths before your presentation to calm you down. 

Components of an Oral Research Presentation

Introduction

The introduction section of your oral presentation should consist of 3 main parts.  

Part 1: Existing facts

In order to give audience members the "full picture", you first need to provide them with information about past research.  What facts already exist? What is already known about your research area?

Part 2: Shortcomings

Once you have highlighted past research and existing facts. You now need to address what is left to be known, or what shortcomings exist within the current information.  This should set the groundwork for your experiment.  Keep in mind, how does your research fill these gaps or help address these questions? 

Part 3: Purpose or Hypothesis

After you have addressed past/current research and have identified shortcomings/gaps, it is now time to address your research.  During this portion of the introduction you need to tell viewers why you are conducting your research experiement/study, and what you hope to accomplish by doing so. 

In this section you should share with your audience how you went about collecting and analyzing your data

Should include:

• Participants: Who or what was in the study?
• Materials/ measurements: what did you measure?
• Procedures: How did you do the study?
• Data-analysis: What analysis were conducted? 

This section contains FACTS – with no opinion, commentary or interpretation. Graphs, charts and images can be used to display data in a clear and organized way.  

Keep in mind when making figures:

• Make sure axis, treatments, and data sets are clearly labeled
• Strive for simplicity, especially in figure titles. 
• Know when to use what kind of graph
• Be careful with colors.

Interpretation and commentary takes place here. This section should give a clear summary of your findings. 

You should:

• Address the positive and negative aspects of you research
• Discuss how and if your research question was answered. 
• Highlight the novel and important findings
• Speculate on what could be occurring in your system 

Future Research

• State your goals
• Include information about why you believe research should go in the direction you are proposing
• Discuss briefly how you plan to implement the research goals, if you chose to do so.  

Why include References?

• It allows viewers to locate the material that you used, and can help viewers expand their knowledge of your research topic.  
• Indicates that you have conducted a thorough review of the literature and conducted your research from an informed perspective.
• Guards you against intellectual theft.  Ideas are considered intellectual property failure to cite someone's ideas can have serious consequences. 

Acknowledgements

This section is used to thank the people, programs and funding agencies that allowed you to perform your research.

Questions 

Allow for about 2-3 minutes at the end of your presentation for questions. 

It is important to be prepared. 

• Know why you conducted the study
• Be prepared to answer questions about why you chose a specific methodology

If you DO NOT know the answer to a question

Visual Aids

PowerPoints and other visual aids can be used to support what you are presenting about.

Power Point Slides and other visual aids can help support your presentation, however there are some things you should consider: 

• Do not overdo it . One big mistake that presenters make is they have  a slide for every single item they want to say. One way you can avoid this is by writing your presentation in Word first, instead of making a Power Point Presentation. By doing this you can type exactly what you want to say, and once your presentation is complete, you can create Power Point slides that help support your presentation. ​

Formula for number of visual aids : Length of presentation divided by 2 plus 1

example: 12 minute presentation should have no more than 7 slides.

• Does it add interest? 
• Does it prove? 
• Does it clarify?
• Do not read the text . Most people can read, and if they have the option of reading material themselves versus listen to you read it, they are going to read it themselves and then your voice becomes an annoyance. Also, when you are reading the text you are probably not engaging with the audience. 
• No more than 4-6 lines on a slide and no more than 4-6 words in a line.
• People should be able to read your slide in 6 seconds.
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An Insight to Attitudes and Challenges in Oral Presentations Among University Students

Oral presentation skills are often seen as important skills that university students need to possess once graduated. However, face to face oral presentation is still seen as one of the biggest challenges a student face as they often experience nervousness and shyness, give no eye contact, do not address the audience, and many more. With this in view, more research evidence is needed to understand students’ attitude towards oral presentation, oral presentation courses and the difficulties that students’ face when presenting. Hence, this study has two aims. The first is to investigate students’ attitude towards oral presentations skills and oral presentation courses. Secondly, this study aims to find out the difficulty that students face when giving oral presentations. A quantitative analysis was carried out to analyze the data. The data was collected among 145 university students from an oral presentation course in a selected university. The data obtained was analyzed for mean and percentages using the SPSS version 26. This study found that though students are aware on the importance of oral presentation skills, many are still facing challenges when doing it. Results yielded from four aspects which are from the general presentations challenges, linguistic, background knowledge, and psychological challenges. It is hoped that this study will help to contribute to the understanding of oral presentations among university students.

Keywords: Anxiety , attitudes , challenges , oral presentation , university students

Introduction

Employers often regard communication skills (written, oral, and listening) as one of the most sought-after skills when hiring ( Alshare & Hindi, 2004 ). It is one of the reasons why job interviews are conducted, which is to assess candidate’s communication skills. Oral presentation is the most popular speaking genre in classes as well as the workplace ( Chang & Huang, 2015 ). Most higher education courses include presentations as a method of assessment as well as classroom teaching and learning activities. In addition, successful communicative goals include effective oral presentation skills ( Evans, 2013 ). According to Van Emden and Becker ( 2017 ), being able to speak effectively to an audience is one of the benefits that students can gain from their tertiary education. Also, being able to present effectively is a valuable skill for students in whatever subjects they study and will consequently give greater achievements in their academics, career prospects, and their working lives in the future ( Van Emden & Becker, 2017 ).

Christensen ( 2002 ) observes that tertiary level students are provided with plenty opportunities to practice their presentation skills. These opportunities range from participating in group discussions, voicing out opinions during lectures, presenting formal speeches during orientation programs and other formal functions to defending their final year project to be assessed by others. In fact, oral presentation assessments are common assessment types in higher education and the function is to measure a student’s ability to create and deliver an engaging, informed, and persuasive argument ( Nash et al., 2016 ). On top of that, many higher educational institutions offer oral presentation and public speaking courses to further develop students’ presentation skills.

In line with the importance of oral presentation skills, University Teknologi Mara, Malaysia offers the course English for Oral Presentations to its students. The course focuses on oral communication theory and practice with emphasis on the importance of verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Learning takes place through a variety of activities to enhance learners’ ability to use the correct language for a presentation, to exploit a variety of materials and sources, and to use visual aids appropriately in oral presentations. Upon completion of the course, students are expected to develop skills to participate in speech communication activities confidently and competently.

Definition of oral presentation

The Learning Centre of The University of New South Wales ( 2010 ) defines oral presentation as a short talk on an assigned topic delivered to a group of people. In an oral presentation, one or more students will present their views and positions on a topic based on their readings or research. According to the University of Wollongong (n.d.) oral presentations can be observed in social events, classrooms and workplaces. In addition, an oral presentation at university shows a student's ability to communicate relevant information effectively in an interesting and engaging manner.

Students attitude towards oral presentations

There have been many past studies written on students’ attitude towards oral presentations. One study by Dansieh et al. ( 2021 ) was done to investigate the possible causes of anxiety towards oral presentations among tertiary students from Technical University, Ghana. The exploratory case study on 46 students used surveys and interviews as the instruments. The study found that even though students are aware of the importance of oral presentations, 63% of the respondents experienced anxiety when asked to give oral presentations. Additionally, 23.9 % experienced nervousness while another 13% experienced stage fright when asked to give oral presentations. The study further revealed that the respondents associated their unfavourable experience to three causes: 1) fear of making mistakes (65.2%), 2) fear towards the audience (21.7%), and 3) lack of knowledge in oral presentations (13%).

Another recent study that measures students’ attitude towards oral presentations was conducted by Pham et al. ( 2022 ) on 600 second-year, third-year, and fourth-year students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Van Lang University in Vietnam. The quantitative study used a survey questionnaire with 38 questions. The study reported that 89.7% of the respondents agree that oral presentation skills are important for their career prospects, and 90.7% of the respondents believe that being able to give good oral presentations is an advantage to students. Additionally, the respondents of the study also acknowledged that oral presentations can help improve communication skills, build confidence, and increase creativity. Despite showing positive understanding towards the importance of oral presentations, 57.1% of the students dread the idea of standing and speaking in front of an audience.

The next study that shed light on students’ attitude towards oral presentation is by Marinho et al. ( 2017 ). The cross-sectional descriptive and analytic study was conducted on 1135 undergraduate students using two instruments: a questionnaire and the Self-statements During Public Speaking Scale (SSPS). The study reported that 89.3% of the respondents believe that oral presentation courses should be included in the curriculum. This implies that there was high awareness among students towards the importance of oral presentations. Additionally, the study also reported that 63.9% of the respondents expressed fear towards oral presentations and it is also highlighted that the female gender is prevalent in the percentage. Marinho et al. ( 2017 ) also claims that students with lesser experience in conducting oral presentations and students with negative self-perception tend to have more fear towards oral presentations.

There is also a qualitative study that was conducted on this subject. Grieve et al. ( 2021 ) studied 46 undergraduate students from University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol. Participants of the study expressed that they were aware of the importance of having oral presentation skills. The study also identified six themes: fear of being judged; physical symptoms; uncertainty about the topic; negative effect on university experience; practice and preparation; more practical support needed. These themes show that overall, students have fear towards oral presentations. Grieve et al. ( 2021 ) subsequently reported that the fear towards oral presentation that students have negatively impacted their learning and student experience, and also affected their mental wellbeing. The study concluded that there is a need to provide support to higher education students with public speaking fear.

Finally, a quantitative study conducted by Dellah et al. ( 2020 ) on 199 UiTM Melaka students investigated students’ anxiety level and the correlation between gender, program, language proficiency and oral presentation anxiety. The study used the adapted Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale or FLCAS as questionnaire. The finding indicated that students experience moderate anxiety towards oral presentation. Dellah et al. ( 2020 ) elaborated that this could be because students were worried of other’s negative evaluation which hinders their readiness to present, and subsequently affect their learning performance in general. This study also concluded that while gender and program are not determining factors, language proficiency does impact students’ anxiety level.

Hence, it is clear that even though students depict their awareness on the importance of oral presentations, they have a negative attitude towards them. The next section of literature review will further elaborate on the challenges and difficulties that students have when dealing with oral presentations.

Challenges students faced during oral presentations

There has been much research done to understand the challenges and difficulties that students face when they are asked to give oral presentations. Imron and Hantari ( 2019 ) studied 23 students in Indonesia. The qualitative research aimed to examine the possible challenges that students face that result in their high anxiety when dealing with oral presentations and public speaking. The study concluded that there are four challenges that students face: 1) self-value (their confidence level), 2) discomposure (fear of failures, embarrassment, and making mistakes), 3) lack of preparation time, and 4) unfamiliarity with the topics. Imron and Hantari ( 2019 ) suggested that the academic institution should provide a supportive environment for students to learn about oral presentations.

Another study that investigated the challenges that students face when dealing with oral presentations was done by Soomro et al. ( 2019 ). The quantitative study was conducted on 100 engineering undergraduate students in Pakistan. The study used a questionnaire as the instrument and reported that there are seven factors that contribute as challenges to students The factors are stress and nervousness (71%), lack of motivation (63%), poor oral communication skills (55%), fear and anxiety (52%), shyness (51%) and low self-confidence (51%). The study suggested that in order to curb this problem, there is a need for institutions to provide training to students and also offer them ample opportunities to practice oral presentations ( Soomro et al., 2019 ).

Pham et al. ( 2022 ) reported a similar finding. The study depicted that three most prevalent challenges that students face regarding oral presentations are fear of making mistakes (53.8%), shyness (57.1%), and the lack of topical knowledge (64.1%). Pham et al. ( 2022 ) also elaborated that students are usually more confident and perform better when they present in their native language as compared to when they present in English. They argue that this happens because students mostly think using their native language and encounter difficulty translating it to English when presenting.

Hamad and Seyyedi ( 2020 ) conducted a more comprehensive study on the challenges that students face during oral presentations in Soran University, Iraq. Their quantitative study on 121 undergraduate students revealed that linguistic factors (language proficiency) were the primary cause for English speaking difficulties with 36.42%, followed by affective (fear of making mistakes and being evaluated, anxiety, low self-confidence and shyness) and sociocultural factors (environment and opportunities) with 35.63% and 27.95 % respectively. The study also concluded that the challenges are the result of a combination of interrelated and intersected psychological, linguistic and sociocultural factors.

One recent study by Bui et al. ( 2022 ) was conducted on 90 undergraduate students from Tay Do University, Vietnam. The study used questionnaires and interviews as instruments. The study revealed that 88.3% of the students acknowledged the importance of oral presentations and felt that they had been given ample opportunities to present. The study also depicted that the common difficulties faced by students stem from linguistic (vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar), background knowledge and psychological factors (anxiety, self-confidence, lack of motivation, fear of making mistakes). The interviews of teachers and students corroborated this finding.

Problem Statement

There are many obvious advantages of conducting oral presentations in language classrooms. According to Brooks and Wilson ( 2014 ), there are five benefits of conducting oral presentations: 1) it is a learner-centred activity; 2) it integrates the use of reading, writing, listening, and speaking; 3) it provides authentic context for language learning; 4) it adds value to using English outside of the class; and 5) it increases students’ motivation level. Additionally, Paxton and Truxal ( 2019 ) added that teaching oral presentations also promotes classroom diversity and allows more variety to assessment methods.

Due to its extensive benefits, many higher educational institutions offer oral presentation courses to their students. Dansieh et al. ( 2021 ) argues that despite these offered opportunities, students will try to avoid presenting to the extent that they choose to not attend an occasion when there is a possibility that they are asked to speak in front of an audience. Dansieh et al. ( 2021 ) claims that this is due to their heightened anxiety towards giving oral presentations. This is in spite of their awareness that oral presentation and public speaking skills are imperative communicative skills in both their academic and career advancement prospects. Grieve et al. ( 2021 ) also agreed to this notion. In their qualitative study, Grieve et al. ( 2021 ) found that students are afraid of oral presentations even though they are aware of the importance of oral presentations. In addition, the study also noted that students’ fear of oral presentations has negatively impacted their overall learning and student experience. Although there is much awareness of student’s anxiety in oral presentations, more research evidence is needed regarding students’ attitude towards oral presentation courses and the difficulties that students’ face when presenting. Hence, this study has two aims. The first is to investigate students' attitude towards oral presentations skills and oral presentation courses. Secondly, this study aims to find out the difficulty that students face when giving oral presentations.

Research Questions

What are students’ attitudes towards oral presentation skills and oral presentation course?

What are the difficulties that students encounter when performing oral presentations?

Research Methods

This quantitative research is done to investigate students’ attitude towards oral presentation skills, oral presentation course and the challenges they face when giving oral presentations. The instrument is a survey adapted from Bui et al. ( 2022 ) and Pham et al. ( 2022 ). 145 students who are taking the English for Oral Presentations subject were chosen using the purposive sampling method. The adapted questionnaire has four different sections. Section 1 has items on the demographic profile. In section 2, the 11 items are on students’ attitudes towards oral presentation skills. Section 3 has 8 items on students’ attitudes towards oral presentation course while the final section, has 20 items on the challenges that students face during oral presentations.

Table 1 above depicts the distribution of items in the survey. The reliability statistics for the instrument. SPSS analysis revealed a Cronbach alpha of .934 thus showing a high internal reliability of the instrument used. Data collection is performed via Google Form. Collected data is then analyzed using SPSS version 26 and is presented in the form of percentages and mean scores to answer the research questions;

Students’ demographic profile

In total, 145 respondents answered the survey and 75% of them were female students, while the remaining 25% were male students. Most of these students (63.4%) were students from social sciences and humanities programs. This is followed by students from the applied sciences (20%) and the students from the business programs (16.6%). The majority of the students were first year students (65.3%) followed by second- and third-year students with 27.1% and 7.6% respectively. Among these 145 students, 31.7% of them obtained grade A for their English paper in the SPM examination. 32.4% obtained grade B, 20% obtained grade C. 10.3% obtained grade D, while the remaining 5.5% obtained grade E for the examination. Hence, it can be said that the respondents constitute of mostly intermediate and higher intermediate students in the aspect of language proficiency.

R1: Students’ attitude towards oral presentation skills and oral presentation course

This section presents data to answer research question 1: What are students’ attitudes towards oral presentation skills and oral presentation course?

When evaluating the findings of students’ attitude towards oral presentation skills, it is found that their attitude can be categorised to the perceived importance of oral presentation skills on i) future use, ii) improvement of their language and communication skills, and iii) general learning purposes.

Table 2 illustrates how students perceive the importance of oral presentation skills for their future use. The most significant importance that students perceive is that presentation skills play a vital role for their future careers with the mean of 4.3. This is followed by the perceived importance of presentation skills on their confidence with studies and work with the mean score of 4.1. In terms of connecting them with success, the mean score achieved is 4.0 and the least mean score is 3.0 for the statement “Presentation skills are just one of the skills, so we do not need to be excellent or focus too much on the skill”.

Table 3 depicts the perceived importance of presentation skills on improvement of language and communication skills. It is revealed that most respondents feel that oral presentation skills help improve their communication skills with a mean of 4.3. This is followed by improving their language proficiency with 4.1. Respondents also feel that oral presentation skills help master their thought and improve their speaking ability with a mean score of 4.0.

Table 4 shows the results for students’ perceived importance of presentation skills for general learning purposes. Items AOPS2 and AOPS9 shows the highest score. Respondents feel that having the ability to give good presentations is necessary for students and that they give better presentations when it is for their favourite subject. For item AOPS7, 3.9 mean score is recorded, while a lower mean score of 3.4 is obtained for item AOPS10.

Table 5 illustrates students’ attitudes towards an oral presentation course. Oral presentation courses aim at providing students guidance to deal with external and internal factors that hinder effective presentation. For the external factors, it is found that respondents feel that the course helped them understand about body language when presenting the most with a mean score of 4.1. This is followed by a mean score of 4.0 for giving them knowledge on presentation skills. The same mean score of 3.9 is obtained for items AOPC1 and AOPC2. As for the internal factors that hinder effective presentations, the highest mean of 4.0 is obtained for item AOPC8. This is followed by a mean score of 3.9 for item AOPC3. Additionally, the respondents stated that the course helped them feel more confident about presenting (mean score= 3.7) and taught them how to deal with anxiety when presenting (mean score= 3.5).

R2: Challenges that students encounter when performing oral presentations

This section presents data to answer research question 2: What are the difficulties that students encounter when performing oral presentations? In the context of the current study, it is found that difficulties when performing oral presentations can be divided into four categories; general, linguistic, background knowledge and psychological challenges.

Table 6 presents the general challenges that students face during oral presentations. For general challenges, the highest mean is obtained for the statement “You have faced difficulties when making a presentation.” The next item with a mean of 3.7 is that students’ main difficulty is the lack of time for preparation and practice. Items DOP14 and DOP 16 both obtained the mean of 3.6. The lowest mean is for item DOP8 which states that students perceive their conversation skill as poor.

Table 7 shows the eight items on linguistics difficulties that students face during oral presentations. The highest mean (4.0) is obtained for item DOP3, followed by DOP 5 with a mean score of 3.8. Next, for item DOP9 and DOP2 that are items on vocabulary, the mean scores obtained are 3.7 and 3.6 respectively. The least mean is obtained for item DOP6 with 2.9 mean score, followed by item DOP4 with 3.0 mean score

Table 8 depicts students’ attitude towards challenges pertaining to background knowledge. Respondents of this study feel that background knowledge plays a significant role in oral presentation skills as mean score of 3.9 is achieved for this item. This is followed by a mean score of 3.8 for the statement “You meet difficulty voicing your opinion on unfamiliar topic”. Finally, a mean score of 3.6 is obtained for item DOP12.

Table 9 shows the mean score for psychological challenges that students face during oral presentations. The highest mean is obtained for DOP17 where respondents feel afraid of making mistakes. Items DOP16 and DOP18 have the same mean score of 3.9. For item DOP19, “You have high motivation for presentations in classrooms”, the lowest mean score of 3.1 is obtained, while the second lowest mean score is obtained by item DOP20 which is 3.2.

Students’ attitude towards oral presentation skills and oral presentation course

This study focuses on students’ attitude towards oral presentation skills and courses as well as the challenges that they face during oral presentations. The findings of this study can augment the existing literature, especially regarding students’ attitude on oral presentation course. From the findings of this study, it can be gauged that overall, students understand the vital roles that oral presentations play for their future career. They also view presentation skills as something that they have to master, in order to succeed in their study life, and to obtain better career opportunities. The findings of this study can corroborate previous studies by Dansieh et al. ( 2021 ) and Pham et al. ( 2022 ) that both depict students’ awareness on the importance of having good presentation skills.

Next, this study also found that students view oral presentations as a tool that can help them improve their communicative abilities, language proficiency, and help them in their studies in general. This finding is parallel to Pham et al. ( 2022 ) who also found that students believe that oral presentation skills can enhance their communicative ability, and Amelia ( 2022 ) who found that oral presentations can help students improve their language proficiency and aid in developing academic skills. Hence, it can be concluded that students are generally aware of the importance of presentation skills on their study, career prospects, and life in general.

The next finding of this study is that students view the oral presentation course they take, ELC590 as being able to help them externally and internally when it comes to oral presentation. Students feel that the subject gives them knowledge about oral presentations, and also teaches them about content and body language. Additionally, the subject also helps students deal with anxiety and build their confidence when presenting. The study of Pham et al. ( 2022 ) had similar results where students feel that oral presentation course helped them with knowledge and confidence level when presenting. Similar to this study, it was also established that taking an oral presentation course made students better presenters for other subjects.

The challenges that students face during oral presentations

Firstly, this study found that most students have faced challenges during oral presentations and having lack of time for preparation is also one of the biggest challenges they faced. This finding is similar to Bui et al. ( 2022 ) where most students responded “Agree” and “Strongly Agree” to the similar statement. Therefore, it is established that even though many are aware on the importance of oral presentation skills, students still do not know how to overcome challenges revolving around it.

Next, this study also found that even though not many students regard their conversational skill as poor, linguistic factor is still a major challenge that they face during oral presentations. This is similar to the findings by Hamad and Seyyedi ( 2020 ). To elaborate, this study found that most students feel that searching for the right word to use is a challenge they faced, and they also encountered difficulties with limited vocabulary. They also faced challenges when it comes to pronunciation and grammar, with pronunciation being the least worried element. This finding is contrary to Bui et al. ( 2022 ) who found that pronunciation is the biggest linguistic challenge, followed by vocabulary and grammar. This could be due to geographical factor as both studies were conducted in different countries. From this finding, it can be gauged that as second language learners, students’ language proficiency will always be a challenge, and to overcome this, students should be exposed to role plays or other speaking activities that require them to speak in English spontaneously.

For psychological factors, this study found that the biggest challenge that students have is fear of making mistakes. This is followed by anxiety when speaking in front of others, and fear of criticism and evaluation by others. The result is consistent with the study by Pham et al. ( 2022 ) who found that fear of making mistakes is the biggest psychological challenge that students faced. A study by Soomro et al. ( 2019 ) too stated anxiety as the major challenge but it was ranked first as compared to the findings of this study. Finally, the finding of this study can also corroborate to the finding by Imron and Hantari ( 2019 ) who found fear of making mistakes and anxiety as challenges that most students face during oral presentations. Based on this finding, it can be seen that even when students are taught anxiety and methods to overcome it in the oral presentation course, these psychological factors still exist and hinders students from creating effective presentations.

Pedagogical implications

Students attitude towards oral presentation skills and oral presentation courses, as well as the challenges they face when asked to conduct oral presentations are explored in this study. According to this study, students are generally aware on the importance of presentation skills on their study, career prospects, and life in general. However, many students still face difficulties when dealing with presentations. The challenges that they face can be divided into general, background knowledge, linguistic and psychological factors. Out of these four challenges, psychological factors recorded the highest mean collectively. Since the finding also found that students value oral presentation courses, it is suggested that educators incorporate strategies to overcome psychological factors in their courses. Students should be taught to increase the level of preparation they have, embrace anxiety, and use the nervous energy they have to create better presentations.

In addition, educators should also provide a friendly atmosphere that allows students to voice their opinion. Also, since fear of making mistakes is listed as one of the traits that students have, sharing sessions could be incorporated in lessons to allow students to practice speaking without the pressure of being evaluated or judged. Finally, a participatory approach in teaching and learning can be inculcated in lessons to reduce students’ communication apprehension.

Suggestions for future research

Since this study revolves only around 145 students of Universiti Teknologi Mara,Shah Alam, a greater sample size and a broader context could produce a more accurate result. Next, since it has been established that students are generally aware about the importance of oral presentations, studies on the factors that make students dread presentations could be done. In addition, it is also crucial to conduct experimental studies that investigate the effectiveness of oral presentation courses to delve on the ways these courses can further help students with oral presentation skills.

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Pham, M. T., Nguyen, D. N. Q., Nguyen, T. K. C., Nguyen, H. N. M., Hoang, T. A. T., & Pham, V. P. H. (2022). The Reality of English Presentation Skills of English-majored Students in Vietnam: A Case Study at Van Lang University. International Journal of TESOL & Education, 2(2), 27-46. DOI:

Soomro, M. A., Siming, I. A., Shah, S. H. R., Rajper, M. A., Naz, S., & Channa, M. A. (2019). An investigation of anxiety factors during English oral presentation skills of engineering undergraduates in pakistan. International Journal of English Linguistics, 9(3), 203-210. DOI:

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Van Emden, J., & Becker, L. (2017). Presentation skills for students. Bloomsbury Publishing.

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Zakaria, S. F., Rusli, R., Mat, N. H. C., & Tazijan, F. (2023). An Insight to Attitudes and Challenges in Oral Presentations Among University Students. In M. Rahim, A. A. Ab Aziz, I. Saja @ Mearaj, N. A. Kamarudin, O. L. Chong, N. Zaini, A. Bidin, N. Mohamad Ayob, Z. Mohd Sulaiman, Y. S. Chan, & N. H. M. Saad (Eds.), Embracing Change: Emancipating the Landscape of Research in Linguistic, Language and Literature, vol 7. European Proceedings of Educational Sciences (pp. 543-555). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epes.23097.49

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The Importance Of Oral Presentations For University Students

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Oral communication skills are important for students.

BY ANTON LUCANUS

Communication skills are vital for a student’s academic success and future career prospects. In today’s challenging environment, students must not only possess academic expertise, but also the requisite skills to enhance their learning and employability prospects in the future.

Communication is a dynamic process as it involves an interaction between two or more people i.e. the sender and the receiver. The main purpose of communication is to transmit thoughts and beliefs to another person. The major components of communication are verbal communication or oral communication and non-verbal communication. Oral communication is the process of expressing ideas through the medium of speech and this plays a crucial role in the life of students.

Importance of Oral Communication for Students

An individual learns the basics of oral communication right at home. The school environment takes this learning a notch higher by teaching the student how to interact with peers and teachers alike. The quality of communication in student life will define professional communication later in life.

Good communication enables students to assimilate more from the learning process by empowering them to ask relevant questions and discuss doubts.

Effective verbal communication nurtures the process of socialization by facilitating new friendships and these in turn aid the learning process.

Productive communication is a boost to career development. An ability to convey thoughts in a clear and precise manner would help a student to make a favorable impression at an interview and get the job that he deserves.

Communication skills inculcate professionalism in speaking styles, ways of self-expression and attitudes towards others, and these traits would hold students in good stead in their professional lives.

Dynamics of Oral Communication

The hallmark of a good student communicator is that he has mastered the art of preparing, organizing and delivering successful oral presentations. Oral communication includes real-time presentations, video presentations and interviews, with accompanying visual aids such as handouts and power-points.

Message is the key to a good oral communication. The substance of the presentation should be relevant to the audience and goals of the presentation.

Self-awareness is the starting point of good oral communication. A person who is aware of his strengths and weaknesses can put in the required efforts to improve communication skills.

Confidence is another vital aspect of good communication. A person may know the subject and yet not communicate adequately if he lacks confidence.

Simplicity in messaging is indispensable for good communication as assimilation of the message is directly proportional to clarity of its presentation.

Awareness of the audience is an important tool in the hands of an effective oral communicator. A good communicator can guage the impact of the by observing the body language and feedback of the audience and adjust his approach accordingly.

Interaction is the path to effectiveness. A student oral communicator can keep the audience engaged by asking questions and soliciting opinions on the subject matter at hand. This would also help in fine tuning the message and style of presentation, based on the feedback received from the audience.

The tone of voice of the presenter carries a lot of weight in delivery of the message. A confident tone keeps the audience engaged, whereas a low and monotonous tone can be off-putting. Voice modulation can also be employed to highlight the key points in the presentation and retain the attention of the audience.

Body language is an important component of effective oral communication. The student should adopt a stable and confident posture, make appropriate gestures, avoid being fidgety and establish eye contact during the presentation.

Oral communication is not merely the ability to speak, but also the capacity to listen. A good communicator is one who is attuned to the audience and is able to calibrate his message accordingly. An aspiring oral communicator should be willing to acquire and hone his listening skills over a period of time.

  The Path to Effective Oral Communication

Oral communication is an art that can be learnt and polished through reading, presentation skills and practice.

An oral communicator should have intellectual curiosity. Reading is a means to the development of good communication skills. A well-educated mind would be able to communicate better as content is the soul of the communication process. He should also possess an attitude of discussion and deliberation as this would improve intellectual capabilities and thereby contribute to effective communication.

Effective writing skills and good verbal communication skills go hand-in-hand although they may appear antithetical to a newbie. A student with good writing skills would alone be in a position to organize and present his thoughts in a structured manner; an exposure to the nitty-gritty of essay writing would be immensely beneficial in that regard.

The age-old dictum ‘Practice makes a person perfect’ makes perfect sense in the world of oral communication. The first impression is the best impression and many students fail this test due to a various impediments such as stage fright, lack of self-confidence and performance anxiety. A student can conquer his fears and master the art of oral communication by participating in many real and mock presentations, and speech-based activities.

Active participation in the community would transform a student into a good communicator by honing his linguistic abilities. Moreover, a leadership position in an academic setting would be an important asset on the CV of a student.

To conclude, a student willing to put his nose to the grindstone can indeed make a smooth transition from a tentative speaker to an effective and seasoned oral communicator.

Byline –  Anton Lucanus is the Director of Neliti. During his college years, he maintained a perfect GPA, was published in a top cancer journal, and received many of his country’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarships. Anton writes for The College Puzzle as a means to share the lessons learnt throughout his degree and to guide current students to achieve personal and educational fulfilment during college life.

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University to Celebrate Student Scholarship April 24

The University of Scranton will hold the 24th Annual Celebration of Student Scholars during the afternoon of Wednesday, April 24 in the Loyola Science Center.

Over 120 students are expected to present more than 90 displays, showcasing their outstanding and unique scholarly work. Under the guidance of faculty mentors, undergraduate and graduate students have worked throughout the year, and in some instances longer, to produce the high-quality scholarly endeavors that will be on display.

The showcase of work will include poster presentations, demonstrations, and oral presentations. Posters will be on display from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and the schedule of oral presentations will be announced in the coming days. 

Everyone from the University community, as well as family members, alumni, and the general public are invited to walk through, learn more about the students’ research, and celebrate our outstanding student scholars.

The Celebration of Student Scholars is coordinated by The Office of Research Support and Sponsored Programs. For more information, please contact Brooke Leonard at 570.941.7653.

U-M Dentistry News

First-year dental student engaged in the challenge of improving health equity issues 6 min read.

Ann Arbor, Mich., April 17, 2024 – Eunji Ko is only in her first year as a student at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, but already she is investigating ways to make an impact on the important societal issue of health equity.

A project Ko created to address oral health disparities among low-income children in Michigan was earlier this year named one of 10 finalists in the Michigan Health Equity Challenge, a program being administered by the U-M School of Public Health. Finalists received $2,000 and training and mentoring support for implementing their projects.

Ko collaborated with a community-based program, Smiles On Wheels, in Jackson, Michigan, to determine how she could contribute to its mission of improving oral healthcare of children across the state. The non-profit is a mobile hygiene program, operating under the state’s Public Act 161, that sends Registered Dental Hygienists into schools to treat children in grades K-12. Working in partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the program provides dental cleanings, dental assessments, fluoride treatments, dental sealants and oral health education. It has served more than 30,000 children at 150 schools across Michigan, including about 50 in the Upper Peninsula. It also has a clinic in Jackson.

Ko investigated how to improve communication and education about the importance of good oral healthcare among providers like Smiles On Wheels, schools and parents. “Through community-level engagement and educational presentations at school events, the initiative aims to instill a shared understanding of oral health’s significance, fostering collaborative solutions and promoting behavioral changes,” Ko’s proposal stated.

Among the ideas she is exploring is developing a report card of sorts that Smiles On Wheels hygienists could provide to parents for their children’s oral health status. It would relay the condition of the child’s teeth and point parents toward dental providers if the child has extensive or specialized treatment needs beyond what the mobile hygienists can provide. To enhance the written aspects of the report card, Ko hoped the grant could pay for an intra-oral camera so that photographs of the child’s teeth could be attached to the report card as a way to reinforce the importance of good oral healthcare for the child.

“A lot of the parents don’t recognize how important oral health is,” Ko said. “Part of it is because they have so much on their plate to worry about. And often they themselves don’t receive dental care. It’s a cycle: If the parents don’t receive it, the children don’t receive it. So the idea is: OK, we need something that can show them, a visual factor, about the child’s teeth. Then put instructions for how the children could receive additional care. We’re just trying to make communication and education more efficient.”

Ko said the timing of her project is good because starting with the 2023-24 school year, the state of Michigan has mandated that all children enrolling into their first year of school are required to have an oral health assessment. That’s an important, progressive step in the important need of improving childhood oral health, but there needs to be more, Ko said. “What they don’t have is: What are you going to do after that initial assessment? There is no post-assessment plan. My main thing is you are just leaving the students to be statistics. OK, there is a 50 percent cavity rate. What now? There is no solution. There are some programs in schools that do dental sealants, but most programs can’t do restorative work. So that’s where my project started. We need to find something to connect children to appropriate care.”

A native of South Korea, Ko earned her undergraduate degree at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, before being admitted to the U-M School of Dentistry. Her interest in health equity started when she returned to South Korea during the Covid-19 pandemic and was shadowing a dentist as part of her pre-dental school preparation. On one day a week, the dentist would go to schools to treat students with special needs. It was always a very busy day packed with patients. Then the rest of the week, at the dentist office, Ko noticed there were no under-served or special-needs patients. “I was like: That doesn’t make sense, because I see so many dental needs out there. There is a wall dividing those patients from the dental care they need and we need to get rid of that. There are clearly health disparity issues within dental care, so that’s what I want to do.”

Ko said she is grateful that dental school faculty member Dr. Margherita Fontana agreed to serve as her mentor for the Michigan Health Equity Challenge. Fontana is an internationally recognized clinical researcher in childhood caries and has completed numerous research projects investigating how dentists and the greater society can improve its approach to the problem. Fontana linked Ko with Smiles On Wheels.

“Because we are working with a community-based organization, I think this is a huge plus for this project,” Ko said of Smiles On Wheels. “Because community-based organizations know what they are doing. They’ve been in the field for so long. Smiles On Wheels has a very good rapport with the communities and schools they work in, especially in the Jackson area where they are based.”

Ko said she plans to continue developing her ideas for Smiles On Wheels despite learning last week that her project was not chosen for one of two $50,000 grants from among the 10 finalists. The $50,000 grants are used to help the two winning projects implement their plans.

Ko said Smiles On Wheels was aware the larger funding might not be awarded. “I told them if I don’t get this grant, I’m going to find another grant to apply to,” she said. “While I am naturally disappointed, I remain committed to the goals of our proposal and will be on the lookout for similar projects that provide grants in the future. I’ll be a second-year student next year. I will apply for other grants. This is something I will stick to.”

The Michigan Health Equity Challenge was established through a $100,000 grant from the MolinaCares Accord and Molina Healthcare of Michigan. It was provided to the U-M School of Public Health in the fall of 2023 and the school’s Griffith Leadership Center is hosting and managing the program.

Molina Healthcare, Inc. is a managed care company based in Long Beach, California. It provides health insurance to individuals through government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Its related MolinaCares Accord is a community investment program created to improve the health and well-being of disadvantaged populations by funding innovative programs that improve health in local communities.

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral healthcare education, research, patient care and community service.  General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan.  Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies.  Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide.  For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu .  Contact: Lynn Monson, associate director of communications, at [email protected], or (734) 615-1971 .

Student Profile: Denise Curado (DDS 2024) relies on family support and self-discipline in completing her return to the profession of dentistry

Related posts, emeritus professor james mcnamara honored with prestigious ross award from american dental association, school of dentistry associate dean todd ester is chair-elect of american dental education association.

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Congratulations to all CBEE presenters at URCAD

On April 10, 2024, hundreds of research posters, oral presentations, dance performances, films, interactive games, and much more were hosted in the University Center and other venues around campus, all presented by UMBC’s undergraduate students. 

Congratulations to all CBEE students who participated in the event!

Alvin Bett | Influence of Solution PH On PFAS Accumulation in a Novel Equilibrium Passive Sampler | Lee Blaney | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

An Dang | Phosphate Recovery By Donnan Dialysis: Impact of Operating Parameters in a Batch-Recycle Reactor | Lee Blaney | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Casey Douglas | Phenotypic Characterization of an Aspergillus Nidulans ∆ mpkA ∆ hogA Strain | Mark R. Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Evalynn Ellison | A Synthetic Data Generator to Accelerate Machine Learning Algorithm Development | Brandon DeKosky | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Elias Gilotte | Online ATP Monitoring in Cell-Free Protein Synthesis | Govind Rao | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Garrett Hill | Phenotypic Characterization of Aspergillus Nidulans Protein Kinase PrkA | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Raey Hunde | Advancing In Vitro Tissue Models: The Development of an Innovative High Throughput Model of the Colon | Erin Lavik | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Terra Miley | Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Magnesium Sensor to be Used in an Industrial Cell-Free Bioreactor | Govind Rao | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Meredith Morse | Characterizing the Aspergillus Nidulans Kinase Deletion Library For Septation in Response to Cell Wall Stress | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Chiad Onyeje | Verification of Hemostatic Nanocapsules Through Rotational Thromboelastometry Analysis | Erin Lavik | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Tatiana Perez | Phenotypic Characterization of the Aspergillus Nidulan s Double-deletion Mutant ΔmpkAΔnrc2 \ Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Matthew Quintanilla | High Throughput Screens to Discover Uncharacterized Cell Wall Signaling Kinases in Aspergillus Nidulans | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Andrea Sequeira | Characterization of ΔmpkAΔsnf1 Double Deletion Strain in Aspergillus Nidulans | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

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Posted: April 17, 2024, 2:46 PM

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Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences 2024 Research Day

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The 2024 Research Day will take place on April 24, 2024, at Centre Mont Royal, 2200 Mansfield. 

For more information: www.mcgill.ca/dentistry/research-and-graduate-students/events/research-day

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OSE invites you to the Co-Curricular Symposium!

The Office of Student Engagement is proud and excited to invite the campus community to the 3rd Annual Ithaca College Co-Curricular Symposium in the Clark and Klingenstein Lounges within the Campus Center on Tuesday, April 23rd, from 11:15am-1:15pm .

This will be the 3rd Annual Ithaca College Co-Curricular Symposium, which provides students across the Ithaca College community the opportunity to share how their co-curricular experiences have enriched their time at IC, and shaped them to be better students, community members, and leaders.

Students will be doing poster sessions throughout the entire event, from 11:15am-1:15pm . And there will also be oral presentations from 12:10pm-1:00pm , which will feature select students sharing their co-curricular experiences. Refreshments will be provided, along with fun picture props to commemorate your involvement on campus!

The Symposium also serves as a time to celebrate students who have earned accolades and scholarships from various Student Affairs & Campus Life offices, including the Peggy Ryan Williams Award for Academic and Community Leadership.

We are proud to have a diverse group of students presenting on this day and hope you can attend to enjoy these wonderful students’ reflections as we celebrate their accomplishments.

Please RSVP on Engage here , and direct any questions regarding the symposium via e-mail to [email protected] . We look forward to seeing you on April 23rd!