Introduction to Academic Presentations

💬 Discuss the questions.

• What makes a presentation successful?

• Read an article on Presentation Flow. How can you achieve flow during your presentation? Provide some examples.

• Do you go off topic while presenting something?

• Read an article on What Is Signpost in English And Why Does It Matter? How would you signpost in your own presentation? How to do it in your speech and with the help of slides?

Task 1️⃣ Look at the words related to presentation and match them to their meanings.

Task 2️⃣ Read some excerpts from a presentation and decide which words from ex. 1 they are examples of.

a) “We are going to cover some areas where blockchain can empower women: from owning property to doing business internationally.”

b) “I’ve divided my presentation into three main parts: we’ll start with defining what blockchain actually is. Then, we’ll talk about all the opportunities it gives to women. Finally, we’ll look at some real-life examples.”

c) “Let me go over the crucial points one more time. Many women don’t have IDs, let alone bank accounts. Therefore, they are extremely limited in who they can work for.”

d) “To explain this more clearly, I’m going to break this data down into the following categories: data showing the financial status of women in these areas before this application was introduced, the numbers that we received after the first year and the current numbers.”

e) “Women can make P2P transactions and it will allow them to receive money without a bank as an intermediary. Speaking of banks, in some places it’s not even an option as banks are located far from residential areas and the absence of the infrastructure makes it hard or even impossible to get there. Moreover, public transport might be quite dangerous for women. Sorry, I got a bit off topic. Back to the main point…”

f) “Basically, the main idea of my talk is to show the empowering force that blockchain is and to emphasize the need to educate women on how to use it.”

💬 Discuss the statements. Say whether you agree or disagree and explain why.

• Any deviation from the topic is bad for the presentation flow.

• It is important to present the outline as it tells people what to expect and builds interest.

• There’s no need to recap every point before moving to the next one if you see that people are following.

• People should be able to understand the takeaway of your presentation without you emphasizing it.

Task 3️⃣ Complete the phrases with one word. Sometimes two options are possible.

a) My goal is to give you a full breakdown ………. the statistics in this area.

b) ………. a nutshell, this idea is worth a shot.

c) So, I’ll begin by filling you ………. on the background to the story.

d) Let me start ………. saying just a few words about my own background.

e) And then, I’ll go ………. to highlight what I see as the main points of this topic.

f) Let me expand ………. this point.

g) The purpose is to bring you up to date ………. the main tendencies.

h) Well, this brings me ………. the end of my presentation.

i) Let me just run ………. the main takeaway again.

j) Since we are pushed ………. time, let’s move ………. to the results.

k) Let’s kick ………. by discussing the influence of this trend.

l) Sorry, I got carried ………. a little.

m) This ties ………. with our next slide.

Task 4️⃣ Look at the phrases from ex. 3 and match them to their functions. Some functions may match more than one phrase.

What phrase might you use if you need to…?

• introduce yourself

• state your purpose

• present the outline

• start

• make a connection

• elaborate an idea

• move to the next point

• go back after you deviate from the topic

• do a recap

• summarize

• indicate the end of the presentation

Task 5️⃣ Read the sentences and rephrase the underlined parts using the phrases from ex. 3.

💬 Look at the ways to start a presentation effectively. Discuss what each of them means.

• a problem

• amazing facts

• a story

Task 6️⃣ Look at the phrases below and match them to the techniques in the discussion section above.

a) Have you ever wondered why it is that...?

b) You may have heard about...

c) According to a new study...

d) I read somewhere the other day that...

e) Have you ever been in a situation where...? I remember when...

f) How many of you have ever...? Do you think it’s possible?

g) Did you know that...?

Task 7️⃣ Depending what Breakout Room you're in, watch an example of a presentation, and highlight its scientific features. You also may talk about if you liked the presentation (why?) or didn't like it (why?).

Breakout Room 1️⃣ link

Breakout Room 2️⃣ link

Breakout Room 3️⃣ link