A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, 7th edition - Kate L. Turabian 2007

Plan your oral presentation - Narrow your focus
Presenting research in alternative forums
Part I. Research and writing: from planning to production

You may be too early in your career to think about publishing your work, but you'll probably share some of it as an oral presentation to your class. Working up a talk is easier than preparing a written report, but doing it well still requires a plan and some practice. In fact, the ability to stand up and talk about your work clearly and cogently is a skill that you'll find crucial in any career you pursue. If you're working on a PhD dissertation, you probably expect to submit your work for publication eventually, but you should look for opportunities to present it as a talk before you send it off to a professional journal.

In this chapter, we show you how to use your plan for your written text to prepare a talk. We also discuss a hybrid form of presentation called a poster, which combines elements of writing and speech. Finally, we discuss how to prepare a conference proposal so that you'll get an invitation to give a talk.

13.1 Plan your oral presentation

Talks have some advantages over writing. You get immediate feedback during the question-and-answer period afterward, responses that may be less severely critical than they would be to your written work, especially if you frame your presentation as only auditioning new ideas or testing new data. But to profit from those responses, you must plan a talk just as carefully as you would a written report.

13.1.1 Narrow your focus

You will probably have only about twenty minutes for your talk. (If you are reading, which is rarely a good idea, that means no more than seven to ten double-spaced pages.) So you must boil down your work to its essence or focus on just part of it. Here are three common options:

Problem statement with a sketch of your argument. If your problem is new, focus on its originality. Start with a short introduction: Brief literature review + Question + Consequences of not knowing an answer + Claim (review 9.1); then explain your reasons, summarizing your evidence for each.

Summary of a subargument. If your argument is too big, focus on a key subargument. Mention your larger problem in your introduction and conclusion, but be clear that you're addressing only part of it.

Methodology or data report. If you offer a new methodology or source of data, explain why they matter. Start with a brief problem statement, then focus on how your new methods or data solve it.