A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, Ninth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2018

Design your presentation to be listened to
Presenting research in alternative forums
Research and writing

To hold your listeners’ attention, you must seem to be not lecturing at but conversing with them. This is a skill that does not come easily, since few of us can write as we would speak and most of us need notes to stay on track. If you do read your paper, read no faster than about 150 words per minute. That’s about two minutes per page. This is faster than you speak ordinarily, so time yourself. Inexperienced presenters tend to read more quickly than their listeners can comfortably hear and digest.

It’s important that your audience see you and not just the top of your head, so build in moments when you look straight out at your audience, especially when saying something important. Do so at least once or twice per page, ideally at the end of a paragraph.

Remember as well that a paper delivered orally differs in style from a written one. For one, effective sentences tend to be much shorter and use consistent subjects (see 11.1.2). Overall, you need more repetition than you would use in writing to help your listeners stay on track with you.

It is far better to talk from notes than just to read aloud, but to do that well you need to prepare and practice. In the next section we give advice on how to structure your talk and notes for this kind of delivery.

13.2.1 Sketch Your Introduction

For a twenty-minute talk, you get one shot at motivating your audience before they tune out, so prepare your introduction more carefully than any other part of your talk. Base it on the four-part problem statement described in section 10.1, plus a road map. (The times in parentheses in the list below are rough estimates.)

Use your notes only to remind yourself of the four parts, not as a word-for-word script. If you can’t remember the content, you’re not ready to give your talk. Sketch enough in your notes to remind yourself of the following:

1. 1. What research you extend, modify, or correct (no more than a minute).

2. 2. What question your research addresses—the gap in knowledge or understanding (thirty seconds or less).

3. 3. Why your research matters—an answer to So what? (thirty seconds).

Those three steps are crucial in motivating your listeners. If your question is new or controversial, give it more time. If your listeners know its significance, mention it quickly and go on.

1. 4. Your claim, the answer to your research question (thirty seconds or less). Listeners want to know your answer up front even more than readers do, so state at least its gist, unless you have a compelling reason to wait for the end. If you do choose to wait to give your answer, at least forecast it.

2. 5. A forecast of the structure of your presentation (ten to twenty seconds). The most useful forecast is an oral table of contents: “First I will discuss . . .” That can seem clumsy in print, but listeners need more help than readers do. Repeat that structure as you work through the body of your talk on the spirit of research

Rehearse your introduction, not only to get it right but also so you can look your audience in the eye as you give it. You can look down at notes later.

All told, spend no more than three minutes or so on your introduction.

13.2.2 Design Notes You Can Understand at a Glance

Do not write your notes as complete sentences (much less paragraphs) that you read aloud; notes should help you see at a glance the structure of your talk and cue what to say at crucial points. So do not cut and paste sentences from a written text; create your notes from scratch.

Use a separate page for each main point. On each page, write out your main point not as a topic but as claims, either in shortened form or (if you must) in complete sentences. Above each point, you might add an explicit transition as the oral equivalent of a subhead: “The first issue is . . .”

Visually highlight those main points so that you spot them instantly. Under them, list the evidence that supports them. If your evidence consists of numbers or quotations, you’ll probably have to write them out. Otherwise, know your evidence well enough to be able to talk about it directly to your audience.

Organize your points so that you cover the most important ones first. If you run long (most of us do), you can skip a later section or even jump to your conclusion without losing anything crucial to your argument. Never build up to a climax that you might not reach. If you must skip something, use the question-and-answer period to return to it.

13.2.3 Model Your Conclusion on Your Introduction

As in a written paper, your conclusion is your last opportunity to communicate your claim and its significance (see 10.2). Make your conclusion memorable, because listeners will repeat it when asked, What did Jones say? Learn it well enough to present it looking at your audience, without reading from notes. It should have these three parts:

✵ ▪ your claim, in more detail than in your introduction (if listeners are mostly interested in your reasons or data, summarize them as well)

✵ ▪ your answer to So what? (you can restate an answer from your introduction, but try to add a new one, even if it’s speculative)

✵ ▪ suggestions for more research, what’s still to be done

Rehearse your conclusion so that you know exactly how long it takes (no more than a minute or two). Then when you have that much time remaining, conclude, even if you haven’t finished your last (relatively unimportant) points. If you had to skip one or two points, work them into an answer during the question-and-answer period. If your talk runs short, don’t ad lib. If another speaker follows you, make her a gift of your unused time.

13.2.4 Anticipate Questions

If you’re lucky, you’ll get questions after your talk, so prepare answers for predictable ones. Expect questions about data or sources, especially if you didn’t cover them much in your talk. If you address matters associated with well-known researchers or schools of research, be ready to expand on how your work relates to theirs, especially if you contradict or complicate their results or approach. Also be ready to answer questions about a source you never heard of. The best policy is to acknowledge that you haven’t seen it but that you’ll check it out. If the question seems friendly, ask why the source is relevant. Don’t prepare only defensive answers. Use answers to questions to reemphasize your main points or cover matters that you may have left out.

Listen to every question carefully; then, to be sure you understand the question, pause before you respond and think about it for a moment. If you don’t understand the question, ask the questioner to rephrase it. Don’t snap back an answer reflexively and defensively. Good questions are invaluable, even when they seem hostile. Use them to refine your thinking.

13.2.5 Create Handouts

You can read short quotations or important data aloud for your listeners, but if you have many, create a handout. If you use slides, pass out printed copies. You can also hand out an outline of your main points, with white space for notes.