ORAL PRESENTATION

As an engineer, you will be required to make both oral and written presentations and as part of
your coursework, you will be required to make an oral presentation.

1. CRITERIA FOR A GOOD PRESENTATION

The following criteria are generally regarded to be important factors for judging the quality of
a speech or an oral presentation.

a) The context (The purpose)

The speaker must have something interesting to say he/she must inform the audience and hold
their interest in the subject. The speech must have specific purpose. The purpose may be aimed
at:

(i) Explaining something, e.g. a new policy of a company

(ii) Describing something e.g. featured parts of a new product
(iii) Reporting something e.g. results of a certain survey.

b) Body Language
The speaker should not have any distracting habits that could irritate the audience and take
attention away from what he/she is saying. Move the gestures naturally. Movement makes you
feel forceful and confident. Facial expressions such as smile, laugh, frown etc reflect livening.
Avoid distracting habits like:
- pacing back and forth
- Balancing dangerously on the edge of the platform. (the audience would rather want to
see your falling off than following your topic)
- Avoid nervous behaviours such as jingling keys or coins in your pocket playing with
object on the table.

c) Consider the audience

Your speech will reach listeners more effectively if you understand a few essential differences
between a listening audience. Therefore, good speakers should know their audience. They will
use terms their audience will understand and explain new concepts in a way that is appropriate
to the knowledge of the audience. Try to find out the following aspects about your audience.
- The age, sex, the educational background, e.g. scientific audience, technical audience,
lay audience or combined audience.
This knowledge will help the speaker to determine the kind of language, examples, vocabulary
to use e.g. speak in a formal manner to a formal audience.

d) The use of voice

A good speaker has a voice that is pleasant to listen to. She/he doesn’t speak too fast or too
slowly. His/her voice is loud enough for everyone to hear.

e) The use of visual aids

Visual aids can reinforce strengthen/emphasize major points and clarify complex ideas in an
oral presentation.
Good speakers always use visual aids and they are always well organized. A power point
presentation is recommended.

2. THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATION

There are two secrets to making successful presentation. The first is facing your fear and the
second is preparing well.

a) Facing your fear.

People are so nervous about presentations because they so badly want to do well and yet feel
very self conscious standing up in front of others and having everyone looking at them. They
fear that they will make a fool of themselves, or do things that will make others laugh at them.
The key to success is “to focus on the message instead of on fear.
Your confidence will also improve greatly if you follow the second secret to successful
presentation.

b) Preparing well
If you want to be confident, you need, in all respect, to be well prepared. Let’s consider the
different ways in which you can prepare:
(i) Plan your presentation:
Ask yourself questions about:
- Your audience – the purpose of the presentation – event of which it will be a part, and
– the venue.
E.g. – Who will be my audience?
- What is the occasion
- What do I want to achieve
- In what size venue will I be making may presentation
- What equipment will I need? (Overhead projector? Slides?)
- How much time do I have?

(ii) Find and organize your information

Do you have enough information? Decide whether the information you already have is
sufficient for the presentation. Is it still relevant? (Up to date or outdated)
Do sufficient research on your topic This will help you to be confident in answering questions,
even if you do not have all the answers.

(iii) Compile your speech outline

An outline helps you to organize your information. An outline includes only key points not full
sentences.

Put these points on a series of numbered cards an outline is also useful if you forget where you
are during the presentation itself.
Do not write your talk in full just write in point form if you read your whole presentation your
audience will probably fall asleep.

(iv) Practice
This is most important you must practice the presentation using the outline.
- in front of co-workers or fellow students who can give you advice on improvements
- Practice in front of a mirror to raise your awareness of your facial expressions.

4. SOME TIPS ON THE DAY OF PRESENTATION

- Be on time a late comer does not find much favour with an audience
- Make sure you prepare the venue and you have all the necessary equipment at hand
 - Be confident remember you are the expert on the subject and you are in control of the
subject.
- Show your audience that you are glad to be with them let your expressions and gestures
indicate this
- Allow time for the audience to ask questions
- Answer the questions with confidence and don’t be thrown by a question which falls
outside of your research.

5 . HOW TO HANDLE QUESTIONS

1. During the question period, don’t nod your head to indicate that you understand the
question.
2. Don’t say that’s a good question that response implies that the other questions have been
poor ones.
3. If the audience may not have heard the question or if you want more time to think, repeat
the question before you answer it when answering the questions link the answers to the
points you made in your presentation.
4. If the question is hostile or biased, rephrase it before you answer it before you answer it.
e.g. “you’re asking whether ‘……….
5. If someone asks about something that you already explained in your presentation, simply
answer the question without embarrassing the questioners. No audience will understand
and remember 100% of what you say.
6. If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so. If your purpose is to inform write down
the question so that you can look up the answer before the next session.
7. During your presentation, tell the audience how you’ll handle questions. If you have a
choice, save questions for the end.

6. METHODS OF DELIVERY
There four (4) basic methods of delivering a speech.
a). Reading from a manuscript:
These are written out word for word and read to the audience. For example, an engineer’s report
to a professional meeting or a president’s message to the nation. This is because the speech
needs absolute accuracy. Every word of the speech will be analyzed by the press, the
colleagues, and perhaps by enemies. Manuscript speeches save time and money e.g. in radio
and television.
Manuscript speeches requires great skill so as to the words will come live as if spoken on the
spot. Otherwise the words will come across as wooden and artificial. Especially when you falter
over words, pauses in wrong places, reads too quickly or too slowly, speaks in a monotone and
march through the speech without even glancing at their audience.
This is reading to the listeners rather than talking with them. If you are in a situation where you
must speak from a manuscript, do your best to avoid these problems. Try to make your speech
sound natural.

2. Reciting from memory

This is presenting speeches from memory. Nowadays it is customary to memorize only shortest
speeches like: congratulatory remarks, acceptance speeches, introduction speech and the like.
If you are giving a speech of this kind and you want to memorize it, by all means do so.
However, be sure to memorize it so thoroughly that you will be able to concentrate on
communicating with the audience, not trying to remember the words by gazing at the ceiling
or stare out the window.

3. Speaking impromptu
Impromptu speech is delivered with little or no immediate preparation. In fact, many of the
speeches you give in life will be impromptu. You may be called suddenly to say a few words
or in the course of a class discussion, business meeting, or committee report when such
situation arises, don’t panic.
If you are in a meeting or discussion, pay close attention to what the other speakers say. Take
notes of major points with which you agree or disagree. In the process you will automatically
begin to formulate what you will say when it is your turn to speak.
If time allows, sketch a quick outline of your remarks on a piece of paper before you rise to
speak.

4. Speaking extemporaneously
This is carefully prepared and practiced in advance. In presenting the speech, the speaker uses
only a set of brief notes or a speaking outline to jog the memory the exact working is chosen
at the moment of delivery.
The extemporaneous method has several advantages: (i) It gives more precise control over
thought and language (ii) it offers great spontaneity and directness and it is adaptable to a wide
range of situations. (iii) It also encourages the conversation quality audience look for in speech,
i.e. “no matter how many times speech has been rehearsed, it still sounds spontaneous to the
audience. Most experienced speakers prefer extemporaneous method and most teachers
emphasize it.

7. THE SPEECH OUTLINE

-An outline is useful when you are planning your presentation, because it helps you to organize
your information. It includes only key points not full sentences. And it fits on to one or two
pages. You can put the points onto a series of numbered cards, which are smaller and therefore
less noticeable to the audience
-An outline is useful if you forget where you are during the presentation itself.
-You can use the same kind of outline to organize written information too.
-Do not write your outline in full but in point form otherwise your audience will probably fall
asleep if you read your whole oral presentation.

a) The introduction
This should capture the interest of the audience. The introduction should inform the audience
about what you are going to speak about, mention here all the points.
In order to capture the interest of the audience do the following: -

(i). You can relate the topic to the audience: people pay attention to things that affect them
directly. If you can relate the topic to your audience, they are much more likely to be interested
in it.
E.g. “Tomorrow, your job may be abolished or changed so drastically that you won’t recognize
it. Why” Because so many things that you are now doing by hand can be done by a computer.
………………..”

(ii) You can begin with a quotation: You must choose your quotation from the words of a
famous speaker or writer.
E.g. “One writer in the field of computer engineering said that; Computer technology must be
understood by every professional engineer, whether or not he/she makes first – hand use of the
computer. ………………”

(iii) You can question the audience: ask the audience rhetorical questions or just single question
rhetorical questions are those that the audience answers mentally rather than out loud.
E.g. “Do you surf the web for hours on end? Do you spend more time scanning bulletin
boards in cyberspace than reading books for your classes? Do you feel a sense of
depression or aimlessness when you can’t get on the internet? If so, you may be part of that
growing portion of the population whom psychologists identify as internet addicts
……………..”

A good introduction should: -

(i) Indicate the organization of the information. In other words by reading the introduction, the
reader should be able to predict what the chapter or article will be about and what the order of
presentation will be.

(ii) An introduction should explain any terms used in the essay title. This may mean a
definition, but not always a dictionary definition. Sometimes a simple clarification is required
to show what you understand by the term given.
By defining an important term, you can explain aspects about your subject that makes it easier
for your readers to understand and agree with your central idea. But void dictionary definitions:
Because they are often limited and can make your speech flat. You can rely on your own
knowledge to create definitions that are interesting and appropriate to your discussion.
E.g. Alcoholism is a disease whose horrible consequences go beyond the patient. Families
of alcoholics often become dysfunctional; spouses and children are abandoned or endure
physical or emotional abuse. Co-workers suffer too. Alcoholics have high rates of
absenteeism, and their work is often unreliable, thereby decreasing office or factory
productivity. Indeed alcoholics endanger the whole community…………………..”
(iii) An introduction should include any background information that is necessary to clarify the
terms given. If a lot of background material is necessary, it may be dealt with better in a second
paragraph – but first ask yourself whether this material is relevant.
We usually place these items in the following order:
- terms, definitions/explanations
- background information
- Organization of the essay.

Look at the following introduction on squatter.

Problems associated with housing of squatters
Introduction
(Terms definitions/explanations)
To quote the concise Oxford Dictionary, a squatter is a “person who settles on new especially
public land without title”. Squatters can be found all over the world and constitute a growing
problem for humanity.

(Background information)
Squatting started by the migration of refugees for economic and political reasons. Cities act as
magnets attracting the rural poor with the chance of better job opportunities however, when the
migrants arrive, they find that there is no housing available and, in this situation, they do the
only thing they can; they take whatever land is unoccupied. Usually this land is unsuitable for
normal urban development and as a result, squatter settlements are often located on steep
hillsides, riverbanks and swampy ground. The complicated environmental problems associated
with these types of land include landslides and soil erosion, flooding and poor drainage, not to
mention the health hazards found in damp areas. The squatter settlements themselves are
characterized by flimsy buildings, with no proper drainage or sanitation facilities, and certainly
no electricity or piped water. So many people crowded together in such unhygienic conditions
also results in the spread of disease.
This paper examines the background leading to the squatter houses in Tanzania, with special
reference to Dar es Salaam Region.

(Organization)
The first section will describe what is known about squatting, the second part; discusses recent
municipals initiatives campaigns to eradicate the problem of squatters in Dar es Salaam Region
and the final section of the paper/presentation/essay is to assess and comment on the
effectiveness of initiatives.

b) The Main Body

Begin to build up your argument or set out your information, support each main point with
examples, discussion, and description. Provide a link between main points so that your
audience can make connections between these. Use linking words.

(i) The main points:

Are the central features of your speech/presentation you should select them carefully, and
arrange them strategically?
A classroom speech may/can contain only two or three main points. If you have too many main
points the audience will have trouble sorting them out. “When everything is equally important,
nothing is important’. In your speech aim at making few main points that stand out and are
remembered.
If when you list your main points, you find you have too many, you may be able to condense
them into categories. E.g. Look at these. main points for a speech about laser.

Main points:
(i) Laser gravity wave detectors allow astronomers to ‘see’ deep into space
(ii) Automobile manufacturers use lasers for many purposes in making cars
(iii) Neurosurgeons use lasers to vaporize brain tumors
(iv) Lasers help create billions of industrial goods every year
(v) With lasers, scientists can chart the fastest of chemical reactions
(vi) The telephone industry sends phones calls under seas to Europe with lasers
(vii) Eye specialists routinely use lasers to “weld” loose retinas back in place
(viii) Lasers allow doctors to make early diagnoses of certain kinds of cancer

But this list can fall into three brood categories: lasers in science, in industry and in medicine.
You might therefore restate your main pints this way.
(i) Lasers have many important uses in science.
(ii) Lasers have become in very helpful dispensable to industry
(iii) Lasers are revolutionizing the practice of medicine.
How do you choose your main points?
From your specific purpose of the speech e.g. your specific purpose is to: - Inform your
audience of the “basic steps in making stained-glass windows”. So each main point will
correspond to a step in the window – making process so they may look like this in a main point.

Specific purpose: - To inform my audience of the basic steps in making stained – glass
windows.
Central idea: - there are four steps in making stained – glass window.
Main point:
(i) the first step is designing the window
(ii) the second step is cutting the glass to fit the design
(iii) the third step is painting the glass
(iv) the 4th step is assembling the window

Sometimes main points will emerge as you research the speech and evaluate your findings.

b) Supporting materials:
The materials used to support the speaker’s ideas. The three major kinds of supporting materials
are examples, statistics and testimony. Organize your relevant material so that they are directly
relevant to the main points they are supposed to support misplaced supporting materials are
confusing.

E.g. A main point: on heating a cold worked metal, the first important effect produced is the
relief of internal stress.
Supporting sentences:
(i) This occurs without any visible change in the distorted structure
(ii) The temperature at which stress relief occurs varies from 100oc up to 500oc
according to the particular metal concerned.
(iii) In general, the higher the melting point, the higher is the temperature for this effect.

The easiest way of finding supporting material is by: - making central idea your focus. Or main
idea you can focus your speech by making every detail it contains relate directly to a central
idea every piece of information you include in your essay should help prove, illustrate or
support your central idea.
Use connectives( transitions)
These are words, phrases and even sentences that make a clear connection between one idea
and another, between one sentence and another or between one paragraph and another.

E.g. My sister began college by enrolling in remedial math courses. She graduated at the top
of her class in engineering

Using a transition to connect these ideas will make your writing smoother

E.g. my sister began college by enrolling in remedial math courses. However, she graduated
at the top of her class in engineering

Use transitions for many purposes:

(i) To indicate time- e.g. afterwards, as soon as, at that time, etc
(ii) To show similarities and differences- e.g. similarly, as if, on the contrary, on the
other hand, etc
(iii) To add information: e.g. and, also, furthermore, moreover, etc
(iv) To introduce information that contradicts, or qualifies what you have said e.g.
Although, in contrast, yet, while, etc.
(v) To introduce examples or repeat information or emphasize a point: - e.g. for
example, in fact, for instance, once again, such as etc.
(vi) To show cause and effect: - e.g. as a result, thus, hence, etc
(vii) To show condition: -e.g. as long as, unless, in order to, etc.

(c) The conclusion

The conclusion has two major functions
-To let the audience know you are ending the speech
-To reinforce the audiences understanding of the central idea or to reinforce their commitment
to the central idea.

 To end the speech

You should let your audience know you are going to stop soon, by using brief cues like saying:
-
 “In conclusion”
“One last thought”
“In closing”
“Let me end by saying”
 To reinforce understanding or commitment to the central idea by: -
(i) Summarizing your speech by restating the main points in the easiest way.
E.g. “as we have seen……………………………………………………..
The value of the summary is that it explicitly restate the central idea and main points.

(ii) Using a quotation:

This is a most common and effective devices to conclude a speech.
E.g. in the words of Mwl Nyerere…………………………….
To quote Mwl Nyerere…………………………………………….
As Mwl Nyerere said,………….