History 4990

Oral Presentation of Senior Thesis

Students will present orally their senior thesis. The presentation will be no more than 5 minutes. Five minutes will also be available for questions from colleagues. The oral presentations will be evaluated using a check sheet. Please note the following:

• Oral Communication is different from written communication

Listeners have one chance to hear your talk and can't "re-read" when they get confused. They will hear several talks on the same day. There are two well-know ways to communicate your points effectively. The first is to K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid). Focus on getting one to three key points across. Think about how much you remember from a talk last week. Second, repeat key insights: tell them what you're going to tell them (Forecast), tell them, and tell them what you told them (Summary).

• Think about your audience

A presentation on your senior thesis seeks to reach the professor first and fellow students second. Its purpose is to impress people that a quality project was done.

• Think about your rhetorical goals

Leave your audience with a clear picture of the gist of your contribution, and make them want to read your paper. Your presentation should not replace your paper, but rather whet the audience appetite for it.

• Sound spontaneous, conversational, enthusiastic

Use key phrases from your notes so you don't have to read the paper. Don't be afraid of silence, don't use fillers like "um"...Practice, Practice, Practice

• Use Body Language Effectively

Use relaxed gestures and direct eye contact; don't play with a pen or pointer. Stand up straight. Dress appropriately for a formal presentation.

• You may use Visual Aids to Enhance the Message

Use visuals to reinforce and clarify, not overwhelm; keep visual aids uncluttered.

Suggested Presentation Outline

• Title of your paper
• Abstract statement
  Give gist of problem attacked and insight found. What is the one idea you want people to leave with?
• Problem Statement
  What is the question you attempted to answer through historical research? Why should anyone care?
• Research Methods
  Note particularly helpful scholarship and primary materials.
• Results
  Present key results and key insights. This is main body of the presentation.
• Summary
• Future Work
  Optionally give problems this research opens up. What are you planning to do with your research.

(adapted from: "Oral Presentation Advise," by Mark Hill, http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html#outline)