Academic Presentations are a vital way for researchers to communicate their research. However they are difficult to engage with for many audiences.
There are many things that presenters can do to make their presentations rich, relevant and compelling. The first thing to do is understand the type of presentation you are being asked to deliver.
Structure
Academic presentations are different from papers in three ways: they are localized in time and space, they impose a sequence and rhythm on their audience, and they normally include some level of interaction. This affects how selective one must be about what content to present and how the presentation should be structured.
Research shows that people learn better when information is delivered in bite-size pieces, so it is important to break up your talk into sections. This will help the audience to retain the information and make it more memorable. Using marker slides to indicate the start and end of each section is useful for communicating this.
Choosing the right structure is also important because it can ensure that the most significant points of your presentation are included in your final slide. This will give your audience something to remember, even if they forget everything else you said. This will also make your audience more likely to ask questions.
Audience
Academic presentations are designed for a specific audience and require a level of understanding of the subject matter and the ability to communicate that information clearly and concisely. When delivered well, a presentation provides valuable learning experiences for both the presenter and the audience.
The key to making an academic presentation interesting is to love what you are presenting and convey that passion through your energy and enthusiasm. Nothing is more boring than a presentation delivered by someone who doesn’t believe in their topic or research.
A great way to engage your audience is through off-hand comments, anecdotes or a joke. It is also important to know your audience and their level of knowledge in advance so that you can tailor your presentation to suit their requirements.
Words
Academic presentations often require students to demonstrate their research skills, and can be graded as part of their coursework. They can be in the form of a lecture, seminar, workshop, or even a poster presentation.
The language used in academic presentations varies, depending on the discipline. For example, biology and economics may use different technical vocabulary. Nevertheless, there is also a large amount of general vocabulary that is used by all disciplines. For this reason, it is important for EAP students to develop a good understanding of the academic word list (AWL), and learn the specific words that are unique to their own field of study.
In their presentations, good presenters often use rhetorical questions and talk to the audience in the first person. This makes the audience feel involved and helps them to relate the information to their own experiences. This is something that is also important in business presentations.
Images
It’s a cliche, but images really do convey more than words can. They also help the audience to understand your topic and to connect with it on a visceral level. They are essential in making your presentation memorable and persuasive.
You should use images that are free to download and CC-licensed. Make sure they are of high resolution so that they will expand to a large size without pixelation.
Most library, museum, and archival collections have images available for academic non-commercial use. These are generally labeled with a link to the source, allowing you to cite the original image.
If you need to use copyrighted images in a class presentation, course paper or graduate thesis/dissertation, contact the owner for permissions. Include the image(s) and citation on a references page at the end of your work.