Chapter Thirty Speaking in Other College Courses

Chapter Thirty

Speaking in Other

College Courses

Chapter Thirty

Table of Contents

Typical Presentations and AudiencesSpeaking in Science and Mathematics

CoursesSpeaking in Technical CoursesSpeaking in Social Science CoursesSpeaking in Arts and Humanities CoursesSpeaking in Education Courses

Speaking in Other College Courses

Public speaking is likely to be part of the curriculum of many courses.

Typical Presentation Formats

Team presentation: oral presentation prepared and delivered by three or more people

Panel discussion: group discussion, at the direction of a moderator

Poster session: uses posters to visually present information

Debate: two individuals or groups argue a point or issue

Typical Audiences

Your professors may request that you tailor your speech for an individual audience.

Typical Audiences

The Expert or Insider AudienceColleagues within the FieldThe Lay AudienceThe Mixed Audience

Typical Audiences:

The Expert or Insider Audience

Expert or insider audience: people who possess intimate knowledge of the topic, issue, product, or idea discussed.

Do not need to provide much background information

Typical Audiences:

Colleagues within the Field

Colleagues within the field share your knowledge of the general field.

Focus on in-depth information rather than background information

Typical Audiences:

The Lay Audience

The lay audience has the least amount of knowledge of the given field and topic.

Requires the most background information

Typical Audiences:

The Mixed Audience

Mixed audience: people with varying degrees of knowledge about your field.

Therefore, you must satisfy the needs of both lay audiences and expert audiences.

Speaking in Science and Mathematics Courses

Science courses include physical sciences, natural sciences, and earth sciences.

Speaking in Science and Mathematics Courses

Sample Kinds of Presentations

Characteristics of Effective Presentations

Speaking in Science and Mathematics Courses:


Research presentation: directed to the expert audience and follows the model used in scientific investigation.



Extended research or field study presentation: delivered in teams, individually, or in poster session format.



Research overview presentation: provides context and background for a question or hypothesis.



Methods/procedure presentation: an informative speech of demonstration.

Speaking in Science and Mathematics Courses: Characteristics of Effective Presentations in Science and Mathematics

Effective presentations clearly illustrate the nature of the research and the means by which the results were achieved.

Speaking in Science and Mathematics Courses: Characteristics of Effective Presentations in Science and Mathematics

Use observations, proofs, and experiments as evidence and support.

Have a selective focus on details.Use presentation aids to

illustrate processes.

Speaking in Technical Courses

Technical disciplines include engineering fields, computer science oriented fields, and design-oriented fields.

Speaking in Technical Courses


Characteristics of Effective Technical Presentations

Speaking in Technical Courses:


Design review presentation: information on the results of a design project.



Request for funding presentation: a team member or the entire team provides evidence that a project is worth funding.


Characteristics of Effective Technical Presentations

Use visual diagrams and prototypes.Be persuasive in design and sell

ideas.Use numerical data and

experimental results.Be results-oriented.

Speaking in Social Science Courses

Social sciences include psychology, sociology, political science, and communication.


Presentations for the social sciences have a pronounced focus on connecting research results with predicting or explaining human behavior based on:

Qualitative research: emphasis is placed on observing, describing, and interpreting behavior

Quantitative research: emphasis is placed on statistical measurement


Sample Kinds of PresentationsCharacteristics of Effective Social

Science Presentations

Speaking in Social Science Courses:


If asked to participate in a debate, you will need to prepare a well-composed argument with strong supporting evidence.



Review of the literature presentation: reviews a body of research related to a given topic and offers conclusions based on research.



The explanatory research presentations reports on studies that attempt to analyze or explain a phenomenon.



The evaluation research presentation measures the success of programs developed to address phenomena.



The policy recommendation presentation presents research, information, ideas, and advice to a lay audience to help it solve a problem.


Characteristics of Effective Presentations in the Social Sciences

Effective presentations illustrate the nature of the research question and the means by which results were achieved.

You can achieve this by: Using timely data Referring to current research

Speaking in Arts and Humanities Courses

The arts and humanities include English, philosophy, languages, art history, theater, music, religion, and history.

Speaking in Arts and Humanities Courses

Sample Kinds of PresentationsCharacteristics of Effective Arts

and Humanities Presentations

Speaking in Arts and Humanities Courses:


Informative speeches of explanation: detail the relevance of a historical event, a school of philosophy, or a work of art.

They often use visual aids as a key part.



Presentations that compare and contrast: highlight similarities and differences between events, stories, people, or artifacts.



Debates consider opposing ideas, historical figures, or philosophical positions.



Many instructors ask students to research a question or book and then lead a classroom discussion on it.


Characteristics of Effective Presentations in the Arts and Humanities

Effective presentations help the audience to think of the topic in a new way by providing an original interpretation.

Speaking in Education Courses

Education includes curriculum and instruction, physical education, secondary and elementary education, and education administration.

Speaking in Education Courses

Sample Kinds of PresentationsCharacteristics of Effective

Presentations in Education

Speaking in Education Courses:


Lecture: an informational speech for new student learners.



Group activity presentation: a short introduction to a group activity that follows a lecture.



Classroom discussion presentation: an informal presentation for which education majors typically prepare.


Characteristics of Effective Presentations in Education

The simpler the organization, the better.

The presentation should be clearly connected to other parts of the course, topic, or content.


Characteristics of Effective Classroom Presentations

Use examples and evidence the audience is familiar with and can grasp.

Choose examples closest to students’ experiences.

Documents

Chapter Thirty Speaking in Other College Courses