PRACTICING WHAT WE PREACH:

MAKING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS By Steven M. Ross and Gary R. Morrison

~ n an earlier article (Morrison & Ross, 1991), we provided guide-

lines for writing better proposals for AECT presentations. If you fol- lowed those suggestions, or did comparable things on your own, there is a good chance that your proposal will be (or already has been) accepted. If so, you deserve congratulations, but your work is not done. Your next task is trying to ensure a good presentation at the meeting. Just as there are good classroom lectures and poor ones, the quality of presentations given at professional meetings is highly var- ied. Some are interesting and infor- mative, while others are deadly dull.

There are definite techniques that you can use to increase the chances that yours be the former type. We will describe the ones that we use in the following pages, starting with suggestions for initial planning. Readers familiar with in- structional design will probably note the similarity of these strate- gies to those they might recom- mend for virtually any type of di- dactic presentation, such as a course lecture. The goal in each case is to combine good content with an effective delivery style.

Planning What To Say As a first step, plan and organize

your presentation by constructing an outline of the major topics. If you have a full paper written (as is required for most types of ses- sions), its major sections should

Steven M. Ross, Professor of Edu- cational Foundations and Gary R. Morrison, Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, are on the faculty of Memphis State University in Mem- phis, Tennessee.

provide a fairly good basis for de- ciding what to include. But there is no need to wait until you 've writ- ten a paper; your AECT proposal should do as well (after all, the re- viewers liked it!). Check the infor- mation that you were sent regard- ing your session and plan your outline accordingly. You will prob- ably have only 10-15 minutes to present. There will thus be little time to discuss minor points or to elaborate on details of your proce- dures or results. Also, be sure to keep your audience in mind. Many will be there to hear a presentation other than yours (nothing personal; remember, there will be four or five other presenters). Although typical audience members will have an in- terest in the general topic being presented ("CAI ," "Uses of Hy- perCard," etc.), they may not be very knowledgeable about the spe- cifics of your focus. Thus, try to maintain a balance between schol- arly (or technical) rigor and under- standability to general audiences.

(Anyone who is interested in the details can always request that you send them a complete paper.)

Typically, the type of presenta- tion made will dictate the general format used. Table 1 and the dis- cussion below provide suggestions for three categories: a) Develop- ment projects, b) Literature re- views and analytical papers, and c) Research papers. These listings are not intended to be exhaustive or to apply to all papers in these catego- ries; use them according to their fit with your subject and objectives. When you 've constructed your final list of major topics, add subordi- nate descriptors to note the impor- tant points under each.

Let 's now briefly consider the three types of presentations treated in Table 1.

Development Projects. For devel- opment projects, in which the pur- pose is to describe or demonstrate a new technological application, major emphasis should be given to convey- ing (a) the purposes of the project;

38 Tech Trends

(b) the nature of the new application, model, or product that resulted; (c) how the application or product should be used; and (d) what its strengths and limitations are com- pared to existing alternatives.

Analytical Papers and Literature Reviews. For analytical papers and literature reviews, the presenter should stress (a) what the topic area is and why it is important; (b) what the existing theories, beliefs, and/or practices are; (c) what new ideas are suggested from his/her analysis of the existing work; and (d) the implications of that analysis for re- searchers and practitioners. Time limitations will prevent you from providing a detailed discussion of the literature. You should focus on a few of the key issues that will be of interest to your audience.

Research Presentations. Research presentations are generally pat- terned on the traditional format of the written research report. Ac- cordingly, main sections will con- sist of (a) an introduction that de- scribes the topic area, literature base, current research interest, and hypotheses or research questions; (b) a methodology part that de- scribes participants (subjects), de- sign, materials, and procedures; and (c) a description of results and a final discussion.

Obviously, in a 10-to 15-minute research presentation, there will not be sufficient time to discuss each of these areas in detail. Thus, limit your treatment of incidental or back- ground information (e.g., details in- volving prior studies or present anal- yses), while emphasizing four essential concerns: what is unique (or important) about your study, what was done, what was found, and what the findings imply for future research and practice. In a concur- rent session, you will typically want to avoid presenting complex statisti- cal tables. Summarize your results and then direct the interested reader to tables in the full paper.

Identifying Media Needs Given the identification of AECT

with expertise in instructional tech- nology, there is the natural expect- ancy that its presenters will use me- dia effectively. Aside from implying skills in designing and displaying au- dio-visual materials, "effective" me- dia utilization also means "selec- tive" media usage. Simply put, don't

Table 1" Three Typical Presentations

DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

1. Purpose a. What problem or need is addressed?

2. Background Information a. Literature b. Assessment Data

3, Description of Product a. Key components b. How they differ from others

4. Application a. How to apply b. Where to apply

5. Strengths and Weaknesses a. Best application b. Least preferred application

6. Summary a. Needed improvements or extensions b. Implications for research or new development

ANALYTICAL PAPERS/LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Purpose a. Topic area b. Significance of topic c. Rationale

2. Related Literature a. Relevant theories b. Key research or research areas

3. Methods (if relevant) a. Analysis method b. Article selection criteria

4. Results/Conclusions a. Findings b. Differences w/prior conclusions 5. Implications/Applications

a. How can results be applied? b. Predicted outcomes c. Area of greatest impact/utilization

RESEARCH

1. Clear statement of the problem a. Topic area b. Significance of study c. Hypotheses/questions

2. Brief review of literature findings a. How does this study replicate or extend prior research?

3. Description of research methods a. Subjects and basic design b. Important materials c. Procedure

4. Findings a. Major results b. Relation to hypotheses

5. Conclusions/discussion a. Interpretations b. Implications c. Suggestions for further research

2.5 min.

2.5 min.

2.5 min.

1.5 min.

1.0 min.

1.0 min.

2.5 min.

!.0 min.

3.5 min.

2.0 min.

1.5 min.

1.0 min.

2.5 min.

2.5 min.

2.5 min.

Volume 36/Number 3/1991 39

employ such aids where they are not needed. Carefully examine your con- tent outline and consider how each part can best be conveyed. Are there places where media support of some type could make an idea clearer, more salient, or more interesting to your audience? If so, decide what type of support would be best given that content, the room size and lay- out, and practical constraints (i.e., do you really want to lug a lot of equipment through airports and hotels?).

The key consideration is that the media support enhance the presen- tation, not detract from it. Over- heads that are legible, attractively designed, and used to highlight im- portant points can be quite effec- tive in this regard. They will not work well, however, for conveying details, as in a complex figure or table of numbers. For those pur- poses, prepare a handout or con- sider orienting the discussion to "the big picture" instead. If your presentation is centered around a product or application (such as a CBI interactive video lesson or desktop publishing), carefully weigh the advantages of demon- strating the actual materials versus discussing them using visual aids. Having to transport bulky equip- ment (we will always remember the Macintosh computer that we couldn't dislodge from an overhead luggage compartment) or may not be worth the effort. Also, uncer- tainties about audience size, the positioning and availability of elec- trical outlets, and room conditions in general leave much to chance regarding how visible and effective the demonstration will be. If your equipment needs are quite com- plex, you may need to determine if it is even feasible to make an ade- quate presentation in the allotted time. (W.C. Fields would have probably much preferred perform- ing with kids over using a compli- cated hardware set-up that might not work.) As a backup, you may want to prepare 35mm slides or overhead transparencies of the most salient computer screens. Then, if you encounter a computer- related problem, you can still illus- trate the key points. Also, good quality 35mm slides of a computer screen are often more readable than a projected video image. Again, the choice is one you must make to best present your ideas.

Getting Ready for the Presentation

Once you have drafted your pre- sentation outline and made your media selection, it's time to pre- pare for the actual talk. Regardless of your experience and skill as a lecturer, this remains one of the most important steps toward ensur- ing an effective presentation. There is an old story about a well-known orator who was asked how much time he would need to prepare for giving a 10-minute speech. His re- ply was "one week." When asked next about his preparation needs for a 30-minute talk, he surprised the interviewer by asking for only one day. "Well, in that case," the interviewer asked, "what would a three-hour talk require?" The con- fident reply: " I 'm ready for that right now."

The point here is that making a brief presentation is in many ways much more difficult than giving a "full-period" lecture. In the former case there is little opportunity to expand, shift direction, interact with audience members, adapt to their reactions, or entertain them with humorous stories, or personal anecdotes. The "simple" task is to describe your work in an interest- ing, clear, and informative way us- ing only about ten minutes time! Your content outline should handle the information part of your talk, while rehearsals will help you to strengthen its flow and pacing. Make your final few rehearsals "dress" ones incorporating your media and perhaps a few colleagues as an audience. A reassuring thought here is that rehearsing a 10-minute talk only takes about 10 minutes--a very small time invest- ment for such a large return.

When You Get There Convention time is here! You

have designed and prepared your presentation as described above, and are ready to deliver it. When you arrive at the convention site, take the first opportunity to check the room in which you will be pre- senting. The actual room layout and seating capacity may differ from what you expected. If such should occur, you will have time to con- sider any adjustments that might be needed in your presentation.

When you leave your hotel room

for your session, be sure to collect all needed materials: (a) note cards or notes, (b) handouts, (c) over- heads or other display materials, and (d) several copies of your com- plete paper. Having the complete paper with you can be valuable should you need to look up some information in response to a ques- tion. We do not suggest, however, routinely distributing copies to all audience members, since only a certain percentage will be genuinely interested in reading the full report. Rather, we suggest a 3-5 page sum- mary with important figures and tables be distributed at the begin- ning of your presentation. Then, you can direct the audience to the tables and figures as you describe them. By taking a few extra copies (say, 5-10) of the full paper to the session, you probably can accom- modate most of those who ask; any remaining requests can be mailed.

Arrive at the room 15 minutes or so early. This will give you time to set up your equipment, arrange your materials, relax if you're feeling a little nervous, and meet the session chairman and other presenters.

During your presentation, con- centrate on keeping the audience's attention. The same rules that ap- ply to effective teaching apply here too. Clear enunciation, appropriate pacing, and interest or enthusiasm are three important qualities. Look at the audience as much as possible and not down at your paper. If you feel comfortable spending extra time on something that seems to interest them, by all means do so---it will enhance your presenta- tion. But be careful about longer digressions. The usual result is run- ning out of time before getting to your main findings or conclusions. Regardless of how well you are pacing yourself, the chairman will probably signal you when there are about two minutes remaining. If it looks like you are running a little behind, speed up the pace by omit- ting less important information. In a real pinch, proceed directly to your conclusions; they provide the summary and integration that the audience will most want to hear. Finally, do not talk past your limit; it is unfair to everyone. �9

Reference Morrison, G. R., & Ross, S. M.

(1991). Writing proposals for ac- ceptance at AECT. Tech Trends.

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