General Outline of Oral Presentation

I. Introduction

• Capture your listeners’ attention.

• State your purpose.

e.g.

• I’m going to talk about… This morning I want to explain…. Today I am going to give a talk on… I would like to concentrate on the problem of… I shall devote my talk to …

• Present an outline of your talk.

e.g.

• I will concentrate on the following points: First of all… Then… This will lead to… And finally…

• To address these questions, I’d like to divide
  my talk into four parts: First, to give you a brief look at … Second, to look at … Third, to look at … And fourth, to make some specific recommendations about ….

• I will highlight three broad issues that I hope will be useful to you for your discussion today. The first of these is …. The second issue I’d like to discuss is … . For my third and final issue, because of the limited time, I am afraid that I have to leave them out to spare time.

II. The Body

• Present your main points one by one in a logical order.

• Pause at the end of each point. Give people time to take notes, or time to think about what you are saying.

• Make it clear when you move to another point.

e.g.

• “The next point is that…”; “Of course, we must not forget that…”; “However, it’s important to realize that….”

• Use clear examples to illustrate your points and/or key findings.

• If appropriate, consider using visual aids to make your presentation more interesting [e.g., a map, chart, picture, etc.].

III. The Conclusion

• A clear summary of everything that you have covered.

• Make it obvious that you have reached the end of the presentation. (avoid coming to a sudden end)

• Use clear examples to illustrate your points and/or key findings.

• Summarize the main points again.

e.g.

• “So, in conclusion…”; “To recap the main issues…,” “In summary, it is important to realize….”