Below, you will find five videos of presentations by undergraduate and graduate students, each of which has been annotated to identify effective strategies for oral communication. By watching the videos and reading the brief annotations, we hope that you will gain an appreciation for the building blocks of successful oral presentations. The annotations are divided into seven categories, which appear in capital letters above each annotation:
- INTRO – strategies for beginning a presentation
- CONNECTIVES – strategies for joining one part of a presentation to another
- THESIS, METHOD, & RESULTS – strategies for presenting different aspects of the presenter’s research
- EVIDENCE – strategies for supporting claims
- LANGUAGE – strategies for using words or phrases for specific rhetorical aims
- VOICE & GESTURE – strategies for effectively using the voice and body
- CONCLUSION – strategies for ending a presentation
A note about the videos: All of the videos annotated below are of presentations delivered as part of the international Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT). While all of the students in these videos are excellent public speakers, it is important to be aware that the 3MT format is very specific—the presentations are all quite short (three minutes) and focus on original research carried out by the presenter. We invite you to consider which approaches to these brief research talks may or may not transfer to your own presentation formats.
We suggest that you first watch each video once without reading the annotations to get a grasp of the topic, and then again (as many times as needed) while keeping track of the annotations.
Annotated Presentations:
- “The Waiting Game in the Movie Industry: Timing Decisions for DVD Release”
- “Essays on the Economics of Remittances and Migration”
- “Cognitive Benefits of Childhood Bilingualism”
- “Countering Climate Change: The Relationship Between Economic Growth and Fossil Fuels in Developing Countries”
- “Cyber-Bullying: Data Collection and Analysis”
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“The Waiting Game in the Movie Industry: Timing Decisions for DVD Release” (Sumaiya Ahmed)
“Essays on the Economics of Remittances and Migration” (Thomas Lebesmuehlbacher)
“Cognitive Benefits of Childhood Bilingualism” (Danae Thackerson)
“Countering Climate Change: The Relationship Between Economic Growth and Fossil Fuels in Developing Countries” (Aqdas Afzal)
“Cyber-Bullying: Data Collection and Analysis” (Tom Werner)
