Research Results Delivery: Successful Completion Manual

This is basically telling what you have done during your investigation to the public (usually your classmates). No matter how much work has been carried out, you will be quite limited in time (no more than 10-15 minutes).

General Plan

The suggested plan of a correct presentation should not be the final one. It should be adjusted to the particular research, and requirements set by your professor.

• Greetings to your listeners, members of the committee (if there are any). You should be polite to create a proper impression on your listeners.
• The title of your work.
• Why have you selected this particular topic (scientific issue) to work with? The actuality needs to be mentioned briefly.
• What is the purpose of your research, and what tasks have you performed to achieve it? State the object and the subject of the research.
• What theories and sources have you used as basic ones for your investigation?
• Based on what material have you built your research (i.e. what is your empirical base)? Where and in what way was the investigation carried out? What were the ethical issues?
• What are the main conclusions you have come to?
• What is the practical value of the received research results? How can they be applied?
• Thank the audience for listening and ask whether there are any questions about the presented research.

Hints on Presenting a Research Effectively

• It is better to present the research results in your own words, but if it is too difficult, you may read it from the notes, but with a good intonation, and keeping an eye contact with listeners. If you are aimed at reading, make sure your speaker’s notes are printed out in a font size that is comfortably readable.
• It is necessary to rehearse your presentation a few times, not to feel confused while presenting in front of an audience. Organize the timing of your presentation. The rhythm should be vivid, but not too fast. Your speech should be clear and loud enough, without the unnecessary tension. Put the accents and pauses beforehand.
• To keep your audience listening to you, use interesting examples. You may even include some humoristic ones, but only if this is relevant taking into account the conditions of presenting.

PowerPoint Usage

Use PowerPoint program as your assistant for the better delivery of information. However, there are also some rules to follow while working with it. Keep in mind that presentation is not analogic to your oral speech, but a supplementary source. Never include full phrases or paragraphs. All you need to have on slides are the key points in the form of a list, maybe some schemes and pictures if needed. All you can tell, you will tell, but slides are needed for showing important visual elements. The slides should not be overfilled with information: your listeners should be able to “catch” the information shown.

Include one slide with theoretical base (do not write long lists with last names, but indicate 3-4 main authors and their approaches you have benefitted from in your research).

Include one slide with the empirical base in form of a list. Be very concise, but make sure to indicate all the factual data (date of the survey, type respondents, quantity of respondents, etc.)

Think of how you will keep your audience interested. PowerPoint will help you, but do not include too many sounds, various fonts and animations: they may distract from the content and increase the tiredness of your listeners. Use no more than 2 shades of one color and a single design style.

You should better to switch the slides yourself with the help of a remote control.

Examples of Failures with Presentations

• The text goes beyond the frames of the slide. The text is covered by the elements of the design.
• Font is too little to be read.
• Every slide has a new fond type.
• Too long sentences on slides.
• Font color is not clear.
• There are more slides that can be shown within the time limit.