Structuring your presentation

(from Writing for Scholars, by Lynn P. Nygaard, 2008: 158-162)

First; Introduce your research question – simply and concretely.

Then; you can provide the necessary background or context – all the time answering the question: “why should you listen to this?”

Next, the thesis statement before its evidence.

Finally; the conclusion. Answer the question: “What is your aim in giving the presentation?”

– Tell a story with a narrative flow: A beginning, a middle and an end. Look at how the points are connected (Nygaard: 159).

The presentation should respond to four questions from the audience, corresponding to the four stages in the learning circle:

1: Why are you telling me this?

2: What is your point?

3: How is this relevant in a wider context? (Either to a real-world context or to a scholarly discourse.)

4: Allow audience to integrate what they’ve learnt into their own work (Nygaard 2008: 160-162).