Twenty questions to get right - a Checklist for re-sitters

AG = attention getter P = purpose Conc = conclusion FS = final statement

1 Have you put the words you will SAY for the AG, P, Conc or . FS on the slides? At the beginning and the end of the presentation the focus should be on the speaker and the message they are giving, not on the slides 2 Have you put a separate slide for the purpose or conclusion? . See above 3 Have you put a separate slide for the AG or FS? . The AG often contains negative images and these should be brought back IN A POSITIVE WAY in the FS at the end of the presentation, whereas the Conc and the P cannot contain images. However if the AG is not backed up by images, then there will probably be none in the FS. 4 Are you going to make (say) a clear statement of purpose . that is more than simply informative (see pages 8 and 12 of the course)? Without this your audience will not know what they are supposed to do having seen your presentation. 5 If your SELL is a rhetorical question are you most likely to get . the answer you want? Dont ask questions like Do you want to be responsible for the death of these animals / for these children working at the age of 6 / for these farmers living like this? Most of us eat meat and want to buy cheap products from developing countries because all the negative consequences are too far away from us! Try to make the question more personal somehow. 6 Have you checked your visual aids including structure sheet . against the questions on Page 42 and given the answer YES to all of them apart from question 2 (which is a negative question, so the answer is NO)? These questions reflect the criteria in the visual aids section of the exam (apart from 3 points) which means you can pick up a lot of points by getting them right. The other 3 points are There was no reading from the screen There was masking(not all points on the slide were shown at the same time) There was no fiddling with the slides and speech was synchronised

N O

N O YE N S O

YE S

YE S

YE S

7 Have you ensured that the P and its ideas are reflected in the YE . Conc and that you have NOT used ideas/words from the SELL S or AG? The P and the Conc are are calls to act /to do something. The SELL and the AG are the results of not performing/performing that action. Therefore the SELL and AG ideas should only be reflected in the FS. This helps clarify the message for your audience. Remember the smoking example: AG: picture dirty lungs SELL: Do you want lungs like these? P: I am here today to persuade you to stop smoking Conc: As you can see the only way is to stop smoking FS: In this way your lungs will look like these (show picture clean lungs) Here you can see that the ideas in the AG and SELL do not come into the Conc but come back positively in the FS Have you put only positive ideas in your FS? (see Q7) Your audience should not be reminded of the negative results of not following your advice, only the good things that will happen if they do. Is your summary sheet the same as your structure/overview sheet or does it at least totally reflect it? Presenters who dont do this often miss out summarizing part of the presentation. Furthermore if the sheet looks too different it is confusing for the audience especially as they will have seen your permanent structure on every slide previous to this one. Apart from adding the language on pages 18 and 29 AND summarizing the content of the presentation do you need to say anything more than what is in the speech bubbles on pages 40 and 41? Under other elements, there should be a reference made to length of presentation and questions at least (see box on page 5) and dont forget a WELCOME when you introduce yourself. Apart from putting the SELL and the AG together should you change the order of the material on pages 40 and 41? There is a psychological ordering of the material so it is best not to change it. However if you do, remember that the first item is the AG and the last is talking about the overview/ structure. Have you got an argument? This is a persuasive presentations course, so you need a clear argument. Remember the smoking example: (Page 39 (the argument for)) I want to persuade you to give up smoking because:

8 .

YE S

9 .

YE S

1 0 .

YE S

1 1 .

N O

1 2 .

YE S

 Smoking causes diseases and death Smoking negatively affects your social life Smoking negatively affects your career 1 Have you answered the counter-argument? 3 Remember you cannot just ignore the existence of a . counter-argument. You have to present it and then argue against it. Let us go back to the smoking example again: (Page 39 (the argument against))
And now you are saying to yourself, as it is so bad for you, why do so many people do it?

YE S

Addiction Relaxation Peer pressure

Firstly addiction is no excuse because there are loads of counsellors and nicotine patches also help..

1 Have you backed up your argument with facts and 4 statistics? . This presentation is designed to be given outside school where proof and not just opinion would be needed. Let us go back to the smoking example. Clearly if only 0.5% of smokers die of certain diseases then smokers would be less discouraged than if 90% of smokers die of those diseases. Dont just tell your audience that a smokers social life will be affected, but make reference to a survey of students where 70% said they were looking for a partner who didnt smoke,etc.. 1 Are you going to use words in your presentation like We 5 think or In my opinion or You should? . (see Q14). Your argument should be told in an impersonal way so that it is logical. Once your own views are obviously included, you weaken your argument and you should moreover never talk down to your audience as you will automatically alienate them. 1 Is there a minimum and maximum time for the presentation? 6 Two students not less than 20 minutes and not more than . 26 One student not less than 15 and not more than 22 NOTE THAT PRESENTATIONS SHORTER THAN THESE TIMES ARE NOT AWARDED ANY GRADE, so practice! 1 Can you use key cards when presenting the material on 7 Pages 40 and 41 ?

YE S

N O

YE S

N O

If you dont know the basic elements of your presentation like the P, Conc etc., then your audience will have no confidence in you. 1 Can you use key cards in the rest of the presentation? 8 ..as long as you dont read. READ = FAIL . 1 If two students are doing the presentation can the same 9 student do both the beginning and the end? . In the real world this would be a possibility of course, but in order to get a fair grade, one student will do the beginning and one the end. 2 Do you need to bring anything to the exam? 0 Pages 39 -42 inclusive from the handout (you can . download them from the vld) filled out correctly (typed) plus a copy of your visual aids (SIX TO A PAGE) all presented in a plastic file. You cannot sit your exam without this.

YE S N O

YE S