Some collaborative projects may call for oral or multimedia presentations. If your group is to make such a presentation, follow these guidelines:
Find out exactly how much time you will have for the presentation, and stick to that time limit.
Divide the preparatory work fairly. For example, who will revise the written text for oral presentation? Who will prepare the slides or other visuals? Who will do the necessary research?
Decide how each group member will contribute to the presentation. Make sure that everyone has an obvious role.
Leave time for at least two practice sessions. During the first session, time yourselves carefully, and make a sound or video recording of the presentation. Then view or listen to the recording, and make any necessary adjustments. If you can’t videotape your group presentation, then practice it in front of several friends: feedback is very important, so ask them to summarize what they got out of the presentation and to comment on how easy it was to understand the major points, how effective body language and eye contact were, and how well you used visual or multimedia support.
If your presentation will be available online, remember that it’s very hard to know who may see it. Try for a presentation that will be easily understood by people beyond your own class or university—or even your own culture. Also, remember that you must label all visuals and cite their sources.
Make sure that your audience will be able to read any accompanying handouts, slides, or posters, and revise any that fail this test. Use your visuals as you rehearse, and try to do so in a room similar in size and lighting to the room in which you will make the presentation.
After your presentation, try to have a debriefing with your instructor so that you can get pointers on improving future presentations.
For more on oral and multimedia presentations, see Chapter 17.