Using explicit structure and signpost language.

Using explicit structure and signpost language. Organize your presentation clearly and carefully, and give an overview of the main points at the outset. (You may want to recall these points toward the end of the talk.) Then, throughout your presentation, call attention to a new point by pausing before it and by using signpost language as an explicit transition: The second crisis point in the breakup of the Soviet Union occurred shortly after the first is more explicit than Another thing went wrong. Repeated key words and ideas work as signposts, too.

At the end of Shuqiao’s introduction, she set forth the structure of her presentation in a very clear, straightforward, and simple way to help her audience follow what came next:

student writing

So, let me outline the rest of my presentation. First, I’ll show how text is insufficient, but also why it is necessary in Bechdel’s story.

Second, I’ll show how images can’t be trusted yet why they are still necessary for Bechdel’s purpose.

Third and finally, I’ll show how the interplay of text and image in Fun Home creates a more complex and comprehensive understanding of the story.