Researching

A good presentation is clear in focus.

Unlike a written text where you can re-read information, a presentation is mainly the words spoken by the presenter. There is no opportunity for listeners to recapture the words once they have been said. To maintain your audience's attention, your presentation needs to be well planned. The first step in doing this is to analyse your task so that you, the presenter, are clear about your purpose. Then, you can research it in a focused way.

Identify the key ideas of your topic and gather resources on these areas. Consider texts, media programs, newspaper articles, and interviews.

Analysing the task

If you have a question or task:

• analyse it by identifying the key terms, and their relationship.
• look at your task from all perspectives.
• make sure your purpose is clear. For example, are you required to describe, analyse, or compare in your presentation?
• try to make your response original, rather than merely following the line taken in the literature. However, you must be able to support your view with suitable evidence.

If you have an open-ended topic, where you can define your own focus:

• brainstorm ideas that flow from the topic. These can then be followed up in your research.