FINAL HINTS FOR ORAL PRESENTATION & POWERPOINT:
* Be sure to include short examples or stories for each key point you make.
* When you lay-out the different claims, please make sure you explain which Ways of Knowing are are being used to justify the claims.
* Make sure you don’t go over your time: eight minutes for one-person, twelve for two, eighteen for three
* Have notes on index cards, but don’t read word for word. Don’t look at slides and read off them.
* Don’t look at the screen when talk – look at the audience
* Be dressed professionally on the day of your oral presentation.
* Use images and text on slides. Do not have too much text on any one slide.
* Do not just repeat the text on your slides.
* Use slides to “show” concepts, explanations and not just to “tell” them.
* Make sure the images help in the understanding of the knowledge issue, and are not just there to look pretty.
* Show contrasting claims on one slide.
* Be sure to practice with your partner (s) at least three times prior to making your presentation. Make sure that one of those times is very shortly prior to your presentation.
* Remember basic presentation skills – posture, projecting voice, no gum-chewing
ALSO:
* If you use a quote, immediately follow it with putting it in your own words.
* Every real-life example, claim, counter claim, and discussion of linking questions MUST have a story/example connected to it (beginning/middle/end). See the second half of The Best Digital Storytelling Resources to learn about how to tell stories and their importance. Your stories should be a mix of personal ones and ones you’ve learned from texts, movies, history, etc. IMPORTANT: When you tell the stories, be sure to connect them back to the knowledge issue!
* Don’t only expand on TOK textbook ideas and concepts (and concepts we’ve explored through classroom materials and discussions) — also provide explicit connections to what you have learned from textbook and class. However, come up with your own examples to illustrate these concepts – don’t just repeat what’s in the textbook. Show original thought!
* Minimize sharing your opinion until the conclusion.