Khóa luận A study on how to make an effective presentation for the fourth-Year english majors at Haiphong private university

Nội dung text: Khóa luận A study on how to make an effective presentation for the fourth-Year english majors at Haiphong private university

1. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG ISO 9001 : 2008 KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP NGÀNH: NGOẠI NGỮ HẢI PHÒNG - 2010
2. HAIPHONG PRIVATE UNIVESITY FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON HOW TO MAKE AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION FOR THE FOURTH-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT HAIPHONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITY By: Nguyễn Hương Thơm Class: Na1001 Supervisor: Đặng Thị Vân, M.A HAI PHONG - 2010
3. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG Nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp Sinh viên: Mãsố: Lớp: Ngành: Tên đề tài:
4. Nhiệm vụ đề tài 1. Nội dung và các yêu cầu cần giải quyết trong nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp ( về lý luận, thực tiễn, các số liệu cần tính toán và các bản vẽ). 2. Các số liệu cần thiết để thiết kế, tính toán. 3. Địa điểm thực tập tốt nghiệp.
5. CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN ĐỀ TÀI Người hướng dẫn thứ nhất: Họ và tên: Học hàm, học vị: Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung hướng dẫn: Người hướng dẫn thứ hai: Họ và tên: Học hàm, học vị: Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung hướng dẫn: Đề tài tốt nghiệp được giao ngày 12 tháng 04 năm 2010 Yêu cầu phải hoàn thành xong trước ngày 10 tháng 07 năm 2010 Đã nhận nhiệm vụ ĐTTN Đã giao nhiệm vụ ĐTTN Sinh viên Người hướng dẫn Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm 2010 HIỆU TRƯỞNG GS.TS.NGƯT Trần Hữu Nghị
6. PHẦN NHẬN XÉT TÓM TẮT CỦA CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN 1. Tinh thần thái độ của sinh viên trong quá trình làm đề tài tốt nghiệp: 2. Đánh giá chất lượng của khóa luận (so với nội dung yêu cầu đã đề ra trong nhiệm vụ Đ.T. T.N trên các mặt lý luận, thực tiễn, tính toán số liệu ): 3. Cho điểm của cán bộ hướng dẫn (ghi bằng cả số và chữ): Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm 2010 Cán bộ hướng dẫn (họ tên và chữ ký)
7. NHẬN XÉT ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA NGƯỜI CHẤM PHẢN BIỆN ĐỀ TÀI TỐT NGHIỆP 1. Đánh giá chất lượng đề tài tốt nghiệp về các mặt thu thập và phân tích tài liệu, số liệu ban đầu, giá trị lí luận và thực tiễn của đề tài. 2. Cho điểm của người chấm phản biện : (Điểm ghi bằng số và chữ) Ngày tháng năm 2010 Người chấm phản biện
8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere thank to Haiphong Private University, an ideal environment, which gave me the chances to learn and practise during the last 4 years. In the process of carrying out this graduation paper, I wish to show my great gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs. Dang Thi Van, who gave me benefit of her wisdom and varied experience in English teaching method and who made valuable suggestions, careful detailed and critical comments, which helped me complete this thesis. Besides, I want to give my sincere thank all the teachers in Foreign Language Department of Haiphong Private University who helped me with the preparation of all my knowledge today. Next, I also want to thank the librarians of Haiphong Private University for their helps in my searching and reading books for this graduation paper. Not being forgotten is deeply gratitude to my parents and my family. Without their helps and supports, I can not finish this graduation paper well. Finally, I would like to give my high appreciation to my friends for their help in finding good materials, their valuable suggestions and comments during the time of my studying. Haiphong, June 2010 Student Nguyen Huong Thom
9. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale 1 2. Aims of the study 2 3. Scope of the study 3 4. Methods of the study 3 5. Designs of the study 3 PART TWO: THE STUDY CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 1. Presentation understanding 5 1.1. What is presentation? 5 1.2. Classification of presentation 7 1.3. What make an effective presentation? 11 2. Oral presentation 13 2.1. Definition of an oral presentation 13 2.2. The importance of oral presentation in today’s business environment 14 CHAPTER 2: DIFFICULTIES FACED BY THE FOURTH-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT HAIPHONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITY WHEN MAKING PRESENTATIONS 17 1. Description of data collection 17 1.1. Justification 17 1.2. Description of the data collection instrument 17 2. Description of the subject 18 3. Procedures 20 4. Results collected from questionnaires and analysis 21 4.1. The students’ attitudes toward studying speaking skills especially presentation one 21 4.1.1. Participants identification 21
10. 4.1.2. The students’ attitudes toward speaking skills, particularly presentation skill 22 4.1.3. The students’ difficulties and their expectation when making an oral presentation 25 4.2. The situation of speaking skills among the fourth year English majors at HPU. 26 4.2.1. Students’ preparation before making a presentation. 27 4.2.2. The students’ appearance and psychology during their presentations 29 4.2.3. The students’ difficulties during making a presentation 30 4.2.4. The students’ audience controlling when delivering presentations 32 4.2.5. The students’ average marks in final speaking tests 33 5. Major findings 35 CHAPTER 3: HOW TO MAKE AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION 36 1. Suggested solutions for students to overcome common mistakes 36 1.1. How to overcome the lack of confidence. 36 1.2. How to deal with structure, vocabulary and pronunciation. 37 1.3. How to keep audience’s attention 38 a. How to deal with the topic ignorance 39 2. Tips to have an effective presentation 40 2.1. Preparation 40 2.2. Presentation delivery 43 2.2.1. Use an effective introduction 43 2.2.2. Use simple words, simple sentences, markers, repetition, images, personal language 44 2.2.3. Use body language effectively 45 2.2.4. Good appearance 47 2.2.5. Use visual aids to enhance the message 48 2.2.6. Create an effective conclusion 50
11. 2.2.7. Question handling 51 2.3. After presentation 53 PART THREE: CONCLUSION 1. Issues added in the study 54 2. Summary of the major findings 54 3. Limitation of the study 55 4. Application of the study 55 5. Suggestions for further study 55 REFERENCES 56 APPENDIX 1 58 APPENDIX 2 64
12. PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale No one can deny that English is now a global language especially in this internationalization. Most people around the world know and speak English everyday. English is spoken as the first language in many countries and used in various aspects of life such as: economy, culture, politic, finance, etc. In diplomatic relation among nations in the world, English is primary language. Therefore, it is easy to understand why most economical, cultural, financial associations have English name; also why all enterprises, companies require their employees’ foreign languages especially English. Hence, teaching and studying English are very necessary. And the reality solves this. English becomes one of main subjects in almost schools in the world. So does it in Vietnam. English has become one of compulsory subjects in all schools at different levels from primary schools, secondary schools to universities. It is not surprised if when a farmer can say “hello” or “thank you” to a foreigner. It means that we not only actively study English but also automatically absorb it. To meet the demand of internationalization, there are more and more people in Vietnam choosing English as their major because they profoundly understand the importance of English and its application fields in life. Having good English skills means they will have a good job in the future. However, to master English is not easy to Vietnamese because of differences between the two cultures, the two linguistic characteristics. Therefore, studying English keeps insight in a lot of difficulties. Among English skills, speaking is not the most but very important skills showing the users’ ability in English. Speaking is the most popular way of communication because we use it everyday. How can we communicate 1
13. effectively in English if we can not speak well even we are very good at listening, writing and reading? In speaking skills, making a presentation is considered as the most important one because it points out speaker’s ability and knowledge. Despite the importance of presentation, hardly do Vietnamese people gain success in presenting. They often fail into confusion or nerves when giving a talk or a speech in public. English majors, who are regarded as active and gritty ones also cope with this problems, particularly when they use English as a second language to express their ideas. As a fourth-year English major at Haiphong Private University, during English speaking periods, I realize that I-myself and my friends still get some difficulties when making a presentation. This is actually a problem when we have to present in many occasions such as final internship report or graduation paper. It becomes more serious when we are going to graduate and having to find jobs in the real life. No company wants to employ us if we are bachelor of English but can not speak it well especially can not make a presentation good enough. For such reasons, I am aware that giving techniques in making presentations to students is very necessary. The fourth year English majors are the ones who can afford presentation requirements because they have the most basic background about speaking skills after nearly 4 years of studying speaking skills. I hope that the study will help me and the fourth-year English majors at HPU improve our presentation skill remarkably, meeting the reality demand. 2. Aims of the study My main aim is how to make an effective presentation, giving students techniques to make better one. Therefore, this study is aimed at: 2
14. - Finding out the difficulties faced by the students when they make a presentation. - Giving out solutions for difficulties and tips for an effective presentation. 3. Scope of the study Because of the variation of presentation and its own objectives, restriction of time, limitation of knowledge and experience, it is impossible for me to cover all the aspects of English presentation as well as good methods for teaching and studying presentation skill in speaking skill periods; therefore, I would like to focus on finding difficulties in making a presentation and give out techniques to make an effective presentation for the fourth year English majors at Haiphong Private University. I hope that my study will be a reference for the English majors at HPU as well as all students who want to get improvement in making presentations. 4. Methods of the study To finish this study, I carried out some following methods: - Collecting information from reference books and websites. - Interviewing and conducting Survey questionnaires for the fourth year English majors at HPU. - Consulting from my supervisor and other teachers in foreign language department as well as my all friends at HPU. 5. Design of the study The study consists of three main parts: Part one is the introduction including the rationale, aim, scope, methods, objectives of the study. Part two is the development, the most important part of my study, divided into three chapters: 3
15. Chapter 1: “Literature review” In this chapter, I introduce the general theory of presentation, classification of presentation especially oral presentation, then draw out some problems and give out solutions. Chapter 2: “Difficulties faced by the fourth year English majors at HPU when making a presentation”. This chapter refers to the analysis and the findings obtained from survey questionnaires and evaluation for students, interviewing teachers and personal experience to find out difficulties that the fourth year English major at HPU scope with, then give some solutions to solve. Chapter 3: “How to make an effective presentation among the fourth year English majors at Haiphong Private University”. This chapter refers to the most important process for a presentation, tips for the HPU students to make an effective presentation. Part three is the conclusion of my study. In summary, the introduction part is like a general and first look of my graduation paper. Through this opening, the readers know what my research is, why I choose this subject, what the paper for and the methods I use to make it. Besides, looking at this part, we can get the design of all the main contents I present in the paper namely “How to make an effective presentation for the fourth year English majors at Haiphong Private University”. Now, after this introduction I will go in detail into the literature review in which we will have a look on presentation, especially oral presentation and its importance. 4
16. PART TWO: THE STUDY CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Presentation understanding 1.1. What is a presentation? To make an effective presentation, the first thing we should understand clearly is what a presentation is; therefore, the definition of it must be extract and clear enough for all people to be able to understand. There are a lot of definitions about presentation; however, I only figure out some of them that are, in my opinion, easy to understand. The first one is a broad definition of a presentation. According to the definition from Wikipedia, an online dictionary, “Presentation is the practice of showing and explaining the content of a topic to an audience or learner”. ( According to this definition, all what we do to explain something special or detailed to others called presentations. Another definition is: “Presentation is a short talk by one person to a group of people introducing and describing a particular subject”. (Teaching Presentation Skill to ESL.Ss- www.englishclub.com) This is a narrow definition. In reality, presentations may be given by one more person and are not short talks because they may be done by videos, film, etc. In different aspects we have specific definitions about presentation. For example, in business we have definition: “A presentation is a formal talk to one or more people that presents ideas or information in a clear, structured way”. (Business presentation & public speaking English- www.Englishclub.com) 5
17. In this definition, it is said that “presentation is a formal talk” because this case is in business activities, they need formality. Compared with reports, we have a definition from Big Dog: “Presentations and reports are ways of communicating ideas and information to a group. But unlike a report, a presentation carries the speaker’s personality better and allows immediate interaction between all participants”. (Presentation Skills-Big Dog’s Leadership Page- One more definition comes from Morrissey & Sechrest (1987:2): “A presentation involves the preparation and delivery of critical subject matter in a logical and condensed form, leading to effective communication”. Finally, the researcher gives out a definition that is considered the most comprehensive. “Presentation is an even at which preplanned material is shown to audience for a specific purpose. Although a presentation is a verbal form of communication, it is often supported by other media, such as a computer software, slides, printed handouts, and so on and to be successful, appropriate body language and good interpersonal communication skills are prepared. A presentation is normally intended to introduce something new to the audience, to persuade them of a viewpoint, or to inform them of something. Sale representatives use presentations when introducing a product to a potential customer. Presentations are also used in team briefing and other business contexts”. ( In conclusion, we can see from definitions above, a presentation is understood according to a lot of its meanings, depending on certain circumstances. But simply, it can be said that presentations are used by all people everyday. It may be a short talk, a formal talk or a speaking even but in general, it is made for the purpose of communicating among people 6
18. 1.2. Classification of presentation There are many types of presentation basing on the audience you are planning to present to, as well as the type of ideas and information you wish to share and the expectations of the assignment will all impact on the choice you make. The chart below lists some of the types of presentation and which audience they might work best for. Type of Presentation (Multimedia is a combination of written, oral and School visual, e.g. in a computer presentation or a web site.) Audience Written Oral Visual interview, report, project cube, page story, manual, telephone sized chart or report, book conversation diagram review, annotated bibliography, One person newspaper article, magazine article, document, letter, diary, script, book, story cartoon or comic questionnaire, strip, photographs, survey, scroll, discussion group, photo essay, Small group scrapbook, seminar, debate artifact, model, pamphlet, booklet diorama, game, display poster, timeline, advertisement, questionnaire, web page, map, lecture, talk survey, model, mobile, show, song, Large group advertisement, large diagram, debate, choral chart puppet show, speech, lesson skit, overheads 7
19. (The data is from Thames Valley District School Board, 2000 on website: html) This is one way to classify presentations. Another division of presentation comes from Randall P. Whatley, President, Cypress Media Group who suggests that the first step in preparing a presentation is to define the purpose of your presentation and figures out an overview of several common types of presentations and their purpose. Each presentation type requires a specific organization technique to assure they are understood and remembered by the audience. The suggested organizational structure is also provided. Informative Keep an informative presentation brief and to the point. Stick to the facts and avoid complicated information. Choose one of the following organizational structures for an informative presentation: Time - Explains when things should happen. - Works best with visual people or people who can see the overall organization or sequence of events. - Use words like first, second, third, to list order. Place - Explains where things should happen. - Works best with people who understand the group or area you are talking about. - Use words like Region 1, 2, 3, or 4 to explain order. Cause and Effect - Explains how things should happen. 8
20. - Works best with people who understand the relationship between events. - Use phrases like “Because of ___, we now have to ___” Logical Order - Simply list items in their order of importance. - Works best with people who are accustomed to breaking down complex data into components in order to digest the material. Instructional Your purpose in an instructional presentation is to give specific directions or orders. Your presentation will probably be a bit longer, because it has to cover your topic thoroughly. In an instructional presentation, your listeners should come away with new knowledge or a new skill. - Explain why the information or skill is valuable to the audience. - Explain the learning objectives of the instructional program. - Demonstrate the process if it involves something in which the audience will later participate using the following method. - Demonstrate it first without comment. - Demonstrate it again with a brief explanation. - Demonstrate it a third time, step-by-step, with an explanation. - Have the participants practice the skill. - Provide participants the opportunity to ask questions, give, and receive feedback from you and their peers. - Connect the learning to actual use. - Have participants verbally state how they will use it. Arousing 9
21. Your purpose in an arousing presentation is to make people think about a certain problem or situation. You want to arouse the audience’s emotions and intellect so that they will be receptive to your point of view. Use vivid language in an arousing presentation project sincerity and enthusiasm. - Gain attention with a story that illustrates (and sometimes exaggerates) the problem. - Show the need to solve the problem and illustrate it with an example that is general or commonplace. - Describe your solution for a satisfactory resolution to the problem. - Compare/contrast the two worlds with the problem solved and unsolved. - Call the audience to action to help solve the problem. - Give the audience a directive that is clear, easy, and immediate. Persuasive Your purpose in a persuasive presentation is to convince your listeners to accept your proposal. A convincing persuasive presentation offers a solution to a controversy, dispute, or problem. To succeed with a persuasive presentation, you must present sufficient logic, evidence, and emotion to sway the audience to your viewpoint. - Create a great introduction because a persuasive presentation introduction must accomplish the following: Seize the audience’s attention; disclose the problem or needs that your product or service will satisfy; tantalize the audience by describing the advantages of solving the problem or need. - Create a desire for the audience to agree with you by describing exactly how your product or service with fills their real needs. - Close your persuasive presentation with a call to action. - Ask for the order. 10
22. - Ask for the decision that you want to be made. - Ask for the course of action that you want to be followed. Decision-making Your purpose in a decision-making presentation is to move your audience to take your suggested action. A decision-making presentation presents ideas, suggestions, and arguments strongly enough to persuade an audience to carry out your requests. In a decision-making presentation, you must tell the audience what to do and how to do it. You should also let them know what will happen if the don’t do what you ask. - Gain attention with a story that illustrates the problem. - Show the need to solve the problem and illustrate it with an example that is general or commonplace. - Describe your solution to bring a satisfactory resolution to the problem. - Compare/contrast the two worlds with the problem solved and unsolved. - Call the audience to action to help solve the problem and give them a way to be part of the solution. 1.3. What make an effective presentation? In my opinion, an effective presentation is the one that can attract the audience’s attention and their involvement as well as express completely the speaker’s ideas to them. However, to do this effectively we have the form of a presentation and so there are some criterions of an effective presentation. According to Big Dog’s Leadership Page they are: Content: It contains information that people need. Structure: It has a logical beginning, middle, and end. It must be sequenced and paced so that the audience can understand it. Packaging: It must be well prepared. 11
23. Human element: A good presentation will be remembered much more than a report because it has a person attached to it. According to Lenny Laskowski, an international professional speaker and the author of the book, 10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking and several other publications, there are 6 elements of an effective speech. Be Prepared - Being prepared is by far the most important element. How many times do you practice your speech? As a general rule, you should spend about 30 hours of preparation and rehearsal time for every hour you will be speaking. Use a tape recorder or videotape yourself. This will help you to get an accurate picture of how you speak. Give of Yourself - Use personal examples and stories in your speech whenever possible. Make sure your stories help to emphasize or support your point. The stories must match your message. Use examples from your personal and professional life to make your point. In either case be willing to give of yourself by sharing some of yourself with the audience. Stay Relaxed - To stay relaxed you should be prepared. Also, focus on your message and not the audience. Use gestures, including walking patterns. Practice the opening of your speech and plan exactly how you will say it. The audience will judge you in the first 30 seconds they see you. Use Natural Humor - Don't try to be a stand up comedian. Use natural humor by poking fun at yourself and something you said or did. Be sure NOT to make fun of anyone in the audience. People will laugh with you when you poke fun at yourself but don't over do it. Plan Your Body & Hand Positions - During the practice of your speech look for occasions where you can use a gesture. Establish three positions where you will stand and practice not only how to move to them but where in your speech do you move. Pick three positions, one on center stage, one to your right, and one to your left. Do not hide behind the lectern. When you do move maintain eye contact with the audience. 12
24. Pay attention to all details - Make sure you have the right location (school, hotel, room & time). Make sure you know how to get to where you are speaking. Ask how large an audience you will be speaking to. Make sure you bring all your visual aids and plenty of handouts. Arrive early so you can check out where you will be speaking and make any last minute adjustments. In short, an effective presentation depends on a lot of elements such as preparation, content, structure, body language, natural humor, visual aids, etc. Each element provides a necessary criterion that helps us carry out a presentation. On the other hand, this part also presents the steps to make an effective presentation. All above is general viewpoint about presentation; however, this research focuses more on oral presentations that will be applied for the fourth- year English majors at Haiphong Private University. Therefore, from the next part the word “presentation” means “oral presentation”. It is going to be introduced in detail in following parts. 2. Oral presentation 2.1. Definition of an oral presentation As can be seen from the table above, there are many types of presentation. Up to certain circumstances we have different presentations. Also from the table above, an oral presentation is defined and classified clearly with each kind of audience as follow: - If the audience of a presenter is only one person, his presentation will be an interview, a report, or a telephone conversation. - If the audience of a presenter is a small group, his presentation will be a group discussion, a seminar, or a debate. - If the audience of a presenter, his presentation can be an advertisement, a lecture, a talk show, a song, a debate, a choral speech, or a lesson. 13
25. The objectives of this study are English majors at Haiphong Private University and their presenting environment is usually in classes with lecturers and classmates as audiences. Therefore, oral presentation here can be group discussions, talks, or debates. Whatever the situation is, the processes presenters must go through are the same. They are: Setting your aims and objectives; Researching your audiences; Choosing the structure of your presentation; Preparing your scripts; Preparing any visual aids; Rehearsing you presentation; Preparing the presentation area; Delivering your presentation and handling questions. Most presentations consist of three main parts (including questions) and so does an oral presentation. They are: Introduction, body, and conclusion. Each part responds different duties and they work together to make a complete presentation. This is general understanding about an oral presentation. To understand more about the importance of public speaking skills especially presentation skill in English communication, readers can find further information in the following part. 2.2. The importance of presentation in today’s business environment As mentioned above, presentation is the practice of showing and explaining the content of a topic to an audience or learner. It means that all activities to explain something to others are presentations. Therefore, we can reach a conclusion that presentations are used popularly and variously in daily life. Teachers present their lectures in classes. A stranger presents himself to others in a meeting. A candidate presents himself in a job interview. Or children present their parents a new film on television. We make presentations day by day in certain circumstances and because of various reasons formally and informally. Hence, presentation plays an important role in our communication life. However, due to the restriction of time and limitation personal knowledge, the author of this study just only focus on the importance 14
26. of presentation in an aspect of life that considered a vital element of global economic integration era: business. But first, we will consider the relationship between communication and presentation and then the importance of presentation in business in detail. “Communication is the imparting or exchange of information, ideas or feelings. It is not a one-way process since a message must be received in order for communication to take place. Presentation is a structured communication based on the actual audience’s needs in order to achieve a certain purpose within a given timeframe, where the overall goals are providing information and promoting ideas. Presentations are a form of communication, and if we can communicate effectively presentations cease to be difficult” (Andreja Tonc, 2002:7). “In today’s business and social climate, no matter how effective you are in your particular area, or how innovative your ideas - your results will be largely determined by how well you communicate. The ability to communicate effectively is a vital skill in the business world and the community at large. A person who can speak and present clearly and persuasively has a unique advantage over one who cannot. Presentation skill is extremely essential for you to succeed professionally. In today’s business environment, the competition in the workplace is getting more competitive. It is no longer enough for you to have the necessary capability to do the job, you should also be able to talk well, write well, and present yourself attractively to your superiors. What better way to let other people know what you’re capable of than by presenting a great idea or a plan during a meeting. However, you need to have the necessary presentation skill to succeed in this endeavor”. ( presentation-skills-04-12-07.php) 15
27. Moreover, “in business, a well-planned, well-delivered presentation will help to convince potential clients to choose you over the competition, or help to make banks or venture capitalists confident that your business concept is a safe investment”. ( detail?site=18&itemId=5000688845&type=RESOURCES) Besides, “a good set of presentation skills are important because they help the company to operate more efficiently and profitably. More importantly, however, they help to promote you within the company and within the market and community that it serves. From a practical point of view, presentation skills are important because they accomplish two things within a company; they motivate the workforce and they disseminate information in a way that employees can understand and make use of. In either case, a more profitable and efficient company results”. ( presentation-skills-11-02-08.php) Obviously, business becomes more and more important in economically and socially. Therefore, almost students at Department of Foreign Language at Haiphong Private University hope to be employed in certain companies and do jobs which closely relate to what they have trained in the university. Working in companies is doing the business. Hence, English majors especially the fourth year English majors at Haiphong Private University must understand profoundly the importance of presentation and what it brings them in their jobs. It is a view in the future. To have a bright future, the fourth-year English majors at Haiphong Private University must try more to overpass the last examinations for graduation as well as complete themselves with effective presentation skill. However, developing presentation skill and giving an effective presentation is not an easy matter. It is said that some people are born with presentation skill but we should also remember that presentation 16
28. skill can be learned. And take note that presentation skill can be developed further when it is being practiced regularly. To do this well, we must further jump into the next chapter to find out difficulties that the fourth-year English majors at Haiphong Private University usually cope with when making presentation as the base to develop tips for effective presentations. CHAPTER 2: DIFFICULTIES FACED BY THE FOURTH-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT HAIPHONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITY WHEN MAKING PRESENTATIONS This chapter consists of 5 sections. Section 1 is the description of the data collection instrument. Section 2 presents the description of the subject. Section 3 shows the procedures of carrying out the data collection. Section 4 reveals the result of the information collected from the data collection. Section 5 figures out the major findings. 1. Description of data collection The data collection instrument used in this study is survey questionnaires. 1.1. Justification There are a number ways to gather information for the study such as questionnaires, interview, observation, document analysis. Questionnaires are one of the most effective and convenient methods for collecting information because “they are relatively easy to prepare, they can be used with large numbers of subjects, and they obtain information that is relatively easy to tabulate and analyze” (Richards, 2001:60). They can be seen as a useful tool for “providing participants’ personal details, educational background, and previous language learning experience” (Ellis, 1994:73). Questionnaires were chosen as a data collection in this study because of the above-mentioned reasons. 17
29. 1.2. Description of the data collection instrument In order to get information for the target needs, the questionnaires were designed for students with 28 questions. In the questions, there are usually 4 options (except question 5 with only two ones). The informants can choose one of them or more than one basing on specific questions. Besides, some require additional information o get their own opinion. The survey can be divided into two main parts: - Part I consists of the first eleven questions (1 to 11) focusing on the students’ attitudes toward speaking skills especially presentation skill, their difficulties and expectation when making presentations. This part is further divided into three smaller ones. Part 1 consists of the two first questions which identify the informants Part 2 consists of the next seven questions (3 to 9) which find out the students’ attitudes toward speaking skills especially presentation skill. Part 3 is the last two questions (10 and 11) to figure out the students difficulties and their expectation when making a presentation. - Part II consists of the other 17 questions which test the presentation skill of the students. Part II is also further divided into 5 smaller ones. Part 1 is five questions (12 to 16) which check the preparation process of students before making presentations. Part 2 which consists of three questions (17, 18, and 25) is students’ appearance and psychology during making presentations. Part 3 consists of five questions from 19 to 23 finding out students’ problems when making presentations. Part 4 is questions 24, 26, and 27 used to check audience attraction of students. Part 5, the last question (28) is average marks of students in their final speaking tests. 18
30. This division aims to analyze the students’ difficulties in detail and easily to give our tips for making an effective presentation as well. 2. Description of the subject In this study, 80 fourth-year English majors and 20 third-year English majors are involved in the research. The 80 fourth year English majors are the last year students. All of them are students who have almost all the background of four English skills: speaking, reading, listening, and writing during nearly four years studying. Therefore, at this time they could meet the partial or entire demand of high standard with all four skills above. Especially in the process of graduating, the fourth year, also the last year English majors at Haiphong Private University must prepare for themselves comprehensive knowledge about English skills to complete well the graduation exam or graduation paper and to apply what they have studied and gained during the last 4 years in real life as well. The fourth year English majors studied speaking in seven terms. Each term consists of 30 periods divided into 3-5 periods a week. Therefore, after seven terms studying speaking, the fourth year English majors at HPU studied 210 periods equivalent to 175 hours and passed seven final speaking tests. During speaking periods, students are worked in pair or in group to discuss general issues or argue controversial problems in social life, for and against opposite opinion of friends. This is to improve students’ speaking ability as well as group-working skill. In addition, these students are also taught all basic subjects in the curriculum which support a lot for speaking such as grammar (1, 2, and 3), pronunciation, phonetic and phonology, lexicology, semantic. After these seven terms, students have to achieve these standards: - The level of advanced students - Rich vocabulary and accurate pronunciation to express their ideas 19
31. - Flexible English using - Technique achievement to enhance effectiveness and persuasiveness of what they express. The 20 third-year English majors are studying in 1 class (namely NA1101). They are going to finish the last term studying speaking skills. Together with studying speaking, they have already studied some other subjects supporting for speaking such as grammar, phonetic and phonology, pronunciation. Therefore, at this time they can meet partially the demand of upper students. Besides, these students must prepare and study more for further requirements in the next grade like the fourth year students in English in general and in speaking skills in particular. However, from the observation and personal experience of the researcher, both the fourth-year and the third-year English majors at HPU often cope with certain challengers when speaking English especially making a presentation in English. 3. Procedures The following steps are worked through to plan and conduct the study: Initially, the situation of speaking skills the fourth-year English majors at HPU was identified and the research problem was formulated and come from the researcher’s experience. Secondly, the researcher selected the instrument to be used and outlined the procedures of data collection. The researcher first tried out to draw the questionnaire development. Then, the actual questionnaires are developed. The questionnaires will be divided into two sections. Section 1 will reveal the behavior and attitudes of the subjects toward speaking skills especially presentation one and section 2 will find out their difficulties when making a presentation. All questionnaires will be studied in detail in order to check if they are needed to expand or strengthen in some ways. After that, they will be 20
32. sent to the supervisor to check whether they are clear or not before they are delivered. Next, the researcher indentified the subjects involved in the study and delivered the questionnaires. With the cooperation of the students in HPU, the questions were sent back the researcher after an hour’s delivery. Finally, questionnaires were collected and the data obtained were in process of analysis. Of the 100 questionnaires delivered, 97 were collected in which 77 from the fourth-year English majors and 20 from the third-year English majors. The rate of collection was 97%. 4. Results collected from questionnaires and analysis 4.1 The students’ attitudes toward studying speaking skills especially presentation one 5.1.1. Participants identification This part is analyzed with the two first questions and illustrated by two pie charts. 5% 31% 28% 4 years 5 - 7 years 8 - 10 years 36% More than 10 years Pie chart 1: The students’ studying English time (See Appendix 1) As can be seen from the pie chart 1, 36 % of students have been studying English for 8 to 10 years, 31 % of them have been studying English more than 10 years, 28 % of students have been studying English for 5 to 7 years, and only 5 % of them have been studying English for only 4 years. It means that 21
33. they have a long time studying English in schools at different levels. It is a pre-condition to have better opportunities to master English. 20% 35% Speaking Listening 30% 15% Reading Writing Pie chart 2: The students’ favorite English skill (See Appendix 1) According to the statistic above, among four English skills, students are interested in speaking skill with 35%, the lower in reading with 30%, the much lower in writing skill with 20%, and the lowest in listening with 15%. It shows that students are fond of studying speaking skill a bit more than the others. 4.1.2 The students’ attitudes toward speaking skills, particularly presentation skill Responses (%) Questions a b c d 3 80 18 2 0 4 16 34 25 25 5 68 32 6 13 46 35 6 7 59 35 6 0 8 10 42 38 10 9 55 38 7 0 Table 1: The students’ attitudes toward speaking skill (See Appendix 1) 22
34. This table figures out the attitudes of surveyed students toward studying speaking skills. In question 3, when being asked “What do you think about speaking skill?” up to 80% of students said that it was very important. 18% of them answered it was important and the rest (2%) chose response of not very important. No one chose “not important”. So we can see that they all understand the necessity of speaking skill in studying and practicing English. With question 4, there are 34% of students said that they usually made a speech or talk one time a week in speaking periods while 16% of them said that they never or rarely made a speech or presentation in class in speaking periods. The choices “two times” and “three times” a week occupy the same rate of 25%. It means there are 50% of students making the presentation one time a week or even never or rarely do it. These students presented that they were shy and nervous to speak out. There was also a little time for all of them to practise because the class is full of students with 35 to 55 students a class. So it was difficult for lecturers to cover all students in each period. The other 50% of students who were confident usually make talks two times or three times a week. Question 5 has only two choices asking whether students actively take part in speaking periods or not. It is no surprised when the answer of 68% of students is “Yes” and 32% of them chose “No”. It shows that majority of students actively take part in speaking periods. Lectures and friends usually have to force the 32% of students left speak out or they never actively say something in speaking periods. There are 68% of students said that they usually actively take part in making a speech or a talk in speaking periods but whether all of them do it enthusiastically? The answer comes from question 6. Only 13% of students said that they took part in speaking activities with strong enthusiasm, 46% of them with 23
35. enthusiasm. This means they are actually interested in speaking and try to make use of all opportunities to improve their speaking abilities by taking part in speaking activities actively and enthusiastically. 35% of students said they usually took part in speaking periods with little enthusiasm and 6% of them with no enthusiasm at all. It makes people wonder if they can speak well when they don’t do it actively with little or no enthusiasm. Question 7 asks students about how they think about preparation before making a presentation. There are 59% of students said that it was very important and 35% of them thought it as important. 6% of students thought it was not very important and no one considered it not important. This proves that almost all students understand the importance of preparation before making a presentation. However, in question 8 asking students about preparation time for their presentation it is so surprised that only 38% of them said that they used to spend enough time to prepare for their presentations. The rate of “always” is only 10 %. There are 42% of students said that they sometimes spent enough time to prepare and sometime didn’t. 6% of them never spent enough time preparing for presentations. It means that although almost all students understand the importance of preparation before presentations, over half of them do not spend enough time preparing for presentations. It also means that they don’t prepare well for their presentation and may make mistakes during making presentations. The last question in this part refers to techniques to enhance persuasiveness of a presentation. Over half of students said it was very necessary with the rate of 55%. The rate of students said it was necessary is 38%. 7% remain thought it was normal. No one thought it was not necessary. From this statistic, we surely confirm that all students regard techniques in presenting as an important part in the success of presentation skill. 24
36. 4.1.3 The students’ difficulties and their expectation when making an oral presentation This part is analyzed by two questions. Let’s have a look on the pie charts below. Vocabulary, pronunciation 64% 72% Audience's attention 36% 24% Confidence All of them Pie chart 3: The students’ difficulties when making an oral presentation (See Appendix 1) According to the data in the pie chart above,72% of students supposed that their most difficulties when making an oral presentation was poor vocabulary; 24% of them supposed it was the problem of attracting the audience’s attention; 36% said that they usually coped with lack of confidence. There are up to 68% of students said that they coped with difficulties of all three above. It clearly proves that these are common difficulties that most of presenters face with. So why students think that they can not make an effective presentation because of these difficulties? It is understandable when we know the reason. When being asked, students said that their vocabulary was not very rich and they were usually afraid of making mistakes during the presentation. This makes them unselfconfident and much affects on retaining audience’s attention during the presentation. This proves that all criteria of making an effective presentation interacts each other. If there is one thing not done well, it will impact others and decrease the effectiveness of all. The last question of the first main part refers to students’ expectation when making an oral presentation (see pie chart 4 below). 31% of students 25
37. wish they could attract the audience’s attention during their presentations while 30% of others want to express their ideas successfully. 34% of them wish they could speak fluently when they make a presentation. 5% left have their own choice. They want to have good pronunciation and speak smoothly during their presentation. In general, students want to achieve all criteria above. 5% Attract audience's 31% attention 34% Express ideas successfully Speak fluently 30% Others Pie chart 4: The students’ expectation when making an oral presentation (See Appendix 1) In short, this main part of the survey figures out students’ attitudes toward speaking and presenting. It partially shows their difficulties and expectation whenever making a presentation as well. From this, we gradually recognize their problems and concrete methods to apply into their presentation. For further information, we move to analyze the other main part of the survey questionnaires to have a comprehensive point of view on students’ problems when giving a talk. 5.2. The situation of speaking skills among the fourth year English majors at HPU. To evaluate the students’ situation, this part of the survey questionnaires is designed with criteria assessing an effective presentation such as preparation, structure, dressing, body language, equipment use etc. Besides, it also consists of mistakes that students probably make when making a 26
38. presentation to measure their speaking situation. The last question is about their average marks in final speaking tests. This is a reliable base to estimate students’ situation of speaking. 5.2.1. Students’ preparation before making a presentation. One of criteria to have an effective presentation according to the Big Dog Leadership’s Page is good preparation. Therefore, let us consider the way of preparing of students before presenting. Responses (%) Questions a b c d 12 5 55 28 12 13 8 41 34 7 14 5 36 40 19 15 2 54 39 5 16 8 55 28 11 Table 2: Students’ preparation before making a presentation (See Appendix 1) We will start with the question 12 asking about the sources that students usually get information from. There is no surprised when more than 50% of the students said that they usually searched for information on websites because it is a common and convenient way for students to get information. 28% of students chose “reading books” and 12% of other chose “watching TV” to get information. There are only 5% of students base on their own knowledge. So searching on websites, reading books or watching TV are popular way to get information for presentations of students. 27
39. Question 13 asks informants about the structure of their presentations whether it is clear or not. 41% of them said that they sometimes had a clear structure for their presentations. 34% of them said that they usually had it. 7% of students answered the question with the response “always” and 8% of them with response “never”. From this data we can see that 49% of students usually don’t have a clear structure. This means nearly half of students may be in case of topic ignorance because they don’t have a clear structure to develop their presentations. Question 14 asks students about the way to arrange documents. There are 59% of students said they usually (40%) or always (19%) collected and arranged their documents according to the main points of their presentations. 41% left said that they sometimes (36%) or even never (5%) collected or arranged their documents according to the main points in their presentations. Nearly half of the students do not have habit of collecting and arranging documents according to the main points of their presentations. It means their collected documents are usually irrelevant to the topic. This can distract the audience and the presenters as well. Therefore, this might be a problem. Question 15 refers to students’ attitude toward others’ previous presentations. There are 56% of students in which 2%of them said that they never made notice on others’ previous presentations and 54% of them said that they sometimes did it. 44% of students in which 39 % of them said that they usually made notice on others’ previous presentation and 5% left always. Making notice on others’ previous presentations can help students find out others’ mistakes and correct their own mistakes as well. However, from the statistic above, there are only 44% of students who usually or always make notice on others’ previous presentations appreciate other’s talk importantly and 56% left don’t. This might be an error of students. 28
40. In question 16, the choosing rate turns back to the similarity of question 12 in choice b and c. That is 55% of students sometimes use support equipments to enhance the persuasiveness of the main points in their talks; 28% of them do it usually. In 19% left, there are 11 % of students always using support equipments and 8% of them never use support equipments. That reveals that the majority of students don’t actually recognized how effect the visual aids bring about. It might be limitation of students. In short, in the criteria of preparation for presenting, the majority of students in the survey still get problems. 5.2.2. The students’ appearance and psychology during their presentations Responses (%) Questions a b c d 17 7 60 26 7 18 5 63 22 16 25 10 45 38 7 Table 3: The students’ appearance and psychology during their presentations (See Appendix 1) Answering about the appearance and psychology of presenters when giving a talk, students’ choices are different. With the question 17 asking about how they usually dress when making presentation, there is 33% of students said that they usually (26%) or always (7%) dressed appropriately for their presentations. It is up to 67% of students who sometimes (60%) or even never (7%) dress appropriately for each presentation. It means that these students don’t realize the importance of good appearance in creating the first impression with the audience. It is a problem that we should consider. 29
41. Question 18 asks students about how they attract the first interest of the audience. There are 63% of students chose “sometimes”; 5% of them chose “never”; 22% of them chose “usually” and the 10% left chose “always”. This partially prove that dressing inappropriately in the question 16 can leads to attracting little interest from the audience. The last question in this part is question number 25. It asks informants whether they still keep calm when there is some one disagreeing with them during their presentations or not. “Sometimes” is the choice of 45% of students and “usually” is for 38% of them. It seems to be happy because there are 7% of students who always keep calm and a bit sad for 10% of them said “never”. It figures out that 55% of students usually loose their calm or lack of confidence when there are opposite opinions with them. It is also one thing that students need to improve to make their presentations better. 5.2.3. The students’ difficulties during making a presentation Responses (%) Questions a b c d 19 6 38 45 11 20 15 40 35 10 21 15 56 22 7 22 12 38 30 20 23 68 41 44 47 Table 4: The students’ difficulties during making a presentation (See Appendix 1) 30
42. As can be seen from the table 6, students’ difficulties are easy to find out. In the question 19 “Do you focus on the main points during your presentations”, 45% of students confirmed that they usually did it; 11% of them did it always. There are 38% of students circle the choice “sometimes” and 6% left chose “never”. This means nearly half of students (44%) usually distract their audience because of not focusing on the main points. Their talks are not concentrated and lack of persuasiveness. This also causes topic ignorance as I mentioned above. Question 20 asks the students if they give speech with suitable voice and tone to their audience. More than half of the students sometimes (40%) or never (15%) could do it. 45% of the students left in which 35% usually have suitable voice and tone and 10% confirmed that they always make a speech with suitable voice and tone to their audience. This rate shows that the majority of students has trouble with their voice and could not control it to speak out. The reason may be from the practice before presenting or lack of confidence. So we can see there is a close relation among preparation, psychology and process of making a presentation. The result from the question 21 further proves this because up to 56% of students answered they sometimes got confidence and fluency during their talks; 15% of them have never approached these things. Only 22% of students usually and 7% of them achieve confidence and fluency during their talks. During presentations, presenters’ eye contact with all the audience is one of effective tools to attract the audience’s attention. However, there is up to 38% of the students do it sometimes. Even there are 12% of them have never made eye contact with their audience. 50% of the students usually (30%) or always (20%) make eye contact with the audience during the presentation. It means that 50% of students who usually don’t make eye contact with the audience are usually or always lack of confidence and can not look at their audience. Confidence seems to be a big problem of these presenters. 31
43. The last question in this table asks students about the mistakes that they usually make during making a presentation. 68% of the students usually make mistakes on vocabulary and pronunciation; 41% of students usually make mistakes on remaining the audience’s attention; 44% of them usually make mistakes on confidence retaining and the last 47% of them usually make mistakes on topic ignorance. From this data, we can see that these all are common problems that students face when making a presentation. In addition, some students added more their difficulties in the choice “e: Others”. They said that whenever making a presentation, grammar, spelling, and body language are also their difficulties. In general, although almost students here are the fourth year English majors, they still get some common problems when making presentations. Therefore, they need to improve their speaking skills especially the presentation skill by themselves to meet the standard of advanced students. 5.2.4. The students’ audience controlling when delivering presentations Responses (%) Questions a b c d 24 14 50 30 16 26 6 56 20 18 27 4 55 35 6 Table 5: The students’ audience controlling when delivering presentations (See Appendix 1) This criterion is to check out whether presenters could attract and control their audience or not. The result tells that it is not much prospect. 32
44. Question 24 “Could you retain the audience attention during your presentation” keeps the choice rate of 50% for “sometimes”; 30% for “usually”. 16% of students are always able to retain the audience attention and 14% of them have never retained it. This proves that retaining the audience’s attention is not easy and hardly surpasses some students’ ability. Question 26 checks the audience’s interest with presenters and their presentations. Only 18% of the students thought that their audiences were always interested in their presentations and 20% of them thought their audiences were usually. Up to 50% of the students could not confirm and chose the choice “sometimes” and 6% left confirmed that their audiences have never been interested in their presentations. This may be due to their presentation is not interesting, not attractive, unclear, unconvinced, and hardly to follow up. The last question in this criterion is about the way that presenters answer the questions from audiences. 55% of them said that their answers were sometimes on the track, focusing on the main points and made the audiences satisfied. 4% of them had the answer that they have never focused on the main points and, of course, could not make their audiences satisfied. 41% of the other students usually (35%) or always (6%) have the answers that satisfy their audiences. All statistics above reveals the failure of the majority of the students in attracting and controlling their audiences during delivering their presentations. In short, controlling the audience is also very important in the presentation skills. It is one of criteria to evaluate the degree of the presenters’ success. So how to control our listeners well and how the fourth year English majors at HPU could obtain this ability. The answer will be revealed in the next chapter. 5.2.5. The students’ average marks in final speaking tests 33
45. The last criterion in this main part of the survey questionnaires is analyzed with question 28. 2% 5% 30% < 5 5 to 6 63% 7 to 8 9 to 10 Pie chart 5: The students’ average marks in final speaking tests (See Appendix 1) As researcher mentioned previously, students’ average marks in final speaking tests are an important base to evaluate their situation of speaking because they are delivered by lectures who are also these presenters during nearly 4 years of studying speaking. Let us have a look on the table above to have a clear conclusion about the students’ speaking situation. There are 63% of students used to get the average marks of 7 – 8 in their final speaking tests; 30% of them used to get the average marks of 5 – 6; 5% of them used to get the average marks under 5. There are only 2% of the students who used to get marks of 9 or 10. From this data we can have a conclusion as follow: - 35% of students who used to get the average marks under 5 or from 5 to 6 do not actually know how to make a good presentation. It may be caused by poor vocabulary and pronunciation, grammar, body language, or problem of confidence . These students need to study and practice more to improve their speaking skills and to make effective presentations as well. - 63% of the students who used to get the average marks from 7 to 8 could make presentations but not effective enough to persuade their lecturers. It means that some their problems need to be solved and some techniques need to be applied to help them improve their speaking skill and presenting skill. 34
46. - 2% of the students usually make effective presentations with marks 9 and 10. It is a very low rate and it proves that the fourth year English majors at HPU still get limitation in speaking. 5. Major findings After analyzing the data of the survey questionnaires on students in English department at HPU together with information from observation and talks with teachers, some main majors are drawn out as follows: - Speaking is a favorite skill of students at HPU among English skills; however, not all of them take part in speaking periods actively and enthusiastically. - Although most of the students realize the importance of studying speaking skills especially presentation skill, not many of them do find the good methods or techniques to help them master those skills. - All students understand the importance of preparation for presentations; hence, the minority of them spends enough time preparing before making presentations therefore they usually make mistakes and cope difficulties during giving presentations. - After analyzing collected data from the survey questionnaires, we have a conclusion on frequent difficulties of the students. They often cope with the same difficulties when making presentations, i.e.: Lack of confidence Poor vocabulary and pronunciation Inability to attract the audiences and keep their interest Topic ignorance To sum up, finding out the students’ difficulties to give reasonable solutions and to apply some tips improving their ability in presentation skill is very necessary. This can help students overcome personal challengers and have approximately effective presentations in compared with their knowledge and level of advanced students. All the solutions and techniques will be 35
47. presented fully in the next chapter “How to make an effective presentation for the fourth year English majors at Haiphong Private University”. Chapter 3: How to make an effective oral presentation This chapter is the main part of the study suggesting solution for students to overcome their common mistakes as well as giving out some tips to have effective presentations for not only English majors but also for all people who want to make effective presentations in English. 3. Suggested solutions for students to overcome common mistakes 1.1 How to overcome the lack of confidence Confident is the first priority element to make an effective oral presentation. Even though you have a good structure, various vocabulary and excellent pronunciation you can not control yourself, you become confuse and nervous, then all what you well prepared will immediately disappear in your mind and you can not say anything. Therefore, being confident during the presentation is very important. Let’s consider some following techniques to make you more confident in your presentation. - Relax and practice some deep breathing techniques before your presentation. - Prepare well all things related to your presentation such as vocabulary, pronunciation, structure, visual aid, etc. These things will help you more confident because all information and elements for your success presentation are available. - Check out the room first; check out the space, the equipment, the light to make sure that nothing suddenly happen which can make you confuse. 36
48. - Concentrate on your message; do not let something distract you because it can cause mistakes that consequently make you lack of confidence. - Begin with a slow, well-prepared introduction; deliver a persuasive body; have a confident and clear conclusion. Generally, the most important and effective way to overcome lack of confidence is preparing and practising. 1.2. How to deal with structure, vocabulary and pronunciation Structure: The most important criterion for a presentation structure is clearness. It makes sure that your audience can easily follow what you are saying, helps them recognize where they are in your presentation after seconds of distraction, and avoids the problem of topic ignorance as well. Most presentation will consist of an introduction, the body of the talk and a conclusion. The introduction prepares the audience for what you will say in the body of the talk and the conclusion reminds them of your key points. There are several options to create a clear structure for your presentation. - Timeline: Arrange your presentation in sequential order which is easy to follow. - Climax: The main points are delivered in order of increasing importance. - Problem/ solution: A problem is presented, a solution is suggested, and benefits are then given. - Classification: The important items are the major points. - Simple to complex: Ideas are listed from the simplest to the most complex. Vocabulary: 37
49. Poor vocabulary may be a big problem in making a presentation. To avoid it, presenters should: - Prepare all necessary vocabulary you will say in your topic so you will not afraid of not knowing what to say. - Always keep a mini dictionary beside you to check difficult words anytime. - Read more books and surf internet to get enough information about your topic and get enough vocabulary also. - Try to guess or paraphrase words that you don’t know basing on the certain context. Pronunciation: After having careful structure and various vocabularies, it’s time for you to practise pronoun it. - Practice pronunciation by yourself first. Make it again and again, you will find differences after each time. - Practice pronunciation with your friends. They will help you find your mistakes. - Further preparation, let check your pronunciation with a dictionary or a CD to make it more accuracy. An important key point to make your pronunciation better is practice, practice, and practice because “practice makes perfect”. 1.3. How to keep audience’s attention One of problems in making a presentation is losing the audience’s attention. To solve this problem speaker should think about their audience before the presentation with such questions: - Who are they and why they are here? - What are they interest? 38
50. - What do they know, what is they want and what is a worthwhile investment in their time? After that, consider some techniques below to keep their attention. - Create the first impression by showing that you are believable. Make it with novelty and uniqueness because they can increase the impact - Alternative moving and standing still, speaking and listening, doing and thinking. This proves that you are very active and willingly to listen which make the audience not feel boring and be attracted. Besides use physical space and body movement to enhance your message. - Try to add stories, anecdotes, testimonials, analogies, demonstrations to make your presentation more lively, more persuasive, and especially more attractive. - Use humor appropriately and make it in good taste. - Presentations are movies not snapshots; therefore you must act and move and prepare the space for move. - Try to position yourself to enhance rapport with the audience. - Eye contact is your primary tool for establishing audience involvement; look at your audience in random rotating order. - Use gestures naturally and do what natural to you. Don’t do what unfamiliar because it makes you strained and can cause opposite impacts to your audience. Remember that once you obtain attention, you must retain it. Audience members usually drift in and out without giving complete attention all the time. You need to help the audience refocus periodically. 1.4. How to deal with the topic ignorance In presentation making, there are so strange topics that students can not understand because they lack of knowledge and information. They don’t know how to solve it and or make it clearer. In this case, students should: 39
51. - Ask for help from friends and teachers to make the topic clearer. - Read more book and surf internet to get more information about the topic. - Structure your presentation clearly and coherently. - During the presentation, avoid lack of confidence. Be sure what you are saying and focus on the main points. - Be brief as possible to avoid talking what you not really aware which is far from the topic. In short, all above are difficulties that the students often cope with when making a presentation and suggested solutions to overcome them. To have more effective and successful presentations, let’s consider some tips for effective presentations in the next part. 2. Tips to have an effective presentation An effective presentation is the one that can attract audience’s attention and express completely speaker’s ideas to them. To do this well we should divide the process of making a presentation into smaller one namely preparation, presentation delivery, and after presentation. 2.1. Preparation As mentioned previously, preparation is pre-condition and important element making an effective presentation. If a presentation is well prepared, it is half successful. In this stage, presenters must prepare all things related to the presentation. Presenters should consider some points below when preparing: Purpose Your purpose should be clear in your mind. Your presentation is to inform, to instruct, to arouse, to persuade, or to make decision. Clarify the purpose will give you judicious orientation for your presentation. Audience 40
52. Consider your audience before making any presentation is very important. Think about your audience with such questions: Who are you making this presentation to? How many people? Who are they? Your teachers? Your classmates? Experts or non-experts? A small, intimate group of 4 colleagues or a large gathering of 400 competitions? Having clear audience analysis will help you much about psychology and content orientation. For example: You are at ease if your audiences are familiar with you such as your teachers or our classmates. You will feel anxious if you have to face with experts. Therefore, you have to study and practice more to meet experts’ demand. Simultaneously, you also practice your mind to not to be anxious, nervous, or confuse when making a presentation to experts. This helps you have a firm psychology and keep the confidence during your presentation. Generally, understanding the importance of audience analysis before presentations and doing it well are very necessary to have successful presentations. Venue or place Where are you making the presentation? A small hotel meeting-room, a large conference hall or in a classroom? Facilities and equipments? Seating arrangements? Thinking about the place where you will give out your presentation will help you having careful preparation. You will not feel amazed if your presenting place is too magnificent. Familiarizing with your venue to have right solutions of movements and equipment using is always a wise preparation of professional presenters before making presentations. Method How should you make your presentation? 41
53. Make it formally or informally? With lots of visual aids or only a few? With or without anecdotes and humor? Choosing which method you will use in your presentation is especially important. If you chose an unsuitable method, the result is very bad. Simply, if you present a scientific issue to experts with a lot of jokes and humor but lack of accuracy and fact, how can they highly appreciate your presentation? Or a presentation with too many visual aids will distract the audience and a presentation with poor visual aids will bore them. Accordingly, the result will not be as good as expected. Therefore, be careful when decide the method for your presentation. Content Base on your purpose when making the presentation to have suitable content. All information is relevant and linked together. Presenters should create titles for presentations to help themselves and their audience focus on the subject. Structure Organize your presentation in a clear and logical structure. Most presentations are organized in three parts including introduction, body, and presentation. Introduction: - Welcome your audience - Introduce yourself and your subject - Explain the structure of the presentation - Explain the rules for questions Body: - Present the subject itself Conclusion: 42
54. - Summarize your presentation - Thank your audience - Invite questions and answer them After preparing all related things above, form your complete presentation and rehearsal. Practise your presentation two or three times so that you will: - Become more familiar with what you want to say - Identify weakness in your presentation - Practise difficult pronunciations - Check the time your presentation takes and make any necessary modifications. 2.2. Presentation delivery The stage of delivering the presentation is the most important one that decides the success of your presentation. All what you well prepared will bring a good result if they are delivered fluently and effectively or your preparations is useless if they are delivered poorly and unpersuasively. But how to deliver your presentation well? Let’s consider some tips below to get the answer. 2.2.1. Use an effective introduction A good presentation starts out with introductions and an icebreaker such as story, interesting statement, fact, joke, quotation, or an activity to get the group warmed up. The introduction also needs an objective that is the purpose or goal of the presentation. This not only tells what you will talk about but it also informs the audience the purpose of the presentation. In your introduction, let welcome your audience: “Good morning/ afternoon, ladies and gentlemen” 43
55. “Hello/ Hi, everybody” “First of all, let me thank you all for coming here today” “I’m happy that all of you can make it today” Introduce yourself: “Let me introduce myself. I’m ” “For those of you who don’t know me, my name’s ” “As you probably know, I’m ” “I’m here today in my function as ” Introduce your topic: “As you can see on the screens, our topic today is ” “Today’s topic is ” “What I want to present you today is ” “The subject of my presentation is ” Outline the structure: “The first point is ” “The next is ” “Then is ” “Finally, ” 2.2.2. Use simple words, simple sentences, markers, repetition, images, personal language In your presentation, you should use simple words and sentences to make sure that all listeners can follow and understand you easily. You should also use markers, repetition and images to emphasize your ideas and make it unforgettable in the audience mind. 44
56. Personal language is especially important because it shows the audience who you are and whether they can believe you. 2.2.3. Use body language effectively Your body communicates different impressions to the audience. People not only listen to you, they also watch you. On the other hand, displaying good posture tells your audience that you know what you are doing and you care deeply about it. Also, a good posture helps you to speak more clearly and effectively. Through your presentation, display: Eye contact: This helps you to regulate the flow of your communication. It signals interest in others and increase the speaker’s credibility. Speakers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth and credibility. Facial expression: Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits happiness, friendliness, warmth, and liking. Therefore, if you smile frequently, you will be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm, and approachable. Smiling is often contagious and others will react favorably. They will be more comfortable 45
57. around you and will want to listen you more. Gesture: If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring and stiff. A lively speaking style captures attention, makes the material more interesting, and facilities understanding. Posture and body orientation: You communicate numerous messages by the way you talk and move. Standing erect and leaning forward communicates that you are approachable, receptive, and friendly. Interpersonal closeness results when you and your audience face each other. Speaking with you back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided as it communicates disinterest. Should And shouldn’t Proximity: Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with others. You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading other’s space. Some of these are: rocking, leg swinging, tapping, and gaze aversion. Typically, in large rooms, space invasion is not a problem. In 46
58. most circumstances, there is too much distance. To counteract this, move around the room to increase interaction with your audience. Increasing the proximity enables you to make better eye contact and increases the opportunities for others to speak. Voice: The voice is probably the most valuable tool of the presenter. It carries most of the content that the audience takes away. One of the major criticisms of speakers is that they speak in a monotone voice. Listeners perceive this type of speaker as boring and dull. People report that they learn less and lose interest more quickly when listening to those who have not learned to modulate their voice. There are four main terms used for defining vocal qualities: - Volume: How loud the sound is. The goal is to be heard without shouting. Good speakers lower their voice to draw the audience in, and raise it to make a point. - Tone: The characteristic of a sound. An airplane has a different sound than leaves being rustled by the wind. A voice that carries fear can frighten the audience, while a voice that carries laughter can get the audience to smile. - Pitch: How high or low a voice is. - Pace: This is how long a sound lasts. Talking too fast causes the words and syllables to be short, while talking slowly lengthen them. Varying the pace helps to maintain the audience’s interest. There are two good methods to improve your voice: Listen to it! Practise listening your voice while at home, driving, walking, etc. Then, when you are at work or class, monitor your voice to see if you are using it how you want to. To really listen to your voice, cup your right hand around your tight ear and gently pull the ear forward. Next, cup your left hand around your mouth and direct the sound straight into your ear. This helps you really hear 47
59. your voice as others hear it and it might be completely different from the voice you thought it was! Then, practice moderating your voice. 2.2.4. Good appearance Your appearance gives the audience different impressions. If you speak with a bad appearance the audience will watch you curiously. Your appearance may become their controversial topic, not what you are saying. If you appear with a good one you will create a good impression with the audience. Your appearance helps you more confident and creditable. In your presentation speaker should: - Dress with appropriate clothes. In an informal talk, speaker can freely dress casual clothes that make him comfortable but in a formal talk, presenter must dress formal clothes such as complet or veston. Dressing appropriately shows that you respect your audience and yourself as well. - Take notice of your hair: to make sure that there will be no curious eye watching you and makes you confuse. 2.2.5. Use visual aids to enhance the message Visual aids significantly improve the interest of a presentation. Presenter can use handouts, blackboard, or a projector to support your presentation - Black board: you can write down your ideas to makes your presentation clearer to your audience. - Handouts: are documents or samples that you hand out for your audience. But it is not a good idea to distribute handout before presentation because your audience will read the handouts instead of listening to you. - Projector: is one of the most effective visual aids that support well for your presentation. You can insert here videos, films, diagrams, or charts to illustrate your presentation. 48
60. Thanks to the development of technology, projectors become more and more popular equipments as effective supporting tools in various aspects of human’s social life. Considered as the leading university in applying technology into teaching and studying, Haiphong Private University always tried to bring students the most effective visual aids. Now, most classrooms at Haiphong Private University are equipped projectors. Lecturers teach with projectors and students study through projectors. Therefore, using projectors become familiar with all students at Haiphong Private University. English majors here are more skilled in using them because almost their presentations are done with projector. However, there are some common mistakes that not only students at HPU but also people who usually use projectors often cope with when making a presentation with a projector that we call PowerPoint presentation. Poor knowledge on the topic This means presenters do not understand deeply about their topic and do not prepare for questions. All what they know are shown on slides and if someone has a question, lack of confidence and confusion are resulted in. Therefore, research the topic, prepare for questions and know the answer. Using the wrong fonts Presenters may design slides with too large or small fonts. When using PowerPoint, presenters should use large font (35 – 45 points); use 6 - 8 words a line and 6 lines or less in a slide. Using wrong background A poor background choice results in poor visibility. When design slides, avoid using too many colors and limit color on each slide. Too-many- colored slides can cause negative visibility and distract the audiences. Poor text color 49
61. A slide with poor text color cannot attract audiences. Presenters should choose the right text contrast and use high contrast so that it is easy to read the text. Using bullet points When presenting with PowerPoint, presenters should use bullet point for key ideas but avoid using too many bullets; use full sentences only when there is a quote. 50
62. Spelling and Grammar Many presenters usually make mistakes on spelling and grammar. It is especially negative when they appear on slides. Therefore, checking spelling and grammar before presenting is very important. Annoying Animations and Sound effect It is very boring if your PowerPoint presentation is done without animations and sound effect. However, annoying animations and sound effect can distract the audiences. We should avoid flashy, flying and twirling animation. Use less annoying animations such as appear effect and dissolve effect. Avoid using too much sound effect. Remember your audiences Many presenters forget that they are talking to audiences in their presentations. Instead, they talk to the screens. Therefore, during the presentation, presenters must take full control of the audiences; do not speak to yourself but speak out; speak to your audiences not to the screen and control your voice. PowerPoint is one of the most effective visual aids supporting presenters in making an effective presentation. Once presenters can use it wisely, benefits brought are not few. 2.2.6. Create an effective conclusion A good conclusion does two things: - Reminds the audience of your key points - Reinforces your message Your conclusion should end the presentation at a positive note and make the audience feel that they have used their time well listening to you. You can use some useful expressions below to make your conclusion: “In conclusion ” 51
63. “Right, let’s sum up, shall we?” “I’d like now to recap ” “In short ” 2.2.7. Question handling After the conclusion is the time for collecting and answering question from your audience. Keep cool if a questioner disagrees with you. No matter how hard you try, not everyone in the world will agree with you. Questions do not mean that you did not explain the topic well enough, but that their interest is deeper than the average audience. Always allow time at the end of the presentation for questions. After inviting questions, do not rush ahead if no one asks question. Pause for some seconds to allow the audience to gather their thoughts. When a question is asked, repeat the question to ensure that everyone heard it (and that you heard it correctly). When answering, direct your remarks to the entire audience. That way, you keep everyone focused, not just the questioner. To reinforce your presentation, try to relate the question back to the main points. Make sure you listen to the question being asked. If you do not understand it, ask them to clarify. Pause to think about the question as the answer you give may be correct, but ignore the main issue. If you do not know the answer, be honest, do not waffle. Tell them you will get back to them and make sure you do. Answer questions within suitable time. If they are too short, they seem abrupt; while longer answers appear too elaborate. Also, be sure to keep on track. Do not let off-the-wall questions sidetrack you into areas that are not relevant to the presentation. If someone takes issue with something you said, try to find a way to agree with part of their argument. For example: “Yes, I understand your 52
64. position ” or “I’m glad you raise that point, but ”.The idea is to praise their point and agree with them. When all things are finished, end your presentation with a sincere thank to all your listeners. NOTE: There are some things that you shouldn’t do in your presentation - Do not put both hands in your pockets for long period of time. This tends to make you unprofessional and impolite. - Do not wave a pointer around in the air like a wild knight branding a sword to slay a dragon. Use the pointer for what it is intended and then put it down; otherwise, the audience will become fixated upon your “sword”, instead of upon on you. - Do not lean on the podium or table. Leaning on a support suggests to your audience that you are weak or nervous. - Do not point your finger at the audience. This can seem to be very aggressive. If you want to use your hands, show your open palms with your hands spread wide. This is generally an appealing, positive gesture. - Do not walk around too much because it may distract your audience. - Don’t let respondent wander or attempt to take control of the presentation; a polite “thank you, that’s what I was looking for” can get you back on track. - Don’t let interruptions disrupt your composure. - Don’t rush, or talk deliberately slowly. Be natural – although not conversational. - Don’t face the display screen behind you and talk to it. Talk to your audience, not your visual aids. - Don’t read straight from your handouts if you have. The audience does not know is they should read along with you or listen to you read. 53
65. 2.3. After presentation After each time presenting, we should consider what we gained. Try to answer these questions by yourself: - Were you successful with your presentation? - Was your audience interested in your presentation? - Did you try your best to make your presentation? - Did you use effective techniques to support your presentation? - What about your vocabulary and pronunciation? All what you gain after each presentation is the most valuable experience for yourself to make a better one in the next time. Remember that never satisfy with yourself. Try and practice more. In summary, this chapter consists of suggested solutions for the last year students of English department at HPU to overcome their difficulties when making a presentation and some useful techniques to help them make an effective presentation. However, knowing the techniques does not mean that the students can make effective presentations immediately. It much depends on time, practice and effort of the students to approach the standard of an effective presentation. 54
66. PART THREE: CONCLUSION 1. Issues added in the study With the aims of suggesting solutions for the students to overcome their difficulties when making presentation as well as giving out tips for an effective presentation, the researcher has reviewed relevant literature on presentation which considered the theoretical foundation for the process of giving out tips for an effective presentation. In order to find out the students’ difficulties when making presentations, instrument used for data collection is a set of questionnaires distributed to the fourth-year and the third-year English majors at Haiphong Private University. Then, the feedback results have been analyzed by means of questionnaires. Bases on the results of the analysis, suggested solutions to overcome the difficulties and tips for an effective presentation has mentioned in Chapter 3 of Part two. 2. Summary of the major findings The findings of this study show that most of the students share the same opinion about the importance of speaking in general and of presentation in particular as well as the same expectation and desire to overcome difficulties for making effective presentations. The main difficulties or problems collected after analyzing questionnaires are: - Poor vocabulary and pronunciation - Lack of confidence - Inability to attract the audiences and keep their interest - Topic ignorance These are the base for the researcher to give out tips for an effective presentation. 55
67. 3. Limitation of the study This study limited itself to making an effective presentation for the fourth-year English majors at Haiphong Private University. Presentation is one skill among speaking skills. It means that this study focuses on speaking only. To be successful in mastering English in the future, the students need to study integrated English skills (writing, reading, and listening). The instrument for data collection also limited itself to only one source (i.e. questionnaires). If other sources were also used (interview, document analysis), the result for analysis would be more convincing and reliable. 4. Application of the study With the background on presentation and its importance in today’s business environment, this study can meet the needs of having tips for effective presentations for the fourth-year English majors at Haiphong Private University who are going to graduate and to meet their job’s demand in the future. This study may also encourage English majors at previous levels at Haiphong Private University to think of better presentation skill in post levels. Above all, this study hopes to partly improve ability of using English for all students at Haiphong Private University. 5. Suggestions for further study As mentioned in section 2, this study limited itself to making an effective presentation for the fourth-year English majors at Haiphong Private University (focusing speaking skills). To be successful in mastering English, these students need to study integrated English skills. Therefore, this study calls for further researches in giving out tips to use effectively other English skills besides speaking. Besides, this study also calls for other relating researches to develop speaking skills especially presentation skill for students of other departments 56
68. at Haiphong Private University to help students apart from English majors use English effectively. REFERENCES Reference books: 1. Alexandrer, L.G. (1995). For and against. NXB Tre. 2. Andreja, T. (2002). Developing skills of NGOS – Presentation and Communication. The Regional Environment Center foe Central and Eastern Europe. 3. Asha, K. (2005). The effective presentation – Talk your way to success. 4. Benjamin, James & Raymie, E.M. (1994). Business and Professional Communication, Harper Collins, New York. 5. Ellis, M & Johnson, C. (1994). Teaching business English, Oxford: Oxford University press 6. Engleberg, I.N. (1994). The Principles of public presentation, Harper Collins, New York. 7. Marion, G. English for presentations, Oxford: Oxford University press. 8. Lam, Duong Thi Phuong. (2008). How to make a good presentation for the second year English majors in Haiphong Private University. Department of Foreign Language, Haiphong Private University. 9. Osborn, M. and S. Osborn. (1988). Public speaking, Houghton-Mifflin, Boston. 10. Public speaking & presentation skills, the SA Rostrum Tutors Panel, South Australian Rostrum Inc. 11. Richard, J.C. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 12. Ros, J & Antony, J. (1996). Effective presentation – How to create and deliver a wining presentation. Great Britain. 57
69. 13. Van, Dang Thi. (2006). Designing an ESP reading syllabus for the third-year students of business management at Haiphong Private University, Hanoi University of Foreign studies. Reference websites: 1. 2. public-speaking-skills-1012916.html 3. 4. 00688845&type=RESOURCES 5. 12-07.php 6. skills-11-02-08.php 7. 8. ning.html 9. www.englishclub.com 10. 11. presentation-skills.html 12. Skills&id=1116863 13. Speaking.html 14. 15. 16. www.milwaukee.k12.wi.us 17. 18. communication.html 19. 58
70. 20. ons.html 21. 59
71. APPENDIX 1 Survey questionnaires This survey is designed for the fourth year and the third year English majors at Haiphong Private University to collect data for “How to make an effective presentation foe the fourth year English majors at Haiphong Private University” and to find out your attitude and your expectation toward Speaking skills, especially presentation skills at school. Your answer will be used for my graduation paper. Thank you for your cooperation in completing this survey question. Please circle the answer(s) what you find the most suitable or answer the question if necessary (In some questions, more than one choice is acceptable). Question 1: How long have you been studying English? a. 4 years b. 5 -7 years c. 8 -10 years d. More Question 2: What skill do you like most among English skills? a. Speaking b. Listening c. Reading d. Writing Question 3: What do you think about speaking skills? a. Very important b. Important c. Not very important d. Not important 60
72. Question 4: How did you often make a talk/ speech/ presentation in your class per week during speaking periods? a. Never or rarely b. One time c. Two times d. Three times Question 5: Were you active to take part in speaking periods? a. Yes b. No Question 6: How did you take part in speaking activities? a. With strong enthusiastic b. With enthusiastic c. With little enthusiastic d. With no enthusiastic Question 7: Did you spend enough time to prepare for your preparation? a. Never b. Sometimes c. Usually d. Always Question 8: What do you think about preparation before making a presentation? a. Very important b. Important c. Not very important d. Not important Question 9: What do you think about studying techniques for presentation skills? a. Very necessary b. Necessary c. Normal 61
73. d. Not necessary Question 10: What are your difficulties when making a presentation? a. Vocabulary, pronunciation b. Audience’s attention c. Confidence d. All of these above Question 11: What do you want when giving a speech or making a presentation in class? (You can choose more than one response) a. Attract audience’s attention b. Express your ideas successfully c. Speak fluently d. Others: Question 12: What do you usually do to get information for you presentations? a. Basing on your own knowledge b. Searching on websites c. Reading books d. Watching TV Question 13: Do you have a clear structure for your presentations? a. Never b. Sometimes c. Usually d. Always Question 14: Do you collect and arrange documents according to the main point in your presentation before each time presenting? a. Never 62
74. b. Sometimes c. Usually d. Always Question 15: Do you make notice on others’ previous presentations? a. Never b. Sometimes c. Usually d. Always Question16: Do you use support equipments to enhance the persuasiveness of the key points in your presentation? a. Never b. Sometimes c. Usually d. Always Question 17: Do you dress appropriately for each presentation? a. Never b. Usually c. Sometimes d. Always Question 18: Do you catch the audience attention right after making the presentation? a. Never b. Usually c. Sometimes d. Always Question 19: Do you focus on the main points during your presentations? a. Never b. Sometimes c. Usually 63