RESEARCHING & PREPARING

FOR A PRESENTATION

SELECTING A PRESENTATION
TOPIC

Two broad categories to choose a topic from:

Topics you know a lot about
Drawing on your own knowledge and experience
Topics you want to know more about
A learning experience for yourself as well as the audience

METHODS FOR BRAINSTORMING FOR

TOPICS

Personal inventory:
Make a quick inventory of your experience, interests,
hobbies, skills, beliefs, etc.
Jot down anything that comes to mind
Clustering:
Group common items together

EXAMPLES OF CLUSTERING

BRAINSTORMING

Reference Search
This third technique can be done by browsing through an
encyclopedia, a periodical database or some other
reference work until you come across a good topic
Internet Search
One advantage of using the Internet is that you can make
your search more and more specific until you find just th
right subject

DETERMINING THE GENERAL

PURPOSE

While choosing a topic you need to determine the general

purpose of your presentation

A general purpose usually falls into two overlapping

categories that is either to inform or to persuade

When your general purpose is to inform, you act as a teacher

or lecturer; your goal is to convey information clearly,
accurately and interestingly; your aim is to enhance the
knowledge and understanding of the listeners

When your specific goal is to persuade, you act as an

advocate or a partisan. Your goal is to espouse a cause and
change the attitude of your audience

DETERMINING THE SPECIFIC

PURPOSE

A single infinitive phrase that states precisely what a

speaker hopes to accomplish in his or her presentation

Once a general purpose is accomplished, you must

narrow your choices to determine the specific purpose of
your presentation

You should be able to state your specific purpose in a

single infinitive phrase e.g. to inform my audience, to
persuade my audience.

FORMULATING A SPECIFIC PURPOSE

STATEMENT

Source: Lucas, (2009)

pp.83-84

EXAMPLE

Topic:
Music therapy
General purpose: To inform
Specific purpose: To inform my audience about the
benefit of music
therapy for people with
psychological or cognitive
disabilities.

THE DO'S AND DON'TS

1. The purpose statement should not be in a Fragment:

Calendars
To inform my audience about the four major kinds of
calendars used in the world today.
2. It must be in a statement and not As a QUESTION.
What is dikir barat?
To inform my audience about the purpose of dikir barat in
the Malay culture.

THE DO'S AND DON'TS

3. Avoid figurative language

The poorest man is the richest, and the rich are poor..
4. Limit to only 1 idea.
To persuade my audience to donate to charity.
5. The specific purpose should not be to vague or general.
To persuade my audience that some thing should be done
about insufficient parking lots.

RESEARCH YOUR CONTENT

The main purpose of researching your content is to find useful and

appropriate supporting materials.
Credible sources include books, general reference work (e.g.
Encyclopedia Britannica), periodicals (e.g. journals) and government
documents.
Differentiate between primary and secondary sources
Document your sources in writing because without you could plagiarize
unintentionally
When searching for sources, narrow your search to a very specific term
or phrase to maximize effectiveness of your search
You may want to use InstaGrok.com

TIPS FOR DOING RESEARCH

Start early
Make a preliminary bibliography
Take notes efficiently
Take plenty of notes
Record notes in a consistent format
Make a separate entry for each note
Distinguish among direct quotations, paraphrases and
your own ideas
Think about your materials as you research

OUTLINING THE
PREPARATION

1. To help prepare in a systematic way, apply strategic

organization; that is to put a preparation together in a
particular way to achieve a particular result with a
particular audience
2. A presenter should clearly identify the main points; major
points developed in the body of presentation
3. Most presentation contain from two to five main points
4. The common flow should start with specific purposes;
followed by central idea; and then main points which are
later backed with supporting materials

STRATEGIC ORDER OF MAIN POINTS

REFERENCES

Engleberg, I.N, & Daly, J.A. (2009). Presentations in everyday life.

(3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Lucas, S.E. (2009). The art of public speaking. (10 th ed.) NY:
McGraw Hill