Molly Churchwell

Google Scholar Assignment

Article 1:
Title: Effective Lecture Presentation Skills
Author: Mark H. Gelula
Year Published: 1997
URL:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0090301996003448
Article 2:
Title: Learning Oral Presentation Skills
Author: Richard J. Haber, Lorelei A. Lingard
Year Published: 2001
URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.15251497.2001.00233.x/full
Article 3:
Title: Presentation Self-Efficacy: Increasing Communication Skills
Through Service-Learning
Author: Mary L. Tucker and Anne M. McCarthy
Year Published: 2001
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40604346?
seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Molly Churchwell

Effective Lecture Presentation Skills Summary

This article discusses the use of lecturing in teaching, particularly in
the medical field. Lectures can be a highly effective form of teaching,
but effectively communicating your thoughts to the audience requires
you to engage them. This requires the lecturer to not only be prepared
with the material, but also prepared to entertain and hold the interest
of the audience. This article offers advice to improve ones ability to
give a presentation or lecture. The author focuses on four major ideas
to increase the success of a presentation such as voice speed and
clarity, audiovisual aids, using the audience as a resource, and being
entertaining.
The author points out that the speed of a presentation can greatly
affect how well the audience receives the information. For example, if
the presenter is rushing through a presentation, an audience tends to
lose focus and become confused about the point of the lecture.
Speaking too quickly can also cause the presenter to lose clarity and
they may begin tripping over their words and repeating the same
phrases. To combat these issues, the author suggests rehearsing a
presentation while timing yourself and working to speak clearly and
slowly. The article also discusses using audiovisual aids, such as
presentation slides. These can be used to focus the audiences
attention on an idea and emphasize important points. While these are
helpful, the author notes that it is important for a presenter to not talk
to the slides or read directly from them.
The third tactic described in this article to improve your presentation is
to use the audience to your advantage. Active learning, which has
been shown to be the most effective, allows a person to compare the
ideas of a presentation to their own experiences. To facilitate active
learning in a presentation, the author suggests speaking in a
conversational tone and asking the audience questions. The final
suggestion given in this article is to be entertaining. A simple way to do
this is to show enthusiasm for your subject. Studies have shown that
an audience remembers more from a presenter that was enthusiastic.
Ways to convey enthusiasm and be entertaining include using facial
expressions and voice inflection. Finally, embracing your natural sense
of humor can allow your audience to relate to you and enjoy the
presentation.