Presentation
Techniques
A research project is not finished until the results have been published. No matter how spectacular the findings, they only become relevant when they have been shared with others, for instance in a presentation at a conference. Students in Bachelor's and Master's programmes are expected to present the results of their projects and their theses, too. And with the internationalisation of study programmes and the international nature of science and technology, more and more presentations are given in English.
How do you prepare a presentation? How does it differ from a written paper? And what are the consequences of this? What problems does the English language present? And what do you have to watch out for when you are presenting in an international context? These questions form the starting point for Presentation Techniques. The authors discuss general presentation techniques - e.g. how to use body language, the voice, and visual aids - and they give tips and hints on how to prepare and structure a presentation. They cover issues that are specific for presenting research: how to present tables and graphs, how to organise the findings of different types of studies, and how to deal with jargon. In addition to this, the authors offer English expressions and idioms which can be used in a wide range of presentations. The examples they use come from both the technical sciences and the humanities. All this makes this book eminently suitable for students and graduates of all nationalities and specialisations.
Manon van der Laaken teaches Academic English at the University of Amsterdam, and is co-author of Writing Better English. Bob van der Laaken teaches communication skills at Delft University of Technology.