Instructions for Observation Mini-presentation (30 points)

English 103 / Fall 2003 / Bill Stobb

The Observation Mini-presentation gives each of you the opportunity to share the results of one of your observation papers.  You should present for 5-7 minutes, leaving 3-5 minutes for questions from the audience (you'll have 10 minutes, total).  In your 5-7 minutes of speaking, you should accomplish the following:

• Explain what you observed
• Explain what personal interest compelled you to observe this
• Describe the set-up of your observation
• Show the results of your observation (visual aids are encouraged, but not required)
• Discuss the implications of your observation.  What do your findings suggest?

Basically, this is the same format as the observation paper.  Discuss your interest, explain what you observed, show us what you found, as specifically as possible (remember, generalizations are not observations), and then discuss the conclusions you might draw from the observation, or share the questions that your observation raises.  Your presentation will be scored, based on how well you achieve the criteria listed above.  In addition, I will evaluate the following qualities of your presentation:

• Preparedness: you should probably use either note cards or an outline.  You should not read directly from a page, and I would suggest that you don’t try to “make it up on the spot.”  I should get the sense that you have practiced your presentation and are well-prepared for it.
• Timing: your spoken presentation should end between 5 and 7 minutes after it started.  Don’t be short.  Don’t be long.
• Clarity: make sure to present your material in a logical, coherent fashion, and to enunciate your words.  Make eye contact.  You should be able to see, in the faces of the audience-members, whether or not your material is being understood.
• Appearance: you don’t have to dress up or anything, but your presentation should look good.  That may mean that you’ll want to use some visuals, or it may simply mean that you have good posture, that you don’t shuffle around or speak down to your shoe laces.