EAP Delivering Oral Presentations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When using visual aids during an academic presentation, what is the most important principle to follow?
- Read each slide aloud word for word
- Ensure visuals support the spoken content without replacing it (Correct answer)
- Use as many slides as possible to demonstrate thoroughness
- Face the screen when discussing a visual
Correct answer: Ensure visuals support the spoken content without replacing it
Visual aids should complement and reinforce your spoken message, not serve as a script.
Question 2: A presenter notices audience members checking their phones frequently. What is the BEST immediate strategy?
- Pause and ask the audience a direct question to re-engage them (Correct answer)
- Speak louder to recapture attention
- Skip ahead to the conclusion to finish faster
- Ignore it and continue with the planned script
Correct answer: Pause and ask the audience a direct question to re-engage them
Posing a question to the audience immediately re-engages their attention and makes them active participants.
Question 3: Which sentence structure is most effective for signposting the transition between two main points in a presentation?
- 'Now I will discuss the second point.'
- 'Having examined X, I would like to turn to Y, which builds on this by…' (Correct answer)
- 'Let's move on.'
- 'The next slide shows the second point.'
Correct answer: 'Having examined X, I would like to turn to Y, which builds on this by…'
Effective signposting explicitly links the previous point to the next, showing logical progression for the audience.
Question 4: In academic oral presentations, what does 'hedging' language primarily help a speaker do?
- Sound more confident about claims
- Acknowledge the limits of certainty in their data or conclusions (Correct answer)
- Avoid stating a clear position
- Confuse the audience about the main argument
Correct answer: Acknowledge the limits of certainty in their data or conclusions
Hedging language (e.g., 'The data suggests…' or 'It appears that…') accurately represents the degree of certainty the evidence supports.
Question 5: A student is presenting complex statistical data to a mixed audience. Which approach is most appropriate?
- Display raw data tables without explanation
- Explain only the key takeaway from the data in plain language before showing the chart (Correct answer)
- Apologize for the complexity and move on quickly
- Omit the statistics to keep the presentation simple
Correct answer: Explain only the key takeaway from the data in plain language before showing the chart
Framing the key finding verbally before displaying complex data helps the audience understand what to look for.
Question 6: What is the primary purpose of a 'signpost' phrase such as 'To summarize the key argument…' in an oral presentation?
- To indicate the speaker has forgotten what to say next
- To help the audience track the structure and follow along (Correct answer)
- To fill time before the conclusion
- To introduce a new piece of evidence
Correct answer: To help the audience track the structure and follow along
Signpost phrases act as navigational cues that help listeners understand where they are in the presentation's structure.
Question 7: During a Q&A session, an audience member asks a question the presenter does not know the answer to. What is the most academically appropriate response?
- Guess an answer confidently to maintain credibility
- Dismiss the question as outside the scope of the presentation
- Acknowledge you don't know and offer to follow up with a researched answer (Correct answer)
- Ask another audience member to answer instead
Correct answer: Acknowledge you don't know and offer to follow up with a researched answer
Admitting uncertainty and committing to follow up demonstrates intellectual honesty, which is a core academic value.
EAP Delivering Oral Presentations 2
When using visual aids during an academic presentation, what is the most important principle to follow?