Aoc 3 Unit 1 Academic Communication PDF

Unit 1 Academic Communication Vs Everyday Communication The act of communicating ideas, emotions, and sentiments between two or more people is referred to as communication (derived from the Latin 'Communicare', which means 'to share'). As...

Unit 1 Academic Communication Vs Everyday Communication The act of communicating ideas, emotions, and sentiments between two or more people is referred to as communication (derived from the Latin 'Communicare', which means 'to share'). As a general phenomenon, we are aware of the necessity for and value of communication. Nowadays, communication is essential in all aspects of one's life. Communication exists everywhere in our daily life. In this session, students will learn the difference between everyday communication and research communication. A. Everyday communication According to Mitchell (1994), the term everyday communication refers here to the “language” of every-day communicational practice; it entails what is spoken by speakers and comprehended by listeners in here-and-now social contexts. Mitchell (1994) then added that the process of everyday communication operates with a highly integrated set of semiotics that includes word language (i.e., verbal communication), paralanguage (i.e., nonword utterances like grunts, stutters, pauses), intonation (i.e., the rising and falling pitch contour of one’s voice), facial gaze, and bodily gesture. Mitchell (1994) emphasized that everyday communication is equivalent to face-to-face- communication. Everyday communication can be also called non-academic communication. Furthermore, some examples of everyday communication are : Daily conversation, Phone Calls, Presentations, Email, Performing a play or Texting. B. Academic Communication Academic communication means to communicate our academic work or research. It involves presenting ideas effectively and formally in a scholastic environment. Academic communication usually happens in an academic setting like conference, academic courses or during presenting our paper in a workshop or seminar. Academic communication, also called scholarly communication, refers to methods of communication that are highly structured and generally only used in pedagogical settings. Academic communication can include the words and structures used to express ideas, as well as the methods by which ideas are disseminated. Nevertheless, if you attend an institution of higher education, you can use this skill to contribute to the academic conversation with your teachers and peers. C. How to communicate your research Kaye, Davies, Blows & Quadir (2020) stated that there are many different ways to communicate your research and how this is best done will depend on what you are trying to say and who you are saying it to. In particular, it is important to recognise that different audiences use, require and respond to different approaches. Whilst academics will expect to read about your research in a clear and standardised format in high-quality, peer-reviewed journals, presenting your findings to non- specialist audiences will require different communication techniques. Non-specialist audiences can include policy and decision makers, stakeholders and practitioners from a wider variety of professional backgrounds; it can also refer to members of the public or specific interest groups. Furthermore, Kaye, Davies, Blows & Quadir (2020) outlined several, well-established forms of communicating research. We can make a distinction between ‘academic’ and ‘non-academic’ dissemination based on the intended audience for the communication. However, be aware that there is some overlap and some forms of communication, e.g. lecture presentations, may be appropriate for a range of audiences, it can be either everyday communication or academic communication. Academic dissemination primarily consists of: journal articles books conference presentations academic lectures workshops seminars Non-academic dissemination may include: policy briefs reports submissions of evidence (e.g. to parliamentary committees) blogs public lectures press releases and interviews stakeholder and knowledge exchange events social media posts newsletters podcasts infographics videos Academic communication or dissemination provides someone with the opportunity to showcase your research to others familiar with your field. The aim of academic communication is to develop ideas, create or contribute to a debate within the field and, ultimately, to advance knowledge within your academic discipline. Academic conferences, seminars and workshops provide focused forums for researchers to present their work to knowledgeable audiences and elicit feedback from those with expertise in the field. This is often an important precursor to formal dissemination through publication in scholarly journals, books or reports. Communicating your research to non-academic audiences (everyday communication) requires different techniques and skills to the often-very-standardised format of academic dissemination. There are a wide range of channels people can use to engage with non-specialist audiences. For example: 1. Stakeholder and knowledge exchange events Dissemination events can take many forms, including conferences, public lectures and round table discussions. Some are more costly and time-consuming to run than others and may be focused around a theme or with a keynote presentation that details the findings of recent research. They can seek to reach a targeted audience of influential groups, or aim for a more general reach amongst those interested in the topic of the research. 2. Talking to policy and decision makers directly Identifying your audience first allows you to target a small number of key contacts. A great way of making your case and showing your expertise and passion for a subject is to drop them an email, pick up the phone, attend an event they are at, or ask them for a meeting. 3. Policy briefings These are short documents highlighting key policy messages arising from a piece of academic research. They should be tightly targeted at the intended audience, written in plain English, and include a call to action. 4. Blogs, podcasts and social media Can be an effective and engaging way to reach a broad, global audience, ranging from policy and decision makers, to the general public, journalists and fellow academics. They can give a sense of immediacy and ‘freshness’ to your research and are often easier for policy makers to engage with and share compared to academic papers or briefings. 5. Traditional media Is helpful for building the profile of your research, bringing an issue to the attention of the public, policy and decision makers, and driving forward your recommendations. You can use press releases and media interviews to establish your status as an expert on the topic, or send a summary of your research to a journalist who is likely to be interested in your findings. D. How to maximize the impact of your research Whilst both academic and non-academic audiences comprise a wide spectrum of researchers, stakeholders, policy and decision makers, practitioners and other people with various interests, there are a number of common points to consider when communicating your research. In order to communicate your research effectively, it is important to bear in mind some key questions: 1. 1) Who is my intended audience? 2. 2) What is my message? 3. 3) What outcome do I want to achieve? 4. 4) How can I best accomplish this? D.1. Know your audience Who is it that you want to communicate your findings to? Are they experts or practitioners in the field? Are they policy and decision makers who can influence a change in policy? Are they community groups or interest groups who can further promote behavioural change within their communities or advocacy networks? Are they members of the public? Or a specific subset of the public, such as parents, young people, or university undergraduates? How can I reach them most effectively? Find out as much as you can about your intended audience. What are their priorities and pressures? Do they have a specific ideology or outlook? What level of existing knowledge on the subject can you expect them to have? Where do they access this knowledge? What organisations and individuals have the most influence on my audience? When is the best time to engage them? Communicating your research should not wait until the end of a project. Think about building contacts and planning engagement throughout your research. Do you want to present all your findings in a single one-off event? Do you want to update your potential audience on a regular basis? Can it be useful to elicit feedback on an on-going basis to improve and contribute to the research? D.2 Build a coherent narrative What message do I want to convey? Whether you are presenting your research findings to a group of fellow researchers or to a non- specialist audience, it is essential to construct a coherent and clear narrative. In particular, you should address the ‘so-what’ question – what difference does your research make? What is new or different about it, and why is it interesting and relevant to the audience you are trying to reach? You should communicate the findings of the research first to highlight your contribution, whilst also setting your research in context by explaining how it relates to the existing evidence. It is important to set the right tone for your audience, using clear and concise language and minimizing the use of technical terms and jargon, where appropriate. The word cloud below has been created from the vast amount of literature on the theory and practice of evidence-based policy making. Note the importance of building relationships, developing a diverse network, elements of trust and timing, as well as the use of language, emotions and storytelling. D.3. Outline the potential impact of your research. Be clear about the potential impact of your research. Don’t undersell or oversell your findings – explain the scale of the likely effect of any recommendations, what the potential benefits, implications, costs and limitations are of the findings and how they might be incorporated into practice or policy. Explain what there is to gain for your audience and what impact you hope to achieve. Examples of possible outcomes could include: A change in behaviour, policy, and/or practice; Enhancing knowledge and making a contribution to a debate; Potential future collaboration with stakeholders; Eliciting feedback in relation to your ideas and research so far; The development of a commercial venture. D.4. Think innovatively It is also important to think about how best to achieve the impact you are seeking. This will depend, again, on the audience you are trying to reach. It is a good idea, though, to be imaginative and to consider innovative and accessible ways of communicating your research. E. DOs and DON'Ts in Academic Communication When students/researchers want to conduct academic communication, they have to set the academic writing standard, so they should pay more attention to what's do and don't do during academic communication. Bjork, Knight &Wikbord (1992) remarked that the use of I, we, and you is generally the informal choice, so it couldn't be used in academic writing or communication. Here are some guidelines for the academic writing for academic communication: What not to do What to do Do not use slang, jargon, Use formal language colloquialisms, or sexist language. Do not use shortened verb forms Use the full verb form instead, e.g. they (contractions), such as they're, isn't, are, is not, cannot can't. Do not use common vocabulary, such Make more formal vocabulary choices, as have got, a lot, nice, the other thing. e.g. have found,a great deal , attractive/ advantageous, the other issue/problem/notion/idea/topic etc.. Do not use conversational opening Leave out conversational phrases. Use phrases, such as Well, you see, Yes…, appropriate connectors and Let's move on. introductory phrases. Do not write I think - especially not at Leave out I think, e.g. James (2008) the beginning of a sentence, i.e. do believes that global warming will… not write, for example, I think James (2008) believes that global warming will… Do not use personal pronouns e.g. I, Be non-personal, e.g.It should be you, we (unless specifically required), possible for everyone to compete. i.e. do not write We think that you should be able to compete. Do not use sweeping generalisations State main ideas clearly and concisely in your own words in topic sentences. Do not use bullet points or lists, Use complete sentences and link these unless it is in a report. into logical paragraphs. Avoid making assumptions or giving Be objective. your opinion (unless specifically asked). Avoid waffling or repeating yourself. Be clear and concise. Do not plagiarize Provide references whenever you say something that is not your own Do not take for granted that the spell Check spelling, grammar and check on your computer is accurate punctuation etcetera. or will spot all spelling mistakes, since for example, your spell check Proofread and use a dictionary. will not pick up on whether vs weather.  Ask somebody to proofread your text for you. Do not pose (direct) questions in the Convert questions into statements, for running text, that is, do not write, for example, The possibility of carbon instance Can carbon emissions be emissions being reduced is reduced? questionable. Some of the information in the table above is from Björk, Knight, & Wikborg (1992). References: Bjork, L., Knight, M., Wikborg, E., 1992 The writing process. Lund: Chartwell-Bratt Studentlitteratur. David B. Mitchell, Distinctions between Everyday and Representational Communication, Communication Theory, Volume 4, Issue 2, May 1994, Pages 111– 131, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.1994.tb00086.x “DOs & DON’Ts.” Academic Writing in English, Lund University, 2011. https://www.awelu.lu.se/language/register-and-style/dos-donts/ Kaye, N., Davies, R., Blows, J. & Quadir, R. (2020). Research communication. CLOSER Learning Hub, London, UK: CLOSER  Unit 2 Introduction to Academic Presentation Generally, presentation means a talk which gives or shows information about something. There are many kinds of presentations, i.e. business presentation, sales presentation, academic presentation, professional presentation, etc. According to the Language Centre of Groningen University, academic presentation utilizes an academic method which differs from the presentation with the other kinds. Academic presentations can vary from being formal, like a mini lecture, to more informal, such as summarizing a paper in a tutorial. You may have a specialist audience made up of your peers, lecturers or research practitioners or a wider audience at a conference or event. Academic presentations are typically oral, such as a talk with slides, or a poster presentation, and they may be assessed. Presentations may be individual or collaborative group work. Academic presentation should consider: Understanding of the topic and the audience Appropriate breadth and depth An argument in the content A clear structure: a distinct beginning, middle and end Suitable visual aids Evidence of having practiced the talk Proper timing/length Academic presentation skills can be learnt and continually improved through practice. One way of tackling a presentation is to divide it into three easy stages: 1) Planning; 2) Preparing; 3) Presenting. 1. Planning Presentation planning is a very early stage of knowing the general information related to the presentation which will be delivered. As a presenter, the following points (5W1H) should be consider before preparing the content of the presentation: 1. Objective – Why am I making this presentation? 2. Audience – Who am I making this presentation to?  3. Venue – Where am I making this presentation? 4. Time and length – When am I making this presentation and how long will it be? 5. Method – How should I make this presentation 6. Content - What am I presenting? (this will lead to the next stage) 2. Preparing Academic presentations should display reliable information; hence careful research related to the topic is highly needed. Spending some considerable amount of time to select the information allows the presentation to become more engaging and convincing. When selecting and presenting the information, the quality of the sources is important as it affects the reliability and the credibility of the presentation. In an academic setting, taking information from other sources must be done in a specific manner to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. Therefore, in academic presentations, avoiding plagiarism can be done by: (1) paraphrasing and citing the information; then (2) writing down the reference list at the last slide of the presentation. In most academic presentations, specifically on research presentation, there are 5 parts of information presented: 1. Introduction - Introduce your topic. - Identify the importance of your research (why it is needed). - State your research objective(s) and research questions(s). - Provide a presentation overview (what you are going to be talking about and how your presentation will unfold.) 2. Literature Review: - Provide background information about your topic; what is already known, what other scholars/researchers have argued about in similar studies; what is still not known or missing? 3. Methodology - How you conduct the study/research - Who your participants are - What data collection instruments are used - How you analyze the data collected 4. Results and discussion: - What you find from analyzing the collected data in relation to the research questions  - Similarities and differences between the results of your study and those of the previous studies - New and surprising aspects about your results 5. Conclusion - Summary or recap of the presentation - Final words 3. Presenting The last stage is delivering the presentation. It is no longer about the content of the presentation, yet it is mainly about the delivery and body language of the presenter. Academic presentation can be done in a formal and informal way, however in a larger scale the academic presentation requires a higher degree of professionalism. The following information discusses how to act and maintain professionalism during the presentation: The delivery - Do not simply read the text from the slides without any of your own words. When the audience can read the slides by themselves, it is highly suggested that the presenters give information that is not written in the slides. - Check with the presentation setting whether sitting or standing is most appropriate – standing is preferable, but for group presentations, sometimes non-speakers may prefer to sit, whilst only the lead speaker stands. - Folding arms or putting hands in pocket is considered to be impolite when giving a talk in a formal setting. - Using cue cards as memory aids is acceptable, but when a presenter reads cue cards like a script, it is inappropriate. Cue cards should be small and handy, and the presenter should maintain continuous eye contact with the audience, not the cue cards. - Fumbling with the equipment or furniture is considered unprofessional. - Always have a duplicate of the presentation or a spare copy within the event of unplanned problems – for example, equipment that does not work, saving devices show errors, a sudden change of venue. Body Language: - Open body language – hands at your side or bent at the elbow in front of your body. - Look at the audience – maintaining eye contact with all the audience. - Smile  - Clear, even tone of voice – neither hushed nor too loud for the size of the room, or how many people are present. A low tone is preferable for small numbers; greater projection is required for greater numbers, in larger rooms. - Try to avoid using too many gestures or repetition of certain words or phrases e.g. ‘you know’, ‘and so on and so forth’ ‘and I really mean this’ ‘umm’ ‘err’ - Be enthusiastic but do not get too excited as the presenters should maintain a professional manner. References Institute for Academic Development. (2022). Presentation and Posters. Retrieve from: https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/study-hub/learning- resources/presentations# Language Center of Groningen University. (2014). What is an Academic Presentation. Retrieve from: https://www.rug.nl/language-centre/develop-yourself/academic/  Unit 3 Preparation for Academic Presentation (Presentation Structures) Structuring a presentation takes place in the second step of the plan-prepare-present academic presentation process. Presenting an academic/research article follows the general structure of introduction-body-conclusion structure. However, more specific contents in each part of the presentation, which consist of introduction, literature review, methods, result and discussion, and conclusion, are delivered differently from the other genres of presentation. A presentation must begin with an introduction, then followed by the body or the main content, then is closed with a conclusion. Following the structure of an academic/research article, the introduction of a presentation presents the background of the study, the significance of the study, and the goals/objectives of the study. Next, the body of the presentation usually (but not limited to) contains literature review, methods, result, and discussion. Finally, the presentation ends with a conclusion of the study, which can also include suggestions for further studies or for the audience. In presenting an academic article, a presenter must carefully select the important points to be disseminated due to the time limit. The presentation should be concise and straightforward. Introduction and conclusion are usually served in a short amount of time as the presenter needs to be highly focused on the body of the presentation. 1. Introduction Introduction focuses on the need to develop an argument or report through the clear, logical progression of ideas as it is the first step to engage with the audience. Presenter does not only informs the background of the study, the significance and the importance, and the goals of the study, but also persuades the audience to believe that the study is important. The flow of the information starts with the most general information, and narrows down to the most specific information e.g. objectives of the study, as shown in picture below. background rationale objective  1. Background: what is known about the topic, current status, or background information. 2. Rationale: what is unknown, what the study is trying to discover, research questions. 3. Objective: what the study is trying to achieve, aims/goals, the significance. A. Key elements of an effective introduction include: Functions Examples of sentences A positive start “Good afternoon, my name is Adam and… A statement of what will be discussed “I am going to explore …” A statement of the treatment to be applied to the “I will be comparing the four main topic (e.g. to compare, contrast, evaluate, describe) principles of …” A statement of the outcomes of the presentation “I hope this will provide us with …” A statement of what the audience will need to do “I will pass round a handout that (e.g. when they can ask questions or whether or not summarizes my presentation before taking they will need to take notes) questions at the end.” B. The Language Function and Its Signpost for the Presentation Introduction (Useful Phrases) Function Examples of Signpost Language Greet the audience and Introduce Good morning/afternoon distinguished guests/ladies and Yourself gentlemen/colleagues (whichever is appropriate) Hello / Good morning everyone. Thank you all for coming. It’s nice to see so many of you today. My name’s…. I work for…., represent … I’m in charge of / responsible for … Express special acknowledgements I’d especially like to welcome… if appropriate I’d like to thank… Signal question/discussion There will be time for questions and discussion at the end opportunity of my talk If you have questions, please feel free to interrupt. Introduce your carefully defined I’d like to talk to you about… topic Explain the topic area and purpose This presentation will mainly cover… I am going to show that… I will argue that… Dispose of a distraction or side Before I start, let me clarify one point… issue My discussion will cover… Briefly preview the organization of The main points I will make are, first… second… and the body of your talk third… The subject can be examined under the following headings… We can divide this area into a number of fields. They are… Provide important history and/or As background, it’s important to note that… definitions By X, I mean… Remind the audience of the topic So, we can see that (the topic) involves… and give it status Adapted from https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/self-help- resources/presentation-skills/structure-presentation C. Stating Your Aims and Intention, Introducing your message and Moving on to your next message 1. Today, I’d like to talk about … Introducing a message 2. Firstly, I’m going to look at … Let’s start with … 3. Then, I intended to … Now I’d like to talk about … 4. And finally, I’ll explain … Let’s look at … 5. My aim is at/to … I’m going to talk about … 6. Note that I’ll be referring … In this first / next part of the 7. My talk is divided into three areas. First….. presentation … Second…… Third/Last……. 8. I’m going to cover three points … First of all …, Secondly …, And finally Move on to your next message That leads me on to my next point … Let’s move on to my next point. Moving on to … / Turning to … That brings me to … Now let’s look at / talk about … So, next … Exercise 1 Instructions: develop an introduction of your presentation using the following template to help brainstorm Title: Background  Rationale Objective Exercise 2 These sentences make up an Introduction of a presentation. They are NOT in the correct order. Rearrange them into the correct order using 1-9. This presentation will take about 7 minutes. Then Peter will discuss its disadvantages. If you have any questions, please save them until the end of our presentation. We chose this topic because this robot has become very popular today. (1) Good morning everyone. Therefore, we would like to know whether it makes our lives easier or if it is a waste of money. My name is Ahmed and this is Peter. I’ll start by explaining the benefits of TOPIO. Today we’ll present to you some benefits and disadvantages of TOPIO. Exercise 3 Read the introduction sentences above again. Match the sentences with the following elements of an Introduction. 1. Greet the audience. Sentence (1) 2. Introduce yourself and the members of your group. 3. State the topic. 4. State the objective. 5. State the structure of the presentation. 6. State the length of the presentation. 7. State the time and rules for questions. Exercise 4. Create your own expressions or sentences for each element of an Introduction. ______________________________________________ Greet the audience. _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Introduce yourself and the _______________________________________________ members of your group. _______________________________________________ State the topic. _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ State the objective. _______________________________________________  _______________________________________________ State the structure of the _______________________________________________ presentation. _______________________________________________ State the length of the _______________________________________________ presentation. _______________________________________________ State time and rules for _______________________________________________ questions. 2. Body of Presentation Literature review, methods, results, and discussion take place in the main presentation after the introduction. In the previous unit, each part has been discussed with examples. In an academic presentation, the presenter should be able to point out what makes the study different from previous studies, what important points from previous studies that are still relevant to the study, what new discoveries are promised in the study. The presenter should not spend too much time on this part as the main presentation is about the presenter’s current study. Next, the important part of the study; the methods, results and discussion, ample time should be allocated well. The audience must understand how the study was conducted to make sure that they are convinced with the arguments presented in discussion later. Results are best presented with the help of visuals e.g., pictures, tables, graphs, or numbers. While the audience is digesting the presented visuals, the presenter explains in a simple and comprehensible way. Discussion is where the presenter proposes their arguments, what they believe about the results, and the significance of the results. Signposting Phrases in Presentation Body Signposting phrases can help divide information up into subsections, link different aspects of talk and show progression through the topic. Examples include: Function Examples of Signpost Language Begin the body of the talk The first point I would like to address is… Let me first raise… Develop the first point For example… This is especially important because… Sum up the first point So, we can see that… Introduce the second point Secondly, I’d like to turn to… Develop the second point An important statistic in this area is… It means that… Sum up the second point It’s evident that… Bring in the final point Finally, we need to look at… Develop the final point This situation exists because… It’s worth noting that… Sum up the final point Thus, the result is… Emphasizing a point I’d like to stress that… Let me repeat that… Introducing a contrasting idea By the way… Incidentally… Sum up the body of the talk and remind listeners of To summarize… the topic To review, we have found that… What I have been saying is that… More example (useful phrases) on how to explain Presentation Body Introducing your point Recapping and returning to your point My first point is … So far I’ve talked about/ we’ve seen how… I’d like to outline/ examine/ propose … We’ve also looked at… What I’m arguing for is … As I said before/ earlier… Let’s start with … This is a really important point … Moving on to my next point… To sum up, I believe this proposal… Explaining So, that’s enough about… In other words… So I’ve explained why… Another way to think of this is… So as you can see… What I mean is… Let’s return to my earlier point. This means that… Giving examples Imagining a dream or disaster For example/ instance… Imagine the following situation… Let me give you an example… Let’s take a few minutes to imagine… If we asked…they would probably say… If we continue to …the consequences will be … 3. Conclusion  This is the last stage at which you can summarize the background, the findings, and important arguments in discussion. Also, reaffirmation on how it contributes to the field, the strengths and weaknesses of the study, and recommendations for future research are addressed in this last section. The presenter can also give suggestions to the audience as closing remarks. In academic presentation, showing the references of the study is a must, though no allocated time is provided for presenting it. After the presentation is over, a questions-and-answers session is usually provided. A. Signposting Phrases for Conclusion Announcing the conclusion Coming full circle/ Referring back to the We’re almost at the end of the presentation. beginning Before I end/ finish, I’d like to say… At the beginning of the presentation, I Before we end, may I just say… explained … I hope you can now see how we Before I take your questions, I’d like to… can move forward … That brings me to the end of my Earlier we saw … We can now see … presentation. Let me end by saying a few words about… That’s everything I want to say about … That’s all I wanted to say about … So, I’ve reached the end of … That’s the end of my presentation. Recapping the message and summarizing Thanking your audience So, we’ve looked at / talked about … Thank you for listening / taking part. As I have pointed out … Thanks for coming. To sum up, … Finally, I’d like to thank you all for coming / In conclusion, … making the effort to come here today … There are three key points I would like us to Thank you for making the time to consider remember… these ideas. I hope you have found them useful So, to sum up, we have identified three … issues… To recap, today we have covered four important ideas… Let me summarize the key points… If there’s one thing which I would like you to take away from this presentation, it is… Calling for action The next thing you need to do is… Over the next few days, I’d like you to think about the ideas we have covered so that… Please take these ideas and try them out for yourself… These are my recommendations:… (Handling questions) Inviting questions/ Asking questions Understanding an opinion If anyone has any questions, I’d be I see what you mean (about…), but… happy to try and answer them. I take your point (about …), but… Are there any questions? I understand your concern (about…), but… Does anyone have any questions or That’s an understandable concern, but… comments? Do you have any questions? I'd be happy to answer your questions. We have a few minutes left for questions. Feel free now to ask questions or make comments. I’d like to open up the floor for questions. Checking your understanding Stating your opinion Sorry, I couldn’t hear you/ I didn’t As I see it / to my mind, … quite catch that. (Personally) I think / believe / feel that … Could you repeat that / say that again? In my opinion / view … / It seems to me that … I don’t think I quite follow you. Could you give me an example? I don’t quite understand what you mean. Can I check that I’ve understood your questions? Have I understood you correctly? / Is that right? Valuing the question Responding or explaining that you cannot That's a good / great / important answer a question question. Let me deal with your question about… first, then That’s an interesting point. I’ll reply to your other points afterwards. Thanks for raising this issue. I’ll try to answer your first point and then I’ll come back to your other question later. If you don’t mind, I’d like to answer that question at the end. I’m afraid I simply can’t answer that at this time. Can I get back to you on that one? Checking the questioner is satisfied? Ending the questions stage of the presentation Does that answer your question / Anyone else? Are there any more questions? query? If you have any further questions, feel free to email Does that make sense? me. My email address is … Have I answered your question? I’ll be here for a few minutes afterwards so feel free to come up and talk to me. Exercise 1. Create your own expressions or sentences for each element of a conclusion. _______________________________________________ Announcing the conclusion _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Referring back _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Recap & summary _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Thanking audience & inviting _______________________________________________ questions References Anurit, T., & Lekwilai, P. (2011). Academic oral skills [Class booklet]. English Department, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai. Hughes, J., & Mallett, A. (2012). Successful presentations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Learning Development, University of Leicester. (2009). Structuring a presentation. Retrieved August 15, 2020, from https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/allresources/presentations/structuring-presentation McNamara, C. General guidelines for conducting interviews. Retrieved August 15, 2020, from https://managementhelp.org/businessresearch/interviews.htm