LANG1402 Chap.12 Scripting and Delivering the Presentation
Scripting and Delivering the Presentation
Written language does not survive being read aloud
You have already written a report in a formal academic style, and the talk delivers the same research in a different manner using spoken language. The lesson opens by putting two versions of one sentence side by side, and the reason the written one fails aloud is never that it is too formal. It is that a listener cannot go back.
Sentences shorten and carry one idea each, the voice turns active, nominalisations return to verbs, numbers get rounded and compared to something familiar, and the structure a reader would see in headings has to be spoken. The risk in that conversion is that hedging disappears along with the long sentences, and the qualifiers are exactly what made your written claim defensible.
The published middle band names both failures together: language that is overly written, and language that is overly casual.
Signposting and the vocal range
The published phrase bank is organised by function, covering the opening, the explanation of structure, the moves between sections, the highlighting of key points, references to data, examples and the conclusion.
Delivery itself carries twenty per cent of the whole course grade, which makes it the largest single criterion in the course and the only one that cannot be improved by reading. It covers pace, pitch, pronunciation and volume used purposefully, eye contact, gestures, posture and facial expressions applied to convey confidence, and the integration of visuals.
The descriptors name one cause for the weaker bands, which is overreliance on notes.
Three criteria on every slide
Slides are scored separately on clarity of content, design and imagery, so a tidy slide carrying three unrelated ideas scores high on one criterion and low on another rather than being averaged into adequacy.
The published detail makes each criterion checkable: one clear heading and one main idea per slide with bullet points of three to five words, a consistent font and colour scheme with main text at twenty-four point or above and a balanced layout, and visuals that carry information rather than decorate. Every bad example in those lists is a slide built to help the speaker rather than the audience.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Six features that separate written from spoken versions
- 02
Keeping the hedges when the sentences shorten
- 03
Overly written and overly casual as one descriptor
- 04
Signposting phrases by function, from opening to close
- 05
Pace, volume, stress, intonation and pausing failing at both ends
- 06
Why overreliance on notes is named as a cause
- 07
Clarity, design and imagery scored separately
- 08
The four published preparation steps, in order
Convert one report sentence into speech without softening it
- 2Break the sentence up and make the voice active.
- 2Return the nominalisations to verbs.
- 2Render the technical qualifier rather than deleting it.
Key terms
- Spoken Register
- Language pitched for listening: short sentences, active voice, verbs rather than noun phrases, and structure stated aloud.
- Signposting Phrase
- A set expression that tells a listener where you are in a talk, drawn from a bank organised by the function each phrase performs.
- Vocal Delivery
- The purposeful use of pace, pitch, pronunciation, volume and pausing to carry meaning, which fails at both extremes of each range.
- Non-verbal Delivery
- Eye contact, gestures, posture and facial expressions used to convey confidence and enthusiasm, all of which degrade together the moment a speaker looks down at notes.
- Visual Aid
- The three to five slides submitted before the presentation, judged on whether they support the spoken message rather than duplicate it.
- Cue Phrase
- A short prompt written on a slide or a card in place of a full script, which frees a speaker to look at the audience.
- Slide Triage
- Rating each slide separately on clarity, design and imagery so that a weakness in one is identified rather than averaged away.
Scripting and Delivering the Presentation FAQ
How do I stop my talk sounding like a paper read aloud?
Convert on three axes rather than one. Break long sentences so each carries a single idea, turn noun phrases back into verbs, and say the structure aloud where the report used headings. The test for each line is not whether it is formal enough but whether a classmate could follow it at speaking speed on one hearing.
Is it really worth recording myself?
Yes, because nobody can hear their own pace and almost everybody underestimates it. The published preparation steps ask for at least three rehearsals with the revised slides and at least one recording, and the recording is the only evidence about your delivery that you cannot argue with afterwards.
What is wrong with putting my script on the slides?
It fails two of the three criteria at once. Long sentences copied from a script are named in the replace band for clarity, and a slide dense enough to read from pulls your eyes away from the audience, which is the cause the delivery descriptors attach to the weaker bands. Slides are meant to support your delivery rather than duplicate it.
A peer criticised a slide I had good reasons for. What should I do?
Listen, take notes and ask a clarifying question, but do not defend it, which is what the published instruction asks. The peer stands in for your actual audience, who will not have your explanation available while you present, so a slide that needs defending in the room has already failed the test the room is running.
Assessment move
Time the script immediately after drafting it and before rehearsing. A script found to be ninety seconds too long after three rehearsals has wasted the rehearsals, and the published order puts timing second for exactly that reason.
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