Oral Presentation Guidelines

In-class oral presentations

What the oral presentation? An understanding of the work, life and biography of a female scientist is something that students will develop over the course of most of the semester, through both oral presentations and written work.

What is the purpose of these presentations? The purpose of these presentations is to learn how to present a professional oral presentation to an audience of peers. Such a skill is essential in any career and you will use these skills in other courses at the University of Richmond and in your career after you graduate from Richmond. After completing these presentations, you will have:

  • Developed your skills as a speaker and presenter;
  • Shared your research results on your selected female scientist to the class;
  • Heard and responded to your peers’ questions (which information will be helpful to you in writing the final biography);
  • Have organized and developed some of your research that is necessary for your final biography.

What are you required to do for these presentations? Early in the semester, you will be selecting a female scientist or engineer (broadly defined, living or dead) whose life, history, and work you will be researching. During the semester, you will have two opportunities to present your work on the scientist whom you have chosen. Your final paper in the course will be a research paper that describes the life and work of this same scientist.

Oral presentation 1: Introduce your classmates to your woman from a STEM field—who is she? Briefly, what did she do and when did she do it? Why are you interested in her? (five minutes)

Oral presentation 2: Re-introduce your classmates to your woman from a STEM field. Share more details about her work and life in the form of a story. Relate what you’ve learned about your scientist to what you have learned in class (eight minutes)

Note: Within 48 hours of your presentation, you will be required to turn in written biographies (1) and (2)—see final papers.

How will you be evaluated on the in-class presentations?

Criteria Unsatisfactory Underdeveloped Satisfactory Proficient Exceptional
Points 1 2 3 4 5
Organization Does not clearly define subject and purpose; introduction and conclusion not clear or well-organized Attempts to define purpose and subject; introduction and conclusion are there, but not developed Some clear purpose and logical sequence; introduction clearly introduces topic and conclusion summarizes key points Purpose and logical sequence; introduction is attention-getting, lays out the woman’s story well Introduction and conclusion are attention getting and strong; organization and logical sequence demonstrate creativity and understanding
Content Provides weak or no support of subject; gives insufficient support for ideas or conclusions; work not references Attempts to define purpose and subject; provides examples and facts, which do not clearly support the subject or story being told; includes thin data or evidence; some research referenced Some examples and facts; includes some data or evidence that supports story; material and references included are relevant to the overall message/ purpose Pertinent examples, facts; supports conclusions with evidence; research ideas are referenced; woman’s story relates to material learned in class; a new idea is introduced through this woman’s story Examples, facts, and “story” are exceptionally well tied to material learned in class; well-founded ideas about gender in science are introduced through this woman’s story and supported
Delivery- verbal skills Speaks in low volume and/ or monotonous tone; reads from notes; which causes audience to disengage Reads partly from the notes; speaks in uneven volume with little or no inflection; occasionally too slowly or quickly; audience not fully engaged Returns to notes regularly; speaks with satisfactory variation of volume and inflection; mostly does not speak to slowly or quickly Seldom looks at notes; speaks with fluctuation in volume and inflection to engage audience interest and emphasize key points Rarely refers to notes; tone and speaking weaves information into a story that engages audience not only in subject matter, but in asking questions
Delivery – non-verbal skills Holds little or no eye contact with audience; speaker lacks confidence and poise; timing inappropriate Minimal eye contact with audience; speaker displays some confidence, but also discomfort; stays within allowed time of presentation Consistent use of direct eye contact with audience; speaker is relatively confident; timing appropriate to presentation Holds attention of audience with the use of direct eye contact; speaker is poised and delivery is smooth and within time Audience is fully engaged during the entire presentation; speaker is confident and poised;
Audience awareness/ enthusiasm Shows no interest in topic; fails to increase audience understanding or knowledge of the topic Shows little or mixed feelings about topic; raises audience understanding and knowledge of few key points Shows some feelings about and engagement with topic; raises audience understanding and awareness of a many points Demonstrates enthusiasm about topic during most of presentation; increases audience understanding and knowledge; engages audience to ask questions Enthusiasm and engagement convinces audience to recognize importance of subject and to ask further many questions

Rubric originally developed from that provided by ReadWriteThink.org, a Thinkfinity website developed by the International Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English.