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Chapter 11
Planning, Organizing, and Presenting Small
Group Oral Presentations
Summary
This chapter is designed to introduce students to the following points: three kinds of public
presentations often given by small groups, considerations for presenting as a group under those
three circumstances, and the basic steps involved in preparing and delivering public
presentations. Although students may find it difficult to imagine now, there is an increasing
likelihood that they will be involved in some sort of public group presentation at some point.
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to accomplish the following objectives:
1. Explain the different choices members can make in planning, organizing, and presenting
their work.
2. Compare and contrast the three types of public discussions.
3. Discuss the role of the moderator in any type of public discussion.
4. Explain the essential parts of the introduction, the body, and the conclusion of an oral
presentation.
5. Compare and contrast the four methods of presenting a speech.
6. Describe and apply relevant criteria to evaluate an oral presentation.
Sample Lecture Notes
Case Study: Food for the Homeless
• Six students in a small group communication class spent more than half the semester
discussing the problems faced by a local homeless shelter.
• One especially significant problem they noted was the great reduction in contributions,
especially of food, during the economic recession.
• As part of the solution section of their report, the students recommended a way of getting
more edible leftovers from local restaurants to the shelter, a program they had discovered
already in operation in a few other communities across the nation.
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I. The Planning Stage
A. Your Audience
• Audience analysis is a systematic approach to gathering as much information as
possible about the audience for the purpose of tailoring the presentation to the
information that is uncovered in that analysis.
o If an audience is unfamiliar with a topic, stick to basic facts and explain why the
audience should care about the topic.
o If an audience is opposed to the group’s position, find ways to establish common
ground and relate to the audiences’ perspectives.
o If the audience is strongly against the group’s main points, then make sure to build
a sound case for the points.
o One can gather information in many ways: interviews and surveys utilizing both
open-ended and closed-ended questions.
o If one has a captive audience, one should be sure the presentation is enthusiastic
and has information on how the topic is relevant.
B. Your Occasion
• Depending on who has invited one’s group to speak, one may be able to get much of the
information about the audience and the occasion from this lead contact person. One
should be aware of the following:
o Room arrangements and technology available
o Time of the event and time allotted for one to speak
o Major purpose or context of the event
o Number of expected audience members
o If there are specific goals of the presentation
C. Your Purpose
• An informative speech is a speech given with the primary purpose of teaching
something to an audience.
• A persuasive speech is a type of speech containing a call to action for the audience.
• An entertainment speech is a speech with the main purpose of amusing the audience.
D. Your Subject or Topic
• The best topics come from one’s own experiences.
• One should keep the time limit in mind when selecting what to say about a subject.
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E. Member Strengths and Fears
• Knowing the strengths and fears that your members may have with oral presentations
will help in the organizing and presenting stages.
o What information does each individual group member have about the topic that
has been chosen for discussion?
o What contacts or research leads do they have as a group?
o In addition to looking at the strengths of four to five members, the group has to
focus on member difficulties in making oral presentations.
F. Supplemental Logistics
• Near the end of the planning stage, one’s group should be more knowledgeable about
what it needs.
o What supplies, if any, will the group need?
o Is the hardware or technology needed available in the room that the group will be
presenting in?
o Bring everything that could possibly be needed on the day of presentations—be
over-prepared.
G. Types of Group Oral Presentations
Panel Discussion
• A panel discussion is one of the three kinds of group public discussions, in which
panel members often bring different points of view to the discussion.
• The procedure to follow for a panel discussion includes the following:
o Select a moderator to maintain order, see that all the major issues are
covered, and ensure that everyone gets to speak.
▪ A moderator is a participant in a public group presentation whose main
responsibility is to regulate the discussion and guide any audience
participation.
o Before the discussion, make an outline of all the important points the group
wants to cover and decide in what order to cover them.
o Make appropriate physical arrangements:
▪ Seat panelists so they can see each other and have eye contact with the
audience; a semicircle is appropriate.
▪ Seat panelists at a table or desk so it is easy for them to write notes.
▪ Identify panelists with a name card on the table in front of them or their
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names on a blackboard behind them.
▪ If the discussion is to be held in a large auditorium, place microphones
for panelists to share.
▪ Make provisions for panelists to present visual aids.
o Panelists should not hesitate to disagree with each other but should do so
politely.
Symposium
• A symposium is one of the three kinds of group public discussions in which
participants deliver uninterrupted speeches on a selected topic.
• The procedure for a symposium is as follows:
o Select a moderator to introduce the speakers, introduce the topic, and make
concluding remarks.
o Select a small group of experts to present different aspects of the issue.
o Make appropriate physical arrangements.
o If necessary, work through any conflict or disagreement in advance,
particularly if it is important to present a united front.
Forum Discussion
• A forum discussion is defined as a structured audience participation after a speech,
symposium, panel, or debate.
o Some suggestions for the moderator include the following:
▪ Let audience members know that a forum will follow the panel or
symposium so they can prepare their questions or comments.
▪ Make sure everyone understands any special rules of the forum segment.
▪ Make sure everyone knows when the forum will end, and do not accept
questions once that time has been reached.
❖ Offer a warning before the last question or two.
▪ Try to ensure that a diversity of views is offered.
▪ Make sure everyone can hear questions or comments.
▪ Following the last question or comment, offer a brief summary and thank
everyone for their participation.
• Class Discussion: Use the “Apply Now” textbox on page 11-11 to help students
understand which situations lend themselves to which type of presentation.
II. The Organizing Stage
A. Delegate Duties
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• Delegating duties is not solely the job of the leader.
• After the group takes stock of each member’s strengths and fears, it is important to
determine what each member feels most comfortable with and where his or her
presentation strengths lie.
B. Gathering Verbal and Visual Materials
Verbal Materials
• Listed are three of the most important types of verbal supporting materials:
o Examples
o Statistics
o Testimonies
Visual and Auditory Materials
• Here are a number of possibilities that can enhance one’s presentation:
o Object
o Model
o Demonstration
o Picture or video
o Map
o Transparency
o Chart
o Handout
o Chalkboard
o Multimedia
C. Organizing Materials and the Presentation
Introduction
• An introduction is the first of three components of a speech designed to catch the
attention of the audience and show a need to listen and clarify the main point of the
speech.
• An introduction has three essential elements: an attention step, a need step, and a
thesis statement.
• First, one’s goal is to motivate the audience to listen, and that is called the attention
step. One can choose from a number of ways to capture an audience’s attention:
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o Use humor
o Ask a question
o Make a striking statement
o Offer a striking quotation
o Tell a short story
o Provide an activity
Body
• A body is the second of three components of a speech where the main ideas are
introduced and developed.
• The following are some of the most common patterns of organization:
o Problem-solution
o Chronological
o Spatial
o Cause and effect or effect to cause
o Topical
Conclusion
• A conclusion is the third of three components of a speech that summarizes the ideas a
speaker wishes the audience to remember.
• Conclusions are brief (about one minute) yet should not be underestimated in their
potential to leave a lasting impression on the audience.
III. The Presenting Stage
A. Checking your Language
• Speakers should strive for a style that is clear, vivid, and appropriate.
o Clarity requires language that is concrete rather than abstract.
o Vividness attracts people’s attention.
▪ Using figurative language, repetition, and amplification (supporting details
that develop or reinforce an idea) will add vividness to one’s presentation
and make it easier for the audience to pay attention.
o One should make sure that language choices are appropriate for the audience and
the occasion.
B. Practice Aloud
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• Manuscript: A speech read word-for-word from a manuscript
• Memorization: A speech delivered from memory
• Impromptu speech: A speech delivered without preparation or notes
• Extemporaneous speech: A speech that is prepared and delivered from notes and not
read from a manuscript
IV. What Makes a Good Oral Presentation?
• Four classical canons of rhetoric:
o Invention: A canon of rhetoric identifying the raw materials of a speech and how
they are adapted to a particular audience
o Arrangement: A canon of rhetoric specifying how a speech is ordered or put together
o Style: A canon of rhetoric referring to the individual manner in which a speech is
delivered
o Delivery: A canon of rhetoric pertaining to how the presentation is given
• These elements can be used to render an overall evaluation of any presentation, to compare
it to other presentations one has heard, or to offer suggestions for improvement.
Learning Activities
1. Take 5–10 minutes to have the students offer opinions on what would keep their interest
and engage them in a public presentation if they were part of the audience. You might ask
if there are any students who have already been audience members at panels, symposiums,
or forum presentations and elicit first-hand experiences from them. Encourage the students
to imagine being in the audience at these types of presentations, and ask them what would
engage them and what would make them averse to the experience. Some students may
have a hard time imagining a situation that they have not personally experienced, so you
may need to provide them with scenarios to engage their imagination.
Once the class has a number of opinions regarding what would be an interesting group
presentation, you can facilitate a discussion based on the text, in which students brainstorm
behaviors and practices that presenters should employ for effective group presentations.
(As an alternative, you can record video examples of each of the types of group
presentations from C-SPAN, which often airs all three types, and spur the discussion after
playing your tape.)
2. Select five students to perform a panel discussion in front of the class. Appoint a moderator
and then give the group a controversial topic (e.g., one-time tuition increase to help fund a
new stadium at the local university or equal funding for women’s athletic programs). Give
diverse viewpoints on the issue to the four remaining students and ask them to leave the
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classroom for 20 minutes to develop their arguments and discuss how they will present the
panel discussion. The students should be reminded to follow the text’s guidelines. While
the group is preparing, you can show the rest of the class an example of a panel discussion
on video (refer to the activity above) or further discuss the principles of group
presentations while arranging seats and tables in the front of the classroom.
After 20 minutes, have the group come in and begin the panel discussion. Allow them to
discuss the topic at issue for 10–15 minutes, helping them at points where they get stuck.
You can also choose to freeze frame the discussion at teachable moments—the moderator
is or is not traffic-copping, the moderator is or is not acknowledging all panel discussants,
a discussant is or is not disagreeing respectfully, and so forth.
After the discussion, ask the audience to engage in a forum activity, asking questions and
making comments relevant to the topic as though this were a real post-panel forum. Help
the moderator facilitate the forum, and encourage the audience to be somewhat contentious
to simulate actual audiences at real post-panel forums.
Later, you can process the experience with the class, highlighting that 20 minutes is not
enough preparation time to present an effective panel discussion and any other relevant
observations you and the students make.
3. Assign the class to attend a panel discussion, symposium, or forum that you know is
happening (e.g., on campus, at City Hall, or the Chamber of Commerce). Assign them to
write a 2–4 page critical evaluation of the experience based on what they have learned in
the text. On the assignment due date, elicit comments from the class about their experience,
highlighting the principles given in the text.
4. Divide the class into four groups. Assign each group one of the four canons that are
addressed in the text, and give them 10–15 minutes to discuss the “do’s” and “don’ts”
regarding each. Write their responses on the board under do and don’t columns for each
canon. Follow up with lecture material covering credible sources for supporting evidence,
considerations for audience analysis (drawing from Chapter 5’s coverage of sensitivity to
diversity), language and delivery appropriate to the audience and occasion, and so forth.
5. Impromptu speeches: Have students give impromptu speeches to understand what it is like
to be in front of the class. Be sure to choose topics that are not serious to put students more
at ease. For example, “Should the toilet paper roll be placed on the hinge so the paper rolls
down or over?” can be discussed. The point of this activity is to get a feel for being in front
of the class. This way, you can identify some potential pre-presentation delivery problems
and work with the students on the potential obstacles.
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Types of Group Presentations
Panel: Conversation among experts
• Topics outlined in advance
• Controversy encouraged
• Moderator acts as traffic cop
Symposium: Individual uninterrupted presentations
• Different aspects of topic discussed by panelists
• No interaction among panelists
• Moderator introduces topic and panelists
Forum: Questions and comments from audience
• Different viewpoints encouraged
• Questions directed at individuals or at entire group
• Moderator selects audience participants
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Guidelines for Technology
1. Don’t let technology dictate content.
2. Ensure that special effects have a purpose.
3. Keep wording clear and simple.
4. Keep a consistent design.
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Patterns of Organization
Problem-Solution
State the problem, discuss its causes and significance, and then present proposal as a solution to
the problem
Chronological
Discussion of things as they happen in time
Spatial
Discussion of things according to where they physically exist
Cause to effect or effect to cause
Describe a problem or topic and then describe what happens as a result of the problem or topic or
describe the results and then identify the problem or topic
Topical
Examines the inherent parts of a topic or its essential components
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Canons of Rhetoric
Invention
Raw materials and adaptation to audience
Arrangement
Organization
Style
Choice of language
Delivery
Oral presentation