Pre-Sessional Courses: Academic Presentations

By the end of the course, students will

• know how to prepare an effective academic presentation

• be able to explain their research more clearly to a interdisciplinary audience

• have a greater awareness of how to deliver an academic presentation, verbally, vocally and visually

• be more confident in speaking before an audience

• have enhanced their 'presentation vocabulary'  

• be able to participate more confidently in seminar and conference settings

• know how to moderate questions and interventions in seminar and conference settings

The course includes work on the following:

• structure of presentation

• confidence building

• use of voice

• use of gesture

• body language

• visual aids

• managing the post-presentation discussion

• language appropriate to academic presentations

The instructor will analyse the class needs at the beginning of the course and will accordingly give more or less weight to the various areas above. 

Activities in and out of class include:

• video-clips

• discussions

• controlled exercises (vocal, verbal, and visual)

• mini-presentations

• self, peer, and expert observation

• reflective activities

Fergal Treanor specialises in grammar and advanced language learning, as well as academic & policy writing. He studied German and Russian at Trinity College Dublin, and went on to complete a Masters and Ph.D in Applied Linguistics. Before joining the EUI in 2017, he taught English at the University of Wuppertal. 

By the end of the course, students will

• know how to prepare an effective academic presentation

• be able to explain their research more clearly to a interdisciplinary audience

• have a greater awareness of how to deliver an academic presentation, verbally, vocally and visually

• be more confident in speaking before an audience

• have enhanced their 'presentation vocabulary'  

• be able to participate more confidently in seminar and conference settings

• know how to moderate questions and interventions in seminar and conference settings

The course includes work on the following:

• structure of presentation

• confidence building

• use of voice

• use of gesture

• body language

• visual aids

• managing the post-presentation discussion

• language appropriate to academic presentations

The instructor will analyse the class needs at the beginning of the course and will accordingly give more or less weight to the various areas above. 

Activities in and out of class include:

• video-clips

• discussions

• controlled exercises (vocal, verbal, and visual)

• mini-presentations

• self, peer, and expert observation

• reflective activities

Veronika Dvořáčková teaches English for specific purposes at the Masaryk University Language Centre. She holds both a Master's degree and a Doctorate in the didactics of English from Masaryk University. Her professional experience includes serving as a court translator. Her primary research interest is in communication genres within spoken medical discourse.

Daniel Gerrard teaches English for academic and specific purposes at Masaryk University Language Centre. He has an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester and is currently studying for a PhD in Foreign Language Didactics at Masaryk University. His main research interests are in academic writing and corpus linguistics. 

By the end of the course, students will

• know how to prepare an effective academic presentation

• be able to explain their research more clearly to a interdisciplinary audience

• have a greater awareness of how to deliver an academic presentation, verbally, vocally and visually

• be more confident in speaking before an audience  

• know how to moderate questions and interventions in seminar and conference settings

The course includes work on the following:

• structure of presentation

• confidence building

• use of voice

• use of gesture

• body language

• visual aids

• managing the post-presentation discussion

The instructor will analyse the class needs at the beginning of the course and will accordingly give more or less weight to the various areas above.  

Activities in and out of class include:

• video-clips

• discussions

• controlled exercises (vocal, verbal, and visual)

• mini-presentations

• self, peer, and expert observation

• reflective activities

Mary Greenshields teaches English for Academic Purposes at the EUI Centre for Academic Literacies and Languages. She is an experienced post-secondary teacher, an academic librarian, and a researcher pursuing a PhD. In addition to a master’s in library and information sciences, Mary has a master’s in English. She has published research articles, co-edited a book, and works as a freelance editor and peer-reviewer. Mary is interested in supporting researchers’ academic literacy and writing skills.