BEFORE THE CONFERENCE:

In your introductory letter, you may want to include hints for the student about being prepared for their conference.

The students should:

Know their material thoroughly. (Be prepared!)

Use 3X5 or 4X6 cards with an outline of the speech on them. (Sheets of paper rattle and are a distraction to the audience.Some students will probably want to have a copy of the whole speech in front of them to refer to when they get lost or forget something. That's O.K., as long as they aren't reading it word for word. If they aren't prepared, there really isn't much that you can do about it except strongly encourage them to get with the program.)

Practice the speech before coming to the conference (when they deliver the speech for you, it should be a dress rehearsal, not a first time through.)

Students should also schedule conferences several days before they are to speak in class. This will give them time to find any extra information they need, and also more time to practice.

More timid students may want to meet with you again.

Conferences should be more than 15 minutes long.

DURING THE CONFERENCE:

Have the student give the speech two times.

1st time:

Outline the speech as they talk.

Take notes about clarity and style.

Talk to them about what you heard:

Where did you get confused?

Was the speech organized so that you could follow it?

What worked?

What didn't?

Did they cover the topic?

2nd time:

You may want to interrupt with questions when you are confused and have them write down options for making the speech clearer.

Carefully observe their delivery (style of speaking).

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR AS YOU LISTEN TO THE STUDENT?

Are they prepared? Do they know the material? Could they answer questions about their topic if they were asked?

Organization:

Basic three point outline (usually works, but is certainly not the only option.)

Smooth transition from point to point (sign posting)

Would it be easy for the audience to follow and understand?

Is it narrow? Or is the student trying to cover too much information?

Has the student familiarized him/her self with any props they will be using in the presentation?

Delivery:

Some students are naturally good speakers. Do not worry about them. They will (generally) be the ones who are prepared and well organized.

Poor delivery usually is a sign of poor preparation, especially if they are reading the speech word for word.These students either need to practice more, do more research, or reorganize their speech. That is why the conference should be held several days before the actual presentation.

Good Delivery:

Maintain good posture, no leaning on the podium or table

Enunciate clearly Speak loudly enough so everyone in the room can hear

Maintain eye contact with the audience (the back wall of the room does not count) The only time they should read straight from the cards is when they are reading a direct quote (preferably).

Appropriate tone: Do they sound preachy?

Appropriate body language: Do their movements seem natural or "jerky."

Do they use gestures to emphasize, or for no apparent reason. (This is highly subjective. If they seem obnoxious to you, then they will probably be obnoxious to the class. Use diplomacy in broaching this subject with students.)

Watch for filler words such as um, uh, well, like, etc...

Audience awareness:

The same principles that dictate audience awareness in an essay apply here.

If you are listening to a highly technical speech where the student uses terms that you don't understand at all, or if you simply aren't familiar with the subject material,write down the words you don't understand as you listen. After the first time through, show the list to the student and ask him/her to make sure that the class is familiar with the terms and their usage. You will just have to trust the student to know if the terms are appropriate. Tell them that it is very important for the audience to understand exactly what they are saying.

After the first time through the speech, ask the student to explain the information in "layman's terms." If they cannot do this, then they probably do not understand the material themselves and need to talk with the professor or do more research. They may be trying to simply impress the professor.

Remind the student to use specific, concrete examples to get the point across (this may not always be appropriate, but is usually helpful).

If possible, it might be helpful to the students if you hold your conference in the room where they will be making the presentation, but if the room isn't available then don't worry about it.

This information was compiled by J. J. Green (RA Class of 93-94).