References A list of references that have been numbered in the text must be included in the
report. Use the following format examples:For Books:Author, title, publisher, place of publication, date (year), and page(s).
For Journal Articles:Author, title of article (enclosed in quotation marks), name of journal,
volume number, issue number, year, and page(s).
For Internet Materials:Author, title, date, and URL address.4.6 Oral Communication and Presentation
We communicate orally to each other all the time. Informal communication is part of our
everyday life. We may talk about sports, weather, what is happening around the world, or a
homework assignment. Some people are better at expressing themselves than others are.
Sometimes we say things that are misunderstood and the consequences could be unpleasant.
When it comes to formal presentations, there are certain rules and strategies that you need
to follow. Your oral presentation may show the results of all your efforts regarding a project
that you may have spent months or a year to develop. If the listener cannot follow how a
product was designed, or how the analysis was performed, then all your efforts become
insignificant. It is very important that all information be conveyed in a manner easily under-
stood by the listener.
The oral technical presentation in many ways is similar to a written one. You need to be
well organized and have an outline of your presentation ready, similar to the format for a writ-
ten report. It may be a good idea to write down what you are planning to present. Remember
it is harder to erase or correct what you say after you have said it than to write it down on a piece
of paper and correct it before you say it. You want to make every effort to ensure that what is
said (or sent) is what is understood (or received) by the listener.
Rehearse your presentation before you deliver it to a live audience. You may want to ask a
friend to listen and provide helpful suggestions about your style of presentation, delivery, con-
tent of the talk, and so on.
Present the information in a way that is easily understood by your audience. Avoid using
terminology or phrases that may be unfamiliar to listeners. You should plan so that you won’t
overexplain key concepts and ideas, because those who are really interested in a specific area of
your talk can always ask questions later.
Try to keep your talk to about half an hour or less because the attention span of most
people is about 20 to 30 minutes. If you have to give a longer talk, then you may want to
mix your presentation with some humor or tell some interesting related story to keep your
audience’s attention. Maintain eye contact with all of your audience, not just one or two
people. Don’t ever have your back to the audience for too long! Use good visual aids. Use
presentation software such as PowerPoint to prepare your talk. When possible, incorporate
charts, graphs, animated drawings, short videos, or a model. When available, to demon-
strate concepts for new products, you can make use of prototyping technology and have a
prototype of the product on hand for your presentation. You may also want to have copies
of the outline, along with notes on the important concepts and findings, ready to hand out100 Chapter 4 Engineering Communication
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