A common mistake during oral presentations is giving an overly detailed account of the methods and

procedures. It is not easy to communicate these complexities verbally. Listeners can retain only so much
information and may become lost if you give too much. Try to boil down a complex method to its
essential elements. To understand your study, listeners may need to know that you tested rats in an
operant chamber. They may become lost in the details if you try to explain that the rats were Long–
Evans females weighing between 250 and 350 grams and housed individually in 7 x 7 x 14–inch wire
cages, and that the chamber was 25 x 25 x 30 centimeters (cm), constructed from aluminum sheet and
fitted with a floor consisting of 0.8-cm-diameter stainless-steel bars spaced 1.2 cm apart. If your
procedure is complicated, diagram it and present it on a slide or hand-out rather than attempting to
explain it all verbally. A final rule to follow is to avoid being pedantic and pompous. Some presenters
are so consumed with self-importance that they choose to bore the audience with unnecessary details
of their lives and research. Pomposity is manifested when the presenter is 13 minutes into his or her
presentation and has yet to say anything about the methods and results of the study. Your audience will
appreciate your presentation more and get more out of it if you focus your presentation on central
issues of the research being reported.