Subject/Point : Academic Speaking

Instructor : Windy Besthia, M.Pd.

1. What is Academic Speaking?

Academic speaking is mainly focused on three key areas: presentations, seminars and tutorials. Presentations
need to be well structured, logical, and well signposted with clear visuals. Seminars need to be well prepared for
in advance with a good understanding of key material to discuss. Seminars are a central part of learning at
university through pre-reading texts and post lecture discussions and therefore students need to be able to
interact with other students effectively. Tutorials are usually a group or one-to-one meeting with your tutor to
discuss an outline of an essay, issues you are experiencing or questions about previous lectures / lessons
(Wilson, 2022).

Academic Presentation

1. Good Presentation

Giving a good academic presentation

1. Think about the aim of your presentation and what you want to achieve.
2. Concentrate on your audience – who they are and what they (want to) know.
3. Choose the topic that interests you – involvement and motivation are key to confidence.
4. Give your presentation a clear and logical organization so that everyone can follow.
5. Present information visually– this adds interest to your talk and makes it easier to follow
6. Practise giving your presentation until you are familiar with the key points; this way you may discover
any potential problems and check the timing. Besides, practice will also make you feel more confident.

2. Delivery

Delivery
1. Cope with nerves – breathe deeply; it calms you down and stops you from talking too quickly.
2. Control your voice – speak clearly and try to sound interesting by changing intonation and rhythm.
3. Watch your body language – try to give the impression that you are relaxed and confident.
4. Maintain an eye contact with your audience – it keeps them interested in what you are saying. For this
reason, you should not read.
5. Provide visual information – but do not give too many facts at a time, give your audience enough time
to take them in.
6. Keep attention by asking questions which you are going to answer yourself.

3. Structure/ Organization

Basic outline / structure

1. Introduction – introduce the topic / some basic background / Thesis ( your stance or argument)
2. Outline – provide basic bullet points on the key parts of the presentation
3. Main body – divide the main body into sections
4. Evaluation – always include evaluation. This can be a separate section or part of the main body.
5. Conclusion – summarise key points, restate the thesis and make a recommendation / suggestion /
prediction.
 6. Reference List – create one slide with all your sources
7. Questions – be prepared to answer questions

4. Signposting in Presentations

Greeting the audience

Good morning/afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning/afternoon, everyone.

Expressing the purpose

My purpose/objective/aim today is...
What I want to do this morning/afternoon/today is...
I'm here today to...

Giving the structure

This talk is divided into four main parts.
To start with/Firstly, I'd like to look at...
Then/Secondly, I'll be talking about...
Thirdly...
My fourth point will be about...
Finally, I'll be looking at...

Giving the timing

My presentation/talk/lecture will take/last about 20 minutes.

Handling questions
At the end of my talk, there will be a chance to ask questions.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you have at the end of my presentation.

Visual aids
As you can see here...
Here we can see...
If we look at this slide...
This slide shows...
If you look at the screen, you'll see...
This table/diagram/chart/slide shows...
I'd like you to look at this...
Let me show you...
Let's (have a) look at...
On the right/left you can see...

Transitions
Let's now move on to/turn to...
I now want to go on to...
This leads/brings me to my next point, which is...
I'd now like to move on to/turn to...
So far we have looked at... Now I'd like to...

Giving examples
Let me give you an example...
Such as...
For instance...
A good example of this is...

Summarising
What I'm trying to say is...
Let me just try and sum that up before we move on to...
So far, I've presented...

Digressing
I might just mention...
Incidentally...

Summing up
Summing up...
To summarise...
So, to sum up...
To recap...
Let me now sum up.

Concluding
Let me end by saying...
I'd like to finish by emphasising...
In conclusion, I'd like to say...
Finally, may I say...

Closing
Thank you for your attention/time.
Thank you (for listening/very much).

Questions
If you have any questions or comments, I'll be happy to answer them now.
If there are any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
Are there any more questions?

2. Difference Between Spoken and Written Language

Language can be mainly divided into two main aspects: spoken language and written language. There are
many differences between spoken and written language. Spoken language involves speaking and listening
skills whereas written language involves reading and writing skills. The main difference between spoken
and written language is that written language is more formal and complex than spoken language.
What is Spoken Language

Spoken language is the language we speak. It is often spontaneous and transient. Spoken language is used for
interactions; the two speakers or the listener and the speaker are often in the same place. Thus, they can correct
any mistake they make and change their utterances as they go along.

With the exception of scripted speeches, spoken language tends to be full of incomplete sentences, repetitions,
interruptions, and corrections. Speakers also use gestures, tone, pitch, volume, etc. to create additional meaning
in spoken language. Unless the conversation is recorded, there is no record of the spoken language conversation
that took place.

What is Written Language

Written language is the language we use to write. The main two language skills used in written language is
reading and writing skills. Written language is not transient like spoken language; it tends to be permanent since
there are written records of it.

Once you have written something, it is not very easy to change it. Another interesting thing about written
language is that the reader and writer are usually communicating across time and space, unlike in spoken
language.

Written language is typically more formal, complex and intricate than spoken language. It may contain longer
sentences in complex tenses. However, some forms of written language like instant messages and informal
letters are closer to spoken language. Written language can make use of features like punctuation, headings,
layouts, colors, etc. to make a message clearer. Since written language does not receive immediate feedback, it
should be very clear and unambiguous.

3. Non Verbal Communication

What is Nonverbal Communication?

Nonverbal Communication refers to communication that is produced by some means other than words (eye
contact, body language, or vocal cues. In other words, communication without using words, such as gestures,
body language, the facial expressions is called non-verbal communication.
What are 5 examples of nonverbal communication?
Nonverbal Communication refers to communication that is produced by some means other than words (eye
contact, body language, or vocal cues. In other words, communication without using words, such as gestures,
body language, the facial expressions is called non-verbal communication.

What are advantages of non-verbal communication?

These are some important Advantages of Non verbal Communication: 1. Easy Presentation, 2. Substituting, 3.
Help to Illiterate People, 4. Help to Handicapped People, 5. Attractive Presentation, 6. Quick Expression of
Message, 7. Reducing Wastage of Time etc.

What are the disadvantages of verbal communication?

These are some disadvantages of verbal communication: 1. Vague and Imprecise, 2. Long Conversations Are
Not Possible, 3. Difficult to Understand, 4. Costly, 5. Distortion of Information etc.

What are the 5 functions of non verbal communication?

Following are 5 functions of non verbal communication: 1. Conveys Meaning, 2. Influences Others, 3.
Regulates Conversational Flow, 4. Affects Relationships, 5. Expresses Our Identities etc.
4. Describing charts, graphs, and diagrams in a presentation.

Graphs, Charts & Diagrams

Data can be represented in many ways. The 4 main types of graphs are a bar graph or bar chart, line
graph, pie chart, and diagram.
Bar graphs are used to show relationships between different data series that are independent of each
other. In this case, the height or length of the bar indicates the measured value or frequency. Below,
you can see the example of a bar graph which is the most widespread visual for presenting statistical
data.
Line graphs represent how data has changed over time. This type of charts is especially useful when
you want to demonstrate trends or numbers that are connected. For example, how sales vary within one
year. In this case, financial vocabulary will come in handy. Besides, line graphs can show dependencies
between two objects during a particular period.

Pie charts are designed to visualize how a whole is divided into various parts. Each segment of the pie
is a particular category within the total data set. In this way, it represents a percentage distribution.
Diagram is a plan, drawing, or outline created to illustrate how separate parts work and overlap
at the connecting points.

How to begin a description

Once you create a fascinating graph for your presentation, it is time to know how to describe graphs,
charts, and diagrams. To catch your audience’s attention from the very beginning, you can use the
following phrases for introduction:
 Let me show you this bar graph…
 Let’s turn to this diagram…
 I’d like you to look at this map…
 If you look at this graph, you will notice…
 Let’s have a look at this pie chart…
 If you look at this line chart, you will understand…
 To illustrate my point, let’s look at some charts…

How to describe diagrams and other visuals: naming the parts

To describe diagrams or any other type of graphs as clearly as possible, you should name each visual
element. For example:
 The vertical axis shows…
 The horizontal axis represents…
 This curve illustrates…
 The solid line shows…
 The shaded area describes…
 This colored segment is for…
 The red bar…

How to describe bar graphs

Bar graphs transform the data into separate bars or columns. Generally, this type of visuals have
categories on the x-axis and the numbers on the y-axis. So, you can compare statistical data between
different groups.
The bar graphs show which category is the largest and which is the smallest one. Each group should be
independent so that the changes in one do not influence others. The bars or columns can be drawn
either vertically or horizontally, as it doesn’t make any difference.
The words used to describe bar chart are pretty similar to ones used for the line charts. Let’s have a
look at the exam question to IELTS writing test, as it’s one of the major English-language tests for non-
native English speakers in the world:
And here is an excellent example of writing about bar graphs prepared by the British Council as an
answer to this exam question. You can also use the following vocabulary to talk about bar charts used
in your presentation:

How to describe line graphs

Now, when you know how to describe bar charts, what about line graphs? This type of charts converts
information into points on a grid that is connected with a line to represent trends, changes, or
relationship between objects, numbers, dates, etc. These lines show movement over time affected by
the increase or decrease in the key factors.

To express the movement of the line, you should use appropriate verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs depending on the kind of action you need to show. For this, you should use the following
vocabulary:
Verbs: rise, increase, grow, go up to, climb, boom, peak, fall, decline, decrease, drop, dip, go down,
reduce, level up, remain stable, no change, remain steady, stay constant, stay, maintain the same level,
crash, collapse, plunge, plummet.
Adjectives: sharp, rapid, huge, dramatic, substantial, considerable, significant, slight, small, minimal,
massive.
Adverbs: dramatically, rapidly, hugely, massive, sharply, steeply, considerably, substantially,
significantly, slightly, minimally, markedly.
There is also a list of adverbs to describe the speed of a change: rapidly, quickly, swiftly, suddenly,
steadily, gradually, slowly.

To help you understand how you can use these words in your presentation speech, pay attention to the
sample of a line chart with the exam question for IELTS:

The appropriate vocabulary below will help you understand how to describe such charts:
How to describe pie charts
The pie chart is primarily used to illustrate how different parts make up a whole. The best way to
present your data in a pie chart is to compare the categories with each other. The following comparison
words can be used interchangeably:
 to compare
 compared to
 as opposed to
 versus
 more than
 the majority of
 only a small monitory
 greater than
 less than

Here we have an example of a pie chart that represents how internet users aged 16+ prefer to
browse the web:
 This example demonstrates the best way to summarize data by selecting and reporting the main
features:

5. Language Phrases in Group Presentation