Preparing your 3MT®

PresentationOr, how to make BIG ideas

clear, accessible, and engaging

Ada SharpeJanuary 2013

Basic info on the 3MT® at Laurier

https://www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=36&p=22924

O Introductory overview of the competition provided in the document “Getting Ready for the 3MT”

Objectives of this workshop

O Provide an overview O Examine the criteria O Suggest 5 steps to help get you

startedO Study the 7 rhetorical moves of a

winning 3MT®O Look at specific examples O Connect you to resources

Your challenge . . .1. To present complex research material in an engaging, compelling way and in a very short period of time

2. To articulate the significance of your research to a broad and non-specialist audience

3. To stimulate your listeners’ interest with your oratory energy and skill

3MT® RulesOne single static PowerPoint slide is permitted (no transitions, animations or movement of any kind)

No additional electronic media or props of any kind shall be used (i.e. no sound and video files, no costumes or music)

Presentations shall be no longer than 3 minutes and competitors exceeding this limit will be disqualified

Decisions of the adjudicating panel are final

What does a winning 3MT® presentation

look like?

Judging CriteriaO A panel of five judges, drawn from across the

Laurier community, will evaluate the 3MT® orations according to a rubric of criteria

O Each category of evaluation is weighted equally

O As the presenter, you need to give each category equal consideration

Comprehension means. . .

O A clear explanation of the research project

O Stating the method and objectives of the research and addressing the evidence

O Clearly articulating the significance of the research in accessible terms

O Organizing your ideas

Engagement means. . .

O Stimulating audience interest in the research

O Presenting the research as significant and purposeful and not trivializing or ‘dumbing down’ content

O Demonstrating enthusiasm O Capturing and engaging audience

attention throughout

Communication means. . .

O Explaining the research in jargon-free language appropriate to a non-specialist audience

O Defining key terms and providing background information

O Speaking at an even pace and giving yourself sufficient time

O Speaking audibly and clearly, and appearing comfortable and confident

Preparing yourself

1. Look at examples of your own writing in which you have developed and expressed the main ideas of your research

O Dissertation/thesis proposals, chapter drafts, abstracts, scholarship applications, term papers, brainstorming notes

Take your writing apart

2. Distill the main problems, issues, and questions addressed by the research

O Highlight and underline key words

O Cut out everything but the most central ideas and evidence

O Ask yourself, why is what I’m saying significant?

Look at the broader picture

3. Step back and observe the broader scholarly conversation on this topic

4. Consider what you are saying in response to this conversation and how your ideas depart from or revise existing research

O Review the most recent contributions to the field

O They say/I sayO How does your

research fit in with what is out there?

Why does this matter?

5. Reflect on the significance of your intervention

O Push every idea by forcing yourself to complete the phrase, “and this is significant because. . .”

The Structure of a 3MT® Presentation

7 Rhetorical Moves

1. HookO Invite your audience into your topicO Offer a point of entry: a common

experience, perception or assumption, a familiar problem, a personal anecdote or human interest story

O Begin with an image or a metaphor for people to latch on to

Many people are familiar with. . . The person on my slide is. . . I used to think that. . . . Imagine you are standing. . .When I was a child, . . . We have all experienced. . .

2. ContextO What is the broader conversation? O Set out what scholars have said about this

topicO What do we already know, understand,

assume? O What are current solutions or approaches to

this problem?

Scholars understand that. . .Much current research focuses on the idea that. . .Research into [this] has laid the groundwork for my thesis that. . . Groundbreaking contributions have revealed that. . .We know that. . . We have tended to assume that. . .

3. InspirationO Your contribution: respond to existing ideas

and research O State the problem, gap, or oversight that

needs to be addressedO Clarify what you seek to understand

through your research and how this addresses the problem, gap, or oversight

I take the approach that. . .This has led me to ask. . .But what about. . . ?How do we address the remaining problem that. . .?Still, I was left to wonder. . .

4. OriginalityO Explain the original contribution you are

making to address the problem or questionO Contrast existing methods with your

innovative approachO Highlight what is different and innovative

about your approach

While many scholars have focused on [this], I examine. . . I suggest that we adopt another perspective. . .My research has revealed evidence otherwiseBut current research overlooks the fact that. . .

5. Process/MethodO Elucidate how you will go about

implementing your original approachO Point to your evidence O Name the actual and theoretical tools

you will use to interpret this evidenceO Summarize what you hope to learn or

have learned from the process

I begin by. . .I do this by. . .Comparing [this] and [this] lets me see. . .I apply. . . I use. . .

6. ComplicationO Address the challenges you have faced in

your researchO Have you faced a major obstacle?O Consider opposing points of view and

biases: what are other ways of approaching this problem?

We still, however, need to think about. . .The problem […] remains unanswered. . .Some might argue at this point that. . .But what about . . .?This has posed a challenge in that. . .

7. ApplicationO At the broadest level, what does your

research help us understand? O What will change in light of the original

knowledge you are forging?

My research lays the basis for. . . My research complicates the common belief that. . .My research offers solutions to. . .My research has application not only in [this] but in the related

areas of. . .My research overturns age-old ideas about. . .My research demands that we see this from another perspective. . .

Winning ExamplesSpot the rhetorical moves

Expressing yourselfO What strengths

do these presentations share?

O Jargon-free languageO Speaking clearlyO Getting to the pointO Being expressive and

creative O Neither over-stating or

under-stating the caseO Emphasizing the

problem and the need for a solution

Writing Support

From February 4 to March 6, 2013:

•Benefit from a one-on-one tutoring session with an experienced writing tutor at Laurier’s Writing Centre to hone your writing and oral presentation skills

To book an appointment: sign up at the January workshops or call or visit the

Writing Centre