Presentations should take about 20 minutes of class time. Your presentation will be followed by class discussion, and your aim is to equip the class to discuss a question or questions of your choosing.

Grading for the presentation gives equal emphasis to content and to public speaking skills.

Content:

You will normally have been assigned material that contains much more than you can cover in the time alloted. An important part of the exercise is selecting and organizing the parts of the material that you will present.

I recommend working backwards. First, figure out what question you want the class to discuss. Then figure out what you need as setup. Use the question as your inclusion criterion: it should provide the class with everything it needs to have an intelligent and informed philosophical discussion about the topic you have chosen. (If you leave something out, or if at some point your audience stops following, your presentation will be followed by a long and awkward silence.) However, you don't need to provide anything else; if something in the reading does not contribute to the setup, leave it out.

Make sure it's absolutely clear what question you want the class to address.

If, when you are working through the reading, you find that you don't understand it, don't try to bluff your way through; that way lies disaster. Turn up during my office hours or make an appointment. Leave yourself time to spare: start reading and thinking about the presentation materials early.

Speaking skills:

• Speak slowly, clearly, and audibly. Make sure to pause as appropriate. Don't speak in a monotone.
• Maintain eye contact with your audience.
• Be aware of your body language, and of how much space you are occupying.
• It's often useful to have a handout or audiovisual aids.
• Don't ask the class if they have understood -- and then take their silence as a signal to proceed. People are usually unwilling to admit incomprehension or confusion.

Let me know, at least a few days ahead of time, what the drift of your presentation is, so that I can work it into my lesson plan.