Are you thinking of or preparing a research paper to present in a scientific conference soon?
The need to emphasize your theme is of key importance.
In order to give proper emphasis to the theme, you must lay the foundation when selecting and organizing your material. If you use only what supports your theme and if you follow principles involved in preparing a good presentation, you will almost automatically emphasize the theme.
Repetition can help to reinforce the theme. In classical music, a theme is a melody repeated often enough to characterize the entire composition. The melody does not always reappear in the same form. Sometimes only a phrase or two occur, occasionally a variation on the theme is used, but in one way or another, the composer skillfully weaves his melody in and out of the composition until it permeates the whole. That is the way it should be with the theme of a talk. Repetition of key words from the theme is like the recurring melody of a musical composition. Synonyms of these words or the theme rephrased serves as a variation on the theme. Use of such means will cause the theme to be the main thought your audience carries away.
Making your Main Points Stand-Out
What are the main points of a talk? These are not simply interesting aspects that are briefly stated in passing. They are important ideas that are developed at length. They are the ideas that are crucial to achieving your objective.
A key to making the main points stand out is your selecting and organizing of material wisely. Research for a talk frequently yields more information than can be used. How can you determine what to use?
First, consider your audience. Are they largely unacquainted with your subject, or are they quite familiar with it? What sort of challenges do they face in daily routine as it relates to the topic under discussion? Second, be sure that you have clearly in mind your objective in speaking to that audience on the subject you plan to use. Using these two guidelines, evaluate the material and retain only what really fits.
If you have been given a basic outline with a theme and main points, you should adhere to it. However, the value of what you present will be greatly enhanced if you keep in mind the above factors when developing each main point. When no outline has been supplied, it is up to you to select the main points.
When you have your main points clearly in mind and have organized the details under these, it will be easier for you to give the talk.
Likely, your audience will also get more out of it.
A variety of patterns can be followed in organizing the body of your talk. As you get acquainted with them, you will find that several can be effective, depending on your objective.
A versatile pattern involves topical subdivision. (Each main point is needed because it adds to your listeners’ understanding of the subject or helps achieve the objective of your talk.) Another pattern is chronological. A third pattern is cause and effect. (This may be developed in either direction. For example, you could start with a current situation, the effect, and then show the cause.) A fourth method involves opposites. (You might contrast good with bad or positive with negative.) Sometimes a talk will include more than one method.
Also remember there are only a few essentials in developing any theme. In the majority of cases, these can be numbered on one hand. This is true whether you will be speaking for 5minutes, 10minutes, 30minutes, or longer. Do not try to make too many points stand out. Your audience can reasonably grasp only a few different ideas from one talk. And the longer the talk, the stronger and more sharply defined the key points must be.
Regardless of how many main points you use, be sure to develop each one sufficiently. Allow the audience enough time to examine each main point so that it becomes firmly impressed on their minds.
Your talk should give an impression of simplicity. This does not always depend on the amount of material presented. If your thoughts are clearly grouped under just a few main headings and you develop these one at a time, the talk will be easy to follow and hard to forget.
If your material is properly organized, it will not be difficult to reinforce the significance of your main points by means of your delivery. The principal way to make a main point stand out is to present points of proof, scriptures, and other material in such a manner that these focus attention on the main idea and amplify it. All secondary points should clarify, prove, or amplify the main point. Do not add irrelevant ideas just because they are interesting. As you develop secondary points, show clearly their connection with the main point that they support. Do not leave it to the audience to figure out. The connection can be shown by repeating key words that express the main thought or by repeating the gist of the main point itself from time to time.
Abraham O. A. (2018). Writing Excellent Articles for Conferences and Journals. Notionpress.com, sold on amazon.
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