Introduction
Oral assessments may be individual or group presentations, vivas, debates and role-play scenarios. They will often develop important skills such as communication, planning, research, collaboration and digital skills.
Understanding your question
Introduction
It is important to understand what your oral question or assignment brief is asking of you. Before you start to research or prepare for you assignment, it is worth spending time considering the wording of the question and any learning outcomes that may accompany it. Failure to do this could result in an unfocused response which does not answer the question.
Breaking down the question
- When first looking at an oral assignment brief, consider the different parts of the question before you begin.
- If you question is quite broad you can narrow it down by:
- Choosing one or two key aspects of the topic to focus your argument around.
- Focusing on a few examples rather than trying to cover everything that falls under that topic.
- Deciding on a standpoint you want to argue
- Making sure your introduction explains your chosen focus aim and argument.
- Identify any task words to help you understand what the question is asking of you.
- If you are struggling to get started:
- Try to come up with a one or two-word answer to the question ('yes,' 'no',' ‘sometimes' 'not quite’).
- Then expand the one-word answer into a sentence summarising your reason for saying that.
- Then expand that sentence into three sentences. This could be the beginning of your planning.
Research
The first place to start your research is the resource list for your module. You can find your module resource lists at the ResourceLists@Bham homepage.
This short video explains how you can find your way around your resource list:
See further support on working with resource lists.
Beyond your module's resource list, you can also use:
Back to top
Planning
Individual oral assessments
Planning an oral presentation can also be very similar to planning for a digital asset such as a video. Techniques such as the Multicolumn format (LinkedIn Learning), may be useful to you when planning an oral presentation.
Watch this video to see how to create a Multicolumn format planning document. (LinkedIn Learning).
Our presentation skills Canvas course can help you plan, structure and deliver an effective presentation
You may also wish to apply the planning methods used in academic writing to ensure you provide your audience with a clear structure and story. This may be particularly useful if your oral presentation is linked to your dissertation, final year submission or a postgraduate viva.
Watch this video on how to plan and structure an essay. (Panopto)
Group-based oral assessments
Your assessment may also be a group-based oral assessment. Planning for this type of assessment will require you to work collaboratively with your group. Watch this short video for advice on working collaboratively (Panopto).
Back to top
Digital tool support
There are many different digital tools that you may use to develop and publish your oral assessment.
Creating a presentation
Creating animated presentations
You may wish to include animation within your presentation. Please see our digital assets guidance.
There are a number of digital tools that can support you should you wish to include animations but are not an expert in animation tools. These include:
Alternative tools for presentations
You may also wish to complete your presentation in a different way.
As well as creating animated presentations, ThingLink can be used to create interactive posters, immersive 3D tours and interactive escape rooms.
Alternatively, you may want to try digital storyboarding with StoryboardThat. It allows you to create comic book-style storyboards to use as the visualisations for your presentation.
Submitting your presentation
You may be asked to submit your presentation in a number of different ways.
Feedback Fruits for group-based oral assessments
If working on a group-based oral assessment, you may be asked to use Feedback Fruits to submit your work.
You may also be asked to comment on the oral presentations of other groups or those within your own group as a part of your oral assessment:
Back to top
Practising
When giving a presentation, always practise multiple times before you deliver it. You can practise:
- By yourself, to help gain initial confidence
- In front of a trusted individual or group. Encourage them to also ask you a variety of questions at the end, so you can practise how you might respond too.
- With Microsoft Presenter Coach in Microsoft Power Point (LinkedIn Learning), giving you instant feedback
- With the technology you might be using
If your oral assessment is roleplay-based, such as discussing treatment with a patient, then you may wish to use Copilot to act in the role of a specific individual. By doing this, you can practise roleplaying the conversation that you are likely to have in your assessment.
Back to top
Referencing
You will need to reference any sources you use in your presentations.
Referencing shows your audience the sources you have used to research your topic, and gives support and weight to your arguments and conclusions.
Support with referencing: follow the guidance on the Cite Them Right website or the Academic Skills Centre’s Referencing guide.
Back to top
Know where you're going
You may be asked to give your presentation in person. Due to room sizes, this may not happen in a location in the University that you're familiar with. Use the University of Birmingham Interactive map (for UK locations) to make sure that you know where you need to go.
If you are based on the Dubai campus, you can download a copy of the floor map of the university on the maps and directions pages.
You might be asked to deliver your presentation online. This can be completed with many digital tools, but the most frequent ones used at the University are Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Always practise with these tools in advance of your assessment:
Back to top