Public Speaking 101: Expectations and Reminders

Public speaking is often something that many students fear, and it can be nerve-wracking to have to stand and speak formally in front of an audience. However, part of doing higher-level research is the opportunity to share your learning, findings, and experience with others, not only as a way to document your hard work, but also as a way to continue to establish conversations that build and add to the body of knowledge.

POD icon You might remember that 25% of your AP Research Score is the Presentation and Oral Defense (POD). This is a presentation where you will outline your research design, establish the argument that is the root of your research, reflect on the learning and research process, and share your findings and results, all while engaging the audience.

This presentation may sound like a lot right now, but you’ve got time to prepare – this presentation is one of the many things that you will be working towards this year.

As a reminder, here is College Board’s explanation of the POD, which can be found in the About the Assessment Tab for the AP Research Course on AP Central.

The Culminating event of the AP Research course will be a presentation of your research question, research methodology, and findings, including an oral defense that addresses a set of questions about your research inquiry. The presentation and defense take 15-20 minutes. You will also be required to answer 3-4 questions from a panel of trained evaluators and your AP Research teacher.

AP Research teachers use a scoring rubric designed by the AP Program.
AP Research teachers also take part in a mandatory training from the AP Program on how to score these components.

Here is the College Board rubric used to evaluate the POD.We will go over the details when it is closer in time for the PODs to be presented and due, but it is always a good idea to know, up front, exactly how you will be evaluated.

So, let’s talk about the POD objectively.

You are not at the point yet where you can talk about your research. But you are at the point where you can practice and evaluate how to engage an audience while speaking.

Explore each section in the tabs below to learn more.

Preparation
Delivery
Engagement
Handling nerves

Preparation

Know your material thoroughly
Organize your speech
Include clear transitions between ideas
Practice out loud and time yourself

Delivery

Speak clearly and at a moderate pace
Project your voice without shouting
Maintain eye contact with different parts of the audience
Use confident body language and purposeful gestures
Use academic language and avoid slang
Cite evidence to support your claims
Anticipate questions and prepare answers (you will be given a list of questions to prepare for)

Engagement

Start strong with a clear statement of your purpose
Connect all of your content to your ultimate purpose
Use visuals (slides) to enhance your work and avoid reading directly from slides

Handling nerves

Take deep breaths and pause when needed
Use positive self-talk
Practice in front of others to get feedback
Know your content

Before Moving On

These are all subjects and things that you can work on and do to ensure that you are prepared for the POD. In order to ensure that you are prepared for your own POD presentation (typically done in the spring, prior to the exam), you will be completing multiple assignments and activities throughout the course in order to develop the skills necessary for you to be successful.

[CC BY-NC-SA 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION - INTENDED ONLY FOR USE WITHIN LESSON.