EPQ Presentation

I found out that my presentation is Monday 20th - less than 6 days away, and I'm not exactly the best at talking through presentations.

Any tips to keep nerves, and to get as high as possible in the marks (I'm aiming for A/A* to reduce a uni offer)

Many thanks :smile:

Reply 1

username2088165

Original post by EstelOfTheEyrie

Hi EstelOfTheEyrie,

I was nervous for my EPQ presentation as well, it seemed to go on forever! :tongue:

My advice would be:

- Avoid putting lots of text on each slide - a few bullet points is fine (my presentation was criticised slightly for having too much text on some of the slides)
- Keep specialist terminology to a minimum, as your audience may not understand it
- Make sure you include a brief question and answer session at the end to fulfill the interactivity requirement
- Take cue cards with you, so if you get stuck then you have some prompts to help you
- Breathe slowly to stay calm, don't speak too quickly (I made this mistake due to nerves), and remember to look up around the room/audience instead of down
- Practice as much as you can! Practicing your presentation in front of family or friends is good, but if you're unable to practice with others then practicing alone is fine :smile:

Best of luck! :h:

Reply 2

EstelOfTheEyrie

Original post by Leviathan1741

Hi EstelOfTheEyrie,

I was nervous for my EPQ presentation as well, it seemed to go on forever! :tongue:

Best of luck! :h:

That's so helpful, thank you!

Just out of curiosity, what was your EPQ on? What grade did you end up getting if you've already finished?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 3

username2088165

Original post by EstelOfTheEyrie

That's so helpful, thank you!

Just out of curiosity, what was your EPQ on? What grade did you end up getting if you've already finished?

You're welcome! :h:

My EPQ was on the theories for the extinction of the dinosaurs, comparing the supporting and opposing evidence for the asteroid impact theory (which is the most widely accepted one) against other popular theories such as large scale volcanic activity and global cooling (ice age theory). The aim of my project was to find out whether the asteroid impact theory actually is the most likely one.

I got an A overall for my EPQ :smile:

Reply 4

nurani9

Some useful tips that I used was having the mark scheme while I was planning the presentation which was useful as the presentation assesses AO4, which is about evaluation, so remember to talk about your strengths, weaknesses, any obstacles/setbacks you faced and how you overcame them and what you would do next time, that should get you full marks in that section. Remember to include any techniques that you used (making a timetable etc.) or any interesting sources which you could talk about as your strengths.
Project Aims are also good. Stating your findings/conclusions are also essential on the mark scheme, but keep this brief as it should be a lot more focused on your journey to discover those findings/conclusions to get full marks.
I recommend plain and simple PowerPoint presentations with minimal slides with barely anymore than 10 words on each slide/2 pictures, the audience should not be distracted by it.
I personally did not use any flashcards, I just loosely improvised but if you are going to have flashcards, keep them brief and do NOT have a script in front of you.
Maintain eye contact and good body language (open posture, hand gestures), speak clearly and confidently.
You MUST make sure you know your topic well because there should be questions from the audience at the end.
I just finished my EPQ on cystic fibrosis and got 50/50 (A*), most of this was from looking at the mark scheme the whole time.
Good luck!

Reply 5

EstelOfTheEyrie

Hey guys, I just completed the presentation!

Thanks for all the help; I think it's definitely worked :smile:

Reply 6

username2088165

Original post by EstelOfTheEyrie

Hey guys, I just completed the presentation!

Thanks for all the help; I think it's definitely worked :smile:

Well done! I hope you get a great grade for it :h:

Reply 7

EstelOfTheEyrie

Original post by Leviathan1741

Well done! I hope you get a great grade for it :h:

Thanks

I hope I do! The feedback seemed to be very positive, so there's hope there!

I knew that one of my friends who made up the audience wants to do the EPQ next year, so I added in a surprise gif for her in the review at the end. From the laughs at the back of the room, I take it that she loved it.

Reply 8

New Wonder

Original post by nurani9

Hi there! That's an amazing score. Just out of interest, how many sources did you use in your literature review and did you analyze them all in depth or did you just, for example, analyze the two/three main ones, and then cited some other sources to show that the claims of your main sources are consistent and credible but didn't really comment on the reliability of these "side" sources, if you know what I mean.

Thanks.

Reply 9

JSKirk

Hi everyone, so I recently completed my presentation and I was told I now needed to annotate my dissertation, production log and my presentation notes using the assessment objectives... but I don't know what the presentation notes are.Should I annotate the cue cards I used and the powerpoint?

Reply 10

meeehhhhhh

The presentation should focus on all the 'work' you did in order to create the final project, rather than the actual content itself. (Like I didn't actually do half of what I said I did, but just bs it and evaluate it)

The specification says that the content of you presentation should include:
" what their project is about • the reasoning that underpins their project • their aims and objectives • what research has been undertaken and why..." (Here, I would pretend that you have used a wide range of resources rather than just books or websites and why this is important)
"...a review of their performance and achievements • lessons they have learnt • how their product might affect their future career/education"

But I say focus very much on the problems you had during your project and what you found hard. As you get a lot of marks identifying theses things and how you found solutions or could have done better. Like just evaluate everything and show evidence of dairies of makes, plans and source table extra- to evidence the work you've done in the presentation. Also talk about what skills you have learn, i.e how to reference or presentation skills extra.

Finally I recommend printing out transcripts and handouts of the slides- because you can evaluate this and say you did it encase someone in the audience to audibly or sight impaired.