TUTOR: Ah … come in, Russ.

RUSS: Thank you.

TUTOR: Now you wanted to consult me about your class presentation on nanotechnology – you’re due to give it in next week, aren’t you?

RUSS: That’s right. And I’m really struggling. I chose the topic because I didn’t know much about it and wanted to learn more, but now I’ve read so much about it, in a way there’s too much to say – I could talk for much longer than the twenty minutes I’ve been allocated. Should I assume the other students don’t know much, and give them a kind of general introduction, or should I try and make them share my fascination with a particular aspect?

TUTOR: You could do either, but you’ll need to have it clear in your own mind.

RUSS: Then I think I’ll give an overview.

TUTOR: OK. Now, one way of approaching this is to work through developments in chronological order.

RUSS: Uh-huh.

TUTOR: On the other hand, you could talk about the numerous ways that nanotechnology is being applied.

RUSS: You mean things like thin films on camera displays to make them water-repellent, and additives to make motorcycle helmets stronger and lighter.

TUTOR: Exactly. Or another way would be to focus on its impact in one particular area, say medicine, or space exploration.

RUSS: That would make it easier to focus. Perhaps I should do that.

TUTOR: I think that would be a good idea.

RUSS: Right. How important is it to include slides in the presentation?

TUTOR: They aren’t essential, by any means. And there’s a danger of tailoring what you say to fit whatever slides you can find. While it can be good to includes slides, you could end up spending too long looking for suitable ones. You might find it better to leave them out.

RUSS: I see. Another thing I was wondering about was how to start. I know presentations often begin with ‘First I’m going to talk about this, and then I’ll talk about that’, but I thought about asking the audience what they know about nanotechnology.

TUTOR: That would be fine if you had an hour or two for the presentation, but you might find that you can’t do anything with the answers you get, and it simply eats into the short time that’s available.

RUSS: So, maybe I should mention a particular way that nanotechnology is used, to focus people’s attention.

TUTOR: That sounds sensible.

RUSS: What do you think I should do next? I really have to plan the presentation today and tomorrow.

TUTOR: Well, initially I think you should ignore all the notes you’ve made, take a small piece of paper, and write a single short sentence that ties together the whole presentation: it can be something as simple as ‘Nanotechnology is already improving our lives’. Then start planning the content around that. You can always modify that sentence later, if you need to.

RUSS: OK.