Despite our name, Writing at Bates supports both writing AND speaking in your classrooms.  We are available to consult with you about assignment design and to set up rehearsal time for your students in the Speaking Studio.  We also regularly visit classes to give workshops of 30 to 45 minutes on planning, organizing, and preparing for presentations.

If you’d like to schedule an in-class workshop, or if you’d like us to block off rehearsal time for your students, please contact Daniel Sanford, Director of Writing at Bates and Academic Resource Commons.

You may use the handouts below with your students or ask us to build an in-class workshop around one or more of these as exercises:

55-Minute Lesson Plan: Devoting one class period to discussing the qualities of a good presentation and how to prepare

Content, Structure, Delivery: Focusing on three areas of presentation preparation

Presentation Feedback Sheet: This can be used for peers and classmates taking notes on a presentation or for your use in giving feedback or grades

Presenting Research-in-Progress: Some guidance specifically for seminar-type presentations given midway in the writing and research process

Presenting Final Research: Guidance on presenting on a finished (or nearly finished) project

The Gray Exercise: A lesson plan for an in-class exercise that gets students talking to each other about possible counterarguments to their positions

Defending an Honors Thesis: While your own advice about how thesis defenses go in your department and program are the most helpful for students, this handout gives honors candidates an overview of the kinds of responses they might prepare