IOC Advice

1. Don't spend more than 1 minute on context.
2. Prepare your concluding statement during the 15 min prep time so that your presentation finishes powerfully.
3. Keep your language formal and academic - without exceptions. If you use lots of "like", "yeah" and "er" in your everyday speech, make sure this gets taken out during your IOC.
4. Keep your wits about you at the end. After your 12ish minute presentation, you are not finished. You will be asked questions. Just take a deep breath, address them with confidence and use your knowledge of the text. Don't just repeat what you've already said - if I've asked you a question, it's because I want to patch a hole that you haven't covered.
5. If you freeze in the middle, don't panic. You haven't just screwed up your entire life. Take a deep breath and try to pick up where you left off - and worst comes to the worst, I can get you back on track by asking a question.
6. Conclude your presentation properly - sum up the main ideas of the passage.
7. Use quotations.
8. Reference literary features.
9. Analyse, don't just paraphrase.
10. You can link briefly to other parts of the text - but only if that link is something that informs us about what's in the passage itself.
11. If the passage is a piece of drama, acknowledge the role of the audience.

More later.