PRESENTING YOUR INFORMATION

This course requires you to describe your project orally and in written format. If you keep in mind a few basic principles your efforts will be more understandable to your readers and audiences. Here are a few suggestions:

Use simple language wherever possible If you can write or say it with one word instead of three, then do so. Your grade and the quality of your work will not be proportional to the length of the thesis or presentation!

Try to use plain English instead of "technologese" and scientific jargon.

Use the spell checker AND proof read your material. The spell checker will not catch errors such as "from" misspelled as "form" nor incorrect use of "to", "too", and "two".

Be consistent in your use of the plural and singular within a sentence: Your Supervisor and committee members will not be happy to see sentences such as: "The birds was in its nest."

Don’t try to be cute, humorous or overly casual. Referring to your study organisms as "critters" is inappropriate in scientific writing. Some humour is good in oral presentations but remember you are not performing at Comedy Café or Yuk Yuks.

Make your choice of tense appropriate to the circumstances and then be consistent. This means not switching without reason from past to present between one sentence to the next nor referring to extinct organisms as if they still live or vice versa.

Write or say everything you need to but avoid repetition and padding: Brevity reduces the opportunity to commit the errors listed above. The main body of the thesis (start of Introduction to end of Discussion or Conclusions) must not exceed 40 pages.

See http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/thhumor.htm for further advice and other useful thesis-related information.

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