IELTS Listening 實戰 17 導師回饋簡報（Part 3 風格）

Dr Hassan: Right, Marcus — let's debrief on this morning's presentation. How do you think it went?

Marcus: Honestly, mixed. I think the opening was strong, but I lost the thread in the middle. The Q&A was the worst bit.

Dr Hassan: Let's break it down. I agree the opening was effective. The hook — that statistic about urban tree cover — landed well, and you had clear eye contact. That's a real strength.

Marcus: Thanks. I rehearsed the first ninety seconds about ten times.

Dr Hassan: It showed. Now, the middle section. I'd say the issue wasn't that you "lost the thread" — your content was actually well-organised. The problem was pacing. You had ten slides for a fifteen-minute slot, and you spent eight minutes on the first three slides.

Marcus: I knew I was going slow.

Dr Hassan: Which meant the last seven slides got rushed in seven minutes. The audience can tell when you're catching up — and the rushed slides happened to be your most novel arguments.

Marcus: That's frustrating because the strongest material was the case studies at the end.

Dr Hassan: Exactly. So my first recommendation: rehearse with a strict timer, slide-by-slide budget. For a fifteen-minute talk, no slide should get more than ninety seconds of average airtime.

Marcus: Got it.

Dr Hassan: Now, the Q&A. You said it was the worst bit. I'd disagree somewhat. You handled the first question — about methodology — quite well. Where you struggled was the third question, about the limitations of your sample size.

Marcus: I panicked. I knew the answer but I gave a vague version.

Dr Hassan: That's a confidence issue, not a knowledge issue. The fix is preparation: before any presentation, write down the three hardest questions you might be asked, and prepare a sixty-second response for each. Don't memorise — outline.

Marcus: I did try to anticipate questions, but I focused on the wrong ones.

Dr Hassan: That's normal first time round. You'll get better at predicting after two or three more presentations.

Marcus: What about the slides themselves? Were they too text-heavy?

Dr Hassan: A bit. Slide four had eleven bullet points — I counted. The rule of thumb is six. And several of your charts had axis labels too small to read from the back.

Marcus: I'll redo those.

Dr Hassan: One more piece of advice — your conclusion was rushed not because of time, but because you didn't seem to have prepared a separate close. You stopped on your last argument, almost mid-thought.

Marcus: I forgot to write a conclusion slide.

Dr Hassan: Always write the conclusion first, before the body — that way it can't get cut off.

Marcus: Useful. So to summarise: timing-budget per slide, prepare three Q&A answers in advance, six bullets max, larger axis labels, and write the conclusion first.

Dr Hassan: Five concrete actions. Apply them next time and you'll see a big jump.

Questions 1-5 — Match each presentation aspect (1-5) with Dr Hassan's assessment (A. clear strength · B. needs work · C. a confidence issue, not skill).

| # | Aspect | Assessment | |---|---------------------------------|------------| | 1 | Opening hook and eye contact | ___ | | 2 | Content organisation | ___ | | 3 | Pacing across slides | ___ | | 4 | First Q&A answer (methodology) | ___ | | 5 | Third Q&A answer (sample size) | ___ |

Questions 6-10 — Complete the recommendations. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.

1. For a 15-minute talk, average airtime per slide should be no more than _______ seconds.
2. Before each presentation, prepare _______ answers to the hardest possible questions.
3. Maximum bullet points per slide: _______.
4. Charts must have larger _______ labels.
5. Always write the _______ before the body of the talk.