STUDIO PRESENTATIONS

In this module, you will:

 Learn about the structure and linguistic features used in oral presentations across
different disciplines within Architecture, so that you understand different types of
presentations by professionals in and outside your field
 Receive teacher feedback on a sample of your presentation

Task 1 What do studio teachers say about students’ presentations?

Get together with students from the same or different disciplines, and discuss:

 What kind of presentations do you have to do in your studio? Please give one specific
example.
 What do your studio teachers usually think are your weaknesses in terms of your
presentation skills?

Task 2a Watch a video about presentation tips for architects

Dami Lee is a licensed architect in Vancouver. Watch 1.30 – 6.22 (the first tip) of her video
sharing her tips for how to wrap the presentation around a design concept using some of
her own projects as examples.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fijZPi26lKs&t=201s
Discuss in a small group:

 What is meant by “concept wrapping”? Can you give a specific example of how this can
be achieved?

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Design studio presentations usually revolve around the design concept (story) behind your
design, and all information should be tied to this concept.
Structuring your presentation:
1. Start with the aim/motivation and the design concept (story) of your project.
For example:
- I want to solve a problem.
- I want to improve a situation.
- I want to create an experience.
+ Why is the concept important / beneficial
2. A description of the site
3. The design process
+ how you implemented the concept in your design
DON’T report every single step that you took! Your studio teacher already knows about
this knowledge very well. Be selective.
3. The product / design
+ depiction of the design details. Be selective. Only focus on the design details related to
your design concept. You don’t have the time to go over every detail.
+ How the design achieves the aim set out in the beginning

In the design process, you should “ask the right questions”, and think about how architecture
can respond to those questions.

Some assignments may ask to you start with an observation (e.g. a natural mechanism, a
natural process).
Observation What’s the knowledge?
How can the knowledge be implemented to achieve the aim?

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Tips on justifying your design:
- It’s crucial to tell why you design it your way. Clear reasoning is required.
- You can use an architecture reference.
- Apply scientific knowledge to solve a practical problem.
- Use your own life experience.
- Sometimes “story-telling” is better than theoretical justification.

The Presentation Board:

https://www.firstinarchitecture.co.uk/architecture-presentation-board-tips/
A large part of your presentation should be guided by the components on your presentation
board.
Left to right, top to bottom

Task 2b Analyse a sample design studio presentation

1. Read aloud the following transcript of a student’s final review presentation with a
partner, and note particularly the color-coded sections:
a. the aim/motivation and the design concept (story) of your project
b. description of the site
c. how the student implemented the concept in the design
d. depiction of design details

2. Analyse Parts c and d:

What linguistic features are used predominantly in these 2 parts? Please consider:

 first-person / second-person / third-person pronouns, i.e. “I” or “You” or “It”

 tense
 signposting words

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This review presentation script contains the following elements:

 the aim/motivation and the design concept (story) of your project

 description of the site
 how the student implemented the concept in the design
 depiction of design details

…where I see myself in ten years. I’ve always had pets and I really, really enjoy having pets, and I’ve
grown up with birds and dogs. If I’m going to be living in the city I probably don’t want to have a dog,
just my personal preference, and so I thought that I would have birds when I, you know, ten years
from now. And aah the site that I could find is hanging over the building so it lends itself to a really
vertical language and, sort of speaking with that, I can have this whole column devoted to the birds
so that they’d be free to fly around in there, just the whole thing. And I mean it’s really tall and
narrow in there but it doesn’t matter to them because they can, you know, travel; they don’t need a
horizontal space and then, erm, my next thing was that I put the staircase right next to the column of
birds so that I could put these little perches for myself to go into the rooms, that I could sort of be in
the room in all these different places and some of them would carry the landings and be like
continuous states and some of them would be just right off of the stairs so that, you know, when
you’re looking at the building it’s this really vertical thing with a few perches in it. And er, the stairs
continue down the hallway. So that was the start, and then, er, I tried to sort of echo this language in
the rest of the building, and just to walk you through… This space down here, is the living room, and
then the kitchen’s on top and then lofted above the kitchen is a dining area with like a little deck on
the outside and then this is the bathroom with bedroom and then you do go up to a roof area so…
This is a south-facing wall so, aah, most of the light’s coming in from this way like sort of through the
bird in the stairs…

[So this is south?]

Yeah well north is this way. This is south facing. I wanted the stairs to be something clear so that
when you look through you still pretty much have the same elevation that you have here, ‘cos I really
like the way it works. And so most of my windows on this thing are really vertical windows sort of
going with that vertical theme and then, er, what I started to do was sort of have these little spaces
popping out of the rooms here and down there, you know, just going along with this geometric
orthogonal. I mean that was really my original sketch, I wanted to sort of play with this idea of

[The one all the way to the left?]

Yeah sort of having these pretty simple forms interacting with one another to have a pretty
interesting side.

[Mm hm]

So that’s where I am right now, this was the sketch model and the progression was, er, I was pretty
happy with this but I really didn’t like the top and so, er, I switched the roof planes so that they
matched. And then I added this little guy, and then when I had this top on top of that they seemed a
little bit ajar. This was, you know, so regular and so then I started taking out little pieces here and
little pieces here, and then adding like other little vertical members.

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[Mm hm]

So that’s where I am right now.

[What do you see as the materials?]

Erm, the structure would be a light steel so that it could be like about a six inch square number. I
talked to Dave about it, and he said that, because it’s hanging it should be a really, really light
structure and so that, fortunately these are pretty accurate. Erm, and then the actual materials of the
sidings, I’m not a hundred percent sure. It would be some other light material, sort of non-traditional,
maybe like sheet metal or sort of plexi glass probably a combination of things not just one set but, er,
something really light and then I definitely want to have some opaque pieces, you know, so that it
breaks up the thing a little bit.

Task 2c Analyse an Urban Studies presentation

You are about to watch a presentation by a winner of the top five Master of Architecture
Final Study projects, Julie Wright (from the Department of Urban Planning in Texas A&M
College of Architecture). She explains her plan for redeveloping some religious structures
(called “missions”) in Texas for better conservation of these structures, and to better bring
in tourism and serve the local community.
Julie Wright's presentation - Winner Celebration of Excellence - Texas A&M College of
Architecture - YouTube
(Watch from 0.00 to 7:00)

1. How does the speaker structure her speech?

2. What is the design concept that she uses to wrap her presentation around?

3. Read part of the transcript below. Do you find any commonalities in the use
of linguistic features as those used in the presentation in Task 2b?

00:03:57.210 --> 00:04:12.240

So these missions are linked by the San Antonio river, which is a very kind of important
aspect of the city itself and its growth over the years, the river has been ignored and
channelized to prevent flooding, but recently, it has been redeveloped and rehabilitated to
its natural habitat, which is great, because it also links all of the missions like they were in
the past, so I really wanted to focus on this aspect of linking and creating a new network.

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00:05:31.050 --> 00:05:41.670
An area that needs to be redeveloped and rethought about when bringing in more tourism
and more Community based functions into this area of town to boost the economy, which is
currently underperforming and really lacks a lot of infrastructure that the rest of the city
does have so this whole area really needs to be thought about.

00:05:56.490 --> 00:06:04.410

And a great way to do that is to tie into the cultural and historic aspect of the missions that
are all along the river here.

00:06:05.940 --> 00:06:08.520

Here I I did a study of which mission I would like to focus on for my project. So I was looking
at the distances between the missions and the river, which will be the sole connector
through the entire network of missions, as well as its centrality to the other missions,
because as people visit the missions, they will likely go to all five, either biking or walking
along the trail or taking their car so it's kind of it's a series of historic landmarks that go
together it's not just one mission there are five of them.

00:06:51.180 --> 00:07:01.620

So I chose to focus on mission San Jose mostly due to its centrality between all the missions,
it also has a little bit more existing infrastructure as far as the city and surrounding
community. Here is an aerial view of the mission itself here's the main.

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Task 3a: Understanding the Assertion-Evidence Approach
The Assertion-Evidence Approach has been proved to be effective for science, engineering,
architecture, and medical students.
Go to https://www.assertion-evidence.com/
Please watch the following 3 videos on this webpage, and answer these questions in groups.
1. How is the “Assertion-Evidence” approach different from conventional PowerPoint
presentations?
2. What are the benefits of this approach?
3. A successful “Assertion-Evidence” should be U_________; R__________; and
B__________ by the audience.
4. What challenges may this approach pose to the speaker?

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Task 4 Analyse a real estate presentation adopting the Assertion-Evidence approach
Brad Hargreaves, Founder & CEO of Common, gave a speech about shared accommodation
in 2018 Future of Real Estate Tech Summit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=wrMyvwe7RF4
(Watch 0.00 to 7.00 of this video.)

Post-watching discussion:
1. How does the speaker grab the attention of the audience at the start of his presentation?
2. How does he outline the main points at the start?
3. What is the main message or assertion he is trying to make in this presentation?
4. How does he “prove” this assertion?
5. How does the speaker engage the audience?
6. Note down one signposting expression that the speaker uses to signal the progress of his
talk.

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Task 5 Identify purpose of presentation and central (design) concept
Form a group of 4 people with students from the same discipline. Discuss the main purpose
of your mid-term studio presentation and central (design) concept that you can use to wrap
all information around.
Put your answers on OneDrive.
 What is the purpose of your presentation? 
 And what is the central design concept or message/assertion of your work?
For example:  
- I want to solve a problem. 
- I want to improve a situation. 
- I want to create an experience. 
+ Why is the concept important / beneficial 
Others: ___________________

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Task 6 Using signposts and Speaking spontaneously (20 mins)

Speaker A:
Give a 3-minute talk on the following topic and respond to questions for about 3 minutes.
Use the notes (you are not allowed to add any other words to the notes below) & signposts
on the next page.

Suggest ways of improving urban greening in Hong Kong.

Accessibility:
- Greenery to touch and sit on, e.g. footpaths, parks, promenades
- In walking distance, e.g. scattered in city centre vs. large parks in countryside

Coverage:
- Rooftop gardens – where? Users? Challenges? How to promote?
- Vertical greening – where? Challenges? How to promote?
- School & university campuses; government buildings – as pioneers

Listen carefully to the talk given by Speaker B in a moment. As you listen, note down any
questions you would like to ask him / her below. Make sure your questions are clear and
concise.

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Speaker B:
Give a 3-minute talk on the following topic and respond to questions for about 3 minutes.
Use the notes (you are not allowed to add any other words to the notes below) & signposts
on the next page.

Suggest ways of increasing housing supply in Hong Kong.

Converting non-residential sites for housing use:

e.g. brownfield sites – where? Challenges? How to promote?
e.g. country parks – where? Challenges? How to promote?

Reclaiming land outside Victoria Harbour:

e.g. East Lantau Metropolis (ELM)
- 1,700 hectares; 400,000 residential units; 200,000 jobs (by 2032)
- challenges? How to promote?

Developing new townships:

e.g. New Territories North (NTN)
- 1,500 hectares; 100,000 housing units; 200,000 jobs
- benefit: proximity with Shenzhen (innovation & tech. industry)
- challenge: transport infrastructure

Listen carefully to the talk given by Speaker A in a moment. As you listen, note down any
questions you would like to ask him / her below. Make sure your questions are clear and
concise.

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 Signposting in Speaking

Introducing a topic: Summarizing what has gone before:

 As regards …., ….  what I’ve been saying so far is…

 As far as …… (is concerned), ….
 In terms of …..,
Moving from one point to another:

 another thing is ….
Beginning:  and then of course we've got …..
 not only….but also….
 let me begin by talking about …
 first of all, …

Signaling: Presenting a contrasting idea:

 One of the ___s is  on the other hand, ….

 the first / second / third point that  but having said that, ….
seems important to me is …  ….as opposed to…
 the first / second / third point I'll make  ….whereas…..
is …
Giving reasons:
Moving on:  For one thing,
 Let me turn to/ switch to talk about….  One of the reasons why…. is …
 Let’s move on to ….  Another reason is ….
 So much about (A). Now, let’s consider  This is due to the fact that …
(B).  This can be explained by the fact that
…

Going back to a previous point:

Giving examples:
 as I said before, ….
 ….. which goes back to the point I  for example ..
made earlier ….  let me give you an example
 this reminds me of …  an example would be…
 …one of which is….
 …including…..

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Task 7 Out-of-class task
 Look for an effective oral presentation video related to your discipline.
 Identify and make notes on the strategies that the speaker uses to deliver a successful
presentation, especially how the speaker wraps everything around a central design
concept or assertion, and/or tells a story.
 Put a link to this video on OneDrive.
 Share your findings in a group of 4 in a subsequent class.

Task 8 Analyse good student samples

Watch the 3 good student samples on Moodle.
Note down the strengths of each sample below.
Sample 1:
Sample 2:
Sample 3:

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Task 9 Out-of-class task
Upload a 3-minute oral presentation, preferably on your mid-term studio assignment, to
OneDrive for teacher feedback. You can record it on Zoom or in person in your studio, using
PPT slides or models or a board as visuals. You can get a friend to film you, if possible.

Apply the skills you’ve learnt from this module, e.g., Task 2b (verbalizing central concept),
Task 3 (Assertation-Evidence approach), Task 7 (self-identified online resource), etc.

At the end of the 3-min. presentation, add a 1-min reflection of what you have consider has
tried, changed or improved when compared to your studio/design presentation before this
course. Yes, tell yourself and your teacher the difference. Thank you!

What can you include in the introduction?

Purpose Expressions to use

1.Greet the  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’m ________ from
audience & ________.
introduce  Hello, everybody. My name is ________. You may call me
yourself and _________. I’m from ________.
your fellow  Good morning everybody. Welcome to our presentation.
speakers, if any Before we start, let me introduce the speakers. This is
________. This is ________.

2.State the topic of  Today, the title of my presentation is ________.

your speech  Today, I have much pleasure in giving a presentation
regarding ________.
 Today, I’m glad / pleased to talk about ______.
 Today, I’d like to present on the topic of ________.
 Today, I’m going to talk about ________.
 Today, I’ll walk you through _________.
 In this part of the talk, I’ll / let me talk about
________.

3. Include an You may consider:

attention
− An interesting example / real-life story
grabber

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 − Interesting / shocking facts about your topic
− Show an interesting / shocking visual
− Relate topic to real-life experience of audience; ask
audience to put up their hands if they have done
something
− Ask audience questions
− A quick quiz to test the knowledge of the audience on
the topic
− A famous saying (a quote)
4.Make an outline  In the following few minutes, I’m going to present
of key points to ________.
cover  Firstly, I’ll talk about ________. Then, I’ll switch to talk
about ________. After that, I’ll mention something
about ________. At the end, I’ll talk about ________.
 Accordingly, my presentation will be divided into three
parts. First, I’ll present ________. Second, I’ll give you
________. Lastly, I’ll discuss ________. So, let’s begin
with ________.
 Firstly, I’ll briefly introduce the background of our
project. Then, ________ will talk about ________.
After that, ________ will illustrate ________. And
then, ________ will explain ________. And finally,
________ will talk about ________. At the end of
the presentation, there’ll be a Q and A session.
You’re welcome to ask questions during that
time.

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What can you include in the conclusion?
Signaling the conclusion,  Now, let me conclude my/our presentation.
summarizing main points,  In conclusion, ________.
and eliciting questions  To conclude, ________.
 To sum up, __________.
 Now finally, let me sum up my presentation.
 That’s the end of our presentation. / That’s all for my
presentation. I hope by now you’ve learnt about ________.
And if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me
now.
 I’m afraid that’s all we have time for. Thanks very much for
your time. Does anyone have any questions concerning my
presentation?

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