Speaking in front of people can be quite nervous. If it is also about opposing a classmate's essay, it is important to keep your tongue in your mouth - and prepare well. We contacted a rhetoric teacher and came up with the best tips.
This is how you succeed in the opposition
Speaking in front of people can be quite nervous. If it is also about opposing a classmate's essay, it is important to keep your tongue in your mouth - and prepare well. We contacted a rhetoric teacher and came up with the best tips.
It can be annoying to oppose - or to be opposed to. Many listeners are sometimes gathered, both classmates and outsiders (oppositions are public), and these are usually complicated scientific essays. The best trick, of course, is to prepare well. Bo Inge Skarström, university lecturer and teacher on the course practical rhetoric at Stockholm University, believes that it is important to be both factual and entertaining.
One of the classic tips for optimal opposition is to always try to come up with constructive suggestions. Even if it is a good essay, it is always possible to make suggestions about things that could have been done in a different way.
- Always try to present the criticism in a positive way, says Bo Inge Skarsgård.
How to prepare for the opposition. Bo Inge Skarsgård's three best tips - ask yourself three questions :
What do they want to know?
Who are the audience, the participants in the "seminar", and what do they want to know and what can they understand?
How is it supported by facts?
What is the main message of the "text" that I oppose and how is it supported by facts and arguments in the text?
Entertaining?
How do I formulate my "opposition" so that it is clear, factual, and yet entertaining?
