Literature Reviews
- Title, your name, your committee, etc. (1 slide)
- Outline (1 slide)
- Introduction including problem statement and background... make us want to listen further (1-2 slides)
- The existing knowledge base, aka literature review (several slides)
- Research questions identifying holes in the existing knowledge (1 slide)
- Objective(s) (1 well-designated and prominent slide)
- Methodology explaining how you are going to approach the objective (several slides... you might include a calendar)
- Just to impress, you might include a summary slide that explains how that methodology will answer the research questions, e.g. The survey procedures you just described will identify public opinion and demand while public records will identify supply, and your analysis will bring them together to create new insights.
- Preliminary or expected findings if you got 'em and a description of the next steps
As you can see from that list, you will have no problem filling 20 minutes. You do not have to add new information beyond your written document. In fact, it would be strange if you did. You are basically presenting what you have written.
Your audience will include your committee (familiar and knowledgeable), other faculty (knowledgeable, but unfamiliar), and a small handful of other people like first-years (unfamiliar and unknowedgeable). You need to present your work with clarity to keep the whole audience understanding and with confidence to impress your committee with the sense that you understand the relevance of your work and the most important points of it.
Most people walk into the room tense and walk out of the room looking fine. I have full confidence in all of you that you know your subjects well enough to do well in your presentations. Think of the session as an opportunity to run things by a few more people who will offer you some helpful ideas and insights that will guide you into next semester.