When giving an oral presentation you do not need to include citations citations are only necessary for a written presentation?

We all know the importance of citing your sources when writing a paper, whether it’s for a blog, in a professional office setting, or turning it into our teachers. However, when it comes to presentations, the need for references becomes less clear. Is it appropriate to add references to your presentation? And if so, how do you do it?

Should a presentation contain references? You should always cite your references during a presentation, whether it is oral or visual. This shows your audience that you have done ample research and that you are giving credit to the sources that were cited instead of engaging in plagiarism.

When it comes to presentations, you may be unsure whether you should add references. More importantly, it may be unclear as to where to put these valuable sources. This article will explain why adding references is essential in any presentation. It will also show you how to successfully include references in both visual and oral presentations.

Does a presentation need references?

Before we get started with how to place references in your presentation, you should know the reason. Not understanding why you should include your sources can make you feel like it’s an unnecessary part of the presentation, and it takes up more of your time than you would prefer.

There are three main reasons why you should always add references to your presentations:

1. It shows your audience that you have done ample research.

If you are listening to a presentation and the presenter has no sources, then you will question whether they are telling the truth. However, if the presenter cites many sources, you know that they have done ample research to get the most accurate and truthful information possible.

2. It gives credit where credit is due.

When you choose to use a source, it is because that source is good. It is loaded with information that you must place in your presentation because you want everyone to hear it. Therefore, you should give credit where credit is due by referencing it.

3. It avoids plagiarism.

In any presentation of information, plagiarism is an offense. Aside from being an issue with the law, stealing someone else’s work is just unprofessional. Nobody respects plagiarism, no matter where they see it, and the same is true for your presentation. Do the right thing and avoid plagiarism by always adding references to your presentation.

Adding references to your presentation is vital for several different reasons. However, trying to decide when and where to place your references can be challenging. Having the right placement and writing it correctly can make all the difference between a high-quality presentation and one that looks a little incomplete.

How to add references to your presentation

It’s always a good idea to add references to your presentation, whether you are opting for a visual or oral presentation. However, some citations can look a bit more unkempt and unprofessional than others. You must familiarize yourself with the best ways to add a reference to both oral and visual presentations.

Oral presentation

Adding a reference to an oral presentation is a bit trickier than a visual setup. But it’s not impossible! Here are some great tips for adding a citation to an oral presentation from Citing Sources in an Oral Presentation.

1. Cite your reference during your oral presentation.

Perhaps the easiest way to quote a reference during an oral presentation is to say the name of the author or the source before you mention their comment or sentence. You may also want to say ‘quote’ when starting the quote and ‘end quote’ immediately when finished. Always make sure you keep it clear, short, and concise.

For example: if you are citing something a professor from a particular university said, you would say “According to James X from X University, quote (content) end quote.” This gives your listeners a clear and concise view of where you got the quote from.

2. Include a printed list of references.

It can be hard to remember all the different references you get your information from during an oral presentation. To make it easier on your listeners and to always give credit to those whom you have referenced, you can print out a list of references.

This list can be used with your oral citing, although your listeners may not know which quote is accompanied by which source. You can make it easier by orally presenting your information in the order your sources are listed on your printed list.

Visual presentation

Adding references to a visual presentation is easier than adding them to an oral presentation, but no less critical. We have compiled a list of ways to add citations to your PowerPoint, with help from Citing Business Sources in APA Style from Brock University.

1. Add references at the bottom of the page.

The best way to add references to your PowerPoint is to add them directly at the bottom of the page. This way, your viewers can see exactly where your quotes are coming from. If you have multiple references on one page, you can divide them up by using numbers at the end of the sentence. Remember, they should directly correlate with the number and names listed.

2. Add the references next to the information.

You also have the option of adding your references directly next to the information, although too much of this can look sloppy. It does make your references far easier to see for your viewers, though.

3. Type the information from references in smaller text.

Making the text of the information smaller but still legible is an easy way to show your viewers that this information was gathered by someone other than you. Just remember to place the actual reference somewhere on your PowerPoint.

4. Add a list of references at the end of your presentation.

Finally, you can always add a page at the end of your PowerPoint solely for references. With this option, you will want to pinpoint where the citation was used in your PowerPoint, so viewers have a better understanding of who said what.

5. When working with images, videos, etc., add the references in parentheses near the media.

Even visual aids used in your presentation should be linked to their sources. This can be done by adding the citation in parentheses underneath or next to the media. You may also want to include the publication date and title of the media to give your viewers more information.

As you can see, there are many options when it comes to citing references. Find the option that is right for you and your PowerPoint. For an informational video on how to add references to your PowerPoint, consider watching How to cite sources in PowerPoint. It’s important.

Conclusion

Any presentation that uses information from someone else should have cited sources. Citing references is incredibly important for many reasons. Citing gives credit where credit is due, avoids plagiarism, and ultimately makes you look like you have done proper research.

Keep in mind that the way you provide your sources will change between an oral and visual presentation. Oral presentations require you to state your sources while giving your information, and visual presentations allow you to insert your references directly into the slides.

An in-text citation is the brief form of the reference that you include in the body of your work. It gives enough information to uniquely identify the source in your reference list. The brief form usually consists of:

• family name of the author(s), and
• year of publication.

In-text citations will look the same, regardless of whether you're referencing a journal article, a report, or a video.

For a brief (4-minute) introduction to in-text referencing, view the video below:

Please note that the closed captions might obscure some of the detail in this video. If viewing the video with subtitles, we recommend you click on the diagonal arrow on the video toolbar to watch the video in Panopto.

In-text citations can either be in parenthetical form, or have part of the citation included in the narrative of your work:

Parenthetical citation

The general form is (Author, date), within parentheses. Parenthetical citation is also known as information-prominent citation: it is used to emphasise the information being cited.

A parenthetical citation should directly follow the idea being cited. Include it within the punctuation of the sentence. For instance:

... as has been shown in a recent study (Mihrshahi & Baur, 2018), and discussed at length in the literature in years past (Smith, 2007).

Narrative citation

You do not necessarily need to use parenthetical citations in your work, but you must include both the author and the date of the work you wish to cite within the body of your text. There are multiple ways to include a citation within the narrative. Here are two examples:

Kessler (2014) found that among epidemiological samples . . .

In 2014, Kessler's study of epidemiological samples showed that . . .

Narrative citation is also known as author-prominent citation. Narrative citations place more emphasis on the author of the work you are using. This type of citation can introduce some variety into your writing, and will sound more natural in an oral presentation than a citation at the end of the sentence. However, it does require more skill to use clearly.

Academic Skills Essentials has tip sheets and tutorials on writing clearly and appropriately in a variety of academic writing genres, and on integrating others' ideas into your work with appropriate attribution.

• If the work you are citing has one or two authors, include them in your citation every time. Separate two authors with an ampersand (&) in parenthetical citations, but write out the word 'and' if discussing the work in-text.
• If the work has 3 or more authors, your brief in-text citation will give only the family name of the first author, followed by "et al." (which means "and others").
• If the author is a company, government organisation, or other group, use the full name in your citation.
• If you have multiple authors with the same name or no author, click on the appropriate question under In-Text Citations: Advanced below.

APA 7 Tutorial: Citing References in Text

Learn how to cite references in the text, including basic in-text citation formats, citing multiple works, achieving clarity, and formatting in-text citations with missing author and/or date information.

Academic Writer, © 2020 American Psychological Association.

Direct quotations

If you are including a word-for-word quote from another work, you must enclose the quote in quotation marks and add the page number or numbers to your citation. For electronic sources where there is no page number, use the paragraph number or section heading.

You may also optionally include a page or paragraph number when it would help the reader locate the relevant information in a long or complex text, even when you have paraphrased instead of quoting. Note: Some Schools prefer that you only provide a page number for a quotation, so check with your lecturer to understand their preference.

 If your quote spans more than one page in the source, use the abbreviation "pp." instead of "p.":

(Pitcan et al., 2018, pp. 170-171).

To cite information from a work with no page numbers, click on "How do you cite a specific part of a text?" below.

For quotations with 40 or more words, the formatting of both the quotation and the citation are slightly different. The quotation is offset from your text, and the punctuation of the quote comes before the in-text citation.

Example:

Social media users will share different types of content on different sites, often basing their decisions on a mental model of how their audience on each site will react.

Many participants curated a respectable online presence by avoiding sexual innuendo and censoring opinions on controversial topics. Aviva was “very wary about the things [she] puts online.” . . . She described her online self as a different “form.” She chose to present a fragment of herself, because certain facets of her being would be unacceptable to her imagined audience. (Pitcan et al., 2018, p. 170)

Note the ellipsis (. . .) in the quote above. This indicates that some text from the original work was omitted for this quotation. For more information on quotations in APA 7th style, refer to Sections 8.25 - 8.36 in the Publication Manual, the APA Style website here, or the tutorial below.

APA 7 Tutorial: Direct Quotations and Paraphrases

Learn how to cite and format direct quotations, including short quotations and block quotations; make and indicate changes to quotations; and cite paraphrased material.

Academic Writer, © 2020 American Psychological Association.