This chapter helps you learn how to organize presentations.

A significant body of literature in communication and education addresses the issue of “clarity” in academic settings.

Although nearly all of this research approaches clarity from the perspective of the teacher—how to present clear lessons to students—this research is directly translatable to other types of speaking situations. The Clarity Behaviors Inventory (CBI) was developed by one of the authors and his colleagues to assess students’ perceptions of teachers’

clarity. You can use this survey to analyze the clarity of one of your other teachers. You should not identify the teacher you are rating. As you compare your teacher’s score with those from your classmates, discuss some of the things those teachers do that likely results in differences in scores. How can you learn from this to influence how you deliver your speeches?

The CBI is used to assess teachers’ clarity in both written and oral form. Calculate scores for both dimensions of clarity by averaging responses to the following items:

• Written clarity: items 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, and 12

• Verbal clarity: items 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 11 In both cases, higher values indicate higher levels of clarity.

You can also average all items on the survey to obtain an overall assessment of clarity. An average score of 1 or 2 indicates low clarity, and an average of 4 or 5 indicates high clarity.