How should I present my research paper about gay marriage?

Sounds pretty good so far. But don't forget to mention the struggles the gay community has to go through as well and how people protest against gay marriage. I think that will help prove your point about how hard it is to legalize it everywhere.

Power points are always a bit easier, and more interesting to look at from an audience perspective. Unless you have a *really* good presentation. You can still incorporate videos into powerpoints.

If you include your own personal feelings A) try to keep it as professional as possible, and B) add a statistic showing that many straight people also support gay marriage. The majority of high school students are still parroting their parents' views and are often particularly homophobic, so the ones from conservative families will be especially deaf to your points. If you add that it's a cause that several straight people are behind as well, they might be a tiny bit more receptive.

Well, a powerpoint might be more effective if debate arises in the class; you'd have ultimate control. I do not think you should add things about your social life for two reasons: you do not want to create a bias that would not get your point across with the raw interpretation, and a point of view from the opposite stand point (I was raised by extremely Christian parents and in a society filled with restriction, yet I can see the wrong in holding back someone's sexuality) would create a favorable argument.

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Bye

I'd say powerpoint, but prezi can make even the worst presentations look extremely cool if you do it right

I have a few thoughts that may or may not be of use to you.

Presentation.

Give a brief over view of what your presentation is about, what will be covered and at what stage you will take questions (normally at the end). Have someone on side who will take notes of any early questions, so that you can come back to them at the end.

Plan it in detail. Keep to the plan and use key point notes, not word for word notes.

Rehearse what you are going to say. Again, not word for word, but be sure you know what you are talking about and when you plan to use other forms of visual aids.

Be sure technology aids are working and set for the presentation. Fluffing about will dampen your audience attention.

Be prepared for interruption (early questions and arguments). Some may want to lead you off your main theme, so you have to be alert to that and stay in control. You can always offer to refer back to their view at the end.

Avoid getting bogged down in detail. Polls and percentages should only be used in passing and not as a big part of the presentation.

Keep it factual, interesting and where possible, amusing. You want your audience to want to hear what you have to say. If it's boring, they will loose concentration and then dismiss your argument, if you have one.

I won't add to the content of your paper, but two VERY important points need your attention:

1. Gay marriage. Gay people do not seek gay marriage. What we seek is equality between heterosexual and homosexual people. Thus, as part of that equality, we seek marriage as a legal union between two people of any sexuality, not a separate type of marriage for gay people.

2. The inclusions you mention are to me somewhat counter productive. For example, religion in the most part doesn't like gay people because we shag each other. That is a project paper all of it's own, as is any so called 'defense of marriage act' whatever that is. Effects on children of same-sex parents is also off subject. The paper is about marriage, not about children or gay parenting. The separation of the church and state is also off subject. By all include anything relevant, but to me it's not part of the argument. I appreciate that you may need to use both sides of the argument, but then you need to be clear whether you remain impartial during the presentation, or be clear about what side you are on. Leave personal stuff you want to share for the question answer period.

My comments are meant to be constructive, so I hope you will accept them as such. Your subject is very important in today's world, so the message has to be clear. ie. Marriage for everyone as part of total equality for everyone. Avoid the 'gay marriage' message, because it's not what we want and it's not what your project paper should be about.

Start your presentation with something most people could relate with or understand

Ex) "What if loving someone would put your whole life in jeopardy ?" Or "Have you ever loved someone knowing it would put your whole life if jeopardy?"

That is what almost every homosexual fear in their everyday life ... etc etc I wrote an essay on it, email me and I will email it to you, you can grab any of my personal quotes and/or sentences with credit given (:

I wouldn't include personal feelings because then it would be bias and it could offend some people. I mean it's your research do what you want I just don't want anybody's feelings hurt

Start with Elton John and his mate