In a Speech
Talking it Out
Because oral presentations are a different medium from written papers, citations are less rigidly defined—but they’re still important. Learn how to cite your sources here.
Citing in a Speech
Citing Your Sources
When you call out a source in a speech, refer to four things:
Name of the author or speaker
Title of the source
Date of the source
Credentials or expertise of the source
The citation should be brief and fit the flow of your presentation. It should include some reference to the source’s credentials so your listeners know why they should give it credence.
Examples:
According to John Doe, writing for the New York Times in , …
In , Dr. Stone, a medical researcher at John Hopkins University, presented his research in Nature, where he concluded …
Samuel Fakeridge, a political scientist at Harvard, wrote in a op-ed for Harvard Business Review that …
Each of these examples gives credentials such as the source’s expertise or the title of a well-known publication. By mentioning the year of publication, each example informs the audience of the source’s timeliness.
In the outline of your presentation, include in-text citations for your references and complete bibliographic entries for all sources you cite. This way, you can deliver all relevant information during your presentation and also give complete information about your sources if asked by the audience.
If you are using slides or handouts, a complete bibliography of all your sources makes an appropriate final slide or final page.