Oral Presentation Training and Academic Communication in Nigerian Graduate Schools

This study assesses the state of oral presentation training and academic communication development in Nigerian graduate schools, examining how postgraduate students are prepared for the conference presentation, seminar participation, and viva voce demands of academic life. Oral academic communication is a critical professional competence for researchers and academics, yet systematic training in oral presentation skills is inconsistently provided across Nigerian graduate programmes, leaving many students to develop these skills informally or not at all before their first major academic performance context. The study administers a structured questionnaire to 180 postgraduate students across five universities in Abuja, Enugu, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan, supplemented by observation of 15 departmental seminar presentations and 10 postgraduate assessment presentations. Analysis examines the availability of formal oral presentation training, student self-assessment of oral communication confidence, the specific aspects of academic oral communication that students find most challenging, and the relationship between academic department culture and presentation skill development. Findings indicate that fewer than 30 percent of surveyed students have received any formal oral presentation training within their graduate programme. The most commonly reported challenges include managing question-and-answer sessions, structuring a timed verbal argument, and speaking with appropriate academic register in formal seminar settings. Supervisor feedback on oral performance is rare outside of thesis defence contexts. Recommendations include the mandatory integration of academic oral communication modules into all Nigerian graduate induction programmes. Keywords: oral presentation, graduate communication, academic language, postgraduate training, Nigeria.