I really don’t get why graduate students can’t give understandable presentations. I just sat through fifteen presentations and gave two. Most of the presentations were completely incomprehensible and I don’t understand why. Most of the students can speak reasonably coherently. The topics covered are no more difficult than the topics the professor discusses in class, especially since the presentations will generally just give an overview and not go into the minute details. Yet, most of the presentations I’ve experienced in last two weeks were an exercise in twiddling my thumbs and checking the time. I guess once you get to grad school, your speech circuits fuse.