The present study explored the actual target discourse of oral presentations in science and engineering graduate classrooms. First, three target tasks were identified from the combination of class observation, interviews with instructors, and surveys of students: to report the research in a logical way, to clarify ideas, and to deliver the speech in an interactional speaking style. Second, the analysis of target discourse addressed how the language was used in carrying out each task. The native speakers employed a mixture of the rhetorical structures of the research article, conference presentation, and lecture introduction to organize ideas in a logical way. Also they utilized syntactic structures and lexical devices unique to oral presentations to help the audience better understand main points of the research; however, the nonnative speakers often failed to perform well-organized presentations and delivered in written text style. Pedagogic implications were suggested for the specific needs of science and engineering graduate students.