Ten Tips For Students In Making A Good Presentation

My students begin making their team presentations this week so I spent some time last week discussing tips to help them do well. I started out by asking them to raise their hands if they felt uncomfortable making a presentation. Just about everyone in class did. I then told them to look around and see that everyone get nervous during a presentation to a large group of people. I shared with them that I also hated to get up in front of the class when I was an undergraduate and that making a presentation is a skill that gets easier over time. I then gave them the following suggestions:

• Know your topic! The best thing you can do is to be completely prepared. Much of the fear is being afraid that you will make a mistake. Keep in mind that you know more about this topic than anyone else in class; after all, you’ve spent weeks researching it!
• Practice your part out loud as hearing yourself talk will make you feel more confident as well as help you see any problem areas you might have in explaining the material.
• Bring a water bottle with you to class to sip on before your presentation. This helps to lubricate your throat and thus helps your voice to project.
• Think about impression management. Dress professionally. Make sure your powerpoint slides are easy to read, don't contain too much material, and are free from typos.
• Focus on getting through the first five minutes. Most people get comfortable after a while so just concentrate on starting out well. Don’t look at it as a thirty-minute speech. Look at it as a five-minute speech that continues...Tell a story, show a relevant cartoon, ask us questions, etc., to ease into the presentation.
• Breathe! When people are afraid, they begin to breathe in short, fast breaths. Before you speak, or while you are being introduced, sit quietly and breathe slow, deep breaths.
• Pick a couple people in different parts of the room to talk to. This makes you feel you are really just talking one on one. Everyone is more comfortable talking to a friend or a clerk in a store but tend to get nervous when it's a large group. 
• Get enthusiastic. If you're not excited about the topic, no one else will be. Show that you are enthusiastic about your material and really want to share this with the audience.
• Use humor. Not everyone is good at telling jokes but everyone can tell an interesting story that happened to them or to a friend. Nothing breaks the ice quicker than humor. If you get them laughing early, you've got their attention. Pick something that is related to what you are presenting.
• Don’t lecture to us. A way to engage us is to show us how the topic will be useful to our lives or careers. Ask questions. Use examples. Have visual aids. Make us want to pay attention.

Does anyone else have suggestions for students on how to make a good presentation?

 

Comments

[Jason]

I have students do pecha kucha-style presentations, which seems to accomplish some of these goals:
http://www.jbj.wordherders.net/2007/11/13/a-fun-if-somewhat-trendy-way-to-do-student-presentations/

[L. C. Aspinwall]

"Think about impression management. Dress professionally. Make sure your powerpoint slides are easy to read, don't continue too much material, and are free from typos. "

Make sure your web posts are free from typos, like "continue" instead of "contain."

[Dr. Delaney Kirk]

Thanks Jason for sharing this link-I'll check it out.

L.C. - You KNOW that I did this on purpose right?? grin.

[E]

I graduate with my BA in Spring 2010. However, I am retired military and part of my job was to brief VIPs and others on a very regular basis. I tell my fellow students to remember that they probably know more about their subject than anyone else in the room, so they shouldn't be scared someone will make them look stupid - so be confident! I also tell them to look at themselves as more of a "facilitator" than as a presenter. Usually after any presentation there is time for discussion and if you can remember that what you are doing is facilitating that discussion than it may make it easier. Particularly, if you can see the presentation as the beginning of a discussion where everyone will be involved, not just the presenter (or facilitator). I usually get positive feedback from these suggestions. I have other suggestions as well.

[Dr. Delaney Kirk]

I like your suggestion of taking the facilitator role rather than the presenter. Takes some of the pressure off. Thanks for commenting.

[Theresa Zagnoli]

Great post ... Here are a couple of my suggestions:

- Jump up and down or run in place. It gets the oxygen moving in your body and you will not feel the physical effects of being nervous.

- Even though you are told not to 'read' to your audience first write your presentation out word for word. Then reduce it to an outline, word cues or highlight script. You need to know it to make it sound natural.

- Videotape yourself. Much worse than giving it live.

[Dr. Delaney Kirk]

Great suggestions, Theresa. I tell my students to walk up and down the hallway before class begins to help with nerves. However, they are usually reluctant to do so-not sure why.