There are a lot of things that students dislike about being a student: homework, exams, these things called classes, working in groups, or the dreaded presentation. Why? Because your grade depends on other people. On top of not wanting to work in a group at all, the one thing that sends shivers down the spine are those two words, "group presentation."
Researchers have found that working in groups and then giving a final presentation is when students' learning is at its peak. They have found that student learn the best through "active, collaborative, small-group work inside and outside the
classroom," (Kågesten, Owe and Johann Engelbrecht). It enables the student to learn and develop many skills unattained when just listening to a lecture. According to the study by Owe Kågesten and Johann Engelbrecht, these skills include a plethora of social skills such as working with others, time management, oral skills, presentation skills and in depth understanding of the subject.
This being said, it does not lessen the fear of a group presentation. Half the reason that a group presentation scares people, is because of previous poor group experiences. Other reasons include a fear of splitting the work because of it not getting done, not getting done to the caliber of your own etc.
Now, the group has met, gained the information and needs to start putting your presentation together. Where to start?
Knowing your audience is the first step. You need to be able to target your key audience and keep their attention the entire way through the presentation. For example, making jokes can be appropriate for a peer audience, but for a professional audience you need to make sure to keep the joke professional. When you know your audience, it is easier to present the information as well. You can build a PowerPoint to coordinate with the audience.
A bad PowerPoint can ruin a good presentation!
PowerPoint's used to be used only in complex presentations when a visual was necessary. Recently, they have become very popular with every presentation, whether it be large or small.
Some reminders when making a PowerPoint include:
1.) Keep the slides to a minimum. You want your audience to listen to what you have to say, not be distracted by your PowerPoint.
2.) Put a blank slide in between slides when you have a lot to explain. This makes them focus on you.
3.) Dim the lights as little as possible
4.) Keep it short, sweet and to the point!
Once the research is done, the PowerPoint is made, and the presentation has been split up between each group member, it is time to practice.
Practice is such an important part of giving a presentation, especially in a group. It is essential that every member is confident in their information and knows it well so that they are not reading off the slides. PowerPoint slides shouldn't have very much writing on them anyway, so each member should be holding note cards that highlight main points only. Each member needs to be confident to speak their section by only seeing main points, spiking their memory. Be careful not to memorize your presentation because you may sound boring and monotone. Also, if a member who memorizes their portion loses their spot, it will be extremely hard to find it again. Finally, keep eye contact and keep your voice under control. Speaking to fast or too slow are signs of nervousness. While your information may be great, these vocal mistakes can make the group sound less credible. And keeping eye contact will keep your audience engaged.
Following these simple steps will help any student get through a presentation, whether it is solo or group orientated.
Citations
Henderson, Jeanette. "Stop the boring PowerPoint presentations!." Machine Design 79.13 (2007): 54-58. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.
Kågesten, Owe, and Johann Engelbrecht. "Student group presentations: a learning instrument in undergraduate mathematics for engineering students." European Journal of Engineering Education 32.3 (2007): 303-314. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Feb. 2010
Sun, Calvin. "Improve Your Presentations." Student Lawyer 37.2 (2008): 28-31. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.
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I really liked the conversational style of this post. It was able to draw me in while informing me at the same time. I also like how you gave a subsection on how not to do a powerpoint presentation and then followed it with the right way. I think that is helpful to any reader and is more informative. You might want to work on your proof reading and making sure the paragraphs makes sense in the order they were in for your next post; because there were a couple times I had to stop and reread it to make it make sense. But overall I am looking forward to reading the next one, so keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThis is a topic that we all need to now a little bit more about! I know that a lot of students can handle group work, but a group presentation is the next step. This post needs some media to go along with the content. There also needs to be a little bit more a connection to the work place. Overall, I think it is a quality post. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThis was a good topic choice to inform the readers about, and everything said above flows well together. The only thing I suggest would be to add a bit of media in with it to bring it all together. Keep it up!
ReplyDelete