The Technique
Many students are apprehensive about oral presentations, whether it is in person or online. My technique focuses on developing strong presentation skills as a student “superpower.”
The session starts with an introductory lecture that focuses on the general steps one would take to produce effective presentations. This associated exercise is meant to be a fun way to practice presentation skills in a low-risk, low-stakes environment. There are many benefits to this exercise as (1) it provides students an opportunity to practice without too much stress associated with the material contained within, (2) students receive feedback from each other that could be used to shape future presentations, and (3) limiting content to five slides helps students learn to be judicious about content and thus ensures that their presentations are clear, coherent, concise, and complete.
Peer review is critical to this process. Having students critique each other’s presentations allows students to view presentations from a teacher’s perspective and, hopefully, makes them reflect on how they can improve their own presentation skills. For example, a student can integrate behaviours and/or techniques into their own future presentations that other students utilized and that are suitable for their personality (as well as avoid those that may be problematic). The purpose of this assignment is to give students an opportunity to practice, critique, and develop their oral presentation skills prior to delivering higher-stakes presentations later during the semester.
This first presentation activity also helps students become more comfortable with the D2L online space to present material — something they are heavily invested in.
How I Use It
I usually have students do this by Week 4 and make it worth 2% of the semester’s grade.
This allows students to become a little comfortable with our learning environment prior to their first presentation and provides incentive for students to complete it. I once tried to do this as a voluntary assignment and only 3/4 of the students participated.
The procedure is as follows:
- I start with an introductory lecture on oral presentation skills.
- I share a 5-slide deck with students to begin the activity. It contains an outline of the task and a rubric.
- I do the activity myself to model the presentation — although you don’t have to. This can be done via video creation ahead of time or via live streaming.
- I then post the presentation schedule so that everyone knows when they will present.
- After each presentation, the rest of the class provides feedback using the feedback form provided.[1]
- Students submit their feedback to the instructor via the assignment dropbox
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Once this is compiled, the presenter receives the feedback from both instructor and students.
[1] Each student anonymously fills out feedback for each presenter. Leave enough time for this after each presentation. It should be made clear that the peer-assessment is n