Presentation 101
Monday, May 21, 2007
Standing up in front of the class is not easy. For many students, it is the most difficult school task of all. The culmination of the Change Makers unit is a 3 minute talk about the topic. A computer-paper sized poster is the only visual allowed. How to get through this?
Students learned by doing. Just part of the experience is the Talk; of almost equal important is the Listening. Although note-taking was not required, students were expected to ask insightful questions, and, even more importantly, to make connections between Change Makers. As it turned out, there were some basic helpful guidelines that students could follow to help them do well.
Here are some pointers:
*Practice the Talk - know about the Change - use language such as: “My change maker wanted to... The Action Step was... The motivation for the change was... The outcome of this was... Organize carefully
*Focus the poster on the topic: Change Made - When, How, Why, Outcome
*Pick a good picture to be the focus of the poster - Does it convey the content of the Talk? The personality and time of the Change Maker?
*Observe the poster - does the picture look like any other(s)? Can we learn about the person and the time period? What guesses can we make as audience?
*Listen for the Change
*Ask clarifying questions - don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t understand!
It is amazing how much information can be presented in 3 minutes!
Some students learned that they are much better at discussion than at change. These students took the chance to discuss the topic with me, 1-1. Because they did this well, they learned that they can discuss in front of a class. It is an option to ask the teacher to present as part of a roundtable or a discussion group, rather than to present as an actor on stage. Students should remember this!!
