I do this short Presentation Skills class discussion with students before we do presentations in class. It is crazy the difference this simple exercise makes. Their presentations are much, much better.
Students already know what a good presentation looks and sounds like. They just need to be reminded. That’s what this 20 minute lesson does. A little class discussion (and game too kind of?) helps students communicate information more clearly and with greater confidence.
I hope the ideas in this blog post save you time and stress! In this blog post I write about:
- Whole class discussion: strong vs. weak presentation skills
- T-Chart Graphic Organizer
- Strong vs Weak presentation skills
- Why I love teaching presentation skills
- Grading presentation skills
- Practice at home
- Take notes during presentations
- Some presentations are just bad!
- This is a fun activity to learn about presentation skills
Whole Class Discussion
It’s super straight forward! We have a whole class discussion around Strong vs. Weak presentation skills.
The class discussion feels like playing a game. A little like charades.
I get the ball rolling by acting out one of the strong or weak presentation skills. For instance, if I cover my mouth and speak low, they can guess. They can figure out that I should project my voice and annunciate.
We can fill in an entire T-Chart with their presentation skills ideas from this discussion.
Students already know what good communication skills look like and what they should be doing. They usually come up with most of the ideas themselves.
If students get stuck, I can act one out. They can easily guess. That’s the fun part of this class discussion. It feels like a game!
I record their ideas in the T Chart under the document camera. Students copy it in their science notebooks.
T-Chart Graphic Organizer
I record their ideas in a T chart under the document camera. Students write the information in their science notebooks. They can reference this simple graphic organizer any time we do presentations throughout the year.
This T Chart makes an excellent classroom poster. It’s great to remind students and continue to help them practice their communication and presentation skills throughout the year.
Strong Vs. Weak Presentations Skills
Strong Presentation Skills
- Annunciate, or speak in a clear voice
- Project your voice
- Eye contact
- Appropriate gestures
- Energy
- Good posture
- Basically project confidence!
Weak Presentation Skills
- Mumbling, covering your mouth
- Speaking softly
- No eye contact
- Inappropriate gestures
- Low energy
- Slouching
Why I Love Teaching Presentation Skills
From time to time we do a research project and presentations in class. I love to help students practice presentation skills.
Students learn research, writing, speaking, and communication skills by doing presentations. Working on projects teaches these important real-world skills.
I learned this strategy around my 4th year teaching. I was always getting help from an excellent teacher coworker of mine. He taught science for over 30 years in the same district. He had a huge knowledge base and he also truly loved learning and the science of learning. When I complained about stuff like, Wow, some of these Body Systems presentations were really bad! He would go, Well, did you teach them presentation skills? He was always right! So he explained to me how he teaches presentation skills and I’ve been doing it ever since.
Back in the day, I remember following my teachers’ instructions at home. I used my flashcards, and rehearsed my presentation in front of the mirror. It was a lot of extra work, but I always felt so prepared for those presentations. I continued to practice my presentation skills over the years. In college I received compliments on my public speaking skills from my professors. It felt like quite the achievement!
I want to set students up for success. I want them to learn strong communication and presentation skills.I want them to feel prepared. With the ideas from this lesson, I hope they gain confidence in their public speaking abilities. I hope they continue to practice their presentation skills over the years.
Grading Presentation Skills
For a project and presentation, I think a rubric is a nice choice. The presentation criteria in the rubric is similar to the class discussion of strong vs. weak presentation skills:
- Use of direct eye contact, seldom looking at notes
- Speaks with fluctuation in volume and inflection to maintain audience interest and emphasize key points
I can give students a copy of the rubric. We can go over the project criteria before they begin. That way, they are envisioning their presentation and what they will say from the beginning.
Grade wise, the presentation skills are only worth a fraction of the points of the overall grade. Their ability to communicate information with the content of the slides is important. The images and the information and references also constitute the majority of the grade.
I made it out of 50 points, but it could easily be out of 100.
Practice at Home
I rarely give homework, but special occasions call for some extra time devoted to science outside of class. Their homework is to practice at home.
At the end of class, I tell my students to practice their presentation at home. We talk about it at the end of class so it is fresh on their mind when they leave. They need to make final touches on their slides and practice at home. It is written on the homework board. Presentations are next class.
If the timing works out, I like to do this the class period before the presentations. After our presentation skills discussion, they know specifically what to do to prepare for presentations next class.
Take Notes During Presentations
It’s great when students take notes during presentations. It keeps them attentive and focused. They record information in their notebooks and have it to look back on. It helps them remember everything better in the long run!
Students may need to ask questions and get the presenters to repeat information so they can complete their notes. They should wait to ask questions until the end of the presentation.
Taking notes is an essential classroom routine of mine. It is great for learning. It helps students channel their focus and thinking. They concentrate more on the presentations and less on distracting others. Best of all, they learn from each other. There’s no doubt that taking notes helps with classroom management during presentations. For some ideas on different note-taking styles, check out my blog post 5 Ways to Take Notes Without a Worksheet.
Some Presentations Are Just Bad!
Even with my presentation skills mini lesson, some students just go nuts when it comes to presenting. They can’t handle it! I have had students straight up laugh uncontrollably or mumble incoherently for 5 minutes. And despite my best efforts, sometimes students are just not going to do anything on a project. I don’t want to embarrass them and I don’t want to waste more of anyone else’s time. When someone is presenting and it’s not going well at all, I know when to cut it short.
At the end of the day, it’s about what they learn and how they communicate the information to their peers. I have had students who were able to talk about something much better than they could make slides. In that case, I would take their ability to communicate what they learned into account for their final project grade.
This is a Fun Activity to Learn About Presentation Skills
These are valuable skills, and they make presentations so much better! Students enjoy learning and practicing real-world skills like research, preparation, and communication.
Students actually have a lot of fun doing this activity. That makes it a fun and easy lesson to teach! I look forward to doing this lesson every year.
I could see making this into an even longer lesson. Turn it into a class game of charades. Play in groups of 4 for points and raffle tickets. Add a Think-Write-Pair-Share at the beginning. Students will be able to think of ideas at their table or with a partner before the class discussion.
Adding onto this short class discussion will only make the lesson and presentations better! Let me know if you would be interested in reading plans for a longer lesson on presentation skills. I could give it a go!
Thank you for reading this blog post on presentation skills! What is your favorite way to teach presentation skills? Let me know by leaving a comment! I would love to hear from you!
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