how to give a presentation to elementary students

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8 Tips to Power-Up Your Classroom Presentations

Last month, I attended a Back to School Night for parents, sitting through presentation after presentation by teachers, some with slides that helped make their presentation a delight to listen to, and others . . . well, that's why I'm writing this blog post.

The goal of a classroom presentation is to aid you in effectively conveying information in a way that allows students (or their parents) to remember what you said. Unfortunately, for some, the presentation becomes a crutch, and they begin to rely on the slides to tell their story, rather than to help them tell the story.

I've been creating presentations using software like PowerPoint and KeyNote for 20 years, and I've learned a lot about how to most effectively communicate. Here's what I've found.

1. Use as Many Slides as You Need

It's a common myth that better presentations use fewer slides. This is simply not the case. I once sent an education conference presentation to the organizers so they could preview it in advance of my speaking. They wrote back, concerned that my 45-minute presentation had 116 slides. I looked it over and realized they were right! I revised it and sent a presentation with 135 slides back to them. I finished my talk with 5 minutes to spare -- just enough time to take questions -- and the presentation was a huge success.

The number of slides in your presentation is irrelevant. What matters is how well your slides communicate and how much time you spend talking about each slide. Spending five minutes on five slides will almost always be more engaging to your students than spending five minutes on a single slide, even when the information is exactly the same.

In the movie Amadeus , the Emperor of Austria complains to Mozart that his music has "too many notes." Mozart responds, "There are just as many notes as are required. Neither more nor less." Use as many slides as you need to make your point. No more. No less.

how to give a presentation to elementary students

2. Minimize Verbosity

Your slides are there to support what you are saying, not to say it for you. Keep your word count low, and only place one main point on a slide, plus three to five sub-points if absolutely needed. Remember tip #1 above -- don't be afraid to use more slides. They're free! Also, the language in your slides doesn't need to be in complete sentences. Pare the text to as few words as possible, using what's there only to emphasize and reinforce -- not replace -- the words coming out of your mouth.

3. Maximize Visuals

Photos, figures and icons work as visual memory triggers. They help your students remember what it is you're saying. Any time you can add a visual that helps illustrate or reinforce the points you're making in your slides, you should use it. One great way to do this on the cheap is to use public domain or creative commons photos you can find on Flickr or Google .

4. Reduce Noise

Many teachers like to add banners, headers, footers, page numbers and more noise to their slides. Unless the information needs to be on every slide for a vital reason (which is rare), you should remove it. All these redundant elements do is create distractions from the content of your slides. I find this to be especially true of page numbers. Imagine if a movie included a time code at the bottom, constantly reminding you how long you had been watching. All this does is serve to take the viewer out of the moment. Page numbers in slides really don't provide any useful information -- they just remind your students how long they've been watching.

Pursuant to tips #1 and #2, you're not going to win awards by cramming the most content on the fewest slides. Make text and visuals as large as you can. Not only does this make them easier to see and read, but larger images and text make a greater impact to aid memory. There's nothing wrong with filling an entire slide with a photo, and then placing text right on top. You may have to use a transparent background immediately behind the text so that it's clearly readable, but the overall effect is almost always more memorable than just some text beside an image.

6. Highlight What You Are Talking About

While you are presenting, your students may be momentarily distracted taking notes, thinking about what you are saying, glancing out the window, possibly even daydreaming. When they refocus on your slides, though, they need to quickly pick back up where you are, or you risk losing them again.

Use contrast or call-outs to clearly show the area of the slide you are talking about.
Reveal bullet points or table rows one at a time so that the last one visible is the one you are talking about.
Use arrows, circles or other pointers to show what you are referencing in specific parts of an illustration, photo or graph.
Animate and reveal parts of illustrations and graphs (where possible) to build your story rather than showing everything at once.
Use bold type or different colors to highlight the keywords in any lengthy text.

7. Transition Changes

Humans suffer from an affliction called change blindness -- we have a hard time seeing changes unless there is a clear transition between the states. This is especially a problem in presentations where slides may look very much alike. Most programs include transitions that can be used between slides or on elements in the slides themselves.

My favorite transition is the cross-dissolve -- where the first slide fades down while the next slide fades up -- but different transitions can help illustrate points in your presentation. Are you talking about combustion or the fire of London? Use a flame transition. Talking about photography or Hollywood movies? Use the flashbulb transition. Even "cheesy" transitions help overcome change blindness and aid student memory at the same time.

8. Repeat Yourself Redundantly

It’s OK to repeat the same slide more than once -- especially when using images -- if you are reminding students of an earlier point. Obviously, this is not a license to be monotonous. However, if you want to tie separate ideas together, emphasize a point or splash in a little comic relief, it's perfectly fine to repeat a slide.

Bonus Tip: Make it Funny!

There's little doubt that emotional responses can aid memory. While it can be difficult to apply this power in a classroom slide presentation, humor is easy enough, and adding a bit of levity to your presentations at the right points can work to give students vital memory hooks.

Remember, the point of presentation slides is not to replace you as the teacher, but to help your students understand and remember what you are teaching. Overwhelming them with too much information can be just as harmful as underwhelming them with too little.

How to give a presentation

Does the thought of public speaking start your stomach churning like a tornado? Would you rather get caught in an avalanche than give a speech? Giving an oral report does not have to be a natural disaster. There are two main elements—the writing and the presentation. Find out how to put it all together with tips from the Nat Geo Kids Almanac .

Writing Your Material

Try to keep your sentences short and simple. Long, complex sentences are harder to follow. Limit yourself to just a few key points. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with too much information. To be most effective, hit your key points in the introduction, elaborate on them in the body, and then repeat them once again in your conclusion.

The three basic parts

• Introduction—This is your chance to engage your audience and really capture their interest in the subject you are presenting. Use a funny personal experience or a dramatic story, or start with an intriguing question.

• Body—This is the longest part of your report. Here you elaborate on the facts and ideas you want to convey. Give information that supports your main idea, and expand on it with specific examples or details. In other words, structure your oral report in the same way you would a written essay so that your thoughts are presented in a clear and organized manner.

• Conclusion—This is the time to summarize the information and emphasize your most important points to the audience one last time.

Preparing Your Delivery

Practice makes perfect. Confidence, enthusiasm, and energy are key to delivering an effective oral report, and they can best be achieved through rehearsal. Ask family and friends to be your practice audience and give you feedback when you’re done. Were they able to follow your ideas? Did you seem knowledgeable and confident? Did you speak too slowly or too fast, too softly or too loudly? The more times you practice giving your report, the more you’ll master the material. Then you won’t have to rely so heavily on your notes or papers, and you will be able to give your report in a relaxed and confident manner.

Present with everything you’ve got

Be as creative as you can. Incorporate videos, sound clips, slide presentations, charts, diagrams, and photos. Visual aids help stimulate your audience’s senses and keep them intrigued and engaged. They can also help to reinforce your key points. And remember that when you’re giving an oral report, you’re a performer. Take charge of the spotlight and be as animated and entertaining as you can. Have fun with it.

Keep your nerves under control

Everyone gets a little nervous when speaking in front of a group. That’s normal. But the more preparation you’ve done—meaning plenty of researching, organizing, and rehearsing—the more confident you’ll be. Preparation is the key. And if you make a mistake or stumble over your words, just regroup and keep going. Nobody’s perfect, and nobody expects you to be.

Download the pdf.

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Tips for Using Google Slides With Elementary Students

Are you looking for some tips for using Google Slides with elementary students? This online learning tool makes it simple and easy for students to practice specific grade level task.

Google Slides also allows teachers to manage assignments, grade work, and give students feedback. It is quite like PowerPoint but is free to use and can be a powerful classroom resource.

1: What are Google Slides?

This online presentation app lets you create and format presentations and work with others. It is easy to share and collaborate anywhere there is Internet access. Google Slides is just as easy to use as the programs PowerPoint and Keynote.

Google Slides is a presentation program and is included as part of a free, web-based software office suite offered by Google within its Google Drive service. The service also includes Google Docs and Google Sheets, a word processor and spreadsheet.

2: How can I use Google Slides in my Classroom?

There are numerous ways teachers are using Google Slides with elementary students.

Six Ways to Use Google Slides:

Visual Presentations: Supplement what you are saying with a visual presentation.
Student Feedback: Google Slides makes it easy to encourage student participation. There are tools that make it possible to get feedback from within Google Slides.
Collaborative Teaching & Learning: An assignment can be designed so that students create their own or collaborate on slides for an engaging student presentation.
Distance Learning: Students can use teacher-created slide presentations activities or assessments to learn new material at home, practice new skills learned, and be assessed on objectives that have been learned.
Digital Journals or Notecards: Students can brainstorm, research, organize, and then present their research projects to the class on Google Slides. They also can be used to memorize vocabulary or other materials. Google Slides can be used as a log, journal, or tracker with a new slide for each day.
Drawing Program: Google Slides have many of the features of a drawing program. Students can draw, paint, make shapes, or create on a slide.

Using Google Slides With Elementary Students

3: How Do I Set Up Google Classroom?

Google Classroom is a free web-based platform that integrates your G Suite for Education account with Google Docs, Google Slides, Gmail, and Google Calendar. It saves time and paper and makes it easy to create classes, distribute assignments, communicate, and stay organized.

Steps to getting started with Google Classroom:

Create an account: Teachers and students need G Suite for Education accounts to use Google Classroom that is set up in your school.
Create a class: Google Classroom is a space where your students can receive assignments and read your announcements. Head to classroom.google.com to get started
Enroll Students: Invite students to your classroom in order to enroll them. This is done by an email invitation or code.
Grading System: Set up a grading system and grade categories. If you choose a grading system for your class your grades will be calculated for you.
Assignments: Create assignments that can be posted to multiple classes as well as to individual students. You can give feedback on assignments, grades, and return assignments.
Assessments: Create quizzes, import quiz grades, and return grades to students.
Virtual Classrooms: Set up live online classes, video conferencing, or digital office hours.

4: How DO I Get Google Slides?

Google Slides can be made by individual teachers or can be purchased on a variety of learning sites. Two sites that have a variety of grade levels activities for students are either the Teachers Pay Teachers site or the BOOM Learning site.

On either site, you can search to find the BOOM Decks that meet your students’ instructional needs. It is important that you make sure that what you are purchasing is for digital use and can be used in Google Classroom.

There are also many free materials available on both the BOOM Learning and Teachers Pay Teachers site. Many teacher-authors offer activities for a variety of skills or as a preview of a larger resource that you can purchase.

Once you have purchased or clicked on a free digital resource, they are yours forever. You will always have access to assign this material to your students throughout your years of teaching.

5: How DO I Assign Google Slides to My Students?

Teachers in Google Classroom can quickly make assignments that include attached materials. After you post the assignment, your students receive an e-mail notification of the assignment, after which they complete it and turn it back in.

Steps for Making Assignments:

Log in to your class and click the Stream tab.
Click Assignment.
Type in the title of the assignment and an optional description. The description is a great place to add instructions for the assignment.
Click the due date to change it if you need to.
Click Add Time to add the time of day on the due date that the assignment is due.

Adding Materials:

Paperclip: This option attaches a file to the assignment. Here, you can upload the file from your hard drive, which will be stored on your Google Drive.
Google Drive: This option also attaches a file to the assignment but takes you right to your Google Drive to find the file.
YouTube play button: This option enables you to attach a YouTube video to the assignment. When you click this button, you can search for the video on YouTube or copy and paste the YouTube video URL. When you search for a video, YouTube results display right in the same window, and you can preview the video as well, so there is no need to visit the YouTube site.
Link: You can click the chain link button to paste in an external URL to the assignment.

Uploading Documents:

View only: Choose this option if you want all your students to read the same file but not change it. This is good for reference materials only.
Edit: Choose this option if you want all your students to make changes to the same This is good only if students are expected to collaborate on a single assignment.
Make a copy for each student: Choose this option if you want each student to have his or her own copy of the assignment. Students can make changes and turn in the assignment separately. This is best for typical homework assignments in which the student is responsible for his or her own work.

In summary, there are many tips for using Google Slides with elementary students. They allow teachers to easily monitor their students’ progress on specific academic skills. They are designed with a variety of features that keep the student actively engaged in their learning.

Google Slides in conjunction with Google Classroom allows teachers to assign students an assignment that each student receives. When they are done with their assignment, they just turn it in, and it can instantly be graded online. If you have not tried Google Slides yet, you may want to give it a try!

Grab your Free, Word Decoding Google Slides Sampler Here!

Find some more reading activities and assessments in my store, The Teaching Scene by Maureen.

To read more topics check out my blog, “Seven Effective First Grade Assessment Tools”

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Teaching Presentation Skills to Kids

Toastmasters' youth leadership program is popular – and it works..

Thirteen-year-old Shelby Kilpatrick and her 10-year-old twin sisters, Lauren and Kaitlyn, were only a "little nervous" the day they spoke for an audience of 14,000 at the 2006 Environmental Science Research Institute’s international conference in San Diego, California.

"Once we started talking, everything was fine," says Shelby. Their speech discussed the trio’s 4-H project in which they used a GPS system to create a trail map for the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. Ask the girls how they remained calm and capably spoke in front of all those people, and they gladly credit Toastmasters.

Thanks to an eight-week Youth Leadership program sponsored by the Denton Toastmasters club in Denton, Texas, the Kilpatrick sisters received extensive training on presentation skills and leadership.

"The classes were really fun," says Shelby, who speaks often during her 4-H work. [4-H is a youth organization sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.] "My sisters and I learned to be calm and to present our information so that people understand it. Now I really like giving speeches. It makes me feel important to get up there and talk about things that people enjoy hearing. I also learn a lot when I put together my speeches."

Shelby’s mom, Susan Kilpatrick, saw a great deal of change in Shelby and her sisters after the Toastmasters training.

"They’re pretty much fearless today," says Susan. "Learning to speak in public built their communication skills and confidence and enabled them to develop charisma and capture attention. They volunteer all the time for tasks that require leadership roles and easily work with groups, organizing other children and communicating what needs to be done."

Creating outgoing, well-organized, motivated children is the goal of Distinguished Toastmaster Ron Clark. The 30-year member is president of the TV Toastmasters club in Dallas, Texas, and began the Youth Leadership training in 2004.

"We’ve seen the training program really take off," says Clark, who is also secretary for the Texas Jumptart Coalition, which seeks to improve the financial literacy of young adults. "My first Youth Leadership class in 2004 consisted of nine students," he says. "Now I get calls all of the time. I’m currently scheduled to do several workshops for home schoolers, high schoolers, middle schoolers and elementary students."

"Before the [Youth] Leadership classes, we never did any kind of speaking, and now we speak all of the time," Kaitlyn says. "It's easy once you know how."

Designed to develop speaking and leadership skills for adolescents and teens, Toastmasters’ eight-week Youth Leadership program is similar to a regular Toastmasters meeting. Classes last about two hours, and the students run the meeting while the coordinator provides training and guidance. The informal course focuses on teaching students communication and leadership skills. They learn to overcome nervousness when speaking in front of groups, to organize and present ideas logically and convincingly, to listen carefully to the ideas of other students, and offer helpful advice.

"Kids absolutely love the training," says Clark, who feels that speech training also teaches children skills critical to a successful life that they often don’t learn in school.

"Children learn hard skills like math and science in school, but speech training teaches them important soft skills such as leadership, creativity, persuasiveness and organization," says Clark, pointing out that mastering these talents in Toastmasters made him successful in his career as an engineer.

Parents and Toastmasters teaching the Youth Leadership program say kids benefit by learning speaking skills at a young age. "The sooner you teach children about public speaking, the better," says Susan Kilpatrick. "If you catch kids before they have that fear of speaking in front of people, they’ll probably miss that hurdle altogether and go on to be great communicators and leaders."

Abe Birnbaum, DTM, a member of the Denton Toastmasters club, has assisted Clark with Youth Leadership training and agrees with the importance of teaching children presentation skills as early as possible. "Kids take to speaking readily because they haven’t learned to be embarrassed yet," says Birnbaum. "This sort of training is one of the best benefits you can give them and it will stay with them for the rest of their lives."

Thanks to the leadership and speech training classes, 10-year-old Lauren Kilpatrick feels she can speak in front of anyone now. "The classes helped me do things that I thought I couldn’t do. Now I’m not afraid to speak, and I can talk about anything at any time. I was a princess in a personality contest recently and they interviewed me, and I just got up there and said something, and it was okay."

Lauren’s twin sister, Kaitlyn, agrees. "Before the leadership classes, we never did any kind of speaking, and now we speak all the time," she says. "It’s easy once you know how."

Their older sister Shelby found Table Topics ® to be especially helpful. "I’m able to think on my feet now, and I can put together a speech really quickly," she says. "I recently did a speech for the Denton County Livestock Association Youth Fair on honeybees. I wrote the speech and gave it the same day. I talked about some general information about honeybees, including how they live and the different products that they create like honey and royal jelly. The speech was judged, and I got third place."

Perhaps one of the best aspects of teaching children about speaking is "knowing that we’re equipping the future leaders of our country," says Clark. "These children are our next generation, and this type of training is important for them and our future," he says. And although Clark isn’t running the leadership training programs specifically to increase Toastmasters membership, he notes that many of the students are likely to become members once they are 18.

Tips for Teaching Youth Leadership Of all his accomplishments as a Toastmaster, Ron Clark says he gets much satisfaction teaching speaking skills to youngsters. "Perhaps the best part of showing children how to speak is the look of exhilaration on their faces when they succeed," he says. "They’re so excited when they realize that they did it all by themselves." Here he offers tips for successfully educating young people about presentation skills:

Do your homework. "Carefully read the coordinator’s manual and take advantage of the resources offered by Toastmasters," says Clark. "There are districts all over the world that have so much valuable material to share; learn from their experiences."
Be expressive. Kids like to see animation and a lively performance. "When I do a speech on gestures, I make a big display," says Clark. "I’ll fool with the keys in my pocket and adjust my glasses and make a lot of noise with change. I also emphasize being purposeful with your gestures; kids love that."
Encourage children to give as many speeches as they want. "Initially, many kids are a little shy, but once they start speaking, they often don’t want to stop," says Clark. "Have as many children as possible speak at each session."
Limit participants. Clark likes to keep his class size to no more than 25 students so that he can cover all the important topics and give everyone a chance to speak.
Minimize handouts and topics covered. Kids can only soak up so much information in each session. Don’t pile a bunch of paperwork on them, which can be overwhelming. Instead focus on one topic, such as gestures, speech openings or giving evaluations.
Enjoy yourself. Have fun with the kids and they’ll have fun, too, says Clark. "Relax, get a little silly, and use plenty of humor."

About the Author

Julie bawden davis.

Julie Bawden Davis is a freelance writer based in Southern California and a longtime contributor to the Toastmaster. You can reach her at [email protected].

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16 Public Speaking Tips for Students

Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of The Anxiety Workbook and founder of the website About Social Anxiety. She has a Master's degree in clinical psychology.

Aron Janssen, MD is board certified in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry and is the vice chair of child and adolescent psychiatry Northwestern University.

Public speaking tips for students aim to reduce anxiety that can interfere with giving presentations or speeches in class. These tips can also be helpful for those with social anxiety disorder (SAD) who have difficulty speaking in front of a group or telling a story among friends.

Public Speaking Tips

If you have SAD and need to give a speech in elementary school, high school, college, or university, it helps to be as prepared as possible . Beyond preparation, however, there are strategies that you can use to reduce anxiety and fight the urge to stay home with a fake illness.

Even great speakers practice their speeches beforehand. Practice out loud with a recording device or video camera and then watch yourself to see how you can improve. If you are feeling brave, practice in front of a friend or family member and ask for feedback.

Talk about what you know : If possible, choose a topic for your speech or presentation that you know a lot about and love. Your passion for the topic will be felt by the audience, and you will feel less anxious knowing that you have a lot of experience to draw from when other students ask you questions.
Concentrate on your message : When you focus on the task at hand, anxiety is less likely to get out of control. Concentrate on the main message of your speech or presentation and make it your goal to deliver that message to the other students in your class.
Grab the audience's attention : Most of your fellow classmates will pay attention for at least the first 20 seconds; grab their attention during those early moments. Start with an interesting fact or a story that relates to your topic.
Have one main message : Focus on one central theme and your classmates will learn more. Tie different parts of your talk to the main theme to support your overall message. Trying to cover too much ground can leave other students feeling overwhelmed.

Tell Stories

Stories catch the attention of other students and deliver a message in a more meaningful way than facts and figures. Whenever possible, use a story to illustrate a point in your talk.

Being prepared to speak in public can also be important if you have social anxiety disorder. Feeling confident and prepared to give your speech may help lessen your feelings of anxiety. Some of the things that you can do to prepare include:

Visit the room : If you have access to the classroom where you will be speaking outside of class hours, take the time to visit in advance and get used to standing at the front of the room. Make arrangements for any audio-visual equipment and practice standing in the exact spot where you will deliver your speech.
Rack up experience : Volunteer to speak in front of your class as often as possible. Be the first one to raise your hand when a question is asked. Your confidence will grow with every public speaking experience.
Observe other speakers : Take the time to watch other speakers who are good at what they do. Practice imitating their style and confidence.
Organize your talk : Every speech should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Structure your talk so that the other students know what to expect.

Manage Your Anxiety

Taking steps to deal with your feelings of anxiety can also make public speaking easier. Some of the things that you can do:

Tell someone about your anxiety : If you are speaking in front of a high school or college class, meet with your teacher or professor and describe your public speaking fears . If you're in elementary or high school, share your fears with your parents, a teacher, or a guidance counselor. Sometimes sharing how you feel can make it easier to overcome stage fright.
Visualize confidence : Visualize yourself confidently delivering your speech. Imagine feeling free of anxiety and engaging the students in your class. Although this may seem like a stretch for you now, visualization is a powerful tool for changing the way that you feel. Elite athletes use this strategy to improve performance in competitions.
Find a friendly face : If you are feeling anxious, find one of your friends in class (or someone who seems friendly) and imagine that you are speaking only to that person.

Press Play for Advice on Finding Courage

Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares a strategy to help you find courage when you need it the most.

Follow Now : Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts

Maintain Perspective

Remember that other students are on your side. Think about a time when you have been an audience member and the student delivering the speech or presentation was noticeably nervous. Did you think less of that student? More likely, you felt sympathetic and wanted to make that person more comfortable by smiling or nodding.

Remember—other students generally want you to succeed and feel comfortable. If for some reason the audience is not on your side or you experience bullying or social exclusion, be sure to discuss this with a parent, teacher, or guidance counselor.

Be Confident

Sometimes just knowing what makes a good speech can help you feel more confident. Focus on some of the following elements and practice them before you have to speak in public.

Develop your own style : In addition to imitating good speakers, work on developing your own personal style as a public speaker. Integrate your own personality into your speaking style and you will feel more comfortable in front of the class. Telling personal stories that tie into your theme are a great way to let other students get to know you better.
Avoid filler words : Words such as "basically", "well", and "um" don't add anything to your speech. Practice being silent when you feel the urge to use one of these words.
Vary your tone, volume, and speed : Interesting speakers vary the pitch (high versus low), volume (loud versus soft), and speed (fast versus slow) of their words. Doing so keeps your classmates interested and engaged in what you say.
Make the audience laugh : Laughter is a great way to relax both you and the other students in your class, and telling jokes can be a great icebreaker at the beginning of a speech. Practice the timing and delivery of your jokes beforehand and ask a friend for feedback. Be sure that they are appropriate for your class before you begin.
Smile : If all else fails, smile. Your fellow classmates will perceive you like a warm speaker and be more receptive to what you have to say.

Don't Apologize

If you make a mistake, don't offer apologies. Chances are that your classmates didn't notice anyway. Unless you need to correct a fact or figure, there is no point dwelling on errors that probably only you noticed.

If you make a mistake because your hands or shaking, or something similar, try to make light of the situation by saying something like, "I wasn't this nervous when I woke up this morning!" This can help to break the tension of the moment.

A Word From Verywell

It's natural to feel frightened the first time you have to speak in front of your class. However, if you fear continues, interferes with your daily life and keeps you awake at night, it may be helpful to see someone about your anxiety.

Try talking to a parent, teacher, or counselor about how you have been feeling. If that doesn't get you anywhere, ask to make an appointment with your doctor. Severe public speaking anxiety is a true disorder that can improve with treatment .

Spence SH, Rapee RM. The etiology of social anxiety disorder: An evidence-based model . Behav Res Ther. 2016;86:50-67. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2016.06.007

By Arlin Cuncic, MA Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of The Anxiety Workbook and founder of the website About Social Anxiety. She has a Master's degree in clinical psychology.

Inspired Together Teachers

Improve Student Presentations: Teach Them How to be Effective

March 22, 2019 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Help students to give better presentations

In our experience, teachers are more likely to assign oral presentations than they are to teach students how to do presentations. We give students the task, and sometimes a rubric, and expected to give polished presentations. We tell them to use expression, but rarely teach them how to read with expression.

Unfortunately, the assign and present method rarely results in excellent presentations.

We say enough already!

We know students should learn to give effective presentations. Oral presentation skills are included in local, state and national standards. Almost all careers, and most jobs require some form of public speaking. Students can effectively demonstrate their learning through speaking, and if it is done well, they can help others learn.

Many teachers struggle to help students with presentations because they fear public speaking themselves. In some studies, fear of public speaking is the number one fear of the American public. In one study, 41 % of people listed public speaking as their number one fear and 19 percent listed death. We should take note when people are more afraid of public speaking than death!

We can eliminate the fear of public speaking if we teach students the skills for good speaking, give them opportunities to practice in low stress situations, and start by frequently practicing they are young. A high school or college speech class is extremely intimidating if students have had no formal instruction in speaking up until that time. To make matters worse, speech classes are seldom required, so many students don’t even get that training.

Where do students get an opportunity for frequent, low stakes practice in speaking? In the classroom.

Every teacher, not just language arts teachers, have an opportunity to help students become confident speakers. Students can improve their presentations skills in history, science, social studies or math in addition to language arts classes. Subjects such as the arts and languages come alive when students learn and use good presentation skills.

You can take back student presentations by teaching students effective presentation skills.

before you begin, establish rules and expectations..

Emphasize that the goal of speaking assignments is practice to help students become effective speakers.

Help students to understand how having good oral presentations skills will be an asset in the future.

Encourage a growth mindset- if students are nervous, explain that they haven’t perfected the skill yet.

Teach students how to be a good audience and set the expectation that they will be polite. Teach them how to ask good questions of the presenter.

Teach students that their role is not just to create the content, but to practice the skills of effective speaking.

Determine an attention getting signal to use to call students back to you for further instruction.

Teach, model and practice the basics of effective speaking.

Project your voice.

Have student practice projecting their voice across the room without shouting. Try it with a whisper. Students will be amazed that they can whisper so loud that others can hear them at a distance. Practice reading a line or two with different volumes. Have students partner up and try speaking at different volumes from different distances. They want to be sure that everyone can hear them.

Practice standing with a confident stance.

Students should be comfortable, but not slouching. They should stand still and can move occasionally, but not sway back and forth. They can take a few steps or move across “the stage” occasionally, which adds interest.

Practice good eye contact.

Good eye contact helps speakers connect with the audience, which means they will be more engaged in your presentation. Students often miss this one. If they are nervous, they will often fail to make eye contact with others.

Teach students to look up and smile at the audience before they begin. This often puts all parties at ease.

Lack of eye contact also occurs when students read their papers or power points word-for-word. Good speakers often share the content with notes rather than reading from a script. Good speaking is more like talking than reading. If students must read, have them write “look up” at various points in the script. Alternatively, have students write highlights from their papers on note cards, choosing the most important or interesting parts.

Pay attention to speaking rate.

Rate is effectively taught by modeling. Try reading something very fast. It is difficult to keep up. Then read something slowly. It becomes boring. Have students practice reading a paragraph with a partner, alternating fast and slow until they come to a happy medium. Advanced students can learn to modulate rate for effect, for example slowing down to build suspense. This will avoid the dreaded monotone.

Teach students to articulate.

In general, Americans can be sloppy speakers. Teach students to pronounce things carefully. Voice all of the letters, for example say running, rather than runnin.” Look for other culprits of sloppy speech, “Ta” for “to” and “gonna” instead of going to. Watch out for mumbling.

Use a more formal tone than you might use in every day speech.

Teach students that there is a time and place for slang and sloppy speech, for example when you are with your friends or in informal situations. Public speaking is a time to use more formal pronunciations.We once heard a student presenting to the board of education and he opened by calling them “Dudes.” It was not well received. You don’t want to put off your audience by appearing unprofessional.

Teach students to use facial expressions to add interest.

If students have a good command of vocal parts of speaking, teach them to add facial expressions, which will increase audience attention. Give students an opportunity to practice facial expressions. Ask students to show disgust, happiness, sadness, nervousness in their faces. Show accusing looks, hopeful looks and embarrassed looks. Students can make a note in their scripts to remind them to use a facial expression.

Teach students to use gestures.

Using gestures appropriately will also help your audience maintain interest. Students may use their hands or some part of their body to add emphasis to something they say. If they choose to use a gesture, make sure it is a full gesture, done slowly and purposefully. Students often rush a gesture, throwing it away and eliminating effectiveness because it is done too quickly and not completely. Practice gestures by having students say “goodbye” and waving. Too little or gesturing too quickly, and it isn’t effective. Too long and it looks ridiculous.

Students often like to use gestures. If students want to add gestures, they should plan for them and practice them.

Have students write an attention getting opening.

Students want to get the audience’s attention right from the start. “This report is about the role of farmers in 15 th Century China ” does not inspire interest. “Did you know that each and every one of you has something in common with 15 th Century farmers in China?” Now we are listening.

Have students start with an intriguing question, an interesting fact or a surprising statement. Have them hint at something valuable they are going to share. Tell them to find a way to connect their topic to their audience. A little time spent here can have a big pay off in terms of audience interest.

With time and practice, students will improve and gain valuable public speaking skills.

Many students have something to say and want to be heard. Others crave attention and relish being in the limelight. Teaching students the basics of speaking will help them to feel comfortable and confident with public speaking.

Developing good public speaking skills will serve them well in many situations in life, from communicating well in relationships to giving a wedding toast to making a presentation in their future careers.

We hope to banish boring speeches from our classrooms.

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Professional development
Planning lessons and courses

Student presentations

In this article I would like to give you a few tips and some advice on what I've learned from helping students prepare and deliver presentations.

Why I get students to do presentations
Syllabus fit
Planning a presentation lesson
Classroom Management

Why I get students to do presentations Presentations are a great way to have students practise all language systems areas (vocabulary, grammar, discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening). They also build confidence, and presenting is a skill that most people will need in the world of work. I find that students who are good presenters are better communicators all round, since they are able to structure and express their ideas clearly.

Presentation skills are extremely useful both in and outside the classroom. After completing a project, a presentation is a channel for students to share with others what they have learned. It is also a chance to challenge and expand on their understanding of the topic by having others ask questions. And in the world of work, a confident presenter is able to inform and persuade colleagues effectively.
Presentations can also form a natural part of task based learning. By focussing on a particular language point or skill, the presentation is a very practical way to revise and extend book, pair and group work. The audience can also be set a task, for example, a set of questions to answer on the presentation, which is a way of getting students to listen to each other.

Syllabus fit Normally the presentation will come towards the end of a lesson or series of lessons that focus on a particular language or skill area. It is a type of freer practice. This is because the students need to feel relatively confident about what they are doing before they stand up and do it in front of other people. If I have been teaching the past simple plus time phrases to tell a story, for example, I give my students plenty of controlled and semi controlled practice activities, such as gapfills, drills and information swaps before I ask them to present on, say, an important event in their country's history, which involves much freer use of the target grammar point.

Planning a presentation lesson Normally a presentation lesson will have an outline like this:

Revision of key language areas
Example presentation, which could be from a textbook or given by the teacher
Students are given a transcript or outline of the presentation
Students identify key stages of the example presentation – greeting, introduction, main points in order of importance, conclusion
Focus on linking and signalling words ('Next…', 'Now I'd like you to look at…', etc.). Students underline these in the transcript/place them in the correct order
Students are put into small groups and write down aims
Students then write down key points which they order, as in the example
Students decide who is going to say what and how
Students prepare visuals (keep the time for this limited as too many visuals become distracting)
Students practise at their tables
Students deliver the presentations in front of the class, with the audience having an observation task to complete (see 'Assessment' below)
The teacher takes notes for feedback later

It is important that the students plan and deliver the presentations in groups at first, unless they are extremely confident and/or fluent. This is because:

Shy students cannot present alone
Students can support each other before, during and after the presentation
Getting ready for the presentation is a practice task in itself
When you have a large class, it takes a very long time for everyone to present individually!

I find it's a good idea to spend time training students in setting clear aims. It is also important that as teachers we think clearly about why we are asking students to present.

Aims Presentations normally have one or more of the following aims:

To inform/ raise awareness of an important issue
To persuade people to do something
Form part of an exam, demonstrating public speaking/presentation skills in a first or second language

I set students a task where they answer these questions:

Why are you making the presentation?
What do you want people to learn?
How are you going to make it interesting?

Let's say I want to tell people about volcanoes. I want people to know about why volcanoes form and why they erupt. This would be an informative/awareness-raising presentation. So by the end, everyone should know something new about volcanoes, and they should be able to tell others about them. My plan might look like this:

Introduction - what is a volcano? (2 minutes)
Types of volcano (5 minutes)
Volcanoes around the world (2 minutes)
My favourite volcano (2 minutes)
Conclusion (2-3 minutes)
Questions (2 minutes)

Classroom Management I find that presentation lessons pass very quickly, due the large amount of preparation involved. With a class of 20 students, it will probably take at least 3 hours. With feedback and follow-up tasks, it can last even longer. I try to put students into groups of 3 or 4 with classes of up to 20 students, and larger groups of 5 or 6 with classes up to 40. If you have a class larger than 40, it would be a good idea to do the presentation in a hall or even outside.

Classroom management can become difficult during a presentations lesson, especially during the final presenting stage, as the presenters are partly responsible for managing the class! There are a few points I find effective here:

Training students to stand near people who are chatting and talk 'through' the chatter, by demonstration
Training students to stop talking if chatter continues, again by demonstration
Asking for the audience's attention ('Can I have your attention please?')
Setting the audience an observation task, which is also assessed by the teacher
Limiting the amount of time spent preparing visuals
Arranging furniture so everyone is facing the front

Most of these points are self-explanatory, but I will cover the observation task in more detail in the next section, which deals with assessment.

Assessment The teacher needs to carefully consider the assessment criteria, so that s/he can give meaningful feedback. I usually run through a checklist that covers:

Level - I can't expect Elementary students to use a wide range of tenses or vocabulary, for example, but I'd expect Advanced students to have clear pronunciation and to use a wide range of vocabulary and grammar
Age - Younger learners do not (normally) have the maturity or general knowledge of adults, and the teacher's expectations need to reflect this
Needs - What kind of students are they? Business English students need to have much more sophisticated communication skills than others. Students who are preparing for an exam need to practise the skills that will be assessed in the exam.

I write a list of language related points I'm looking for. This covers:

Range / accuracy of vocabulary
Range / accuracy of grammar
Presentation / discourse management- is it well structured? What linking words are used and how?
Use of visuals- Do they help or hinder the presentation?
Paralinguistic features

'Paralinguistics' refers to non-verbal communication. This is important in a presentation because eye contact, directing your voice to all parts of the room, using pitch and tone to keep attention and so on are all part of engaging an audience.

I find it's a good idea to let students in on the assessment process by setting them a peer observation task. The simplest way to do this is to write a checklist that relates to the aims of the lesson. A task for presentations on major historical events might have a checklist like this:

Does the presenter greet the audience? YES/NO
Does the presenter use the past tense? YES/NO

And so on. This normally helps me to keep all members of the audience awake. To be really sure, though, I include a question that involves personal response to the presentation such as 'What did you like about this presentation and why?'. If working with young learners, it's a good idea to tell them you will look at their answers to the observation task. Otherwise they might simply tick random answers!

Conclusion Presentations are a great way to practise a wide range of skills and to build the general confidence of your students. Due to problems with timing, I would recommend one lesson per term, building confidence bit by bit throughout the year. In a school curriculum this leaves time to get through the core syllabus and prepare for exams.

Presentations - Adult students

Presentation Article

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The Importance of Teaching Presentation Skills to Elementary Students

Public speaking is cited as one of America’s greatest fears. Yet strong public presentation skills are valued as one of the critical and most desirable strengths in any successful student or professional. How do we overcome our innate fears to develop and practice such valuable skills? As with any skill, public presentation and speaking skills must be taught and practiced. The introduction of these skills to our youngest students allows them to meet the challenge associated with speaking publicly from an early age, instilling children with the increased confidence that leads to success.

At school, a core curriculum that emphasizes public presentation skills teaches that creativity makes for memorable presentations; smooth transitions, the right tone, appropriate presentation speed and length, and body language and eye contact all contribute to an effective presentation; and visual enhancements make a good presentation even better. When public presentations are emphasized in school, even the youngest students acquire improved communication skills, increased self-esteem, planning and preparation experience, and the power of persuasion.

Why take the time to teach public presentation in elementary school? Many students never have to speak to large crowds, it’s true. But lessons in presentation cover so many more skills than those required to “speak to the masses.” Lessons include focused communication skills such as eye contact, tone, volume, speed, inflection, gestures, and the recognition and elimination of nervous tendencies. Required practice is the only opportunity to learn and perfect these skills and to build confidence. Confidence when speaking publicly will also increase a child’s self-esteem and increase the awareness of the power of persuasion.

How do we teach public presentation? The Institute of Public Speaking provides us with some tips. First, a school may want to avoid calling it “public speaking.” The phrase itself may instill fear or carry a negative connotation. Instead, give the activity another name. At my school, we call it the “Good Morning Show” in the younger grades and “Forum” in the middle school. Young students are less likely to be afraid of an activity that sounds like fun! Allow students to have fun exploring a topic of their choice, with few if any limitations.

Next, make presentations a routine part of the core curriculum. Presentations should not be once a year or special events. At my school, students are presenting to multiple grade levels every day, providing all students from kindergarten through grade 8 with opportunities to present publicly three to six times each year.

Then, adopt questioning techniques that ask students to think on their feet as part of the routine activity. At these presentations ask students questions that require them not only to recall, but also to make meaningful connections to something they learned in the past, or something they might have experienced outside of school. Be attentive to Bloom’s Taxonomy (higher order thinking skills), and ensure that these skills are embedded in academic conversations as children become accustomed to open-ended questions requiring them to make connections, predict, apply, etc. Making connections is part of the vernacular at my school – so much so that we have our own hand signal for when a connection is made.

Public speaking techniques have to be taught deliberately and methodically. Teachers start slow and build up, using gradual escalation and frequent practice. At my school, we add required components to presentations, and we do not focus solely on increased duration. As children mature, visuals and enhancements become more defined. Requirements for audience interaction are added. The expectation for the number and types of sources increases.

Schools have many demands on their time as curricular and testing requirements become increasingly complex. But despite our hectic schedules, the inclusion of public presentation skills in our core scope and sequence is a critical component that should not be overlooked. Attention to these skills will reap lifelong benefits that outlast other areas we spend time on throughout the year.

Melissa Earls is Head of School at Academy Hill in Springfield, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and holds a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership from Boston College. Ms. Earls was named a 2019 Head of School Fellow at Columbia University’s Teachers College. For more information, please visit https://www.academyhill.org/welcome or email [email protected].

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7 Ways Elementary Students Can Benefit From PowerPoint

Teaching elementary students is an important job you can do in many different ways. Parents and teachers often brainstorm the best ways to teach children in school; one popular method is using PowerPoint. So, what are some ways that PowerPoint can aid young students?

Elementary students benefit from PowerPoint in these 7 ways:

PowerPoint videos are a learning aid.
You can help children learn with PowerPoint images.
Powerpoint allows students and teachers to collaborate.
Students can review lessons on PowerPoint at home.
Teachers can use PowerPoint to organize their information
PowerPoint provides benefits to children with disabilities
PowerPoint aids students’ creativity.

We all want the best for our kids, and PowerPoint can make learning easier and help your child progress. Teachers can also use PowerPoint to enrich their students’ experience and make classroom learning fun. Please read on to discover some of the best ways that students can benefit from PowerPoint.

Table of Contents

1. PowerPoint Videos Are a Learning Aid

One of the best parts about PowerPoint is how you can put more than one thing on a page. Video is one of the most popular items for elementary students to put on a PowerPoint presentation.

Kids love videos, and teaching with them has numerous benefits for elementary students. It is a widespread opinion that children can learn more when videos are a part of the curriculum. With the digital age upon us, kids are often more receptive to video learning experiences than the old-fashioned teaching methods .

You can use videos combined with other PowerPoint tools to help develop an understanding of a topic. You can use them for numerous subjects when you are teaching elementary students. Some of the most popular topics to teach with video on PowerPoint include:

Learning a foreign language.
Science lessons.

Another important and valuable aspect of using videos in your PowerPoint presentations is the following:

Suppose you only have an hour to teach a class a science experiment or show them how something grows over time. In that case, you can incorporate a video into your lesson that can use time-lapse or skip ahead so that your students can see the final result of something in much less time.

Children can also benefit from learning from videos by presenting lessons in a PowerPoint presentation. A video recording means they can access it whenever they want and save the information rather than scrambling to take notes.

Frankly, it is hard to take notes when listening to someone’s lecture, let alone elementary students. Having videos included in the lessons gives them a chance to pay attention and engage without the pressure of not being able to access them later.

Students Learn by Seeing Real-Life Situations Unfold

When you incorporate a video into your social studies lesson, you can add a video that relates to the instance you are trying to explain. Suppose you want to show the importance of communication at home. Including a video that demonstrates positive interaction in a household can be beneficial.

However, using videos in your PowerPoint presentation can help students benefit by giving them another tool that allows them to learn and understand a subject. It also gives teachers a chance to relax and gather their thoughts which can help them provide better education to their class because they are rested and ready to continue teaching their students after a short break.

2. You Can Help Children Learn With PowerPoint Images

Images aren’t just useful for math classes. You can use photographs in just about any lesson under the sun. Some of the most common courses for elementary students that you can incorporate pictures with your lessons include:

Social Studies.

So give this approach a try next time you teach your students various subjects and watch them learn and grow. You’ll see smiles on their faces and hopefully increased engagement when you spruce up your lessons with images that will capture their attention and make learning a little more fun again.

3. PowerPoint Allows Students and Teachers To Collaborate.

In life, we must always work together with other people. Collaboration is essential to our society, whether at home, at work, or with strangers in an emergency. So it is not surprising that one of the most important things you can teach students at any age, starting with elementary students, is how to collaborate.

PowerPoint is an excellent method for teaching students how to collaborate with classmates and teachers.

One of the best qualities of PowerPoint is that you can add to it at any time and share the presentation with others so they can, too. This ability to share with others is an excellent tool for elementary school teachers to use that they can share with their students to contribute to the lesson with their classmates while they are learning.

Here is a video from Envato Tuts+ on how you can collaborate on PowerPoints:

Collaboration between teachers and their students can make the lessons more dynamic. Teachers know a lot, but students can sometimes add something the instructor wouldn’t have imagined.

This collaboration is a great way to give your children some independence and make them feel like they are adding something to the conversation. PowerPoint allows children to add their contributions using technology to see how they can make a difference in class.

Collaborating with other students and teachers also allows children to have fun. Add some excitement to your lessons by giving children an opportunity to discuss with each other what they think should be included in their studies or letting them choose an image or video.

This use of team-building gives students a chance to be creative and have a good time when they are learning.

When students lack proper engagement with their teachers and fellow students, it can lead to feelings of isolation, which is not conducive to mental wellbeing. If students feel excluded from the learning experience, they will often feel low self-esteem and lose interest in their studies.

When you allow children to collaborate with you, the teacher, and the other kids, you give your elementary students a better chance of having a positive view of themselves.

4. Students Can Review Lessons on PowerPoint at Home

We all remember the dreaded word from various stages of our education: homework. But in all seriousness, homework is a critical aspect of teaching and learning. While elementary students should not get overwhelmed by homework, it is a good idea to have some assignments each night to keep the information fresh in their heads.

This ability to personalize lessons. Powerpoint allows teachers to help design a curriculum not just for the classroom but for the home as well. You can make homework fun by adding images and videos to help improve your students’ retention of the information.
The student can share difficult lessons with their parents. This transparency helps the parents better understand what their child is doing each day and allows them to work with their child at home to help improve their learning and recognize any areas of weakness more easily.
Parents can also contribute through Powerpoint . PowerPoint allows parents to discuss issues with the teacher to optimize their child’s educational experience.

5. Teachers Can Use PowerPoint To Organize Their Information

One of the most appealing things about PowerPoint is that it allows the educator to design a visually appealing and comprehensive curriculum. It also encourages discussion as you can add numerous tools to help your students think about what they see and ask follow-up questions about the slides.

There are many ways that teachers can organize their lessons on PowerPoint. It is really up to the instructor and their classroom on what they think is best. However, one of the ways that most people learn better, as discussed earlier, is through visual learning tools.

Some of the very best ways that you can incorporate visual tools into your lessons to help organize your curriculum and give your students the best chance at learning and retention include:

Graphs and charts.
Fill-in-the-blanks questions.
Images that allow the student to relate to the subject at hand.

Although using Powerpoint as an educational tool can be extremely helpful, you also need to be sure that you are using it in a way that will benefit your students. If you make things too complicated or do not have a good sense of organization, you may want to avoid using PowerPoint.

A PowerPoint presentation that is neatly organized and follows a deliberate structure is a great way to show your students how to arrange something for their benefit.

Teachers can use PowerPoint to teach their students some helpful organization techniques they can use in the classroom and in their home lives. You can give them examples of some best practices for remembering things and encourage them to practice this daily.

Some of the ways that you can teach organization through PowerPoint include:

Using checklists that students can mark when they have completed a task.
Add a calendar to your PowerPoint slides.
Replacing old slides with new ones when the information is outdated.

6. PowerPoint Provides Benefits to Children With Disabilities

The best part about using PowerPoint in classrooms is that it can reach more students than other traditional learning methods. Not everyone learns the same way, and PowerPoint is an effective way to combine multiple mediums so that students can learn at their own unique pace and in their style.

There are numerous conditions that students have that can benefit from using PowerPoint. Some of these are:

Hearing impairment.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Furthermore, it doesn’t just benefit students with autism. There are numerous disabilities ranging from mild to severe that affect children. Many of these children with disabilities learn better when they use PowerPoint.

It is most likely beneficial for children with disabilities to learn with PowerPoint because they have so many different learning styles at their disposal. Whether they are looking at an image or video or reading the words, there are more ways to learn than with a traditional lecture.

PowerPoint is an effective way to capture elementary students’ attention by letting them interact. You can use numerous tools with PowerPoint to capture the attention of your students with learning disabilities, such as:

Ask Them Questions. You can ask them questions on the PowerPoint screen. Asking them questions helps with hard-of-hearing students, but it also captures the attention of students who have ADD or ADHD and who might have trouble focusing. Breaking up your lesson can help these students pay attention better.
Use Images and Videos. You can capture students’ attention better when you use pictures and videos. Videos are suitable for any student to learn, but they can be even more beneficial to students with autism and other disabilities. You can recreate experiences for these children so they can see what it’s like to attend a demonstration in a crowded area without having to experience that firsthand.

7. Powerpoint Aids Student’s Creativity

You can have your students do many different PowerPoint activities to help build their imagination and tap into their creative side. Whether you want them to get experience with their pencil skills or posting videos or photos, there are many exciting and varying ways that you can help your elementary students be creative while using PowerPoint.

Some of the best ways that you can do this include:

Have them practice sketching their designs.
Have them experiment with shapes and colors.
Please encourage them to learn how to post their favorite photos or videos.

Creativity is just another one of the many benefits that your students will get from using PowerPoint.

Whether they are learning with you in the classroom or practicing creating a slideshow at home with their parents, you can make your students test the limits of their imagination using this tool. Parents, students, and their teachers can work together to let their elementary students have fun learning on PowerPoint.

Final Thoughts

In this modern era, we must equip students with useful computer skills , and being proefficent with PowerPoint ties in well with this overall goal.

As outlined in this article, PowerPoint is a hugely beneficial learning tool that makes participation engaging and creative. All good teachers should try to incorporate PowerPoint and equivalent digital tools in to lessons and activities.

Microsoft Support: What is PowerPoint?
Northern Illinois University: Teaching with PowerPoint
Institute of Educational Studies: TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus
Science: Lectures Aren’t Just Boring, They’re Ineffective, Too. Study Finds
ADDitude: Learning on Steroids
Edutopia: The Benefits of Video-Mediated Instruction
Edutopia: Using Video Content to Amplify Learning
The Tech Edvocate: How to Use Videos to Support Science Experiences
European Investment Bank: Learning Through Looking
Stanford Graduate School of Education Youcubed: Visual Math Improves Math Performance
YouTube: How to Create Animated Interactive Math Graphs and Lessons in PowerPoint
National Education Association: Benefits of Collaboration
YouTube: How to Collaborate as a Team on PowerPoint
US News: Should Kids Get Homework?
National Library of Medicine: The Role of Collaboration in the Cognitive Development of Young Children: a Systematic Review
Northwestern University: Why and When to Use PowerPoint in Online Courses
Texas Tech University: How Can I Use PowerPoint More Effectively?
Understood.org: How to Teach Your Grade Schooler Organization Skills
PBS: Creativity and Play: Fostering Creativity
Business Insider: How to Draw in Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Custom Designs on Slides Through the Desktop App and Online

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5 Interactive Presentations Ideas that will Engage Students

Interactive presentations should always be an educator’s goal. Dry, teacher-centered lectures lose students’ interest, while interactive presentations grab and hold attention. Getting students involved improves retention, understanding, and enjoyment. And it’s remarkably easy to involve the audience with just a few easy principles (especially with the right technology at your disposal).

Start creating interactive presentations with the tips and tricks below or get more insights on modern education technology.

Students today expect the classroom to be both educational and enjoyable at the same time. Interactive presentations help engage students by having them participate in the lessons instead of passively listening to lectures. This reduces boredom and gives students a sense of responsibility to be attentive.

A Gallup Poll of about 3,000 schools shows that around the 5 th grade 74% of students feel they are engaged in school, but by the 10 th , 11 th , and 12 th grade those numbers fall to the 30% range. It is important for educators from K-12 and on to higher education to recognize that keeping students engaged in the classroom is important and the adoption of interactive learning environments can be a key driver.

Millennials and Generation Y students are especially accustomed to being a part of the lessons and not just a spectator. Students are encouraged to talk and offer their ideas to create a collaborative atmosphere where both teachers and students are sources of knowledge and insight. The teacher plays more of a facilitator role in moving the lesson along and encouraging students to participate in their own learning outcomes. Students offer their own input, additional information, and give examples of how they would apply the key concepts.

The learning task is the central aspect of the interactive presentations (instead of the teacher’s energy level and hold on the students’ attention spans) and the lessons evolve around it. Even though the teacher is normally, the ‘presenter’ in most cases the ‘interaction’ part comes in a variety of ways to get students participating in the lesson. Many activities, games, role-plays, quizzes, and discussions can be integrated into the presentation flow and the lessons will take different directions from there. We will discuss later many examples of tools and techniques to encourage collaborations.

5 Interactive Presentations Ideas that will Engage Students

Technological Aid in Interactive Presentations

Although interactive presentations can be done without technology, it is greatly aided with the adoption of tools designed to facilitate the learning process. For example, a quiz is given in the middle of the presentation. On one side, traditionally a teacher can write the quiz before the lesson starts, print out copies for all students, pass out the quiz, and collect answers. To provide feedback for the exercise the teacher will also need to grade and start a discussion on the results before moving on to the next topic. This process is time-consuming and restrictive.

With technological aid such as an interactive digital whiteboard or a classroom quizzing application on individual devices, the students and teacher can come up with the quiz questions on the spot. This digital quiz can be administrated wirelessly to all students and within seconds, the results can be shared with all participants to discuss. This greatly increases spontaneity, variability, and class involvement.

5 Interactive Presentations Ideas and Corresponding Technology Aids

1. Storytelling

The teacher does not have to be the only star. The glory of the presentation can go to all participants who have a story to tell. The main concepts can be discussed and students should be given time to come up with a personal example. This exercise helps students relate to the subject matter and getting to listen to other students’ examples will drive home the concepts further. The need for the teacher to plan extensive examples and be the only one talking during the presentation is reduced. Teachers can also judge by the stories shared how much the students are understanding.

Storytelling with technology: Many digital whiteboards have Cast and Throw functions that will allow students to work on their own examples on their devices and send this to the whiteboard when sharing. This allows students to quickly go up and share their stories without sending files by email, wires, or USBs.

2. Non-linear presentation

Presentations that do not follow a strict order but organically flow from topic to topic based on the audience’s feedback are a great way to engage participants. Once prepared, the presenter can flow from one topic to the next by asking questions, polling, or receiving requests at the end of each key point. This allows the audience to ‘build’ their own presentation on what they want to hear not in a rigid manner as with traditional slide-based presentations.

Non-linear presentation with technology : There are non-linear presentation applications like Prezi which helps presenters build presentations on easy-to-customize templates. They offer a zoomable canvas (not slides) to help people share knowledge, stories and inspire audiences to act. The canvas shows relationships between points and offers a recommended flow but not a set path to follow.

3. Polls, surveys, and quizzes

One of the most recognizable and used tools in the classroom to get a fast reaction from students are polls, surveys & quizzes. For polls, simple questions that have limited answers are used to gather a consensus. This could be in the form of a raise of hands, ballots, or having students form groups. Surveys would require printed paper sheets with multiple choices, scales, or short answers to gather opinions. Quizzes are used to quickly test a student’s knowledge on what was just covered, so the class can identify weak areas and crystalize main concepts.

Polls, surveys, and quizzes can be anonymous or not. Openly requiring students to share their ideas on results such as a debate or open discussion would increase the interactives of the activity. Students can also be tasked to create questions and grade their own surveys and quizzes for an added layer of participation within the presentation.

Polls, surveys, and quizzes with technology : Many classroom management software such as Google Classroom has built-in tools to create polls, surveys, and quizzes along with assignments, communication, and other educational features. Once submitted, the collection and grading are instantaneous. The results can be shared easily with students both individually or as a group.

Is there a student – of any age – who does not like a good game, contest, or competition? Adding a small game into a presentation breaks up the normal lecture format and gets the audience to think critically to help their team win. There are many versions and adaptions of basic educational games . Teachers can take games such as Pictionary, Jeopardy, Casino, and Bingo then adapt them to their needs.

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Gamifying your interactive presentation : By integrating into the presentation links to applications like ClassCraft or Kahoot a teacher can quickly launch an interactive digital game. These applications help teachers tailor their own games by adding their questions, facts, and materials for individuals, small teams, or the whole class to participate.

5. Discussions and groups breakout sessions

Having the class only listen to a lecture marks the end of any interactive presentation. Adding sections where students can have an open discussion or breakout sessions can help students learn from each other, share insights, and have an opportunity to ask questions to their peers. It is also an opportunity for the teacher to take a break from talking and help small groups or students individually as the rest of the class converse.

Taking the discussion online for interactive presentations : Live discussion applications like NowComment allow students to markup and discuss a text in real-time which is great for peer-review activities and gather student input into one place quickly. Alternatively, Yo Tech is great for teachers to create and moderate real-time chat rooms. Students can send text-like messages, reply to other messages, and share pictures and drawings. Online chat groups are a great way for large groups of students to collaborate and interact in one place while keeping the noise level down in a classroom.

Tips for Creating Interactive Presentations

Here are some tips when creating a presentation that has interactive components:

Add in places within your lecture notes or presentation slides reminders for you to engage the audience. This could be a small image or phrase. When using digital whiteboards or other display technology you could also use a sound, empty slide, or pop-up link to prompt you to start.

Time Limits

It is great to keep going a good game or discussion in the class where everyone is really engaged. However, keep the maximum amount of time you can dedicate to these activities in mind. Have a watch or a timer on hand and keep things moving. Give enough time for students to get engaged without overdoing it. Spread out chances for students to talk and share. When it is time to move on to the next topic prepare a transition to the next part of the presentation.

Think of ways to let all students have a chance to share. You can select students randomly or have them take turns in some kind of order. Remind students that this is a learning activity and not everyone will get it right the first time. The interactive activity should be open and inclusive. Students who are introverted may be given activities that can be done without going to the front of the class or public speaking.

Benefits of Having Interactive Components in Your Presentation

Retention: Actively having students engage with the concepts of the presentation in different ways and hearing it from different people (besides the teacher) helps with long-term retention.
Personalization: Students are given the choice of where the presentation is heading and participate in their own learning outcomes.
Fun: Having a break from the routine, getting a chance to move around, developing teams, and sharing are all much better than sitting silently and taking notes.
Feedback: Adding interactive activities into a presentation gives you instant feedback about students’ comprehension.
Vocalization: Having students actually vocalize their ideas helps them internalize the concepts.
Summarization: Students review and summarize their own main points while doing the activities so there is less need for repetition.

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Learning Solutions For the Future

Build Your Own Version of Interactive Presentations for Your Next Lesson

Bringing in the interactive components and increasing the engagement of your presentations will both help you – a teacher – and your students. Make presentations both educational and entertaining with Edutainment! With or without technology, consider incorporating some new ideas into your next interactive presentation.

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