Be happy about your presentation by planning ahead.
Speaking before a class can be a daunting experience no matter your age. It can sometimes to be tough to capture the attention of a student audience, but it is highly rewarding to see students hanging on your words and wanting to you pepper you with questions. Whether you are a student, a teacher or a parent coming into the classroom for career day, there are a number of points to keep in mind.
Know Your Audience
Be sure you know the age of your audience and a little about the class. Students don't want to think they're being talked down to, but if you make the material too challenging, it will be hard to hold anyone's interest. If you're speaking to an advanced science class, your approach may be different from what it would be if you were addressing a general audience. Find out whether the class has recently been studying the subject of your presentation, and seek to enhance the students' education, not repeat what they have already learned.
Be Prepared
It's not much fun to watch someone reading a presentation word for word from a script. Practice, practice, practice before the presentation so you can establish eye contact with the audience and sound more spontaneous. Rather than writing your speech verbatim, use note cards with key words to trigger your thoughts about the material you want to cover. Find a friend or family member who is willing to watch your presentation in advance and offer pointers on what you're doing right and what you might improve.
Make Screen Presentations
PowerPoint and other projected displays can help get your message across. The Classroom Technologies division of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers a number of tips for making presentations look good when you're projecting them on a screen. Among the tips: Limit information on the screen to between three and five bullet points; use strong contrasting colors for the text and background; limit fonts and styles to two or three; make sure the font is large enough for people to see from the back of the room; and avoid serif fonts such as Times New Roman.
Appeal to the Senses
Children have different learning styles, so it's good to appeal to as many senses as possible during your presentation. Video presentations and props help illustrate your words and make the material more interesting. If you can, bring something for the class to touch or pass around. Depending on the subject, you might even bring something for the kids to smell or taste.
Get Students Involved
Students will enjoy the presentation even more if they become a part of it. If the subject lends itself, ask for volunteers to participate in a learning game, experiment or some other aspect of the presentation. Allow time for questions, but decide in advance whether you want to take questions throughout the presentation or answer them at the end. Be sure to let the students know before you look out on a sea of waving hands.
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