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How to Do a Presentation in Class

Last Updated: February 23, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,628,537 times.

Doing a presentation in class can be intimidating, but it does not have to be. This wikiHow will give you lots of pointers on how to do a presentation in class with minimal stress.

Planning the Presentation

Step 1 Write note cards on index cards.

  • Write down keywords or main ideas. If you need to consult your index cards, you're only going to want to scan the index card for information, not read every last word.
  • Most of the time, the act of putting information down on your index cards will help you remember the information. So, while you might not strictly need the note cards, it's a nice security blanket to have if you happen to forget what you were going to say.
  • You don't want to be reading straight off your notecards during your presentation.

Step 2 Practice.

  • Practice in front of your family or friends, or in front of the mirror, when you rehearse your presentation. It's probably better to do it in front of friends who you may not know well, as this will help you replicate the feeling of being in front of the class.
  • Ask your friends for feedback after you finish your presentation. Was the presentation long enough? How was your eye contact? Did you stammer at all? Were all the points clearly made?
  • Make a critique of your practice performance. Challenge yourself to work on all the things that you believe you can improve during the real presentation. When it comes time to deliver the real deal, you'll feel confident knowing that you've worked extra hard on what was toughest for you.

Step 3 Do your research....

  • Get quotes from reliable sources. Good quotes make a good presentation great. Taking what smart people have said and putting it into your presentation not only makes you look smart, it shows the teacher that you spent time thinking about what other people said.
  • Make sure your sources are trustworthy. There's nothing that can quite break your confidence like a fact that turns out to not be a fact. Don't always trust the information you get off the Internet.

Delivering the Presentation

Step 1 Smile...

  • Studies have shown that smiles are infectious; that means that once you smile, it's hard for everyone else not to smile. So if you want your presentation to go off without a hitch, force yourself to smile. That'll make everyone smile; and maybe those smiles will make you actually smile.

Step 2 Feel confident about your presentation.

  • Think about your intention before you talk to your audience. Do you want to educate, enlighten, or entertain this audience? What is the effect that you want to have on the listener?
  • Visualize success before, during, and after your presentation. Be humble about what you do — no need for cockiness — but imagine a successful presentation at all times. Don't let the thought of failure creep into your mind.
  • In many ways, your confidence is just as important as the information you're delivering. You don't want to spread misinformation, or skimp on doing your research, but a lot of what you'll be graded on — and what the other students come away with — is going to be your level of confidence. Also if you are confident, you will have a better time exchanging ideas with the class.
  • If you need a confidence boost, think big picture. After 10 or 15 minutes, your presentation will be over. What will your presentation matter in the long run? Probably not very much. Try to do the best you can, but if you're getting nervous, remind yourself that there are much more important moments in your life to come.

Step 3 Make eye contact.

  • Have the goal of looking at every person in the classroom at least once. That way, everyone will feel like you've engaged with them. Plus, you'll look like you know what you're talking about.

Step 4 Be sure to have inflection in your voice.

  • Inflection is the kind of movement that radio DJs put into their voice; it's the ramped-up pitch in your voice when it gets excited. You don't want to sound like you've just seen a lion, but you also don't want to sound like you've just seen a squirrel, either. Vary it up to make the presentation more interesting.

Step 5 Use hand motions.

  • Tell a story, maybe one with a personal note. Stories are great for history or English presentations. Maybe you can tie your presentation into a little anecdote about a famous historical person?
  • Ask a provocative question. Ending with a question is a good way of getting your audience to think about your presentation in an interesting way. Is there a certain conclusion you want them to come to?

Step 7 Walk back to your seat with a smile.

What Is The Best Way To Start a Presentation?

Community Q&A

Community Answer

  • Have good posture. Don't cross or fold your arms, keep them open. Don't slouch and keep your back straight. [8] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
  • Don't forget to look at everyone, not just the floor. Don't stare at anyone in particular but 'skim' the class. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
  • Try not to argue with your audience. This detracts from your presentation. Just tell them they have an interesting point and that you'll check and get back to them. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1

presentation at school

  • Some people may be so tied up before a presentation that they feel faint and may pass out during their speech. If this describes you, make sure you prepare especially hard and keep your blood sugar up before you present. Thanks Helpful 14 Not Helpful 1
  • Don't keep your mobile phone in your pocket or it will interfere with the microphone (if any). Thanks Helpful 13 Not Helpful 6

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Create a PowerPoint Presentation

  • ↑ https://www.gvsu.edu/ours/oral-presentation-tips-30.htm
  • ↑ https://www.uwe.ac.uk/study/study-support/study-skills/presenting-and-working-with-others
  • ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zcfv4wx/articles/zdn3d6f
  • ↑ https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/giving-talk.html

About This Article

Patrick Muñoz

The best way to prepare for your class presentation is to practice in front of a friend or family member. When it’s time to present, make eye contact with your audience and use hand motions to illustrate your points. Don’t forget to smile! Finish strong with a final statistic or provocative question. If you’re still nervous, read on for more advice! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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75 Unique School Presentation Ideas and Topics Plus Templates

Are you tired of seeing the same PowerPoints repeating overused and unoriginal school presentation ideas covering repeated topics in your classes?

You know what I’m talking about; we’ve all been there, and sat through yawn-worthy demonstrations, slides, or presentation videos covering everything from the solar system, someone’s favorite pet, past presidents of a country, to why E=mC squared.

school presentation ideas bored cat meme

From grade school to university, first graders to college students, we are obligated to create, perform, and observe academic presentations across a plethora of curriculums and classes, and not all of these public speaking opportunities fall into the category of an ‘interesting topic’.

Yet, have no fear! Here at Piktochart, we are here to help you and your classmates. From giving examples of creative and even interactive presentation ideas, providing presentation videos , and suggesting interactive activities to give your five minutes of fame the ‘wow’ factor that it deserves, this article is your guide!

Our massive collection of unique school and college presentation ideas and templates applies if you’re:

  • A teacher looking to make your class more engaging and fun with student presentations.
  • A student who wants to impress your teacher and the rest of the class with a thought-provoking, interesting topic.

A Curated List of Interesting Topics for School Presentations

Did you know that when it comes to presentations , the more students involved improves retention? The more you know! Yet sometimes, you need a little help to get the wheels moving in your head for your next school presentation .

The great thing about these ideas and topics is you can present them either in face-to-face classes or virtual learning sessions.

Each school presentation idea or topic below also comes with a template that you can use. Create a free Piktochart account to try our presentation maker and get access to the high-quality version of the templates. You can also check out our Piktochart for Education plan .

Want to watch this blog post in video format? The video below is for you!

The templates are further divided into the following categories covering the most popular and best presentation topics. Click the links below to skip to a specific section.

  • Unique science presentation topics to cultivate curiosity in class
  • Engaging culture and history presentation ideas to draw inspiration from
  • Health class presentation topics to help students make healthy lifestyle decisions
  • Data visualization ideas to help students present an overwhelming amount of data and information into clear, engaging visuals
  • First day of school activity ideas to foster classroom camaraderie
  • Communication and media topics to teach students the importance of effective communication
  • Topics to help students prepare for life after school

We hope this list will inspire you and help you nail your next school presentation activity.

Unique Science Presentation Topics to Cultivate Curiosity in Class

Science is a broad field and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with too many topics to choose for your next presentation.

Cultivate curiosity in the science classroom with the following unique and creative presentation ideas and topics:

1. Can life survive in space?

template for can life survive in space

2. Do plants scream when they’re in pain?

template for do plants scream when they're in pain

3. What are the traits of successful inventors?

template of what are the traits of successful inventors

4. How vaccines work

template for how vaccines work

5. Massive destruction of the Koala’s habitat in Australia

template for massive destruction of the koala's habitat in australia

6. Left brain versus right brain

template for left brain vs right brain

7. What are great sources of calcium?

template for great sources of calcium infographic

Get access to high-quality, unique school presentation templates by Piktochart for Education.

Create and collaborate in the classroom using Piktochart’s customizable and printable templates for your school reports, presentations, and infographics.

presentation at school

8. Recycling facts you need to know

template for recycling facts you need to know

9. Do you have what it takes to be a NASA astronaut?

NASA astronaut template

10. The rise of robots and AI: Should we be afraid of them?

rise of robots template

11. How far down does the sea go?

template for how far down does the sea go

12. The stages of sleep

stages of sleep template

13. Will Mars be our home in 2028?

template for will mars be our home in 2028

14. A quick look at laboratory safety rules

template for laboratory rules

15. The first person in history to break the sound barrier

template for the first person in history to break the sound barrier

Engaging Culture and History Presentation Ideas to Draw Inspiration From

History is filled with equally inspiring and terrifying stories, and there are lessons that students can learn from the events of the past. Meanwhile, interactive presentations about culture help students learn and embrace diversity. 

16. Women in history: A conversation through time

infographic template about women in history: a conversation through time

17. The sweet story of chocolate 

visual for sweet story of chocolate 

18. A history lesson with a twist 

template for a history lesson with a twist

19. The history of basketball 

history of basketball visual template

20. The origin of the Halloween celebration 

origin of the halloween celebration template

21. AI History 

AI history template

22. What you need to know about New Zealand 

infographic template about new zealand facts

23. 1883 volcanic eruption of Krakatoa 

template for volcanic eruption of krakatoa 

24. Roman structures: 2000 years of strength

template for roman structures: 2000 years of strength

25. The most famous art heists in history 

template for the most famous art heists in history 

26. Elmo: The story behind a child icon 

template for elmo: the story behind a child icon 

27. 10 things you should know before you visit South Korea 

template for things you should know before you visit south korea 

28. 8 things you didn’t know about these 8 countries 

eight things you didn't know about these countries, template 

Health Class Presentation Topics to Help Students Make Healthy Lifestyle Decisions

Want to learn how to engage students with healthcare topic ideas? Then consider using these templates for your next interactive presentation.

According to the CDC , school-based health education contributes to the development of functional health knowledge among students. It also helps them adapt and maintain health-promoting behaviors throughout their lives. 

Not only will your presentation help with keeping students engaged, but you’ll also increase class involvement with the right slides.

The following examples of health and wellness interactive presentations include fun ideas and topics that are a good start. 

29. How to look after your mental health?

how to look after your mental health infographic template, mental health, mental health infographic, eating disorders

30. The eradication of Polio

template for the eradication of polio, healthcare infographic, healthcare infographic template

31. How to have a healthy lifestyle 

infographic template about healthy lifestyle, health infographic template

32. 10 handwashing facts 

handwashing infographic template, handwashing visual

33. Myths and facts about depression

infographic template about depression, depression infographic template, infographic on depression

34. Hacks for making fresh food last longer 

hacks for making fresh food last longer template, quarantine infographic

35. Ways to avoid spreading the coronavirus

template about how to avoid spreading the coronavirus, covid infographic

36. Mask protection in 5 simple steps 

template about mask protection, covid infographic

37. Everything you need to know about the flu

cover photo of the presentation about everything you need to know about the flu, flu infographic

38. All about stress: Prevention, tips, and how to cope 

template about stress prevention, tips, and how to cope , stress infographic

39. The importance of sleep 

template about the importance of sleep, sleep infographic

40. Is milk tea bad for you?

template about milk tea is bad for you, health infographic

41. How to boost happiness in 10 minutes

template about how to boost happiness in 10 minutes, happiness infographic

42. How dirty are debit and credit cards 

template of how dirty are debit and credit cards, credit card infographic

43. Why do you need sunscreen protection

template about sunscreen, sunscreen infographic

Data Visualization Ideas to Help Students Present Overwhelming Amounts of Data in Creative Ways

Data visualization is all about using visuals to make sense of data. Students need to pull the main points from their extensive research, and present them by story telling while being mindful of their classmates’ collective attention span.

As far as student assignments go, storytelling with data is a daunting task for students and teachers alike. To keep your audience interested, consider using a non linear presentation that presents key concepts in creative ways.

Inspire your class to be master data storytellers with the following data visualization ideas:

44. Are we slowly losing the Borneo rainforest?

deforestation infographic, template about deforestation, example of how to share about current events

45. Skateboard deck design over the years

skateboard infographic, template about skateboard deck design over the years

46. Food waste during the Super Bowl

super bowl infographic, food waste infographic, template about food waste during the super bowl

47. The weight of the tallest building in the world

building infographic, construction infographic, template about the weight of the tallest building in the world

48. Infographic about data and statistics

data infographic, statistics infographic

49. Stats about cyberbullying

template for stats about cyberbullying, cyberbullying infographic

50. How whales combat climate change

climate change infographic, template for how whales combat climate change

First Day of School Interactive Activity Ideas to Foster Whole-class-Camaraderie

Calling all teachers! Welcome your new students and start the school year with the following back-to-school creative presentation ideas and relevant templates for first-day-of-school activities.

These interactive presentations grab the attention of your students and are remarkably easy to execute (which is the main educator’s goal after all)!

51. Meet the teacher

meet the teacher template, introduction template, meet the teacher visual

52. Example: all about me

introduction infographic, about me visual template

53. Self-introduction

template about self introduction, introduction infographic, about me visual template

54. Tips on how to focus on schoolwork

template about how to productive, productivity infographic, taking notes

55. Course plan and schedule

course plan template, course plan visual, course list

Give our class schedule maker a try to access more templates for free. You can also access our presentation-maker , poster-maker , timeline-maker , and more by simply signing up .

56. Interpreting a student’s report card (for parents)

student report card template, student report card visual

57. Introduction of classroom rules

classroom rules, classroom rules template

58. Assignment schedule

course topics, assignments, course template, course infographic

59. Daily planner

daily planner template

60. Course syllabus presentation

course syllabus template

61. How to write a class presentation

template for how to create a class presentation,

Topics to Teach Students the Importance of Effective Communication

Visual media  helps students retain more of the concepts  taught in the classroom. The following media topics and infographic templates can help you showcase complex concepts in a short amount of time. 

In addition, interactive presentation activities using these templates also encourage the development of a holistic learning process in the classroom because they help focus on the  three domains of learning:  cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. 

62. Interactive presentation do’s and don’ts 

template for presentation dos and donts, presentation infographic

63. How to create an infographic 

template about how to create an infographic 

Recommended reading : How to Make an Infographic in 30 Minutes

64. How to improve your internet security and privacy

infographic template about internet privacy

65. What is design thinking?

what is design thinking infographic template

66. What are your favorite software tools to use in the classroom? 

infographic template about educational software

Presentation Topic Ideas to Help Students Prepare for Life After School

One of the things that makes teaching a rewarding career is seeing your students take the learning and knowledge you’ve instilled in them, and become successful, productive adults.

From pitching a business idea to starting your podcast, the following topics are good starting points to prepare students for the challenges after graduation (aka adulting 101):

67. How to make a resume

resume template

68. How to start a startup

how to start a startup, startup infographic, how to temple

69. Credit card vs. debit card

infographic about credit cards and debit cards, credit card infographic

70. Pros and cons of cryptocurrency

pros and cons of cryptocurrency infographic template

71. How to save on travel

ways to save on travel infographic template

72. How to do a SWOT analysis

swot nalysis infographic

73. How to pitch a business idea

business idea pitch infographic template

74. Habits of successful people

presentation template about habits of successful people

75. Starting your own podcast: A checklist

infographic template about starting your own podcast

Find out how a high school teacher like Jamie Barkin uses Piktochart to improve learning in the classroom for her students.

Pro tip: make your presentation as interactive as possible. Students have an attention span of two to three minutes per year of age. To keep minds from wandering off, include some interactive games or activities in the lesson. For example, if you conducted a lesson on the respiratory system, you could ask them to practice breathing techniques.

Maintain eye contact with your students, and you’ll get instant feedback on how interested they are in the interactive presentation.

Make School Presentation Visuals Without the Hassle of Making Them From Scratch

School presentations, when done right, can help teachers engage their classes and improve students’ education effectively by presenting information using the right presentation topic. 

If you’re pressed for time and resources to make your school presentation visuals , choose a template from Piktochart’s template gallery . Aside from the easy customization options, you can also print and download these templates to your preferred format. 

Piktochart also professional templates to create infographics , posters , brochures , reports , and more.

Creating school-focused, engaging, and interactive presentations can be tedious at first, but with a little bit of research and Piktochart’s handy templates, you’re going to do a great job!

The future of learning is interactivity and collaboration.

Foster interactive and collaborative learning using Piktochart for Education. Share your work, get feedback, and brainstorm on the fly. With Piktochart, everyone’s on the same page. Finally.

foster independent learning

Kyjean Tomboc is an experienced content marketer for healthcare, design, and SaaS brands. She also manages content (like a digital librarian of sorts). She lives for mountain trips, lap swimming, books, and cats.

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How a Simple Presentation Framework Helps Students Learn

Explaining concepts to their peers helps students shore up their content knowledge and improve their communication skills.

presentation at school

A few years ago, my colleague and I were awarded a Hawai‘i Innovation Fund Grant. The joy of being awarded the grant was met with dread and despair when we were informed that we would have to deliver a 15-minute presentation on our grant write-up to a room full of educational leaders. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, my colleague informed me that he was not going to be in Hawai‘i at the time of the presentation. I had “one shot,” just a 15-minute presentation to encapsulate all of the 17 pages of the grant I had cowritten, but how?

I worked hard to construct and deliver a presentation that was concise yet explicit. I was clear on the big picture of what the grant was composed of and provided a visual of it in practice. I made sure the audience understood the “why” behind the grant. I showed how it worked, the concrete elements of it, and how they made it successful. I finished with a scaffold that would help others know how to initiate it within their context, giving them the freedom to make it authentically their own.

I received good feedback from the presentation, and more important, what was shared positively impacted student learning in other classrooms across the state.

A Simple Framework for Presentations

That first presentation took me over a month to prepare, but afterward I noticed that my prep time for presentations shrank exponentially from a few months to a few (uninterrupted) days. Interestingly enough, as a by-product of creating the original presentation, I created an abstract framework that I have used for every professional learning presentation I have delivered since then. The “What, Why, How, and How-To” framework goes as follows:

  • What? What can the audience easily connect to and know as a bridge to the unknown for the rest of the experience?
  • Why? Why should they care to listen to (and learn from) the rest of the presentation? What’s in it for them to shift from passive listeners to actively engaged? The audience needs to know why you believe in this so much that you are compelled to share it.
  • How? What are the key elements that make it unique? How is it effective in doing what it does? What are the intricacies of how it works?
  • How-to? How could they start doing this on their own? How could this knowledge serve as a foundational springboard? Connect it to “why.”

Benefits for Students

One of the best parts of presentations is that they help the presenter to improve their communication skills. The presenter is learning how to give a presentation by doing it. To prepare a presentation, the presenter must know the intricate elements of what they are presenting and the rationale for their importance. In the presentation delivery, the presenter must be articulate and meticulous to ensure that everyone in the audience is able (and willing) to process the information provided.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that preparing and delivering presentations could provide a valuable learning opportunity for my students.

I recall teaching mathematical concepts whereby students would immediately apply knowledge learned to accomplish the task in silence and without any deeper questioning. Only after I asked them to provide presentations on these concepts did they regularly ask me, “Why is this important, again?” or “What makes this so special?” My students’ mathematical literacy grew through preparing presentations with the “What, Why, How, and How-To” framework, which supported them in their ability to demonstrate content knowledge through mathematical rigor (balancing conceptual understanding, skills and procedural fluency, and real-world application).

  • The “what” served as the mathematical concept.
  • The “why” demonstrated the real-world application of the concept.
  • “The “how” demonstrated conceptual understanding of the concept.
  • The “how-to” demonstrated skills and procedures of the concept. 

In addition to content knowledge, the sequential competencies of clarity, cohesiveness, and captivation ensured that the presenter could successfully share the information with their audience. When combined, these framed a rubric that supported students in optimizing their presentation deliveries. The competencies are as follows:

1. Content knowledge. The presenter must display a deep understanding of what they are delivering in order to share the “what, why, how, and how-to” of the topic.

2. Clarity. The presenter must be clear with precise, academic language. As the content they deliver may be new to the audience, any lack of clarity will alienate the audience. Providing multiple modes of representation greatly addresses a variety of processing needs of a diverse audience.

3. Cohesiveness. When making clear connections, the presenter bridges gaps between each discrete component in how they all work together as integral elements of the topic. Any gaps too large may make the elements look disjointed or, worse, the audience feel lost.

4. Captivation. The presenter must captivate the audience through any combination of audience engagement or storytelling . They make the presentation flow with the energy of a song , and in the end, they leave the audience with a delicate balance of feeling fulfilled and inspired to learn more.

Anyone can build an effective presentation with the “What, Why, How, and How-To” framework, along with competencies of content knowledge, clarity, cohesiveness, and captivation. The better we teach and coach others on how to create and deliver presentations, the more we learn from these individuals through their work.

In my class, one multilingual learner responded to the prompt “What are the non-math (life lessons) you have found valuable from this class?” with “I learn what is learning and teaching... I truly understood how teaching is actually learning when I had presentation. I found a bit of desire to being a teacher. I hope you also learned something from this class.” I always learn from my students when they present.

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class presentation tips for students

31 of the best class presentation tips for students

Katie September 20, 2022 communication , grades

presentation at school

By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed.

Giving class presentations is just part of the school experience. Some students dread presenting to their classmates, and others prefer class presentations to written assessments. If you’re new to this, or if you’re just looking for some ideas, I share my best class presentation tips for students in the post below. 

Class presentations often involve a visual component, and an audio and delivery component. The tips in this post are for class presentations that involve SLIDES, such as Google Slides or PowerPoint. Therefore, I break down the class presentation tips for students into the following categories:

  • text and content
  • Audio and delivery class presentation tips
  • Bonus class presentation tips to up-level your game

Class presentation tips for VISUALS

The following tips will enhance the visual component of your school presentation. The strategies are further categorized by format, text, and images.

Class presentation tips for slide FORMAT 

The visual format of your presentation must be clear and easy to read.

1. Use a slide deck.

This class presentation tip is obvious, but I can’t leave it off the list. If you’re presenting to your fellow students, you will need some kind of visual representation of the information you’re delivering. Very rarely will you present to your class without slides. Google Slides and PowerPoint are the two primary products to make slides. 

2. Use the right number of slides.

Class presentations in high school and college will likely be 5 minutes or less. Follow your teacher’s guidelines, of course, but generally, students will use 1-2 slides per minute. (That would be 5-10 slides for a 5-minute presentation.)

3. Use an appropriate slide template and theme.

PowerPoint and Google Slides come with default slide templates (themes). Most of the default templates are suitable for class presentations, and so you should be fine choosing one of those. You can also find templates on the free version of Canva. I like slidesgo.com for free templates (it’s not sketchy – I’ve personally used it. I also like SlidesCarnival.com but you have to import the templates into Canva first, and then export them from Canva into Google Slides or PowerPoint. 

4. Use clear fonts.

Pick your font based on clarity, not creativity. Your audience should be able to read your text effortlessly and from the back of the classroom. Here are some rules:

  • Avoid cursive / script fonts
  • Avoid writing in all capital letters
  • Avoid fonts that are entirely in italics (slanted)

5. Use a maximum of two fonts.

Stick to two fonts: one for headings and titles, and one for body text. More than two fonts make your slides hard to read.

6. Use 3-4 colors.

Stick to a basic color palette of no more than four colors. It’s fine to use images that are outside your color scheme, but besides images, avoid too many colors. Most default templates stick to four colors or less, so you’re safe if you use a pre-made template. 

7. Use high-contrast text-on-background combinations.

Your text needs to stand out from the background color. Black font on a white background or white font on a black background provides the highest contrast and best readability. This website here provides excellent information and examples about color combinations.

Class presentation tips for slide TEXT and CONTENT

8. start with a simple title slide..

Your teacher will likely require a title slide in the syllabus. Even if it’s not required, make one anyway. A title slide should be simple: the name of the presentation, your name, and a simple graphic or image. 

9. Include a roadmap slide.

A roadmap slide (I made up that term, but it works) is like a table of contents. It tells your classmates what they will learn from your presentation. Even if your presentation is only 6 slides long, a roadmap slide can be helpful. Below is an example. 

tips for class presentations for students - roadmap slide

10. Include enough white space.

White space is the blank space that doesn’t contain text or images. White space is very important for readability. In the image below, you can see the impact white space has on readability. 

tips for class presentations for students - include margin

11. Use bullet points.

Whenever possible, use bullet points instead of complete sentences. Most slides should include no more than 5-6 bullet points. If you need to say more, continue the bullet points on another slide.

12. Leave some text off the slides.

Your slides should include minimal to moderate text that you will elaborate on during your class presentation. In other words, don’t cram the slides full of everything you want to share on the topic. The only exception to this rule is if you are not verbally presenting to the class, but are instead just sharing the slides with your classmates to view on their own.

13. Include examples.

Examples make most things clearer. When possible, include an example for all your main points. 

14. Include statistics and other quantitative information.

Use numbers in place of text when you can. Numbers and statistics can be easier for your audience to process. Example below:

  • Instead of saying this: There is one-third as many Giant Pandas living in 2020 as there were in 2014.
  • Say this: Giant Panda population in 2140 = 1864 | Giant Panda population in 2020 = 600 [ source ]

15. Include a summary slide

Consider adding a final summary slide to your class presentation. This is an excellent strategy because it will increase your audience’s understanding of your main points. The text on this slide should be in bullet-point format. The information on this slide might align with the information on your roadmap slide.

tips for class presentations for students - summary slide

Class presentation tips for slide IMAGES

16. include an image or graphical element on each slide..

Every slide should have some kind of graphical element to complement the text. Some slides might even have an image and no text. (You would explain the image in your verbal presentation to the class.) Note: be sure to cite all images.

17. Use images / graphics for illustration and emphasis, not decoration .

Avoid using images for decoration. Images and graphics should do one of the following:

  • Add something valuable to the text
  • Illustrate the idea on the slide
  • Represent the idea on the slide
  • Emphasize an element of the slide (such as underlines, stars, etc.)

18. Resize and reformat images.

Resize images and graphics to fit the scale of your slide. It should be big enough to see clearly, but still allow for plenty of white space (Class Presentation Tip #10). You can remove the background of an image using a mobile app, or something like the paid version of Canva or PicMonkey. Again, be sure to cite your images.

19. Use video when appropriate.

If your presentation calls for it, include short video clips. Only use video if it adds value. 

20. Use icons for emphasis.

Use icons like stars, 3D shapes, speech bubbles, and arrows to emphasize important text. Keep these icons within your color scheme. You can find free icons within Google Slides and PowerPoint, or you can use Google Images or Canva.

21. Use graphs and charts.

Too much text is confusing. Too many images is boring. Solve this problem by using pie charts, bar graphs and other graphical ways of representing data.

Class presentation tips for SPEAKING

You might have the best slides in the class, but your presentation is not complete until you deliver it to your classmates. The following tips are for improving your audio and delivery.

22. Never read directly from the slides.

Use the slides as a reference, but don’t read word-for-word. How do you do this? First change to the next slide. Then look at it for cues. Next, speak directly to your classmates, making eye contact as your speak. It’s okay to glance back at the slide if you need to.

23. Face your audience.

Your body should always face the audience. Stand or sit either straight on, or at a 45-degree angle. Never have your body square to the presentation screen.

24. Explain the images.

When you present each slide, you should spend some time on the text and some time on the images. If your images add value (which they should), then this should be simple to do.

25. Speak slowly and clearly.

Speak slower than you naturally speak. Practice difficult words until they are smooth.

26. Use verbal transitions between topics.

When you change topics, use transition expressions such as “Next, we are going to look at …” or “Now, let’s move on to …”

27. Practice more than you want to.

Practicing your class presentation over and over improves your delivery and increases your confidence. Practice in front of the mirror, in front of others, or in front of your camera (to be watched later, of course).

Bonus class presentation tips for students: How to up-level your game 

The following bonus tips are for students looking to take their class presentations to the next level. Keep in mind that some of the ideas below are best suited for college and university students.

28. Provide a printed note-catcher.

An engaged audience is the best audience. To increase your classmates’ active focus, provide each student a printed note-catcher they can use to follow along with your presentation. PowerPoint and Google Slides both have features that enable you to print out your presentation with the slides on the left and space to take notes on the right. 

29. Ask questions and survey your classmates.

Another way to engage your audience is by asking them questions. You can build these questions into the slides themselves, or you can pause your presentation to ask questions before moving to a slide with the answers.

30. Use the Speaker Notes section .

The text on your slides should vary from the words you speak to your classmates during your presentation. Either you practice your presentation so much that you memorize it, or you use the Speaker Notes section on PowerPoint or Google Slides.

31. Open with a question, and close with an answer . 

A great class presentation tip for students is to open with a question you pose to your classmates at the beginning, and then close with the answer. You could put the question on its own opening slide and then close with another slide that re-poses the question and features the answer. 

For example, if you are presenting on Susan B. Anthony, your question could be Who was Susan B. Anthony? and the answer – which is the point of your presentation – could be Susan B. Anthony was one of America’s greatest champions for freedom and equality of women and slaves. College-level presentations would have more complex question-and-answer pairings than this example, but you get the idea.

Class presentation tips for students – summary notes

It’s important to follow your teacher’s requirements when creating your class presentation. Use these tips and strategies to maximize your grade, impression on the class, and your content delivery – but always consult your syllabus first. 

And finally, the greatest tip of all is to PRACTICE. In Tip #27 I emphasize the importance of practicing more than you want to. Watch TED talks and other notable speakers to see how smooth they speak – these presenters have practiced the same presentation hundreds of times. Practice is the key.

More resources

  • How to ask for help in school: 4 tips for self-advocacy
  • What to do when you’re confused in class
  • 5 life skills all students need to be functional adults

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16 Public Speaking Tips for Students

Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of "Therapy in Focus: What to Expect from CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder" and "7 Weeks to Reduce Anxiety." She has a Master's degree in psychology.

presentation at school

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

presentation at school

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 "Therapy in Focus: What to Expect from CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder" and "7 Weeks to Reduce Anxiety." She has a Master's degree in psychology.

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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.

Student presentations - speaking article

  • 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

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Presentation Article

Student's presentations.

I've read your article. I agree with you. You gave some tips of how the students can present their presentations. During the presentation most students feel confidently themselves. I think if the students  work together on their presentations, it will be perfectly. I also agree with the time limit. I think it  is the most thing to present the presentation. If your presentation too long, it will be boring. Students know about the aim of the presentation. That is to say, they set their aim, why they show this presentation.

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Tips for Online Students , Tips for Students

Presentation Tips For Students – Show And Tell Like A Pro!

Presentation-Tips-For-Students---Show-And-Tell-Like-A-Pro

Giving a presentation to fellow classmates can be a bit daunting, especially if you are new to oral and visual presenting. But with the right PowerPoint tips, public speaking skills, and plenty of practice, you can present like a pro at your upcoming presentation. Here, we’ve laid out the best college presentation tips for students. And once you have one successful presentation, you’ll get better each time!

The Best Presentation Tips for Students

1. arrive early and be technically prepared.

Get to the room early and make sure you leave plenty of time for technical set up and technical difficulties. Have several backup drives (including an online version if possible) so that you are prepared for anything!

2. Know More

Be educated on more than just what you are sharing. That way, you can add points, speak candidly and confidently, and be prepared to answer any audience or teacher questions.

3. Share Your Passion With Your Audience

Connect with your audience by showing that you are passionate about your topic. Do this with the right tone, eye contact, and enthusiasm in your speech.

Photo by  Austin Distel  on  Unsplash

4. pace yourself.

When student presenters are nervous, they tend to speed up their speech. This can be a problem, however, because your speed may be distracting, hard to understand, and you may run under your time.

5. Rehearse Thoroughly

Don’t just practice, rehearse your college presentation. Rehearse the entire delivery, including standing up, using gestures, and going through the slides.

6. Show Your Personality

You don’t need to be professional to the point of stiffness during your college presentation . Don’t be afraid to show your personality while presenting. It will make your presentation more interesting, and you will seem more approachable and confident.

7. Improvise

You can’t be 100% certain what will happen during your presentation. If things aren’t exactly as you expected, don’t be afraid to improvise and run off script.

8. Pump Yourself Up

Get yourself excited and full of energy before your college presentation! Your mood sets the tone for your presentation, and if you get excited right before, you will likely carry that throughout and you’ll make your audience excited about your topic as well.

9. Remember To Pause

Pausing not only only prevents filler words and helps you recollect your thoughts, it can also be a powerful indicator of importance within your presentation.

10. Create “Um” Alternatives

Try hard not to use filler words as they make you look unprofessional and uncertain. The best alternatives to “um” “like” and “so” are taking a breath or a silent pause to collect your thoughts.

11. Using Your Hands

Using your hands makes your college presentation more interesting and helps to get your points across. Point at the slide, use common hand gestures, or mimic a motion.

12. Eye Contact

Eye contact is one of the most important presentation tips for students . Many students are nervous, so they look at their notes or their feet. It is important that you show your confidence and engage your audience by making eye contact. The more presentations you give, the more eye contact will feel natural.

13. The Right Tone

The best public speakers vary their tone and pitch throughout their presentation. Try to change it up, and choose the right tone for your message.

Preparing an Effective College Presentation

1. open strong.

Grab your fellow students’ attention by starting strong with a powerful quote, intriguing scenario, or prompt for internal dialogue.

2. Start With A Mind Map

Mind mapping is literally creating a map of the contents of your college presentation. It is a visual representation and flow of your topics and can help you see the big picture, along with smaller details.

Photo by  Teemu Paananen  on  Unsplash

3. edit yourself.

Some students make the mistake of including too much information in their college presentations. Instead of putting all of the information in there, choose the most important or relevant points, and elaborate on the spot if you feel it’s necessary.

4. Tell A Story

People love stories — they capture interest in ways that figures and facts cannot. Make your presentation relatable by including a story, or presenting in a story format.

5. The Power Of Humor

Using humor in your college presentation is one of the best presentation tips for students. Laughter will relax both you and the audience, and make your presentation more interesting

PowerPoint Tips for Students

1. use key phrases.

Choose a few key phrases that remain throughout your PowerPoint presentation. These should be phrases that really illustrate your point, and items that your audience will remember afterwards.

2. Limit Number Of Slides

Having too many slides will cause you to feel you need to rush through them to finish on time. Instead, include key points on a slide and take the time to talk about them. Try to think about including one slide per one minute of speech.

3. Plan Slide Layouts

Take some time to plan out how information will be displayed on your PowerPoint. Titles should be at the top, and bullets underneath. You may want to add title slides if you are changing to a new topic.

Photo by  NeONBRAND  on  Unsplash

4. the right fonts.

Choose an easy-to-read font that isn’t stylized. Sans serif fonts tend to be easier to read when they are large. Try to stick to only two different fonts as well to keep the presentation clean.

5. Choosing Colors And Images

When it comes to colors, use contrasting ones: light on dark or dark on light. Try to choose a few main colors to use throughout the presentation. Choose quality images, and make sure to provide the source for the images.

6. Use Beautiful Visual Aids

Keep your presentation interesting and your audience awake by adding visual aids to your PowerPoint. Add captivating photos, data representations, or infographics to illustrate your information.

7. Don’t Read Straight From Your Notes

When you read straight from your notes, your tone tends to remain monotonous, you don’t leave much room for eye contact. Try looking up often, or memorizing portions of your presentation.

8. Avoid Too Much Text

PowerPoint was made for images and bullets, not for your entire speech to be written in paragraph form. Too much text can lose your adiences’ interest and understanding.

9. Try A Theme

Choosing the right theme is one of those presentation tips for students that is often overlooked. When you find the right theme, you keep your college presentation looking interesting, professional, and relevant.

10. Be Careful With Transitions And Animations

Animations and transitions can add a lot to your presentation, but don’t add to many or it will end up being distracting.

Public Speaking Tips for Students

1. choose your topic wisely.

If you are able to pick your topic, try to pick something that interests you and something that you want to learn about. Your interest will come through your speech.

2. Visit The Room Beforehand

If your presentation is being held somewhere outside of class, try to visit the location beforehand to prep your mind and calm your nerves.

3. Practice Makes Perfect

Practice, practice, practice! The only way you will feel fully confident is by practicing many times, both on your own and in front of others.

Photo by  Product School  on  Unsplash

4. talk to someone about anxiety.

If you feel anxious about your college presentation, tell someone. It could be a friend, family member, your teacher, or a counselor. They will be able to help you with some strategies that will work best for you.

5. Remind Yourself Of Your Audience

Remember, you are presenting to your peers! They all likely have to make a presentation too at some point, and so have been or will be in the same boat. Remembering that your audience is on your side will help you stay cool and collected.

6. Observe Other Speakers

Look at famous leaders, or just other students who typically do well presenting. Notice what they are doing and how you can adapt your performance in those ways.

7. Remind Yourself Of Your Message

If you can come up with a central message, or goal, of your college presentation, you can remind yourself of it throughout your speech and let it guide you.

8. Don’t Apologize

If you make a mistake, don’t apologize. It is likely that no one even noticed! If you do feel you need to point out your own mistake, simply say it and keep moving on with your presentation. No need to be embarrassed, it happens even to the best presenters!

When you smile, you appear warm and inviting as a speaker. You will also relax yourself with your own smile.

The Bottom Line

It can be nerve racking presenting as a college student, but if you use our presentation tips for students, preparing and presenting your college presentation will be a breeze!

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15 Preschool Literacy Activities Focused on Community Helpers

Embracing guy claxton’s character curriculum for the learning age, 20 ingenious lego organization ideas, 23 organized ways to document the preschool years, 22 homemade ornament activities for kids, 20 fun and engaging games and activities with music for kids, communication and social skills, mutual benefits of partnerships, dyspraxia: developmental coordination disorder, exploring the social and emotional aspects of learning, helping students to develop presentation skills.

presentation at school

Show and Tell

As a young mom I was not familiar with the concept of “show and tell” . My eldest son was 4 years old at the time and he had to take a toy to school and show it to the class, tell them a little bit about it and answer the eager audience’s questions. I thought this is such a great idea to introduce children to the world of public speaking and presentations! After all, public speaking is not necessarily a talent, but a skill, and the younger a child is when they begin to learn this skill, the better.

Apart from being mom, I am also a sixth form teacher and am too well-aware that some students genuinely struggle when asked to present information to a group. I can see that this may be a problem when students go on to tertiary education and also later in life. For personal and professional success, effective presentation skills delivered in a confident manner are vital.

That is why presentation skills need to be nurtured from a young age, before the student really has an awareness of being in the spotlight and possibly being faced with stage fright. Public speaking and presentation skills could be fostered, to such an extent that it becomes a natural skill. “Show and tell” helps a child to prepare a talk about an abstract object rather than a familiar one, it helps to create an awareness of vocal projection and most importantly, it helps to build confidence.

presentation at school

By the time my second son had to do “show and tell”, we had perfected the practice! We progressed from showing (and telling about) favorite toys, to eventually using PowerPoint. By now, my sons were 8 and 10 and their confidence surprised their teachers. “Show and tell” helped to build their public speaking skills and helped them to feel comfortable with talking in front of a group of peers! However, they were also confident because every time that they were expected to present information to the class, they were well prepared. Confidence and preparation are crucial aspects for effective presentation!

My 7 year old daughter has to talk about her summer holidays in class soon. I know that if she is well prepared, she will feel confident and be able to do a good presentation. She was super excited when I suggested that she make a mysimpleshow video to introduce her holiday experience. Afterwards she will also show holiday photographs and talk about each of them. I know that if the presentation goes well, she will be more confident and keen to do a presentation when she gets her next spotlight topic.

Presentations

presentation at school

When asked about the basics of speech making , my advice to students and parents is simple:

  • Prepare the speech/presentation very well – plan carefully what you’ll say and use speech cards with highlighted keywords
  • Practice the presentation a few times – if possible, do it in front of a test audience, like your family
  • Pay attention to proper posture – be mindful of weird mannerisms that may distract the audience
  • Make eye contact
  • Speak loudly and clearly
  • Be confident! If the audience senses that you are nervous, they will also be nervous

My advice to teachers?

If you are teaching little ones:

  • Keep the “ show and tell” and spotlight going from a young age. It does wonders to build confidence!

If you are teaching older students:

  • Regularly include short student presentations in your classes to emphasize the basics of speech making
  • Suggest various ways to make presentations more interesting to an audience, like the use of objects or the showing of short video clips as part of the presentation.

Educators play a vital role in helping students to learn and experience public speaking. Leadership in the community, business world or any organization demands effective presentation skills. Leaders are expected to be able to make presentations without any qualms. So, let’s foster great presentation skills from a young age and right through our students’ school careers, to ensure that they acquire a skill that will be very useful to them throughout their lives.    

LGW Irvine is a secondary school teacher specializing in history, performing arts and languages. With a keen interest in writing, she has published Teacher Planners and an AFL Teacher Handbook. Among her presentations include in-depth courses in study methods and essay writing, as she has a particular interest in helping others to reach their full potential in those areas. Her current projects include History Revision Guides as well as Study Methods workbooks.

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Jerz's Literacy Weblog (est. 1999)

Oral presentation tips: how to deliver a speech for school or work.

Jerz >  Writing > [ Academic |  Technical ] This document briefly describes how to  write and deliver a formal oral presentation on an academic or professional subject. It should be useful for anyone who wants to know how to speak in public.

Note: by “formal presentation,” I don’t necessarily mean a Shakespeare monologue or a scientific treatise on robot-assisted microsurgery. Giving an oral presentation on  any subject–your favorite book, current events, a family story–can be “formal” and “technical” whenever its primary purpose is to communicate complex information.

The  content is the most obvious component of any oral presentation — after all, if you are talking, you had better have something worthwhile to say.  But a presentation is only as effective as its  delivery .

Part 1: Planning the Content

1.  Determine your goals. 2.  Prepare your material. 3.  Study a model. 4.  Arrange with your strongest points first . 5. Practice, practice, practice .

Part 2: Delivering the Content

6.  Make eye contact with your audience. 7. Engage actively with the audience. 8. A slide show is not a speech. 9.  Watch the time! 10.  Take questions in the middle, not the end?

1) Determine Your Goals as a Speaker

oral-presentations

2) Prepare your material

Plan. Practice. Keep what’s good and try again. 

Good speakers usually aim to look like they are speaking effortlessly, tossing off words as they come to mind. What you don’t see is the preparation that paved the way for the polished performance. It’s all an act! You can do it too, if you plan ahead.

Once you know what your goal is, and you know what your audience wants, you can start strategizing. There is no single strategy that will guarantee success. How you plan depends on many variables.

How many minutes long is your speech? About how many words do you speak per minute?

Will your audience be lost if you use jargon? Will they feel talked down to if you spend time defining terms they already know?

Do you expect that your audience will disagree with you? (If so, you might need to give more examples and more evidence and spend more time addressing reasonable objections in order to sound convincing, which may mean talking a little faster.)

Do you expect your audience already agrees with the position you will take? (If so, they may check out if your speech simply rehashes arguments they already accept without question. What can you say to an audience that already agrees with you? Why would you listen to a speaker who is restating things you already accept as the truth?)

Graphics, inspirational quotations, and anecdotes are all well-respected methods of maintaining audience interest. However, Pinterest clip art, fancy computer transitions between slides, and vaudeville tricks get old pretty quickly (see Don McMillan’s hilarious “ Death by Powerpoint “), and they eat up time that you could use more effectively.

3) Study a Model

The internet is of course full of examples of good speeches, but the YouTube users who vote on videos may not have much in common with the audience who will hear your oral presentation.

Do you have access to speeches that your discourse community values? Your instructor or supervisor may not have ready access to video recordings from last year’s class or last quarter’s budget meeting, but you can pay attention to the speaking techniques deployed by people with authority in your field.

For instance, I have a colleague who never says, “This is taking too long, and I’m watching the clock, so let’s get on with it already.” Instead, this person says, “I’m conscious of everyone’s time, so shall we move on to the next item?”

Bear in mind that

  • if you have been assigned to deliver a speech that defends a position on a topic (such as, whether Huckleberry Finn should be taught in middle school)…
  • but your instructor usually refrains from stating any one answer is the best (preferring instead to present several viewpoints and letting the students decide for themselves)…
  • then your instructor’s open-ended lecture (intended to spark a discussion) is not a good model of a position statement (intended to showcase your ability to latch onto a specific solution).

While this handout aims to provide general tips, you should ignore any general tip that contradicts something specific you learn about the goals, context, or genre of the specific speech you are preparing.

General Model

Successful oral presentations typically share some basic characteristics, owing to the nature of the spoken word.

  • Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
  • Tell them what you told them.

When we read, we can go back and reread passages we skimmed over the first time, and we can skip ahead when we’re bored. In a live oral presentation, the audience can’t re-read or skip ahead. If the audience doesn’t know why they are listening to your anecdote about winning the spelling bee, or why they should care what version of the software was installed on the computer that you used to crunch your numbers, their attention will wander and it will be hard to get it back.

When we listen, we gratefully cling to orientation phrases that help us understand what the whole shape of a speech is, where we are within the overall structure, and when we are transitioning from one section to another.

Your specific occasion for delivering a speech may involve specific contextual details that don’t mesh with the general advice I’m providing here.

  • Introduction :   "I am Pinky J. Witzowitz from the U.S. Department of Bureaucracy, and I have been asked to speak for 20 minutes on 'The Government's Plan for Preventing Situation X in America's Heartland.'"
  • "Situation X is the worst thing that can happen to you and your family." [ Startling claim ; follow up by citing the source of this quote, or giving evidence that supports it.]
  • "It happened once to a family in Dubuque, and they were never heard from again." [ Anecdote ; follow up with details.]
  • "I am here today to tell you how to prevent this terrible tragedy from striking you." [ Demonstrates relevance ; move directly to your  road map ]
  • Main Content :  Put up a slide with topics to cover, a specific problem to solve, or a series of questions to answer. Promise that your talk will address the material on that slide. You might even return to that slide each time you start a new subsection, with the current place in the talk highlighted.
  • Questions/Comments from the Audience? Even though most people save the question period until the end, they lose the opportunity to modify their conclusion to address the interests of the audience.
  • Recap :  Our earnest “Situation X” speaker might give microencapsulated answers to all the questions on the main road map:  "We have learned that Situation X is a blah blah blah; that we should all care about it because yada, yada, yada..."
  • Wrap it up : After reminding the audience how all these factors fit together, the speaker might say,  "Now that you understand how the U.S. Department of Bureaucracy helps you keep Situation X out of your life, please take one of our pamphlets home to your family and put it by the telephone where you can get it in an emergency; your family will thank you."
  • Invite Questions :   If there is time, and if you haven’t already done so.

4) Arrange with Your Strongest Points First

In rare cases — such as when you are facing a hostile audience, you might want to start out by emphasizing where you agree with your audience, and then carefully working your way towards your most divisive, most daring claims.

  • If the question is actually important to your talk,  you’ll probably be able to answer right away.
  • If you can’t answer right away, or you don’t want to take the time, just promise you’ll follow up via e-mail , and then go right back to your presentation. Most  audience members will probably have been annoyed by the interruption.  They will be  delighted that you  didn’t take the questioner’s bait .

5) Practice, Practice, Practice.

Set a timer, and deliver your speech to a willing co-worker or family member, your pet fish, or the bathroom mirror.

My students are often surprised at how hard it is to fill up 3 minutes for an informal practice speech early in the term, and how hard it is to fit everything they want to say into a 10-minute formal speech later in the term.

Once you have the right amount of content, make a video recording of yourself practicing. If you plan to show a video clip, or ad-lib an explanation of a diagram, or load a website, or pass out paper handouts, or saw an assistant in half, actually do it while the camera is rolling, so that you know exactly how much time it takes.

Time it out.

  • Script out a powerful introduction and conclusion.
  • Know how long each section of your speech should take.
  • which example or anecdote you will cut if you are running long?
  • what additional example you can introduce if you need to fill time?

If you know your conclusion takes you 90 seconds to deliver, make sure to start your conclusion when you have at least 90 seconds left.

At several key points during your speech, maybe while you are playing a video or while the audience is taking in a complex image, glance at the clock and check to see — are you on track?

If you notice you’re starting Section 3 60 seconds later than you had intended, try to make up for time by rushing through your second example in section 3 and cutting the third example in section 4, so that you still have the full 90 seconds at the end to deliver that powerful conclusion.

Technological Considerations

  • Do you know how to connect your computer to the overhead projector? (If you don’t know, who does?)
  • What will you do if you can’t get your computer connected to the projector? (Back in 2003, when I applied for my current job at Seton Hill University, I was asked to give a teaching demonstration. I couldn’t get my laptop to work with the overhead projector, but I had posted the most important links on my blog, and I had brought along a printout of my speech, just in case. My preparations have paid off, because I got the job.)
  • In the room where you will be speaking, will you be using a microphone, or relying on your unamplified voice?
  • Will you be able to walk around with the microphone — perhaps to gesture at details in the slides — or is the mic attached to a stand? (Do you need to borrow a laser pointer, or get a volunteer to advance slides for you?)

6) Make Eye Contact With Your Audience.

presentation at school

I once sat through a four-hour training session, during which this was all I could see of the instructor.

Go ahead and write your whole speech out so you can read robotically if you blank out, but you should practice your speech so you know it well enough that you can glance up from your notes and look at your audience as you speak.

7) Engage with the audience.

Pay attention to the audience, and they will pay attention to you.

Don’t try to recite from memory . If you spend your energy worrying about what you’re supposed to say next, you won’t be able to pay attention to whether the audience can hear you, or whether the overhead projections are focused.

Preparation : Set up before the audience files into their seats. If you have scheduled a presentation for a class, don’t sit in your seat like a lump while your professor calls the roll and hands out papers. Few things are more boring than watching a presenter log into the computer, fiddle with the video data projector, hunt around for the light switches, etc.

Introduction : As the audience files into their seats, have a title card displayed on the screen — or at least write your  name and the title of your talk on the whiteboard.  In a formal setting, usually a moderator will usually introduce you, so you won’t need to repeat everything the moderator says.  Avoid canned introductions like “Principal Burch, members of the faculty, and fellow students, we are gathered here today…”

Hashtag : If it’s likely that many people in your audience use the same social media network, consider encouraging them to post their thoughts there. When you introduce yourself, give your social media handle and suggest a hashtag.

Handouts : Consider distributing handouts that present the basic facts (names, dates, timelines) and your main points.  You can keep the conclusion just slightly mysterious, if you don’t want to give everything away immediately, but the idea is to free the audience from the feeling that they have to write everything down themselves. (Note: Simply printing up all the overhead slides wastes a lot of paper.)

Grabber : Grab the attention of your audience with a startling fact or claim, an inspiring quotation, or a revealing anecdote.   This is not the time to try out your nightclub act; the “grabber” is not just comic relief, it also helps you set up the problem that you are going to address.  If the audience will be diverse and general, you can use the “grabber” as a metaphor, helping the audience see why the topic is so important to you, and how it might be important to them, too.  If your audience shares your technical specialty, and thus needs no special introduction to the topic, feel free simply to state your purpose without much to-do; but bear in mind that even technical audiences don’t want to be bored.

Road Map : Once you have established the problem or the main point of your talk, let the audience know how you are going to get to a solution.  You might put up a series of questions on a slide, then as your talk progresses, proceed to answer each one.  You might break each question down into a series of smaller questions, and answer each one of these in turn.  Each time you finish a subsection, return to the road map, to help your audience keep track of where you have been and where you are going.

Conclusion : To give your presentation closure, return to the “grabber”, and extend it, modify it, or otherwise use it to help drive home your main point.  Recap your main points, and demonstrate how they all fit together into a thought that the audience members can take with them.

8) A Slide Show Is Not a Speech

Don’t read word-for-word with your nose buried in a stack of papers . If you bother to show up to hear a person speak, how do you feel when the speaker mumbles through page after page of written text? Do you feel you should have just asked for a copy of the paper in the mail?

When you present, make every effort to include your audience; after all, they are the reason you are speaking in the first place.

If you do feel that you must write out your speech word-for-word, you should be familiar enough with it that you don’t need to look at the paper all the time. (And hold the page up when you glance at it, rather than bending down to look at it.)

9) Watch the time!

To help pace yourself, at the top of each page of your notes,  write down what time it should be ; as you turn each page, you can glance at the clock and see whether you are on track.

(The first time I gave this advice to a technical writing class, I mimed the action of “looking at the clock” — and noticed that I was running ten minutes behind, eating into time that I had promised to a student for an in-class testing session.  That was a rather humbling experience!)

See the “preparation” section above. If you have already practiced your speech and timed out the various sections, you’ll know whether you are running long. If you are, don’t talk faster — cut  something that you already marked out as optional.

Decide in advance which examples, which anecdotes, which subsections you can drop, without damaging the whole presentation.

I was at a conference in 1998 where the first speaker talked for 40 minutes — double  her allotted time.  (Why the moderator allowed this is a mystery to me.)

  • None of the other speakers on the panel felt like cutting their talks to compensate.
  • The result was that the last scheduled speaker — who had paid for an international plane ticket and a week in a hotel — did not get to speak at all.

10) Take questions in the middle, not at the end?

The benefits include:

  • If you spark a good Q & A session, your audience will remember and appreciate it.
  • If nobody has any questions,  you can just fill up the space with more of your own material .  That would be much harder to do if you have already wrapped up your talk and had nothing left to say.
  • If you really know your material, you can  adjust your conclusion to address the questions raised by the audience.  Even if someone in the audience steals a little of your thunder by bringing up points you were saving for your big finish, you will appear smart for having predicted that audience response. At the same time, someone in your audience will feel smart for having anticipated what you were going to say.

Dennis G. Jerz , 01/27/2009 07:24:28 Oct, 1999 — first written 03 Dec, 2000 — posted here 03 June 2003 — tweaked and updated 30 Oct 2011 — updated and added video links 31 May 2016 — major update; separated into “preparation” and “presentation” sections. 26 Jan 2018 — blackboard -> whiteboard

50 thoughts on “ Oral Presentation Tips: How to Deliver a Speech for School or Work ”

Thanks alot for your teachings

Thank a lot , really great tip for oral presentation, i’ll implement these tips, and will let you know.

Very helpful tips.

this is awfully helpful. I am a teacher in France and my students have to do presentations in English. I wish they could read this and understand.

Thank you for these very useful tips on Oral presentation. I am taking an Organizational Behavior class and need to do a 5 minute oral presentation on a real life situation about Conflict Management in the Workplace. I am not sure how to structure or begin the presentation.

I like it Really helpful for me

Thank you for helping me to do my presentation…..and I have learned so much from oral presentation.

thankyou thankyou thankyou this helped me so much!!! : )

thankyou thankyou thankyou this helped me so much in english!!! : )

Thanks. Really helpful

Hi, I going to do 3 minute presentation and my topic is My son. what is a best tips to talk about the this topic. I am not sure where to start. Any tips to help me with.

Is that the topic you were assigned? Are you taking a public speaking class, a child development class, a class in writing personal memoirs, or are you learning English as a second language? I don’t know how your instructor will evaluate your work, so I am not sure how to help.

You might find it useful to look at this handout on writing personal essays. http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/personal-essays/

Hi, I going to do minute presentation and my topic is My son. what is a best tips to talk about the this topic. I am not sure where to start. Any tips to help me with.

This sort of helped

Denise Gillen Caralli liked this on Facebook.

Enter your comment here…Thanks a lot… I will follow your instructions..I’m hopeful those tips will work. .. Thanks once again….

Thanks so much will follow your instruction tomorrow where I will be having presentation with 180 Head masters about suplimetary feeding on their hunger striken ares

Yeah ,thanks and good luck to all of you from a powerful Jamaican girl

That’s great… It will work well for those who are aiming for like me. Thanks!

The tips are totally handy until now I am still applying it.

Appreciate it. =)

Very helpful for my presentation. Thanks!

I have learned a lot on this…thanks

Thanks a lot I have learned so much on this

I suppose to give out a presentation on Monday on someone or something in either an athlete or an actor and I don’t know how to start

i have a question i am supposed to give a speech but it has to have a power point or a drama thing the only problem is that i can’t have a power point because it won’t work into my speech and neither will a drama thing what should i do?

I suggest you talk to whoever set up the requirement for a slideshow/drama component. Maybe there is some flexibility, or maybe you’ll find a way to work that component into your speech.

Thank you heaps this really helped a lot

that is such good information and i believe im going to pass my speeches.

wow!!this are really helpfull stuff..but im just not confident enough to stand infront of all those people..wish i could do it without them looking at me

blind fold them! just joking…I’m getting ready to do mine and I’m having the same problem as you.

this is a helpfull site

this isn’t helping me with how nervous I am!! bye!!

love it really helped

thanks you are good

I have to do a presentation about “Importance of learning English”. There are 6 people in my group including myself. The presentation has to be exactly 8 minutes. We can’t use PowerPoint. Can you give us any unique, memorable and creative idea?

What are some lessons or life experiences that you find unique and memorable? I’d probably do a play, with a character who gets into trouble because he/she doesn’t know English, and then has a chance to correct those problems by demonstrating how learning English can fix the problems.

Hello mr.Dennis,I go straight to it.how can I become the most sought after Master of Ceremony(M.C.)/tv show presenter extra-ordinaire in my country before going international?any useful tips?

Sorry, that question is not something I cover on this page.

really well writen loved how you added steps so its easy to follow clear easily can be understaned and really helps us and gives us tips that we should actually think about and use at times

Yeah! I found it quite impressive. I hope it’z gonna be helpful for me to develop my speech techniques.

Nice tips….i think it will help me. but it’s too lengthy,it takes so much of time to read.

This really helps to prepare for all sort of things, Thanks a lot

Really helpful! Thank you

Pingback: Oral Presentation Readings « readwriteredroom

i love this helpful tips of oral presentation.. hope to visit this again or i just make a hard copy of this… thank you very much for that…

it was quite helpful

thank you for the great tip, but my problem is actually that I have a presentation on ‘All About Me’ and I have to keep the audience ‘engaged’ like by making a guessing game or something. If anyone has any other ideas please help!!

This may help: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/showing/

This really helped me prepare my oral presentation…thanks very much!!!!

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The Ultimate Guide to Effective Teacher Presentations: Strategies & Tips

Dianne Adlawan

Dianne Adlawan

The Ultimate Guide to Effective Teacher Presentations: Strategies & Tips

Teachers, by nature, are considered professional presenters. Their main responsibility is to talk in front of their students to relay educational knowledge, sharpen their minds and skills, and even serve as a second guide alongside their parents. They also speak in front of parents, co-teachers, and school administrators. This just means that preparing for a presentation is already not new to them.

Still, teachers can become so comfortable with their presentation routine that their techniques turn into autopilot. The result of a repetitive task can become tiring and not challenging anymore which may result in students losing interest or attention span in the process.

The tips featured in this article are dedicated to these hard-working professionals. This will help them prepare and perform a better presentation in front of any type of audience.

effective teacher presentations

Why You Should Prepare for a Presentation

  • Preparation helps you build to structure your thoughts to create a well-organized presentation. By taking the time to prepare, you can decide what information is most important, plan the flow of the presentation, and make sure that everything is connected and easy to follow.
  • Second, it allows you to think ahead of the questions that your audience might ask. Especially if you’re giving a presentation to a group of various audiences, who are curious about the topic at hand. By preparing in advance, you’ll be able to answer any questions they may have, which will not only increase their understanding but also boost your credibility as a teacher.
  • Lastly, preparation helps you make the most of your time. Advanced preparation ahead of the presentation can ensure that you’re not wasting time trying to organize your thoughts at the last minute.

Effects of an Organized and Well-Planned Presentation

An audience engages with a speaker who knows their words and poses a confident attitude. While the projector may display clear and concise slides, the presenter is the main ingredient to every presentation.

For teachers, a well-planned lesson presentation helps the teacher maintain the attention and interest of their students, which is crucial for effective learning. Additionally, being organized and prepared will help teachers convey their ideas more effectively and it will help the teacher to feel more confident, which also impacts their teaching and in turn can help to build trust and rapport with their students.

Possible Outcomes of An Unprepared Presentation

Let’s suppose you haven’t allocated enough time to plan and prepare for an important presentation. What could be the potential outcomes?

  • Increased Stress and Anxiety: Lack of preparation can lead to increased anxiety and stress, which can not only hinder your ability to deliver a convincing presentation but also hurt your mental health and work balance. It can cause a “mental block,” causing you to lose focus and concentration during your delivery.
  • Poor Presentation Delivery: Without proper preparation, your presentation can appear scattered and disjointed. This can lead to an incoherent message that fails to convince your audience.
  • Diminished credibility: Delivering an unprepared presentation can harm your reputation as a professional. It can portray you as disorganized and unreliable which could lead your colleagues or students to question your competence and reliability.

Effective Visual and Content Organization Tips

Consider this as the first stage towards an effective teacher presentation. Before moving on to improving your verbal communication cues, let’s enhance first your presentation visuals and content.

Visual Tips

1. add powerpoint animations and different media.

Establishing an attractive slideshow is one of the keys to a successful presentation. This will put a good impression on your audience that you’re prepared just by seeing how well-designed your presentation is. Of course, images add to slideshow attraction, but consider adding another forms of media such as GIFs and videos, as well as animations! Microsoft PowerPoint has a lot of fun & captivating features that you may not be aware of. Check out this example of an easy yet appealing Slide Zoom trick in PowerPoint that you can add to your presentation to wow your audience.

@classpoint.io Did someone say FREE??? Yes, we did. Here are free websites to help you upgrade your next PowerPoint presentation! 😎 #powerpoint #presentation #design #studytok #edutok #tutorial #tipsandtricks #ai ♬ original sound – r & m

Read Next: Make Your Presentations POP With This PowerPoint Animation Template

2. Use Readable Font Styles

Make sure to use the best font style that makes your presentation look sleek, readable, and won’t strain your audience’s eyes while reading. We all want to use a fancy font, trust me, I get it. But most of the time, simplicity is beauty, especially if you’re presenting a professional-looking slideshow. Font styles such as Poppins, Tahoma, Verdana, Montserrat, and Helvetica are great examples of font styles that screams simple yet professional to look at.

On the other hand, font styles such as Bradley Hand, Comic Sans, and Chiller are not ideal choices as they are not meant to captivate your audience’s eyes. And another tip is to stick to two or three fonts only!

ClassPoint teacher presentation using 'Poppins' font

3. Use Relevant Graphics

Selecting graphics for designing your presentation depends on your audience and the goals you aim to achieve with the presentation. For example, if you are presenting in front of students and your goal is to keep them engaged, motivated, and actively participating, then you might consider incorporating charts, tables, and relevant shapes into your design.

It’s important to remember that your presentation design should align with the theme of your topic.

Free Websites to Upgrade your Presentation Graphics:

  • Craiyon. com
  • The Noun Project

4. Use Audience Engagement tools to Activate Learning

Want the quickest solution to an engaged audience? Well, it’s audience interactive activities! Adding interactive activities to your presentation can help keep your audience engaged and interested. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use ClassPoint, an audience engagement tool added right into PowerPoint presentations.

With ClassPoint, you no longer need to worry about strategies to keep your students engaged, as this tool transforms PowerPoint into a teacher presentation tool with a teacher toolbelt and student quizzes , polls, and games that make presentations more fun & engaging.

By combining ClassPoint with your presentation techniques, you can focus solely on setting up your lesson content in PowerPoint and allow ClassPoint to handle the rest for achieving a learning-activated presentation lesson .

🔍 Learn more about ClassPoint, the teacher add-in for better lessons & student engagement 👍

5. Use a Laser Pointer

Help focus your audience attention by using a laser pointer!

With the help of a laser pointer device, teachers are able to attract the attention of their audiences and concentrate on essential points in their presentations. Highlighting these main ideas and terms assists the speaker in organizing their speech, preventing distraction, and increasing retention of the information presented.

You can use a physical laser pointer & clicker, or with the addition of ClassPoint into PowerPoint, presenters can easily turn their cursor into a laser or a spotlight . This can make it even easier for students to follow along and is a convenient tool for creating a more captivating teacher presentation.

Secret tip: if you write on your slide with the laser, it will leave disappearing ink! 🪄

Content Tips

1. research and fact-check your presentation.

As educators, it is crucial to equip ourselves with reliable and accurate information before presenting to our students. We have a responsibility to not only educate them but to also mold them into critical thinkers who are equipped with factual knowledge. Without thorough fact-checking, we risk disseminating misinformation and hindering their intellectual growth.

To avoid such situations, we must prioritize research and fact-checking before presenting any information. Conducting research helps us not only in finding accurate information but also in ensuring that the sources we use are reliable and credible. Moreover, taking the time to fact-check demonstrates our commitment to providing students with high-quality education and the desire to create a safe and accurate learning environment.

2. Be Prepared to Anticipate Questions during the Presentation

It is important to be well-prepared for a presentation especially anticipating and addressing questions. This applies particularly to a teacher presentation, as educators face varied expectations and questions. Adequate preparation allows you to organize ideas and justifications, and it can deepen understanding, boost confidence, and improve adaptability. Addressing questions, makes your audiences feel heard and appreciated. This will result in comprehensive presentations, enhanced confidence, improved information flow, and an atmosphere of respect and understanding.

A great & visual way you can elaborate, or explain your material in new ways, is by using ClassPoint’s whiteboard tools added to PowerPoint. ClassPoint’s added toolbar presents teachers with unlimited whiteboard slides they can open whenever they need, and user-friendly yet comprehensive pen tools with available shapes, and text boxes. Plus you can also use ClassPoint’s quick poll or other question types to assess students’ understanding with hard data & insights.

Addressing questions well makes your audience or students feel heard & appreciated leading to improved learning, enhanced confidence, and a respectful, safe learning environment.

3. Provide an Outline Structure of your Content

When you are preparing your presentation, it is best to first create an effective outline structure that will guide your presentation flow and help you focus on the main learning objective. But what you may not be doing, is offering that outline structure to your students, but you should!

Providing students with a clear understanding of what this lesson is about, the structure of the lesson, and what they will be able to take away from it is important. By doing so, you can help students stay focused and follow along with the material. Additionally, you are setting expectations and ensuring that everyone is on the same page, which can help promote student autonomy. So, include an outline at the start of your presentation lesson.

Step-by-Step Strategies for a Successful Presentation

Before presentation, know your audience, your students, or observers.

Once you have completed your deck, you may want to add a guide script and any additional notes with important points you don’t want to forget or you want to highlight in your presentation to impress your students .

Practice your presentation delivery/lesson

Practice delivering your presentation give you a chance to fine-tune your content and get your facts down. This will help you become more comfortable with the material and identify areas that need improvement. You can practice in front of a mirror, record yourself and watch it back, or even rehearse with a colleague or friend. When practicing, pay attention to your posture, tone of voice, and pacing. By doing so, you’ll be able to deliver a confident and engaging presentation that will captivate your audience.

Use a friendly tone of voice and pace

Adjust your tone to match your message, and avoid speaking too quickly so that your audience will get the chance to absorb the information you’re sharing. By being mindful of these aspects, you will capture your audience’s attention and leave them feeling informed and inspired.

Use engaging body language

Body language is essential for engaging your audience during a presentation. Stand up straight, make eye contact, and use hand gestures to emphasize important points. You can also move around the classroom to keep your students’ attention. By using engaging body language, you’ll be able to convey your message more effectively and keep your students interested throughout the presentation. You’ve got this!

During Presentation

Create an icebreaker.

Having an icebreaker is a warm-up for your students’ brains, allowing you to focus and engage with the material being presented. It also helps break down any barriers or tension between the presenter and the audience, making for a more relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Additionally, an icebreaker provides an opportunity for the presenter to showcase their creativity and personality, adding an extra level of excitement and engagement to the presentation.

Good thing that ClassPoint has numerous features to help you perform an entertaining and unforgettable icebreaker. Here are some examples that you can use during an icebreaker.

  • Quick Poll : Quick Poll allows you to create interactive polls right inside your presentation. When used as an icebreaker, it can engage the audience, initiate discussions, and provide valuable insights that help tailor the content to participants’ preferences.
  • Word Cloud: Presenters can ask thought-provoking questions related to the topic or general interest. Using Word Cloud, the audiences can answer through their mobile which can be instantly seen as collective responses, with the most frequently mentioned words appearing larger.
  • Short Answer : In short answer, you can challenge your audiences’ thought process in a short-form writing activity with no options to get from to test their ability to understand.
  • Image Upload : Using single image, audiences can interpret what they feel like, or their mood using only the photos in their gallery or surroundings. A creative yet fun way for an icebreaker!

Speak clearly

Effective communication is crucial when presenting important information to students. Speaking clearly helps ensure that students understand the concepts being taught and follow instructions effectively. As a teacher, it’s important to focus on clear speech to promote effective communication and help your students comprehend the material being presented.

Pay attention to your audience’s attention

Since distractions are aplenty, attention spans are dwindling, it’s important for presenters to captivate their audience’s attention right from the beginning. For teachers, when speaking in front of your class, you should not only focus on the content of your presentation but also on your students’ attention.

To ensure that your students won’t start drifting away or zoning out, start with a compelling opening that immediately grabs their attention. Use vivid storytelling, examples, or demonstrations to engage your students and drive home your message. Don’t forget the power of humor, and never be afraid to be yourself – authentic, passionate, and confident.

Add Personality: share short relatable stories

“A great personality makes everyone feel energized; just like a flower’s fragrance that freshens ups the complete surrounding.” 29 Personality Quotes to Achieve Greatness

As to what is stated in the quote, having a positive and vibrant personality affects the overall mood of your surrounding, it can capture the audience’s attention and maintain their interest throughout the presentation. While the ultimate goal is to deliver a presentation rich with new learnings and knowledge, adding humor can do no harm to lift up the mood in the room. You might want to start by segueing a short story that your students can relate to and make interactions by encouraging them to share a story too or ask questions.

Post-Presentation Reflection

Take the comments by heart.

Receiving feedback from your students is a great way for evaluating the efficacy of a teacher presentation. This can help you identify areas where you can improve and tailor your teaching tactics to better suit the needs of your students. Listening to your students’ feedback can also promote a feeling of cooperation and enable them to become more actively involved in the learning experience. So, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback and take it to heart in order to continually improve your presentations.

Experienced educators understand that they are perpetually crafting their skills, and feedback from their audience brings an opportunity for professional advancement. In addition, accepting audience feedback illustrates esteem and worth for the students’ views. It promotes a feeling of cooperation and enables students to become more actively involved in the learning experience.

Preparing for a presentation is essential for teachers to deliver engaging and impactful content to their students. By structuring thoughts, anticipating questions, and preparing ahead, teachers can achieve a well-organized presentation that will enhance the students’ understanding and leave them feeling confident.

By following our strategies and tips teachers can achieve successful lessons using PowerPoint presentations. And, with the help of an advanced educational technology tool like ClassPoint, teachers can create dynamic and memorable presentations that their students will enjoy and actively participate in.

Try out ClassPoint today and experience a whole teacher presentation in PowerPoint! ✨

About Dianne Adlawan

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presentation at school

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PowerPoint Pro: How To Nail a Presentation at School

presentation at school

We’ve all had that class where everyone does a project and has to present it on the last day of the semester. It’s horrible. You are so anxious to get your presentation over with that you don’t pay attention to your peers. Part of that may be due to nerves, but it’s also due to lackluster delivery on the part of the presenters. Now that may seem a little harsh, but the number of presentations I have seen that are someone reading words on a PowerPoint makes me want to vomit.

In years past, I tolerated dull slideshows, but remote learning has made these presentations even more unbearable for everyoen. Coupled with strained eyes and extra boredom caused by how much less engaged we were with the material, presentations became especially difficult to get through, which simply prompted remote students to turn their cameras off and stare at their phones.

No matter the school you attend, I bet you have had — or will have — to do some form of presentation at some point. They’re kind of a necessary evil. Most professionals have to give presentations or speeches in their careers eventually, yet despite the ubiquity of the task, giving a good presentation can be intimidating, and there’s no guarantee that your audience will appreciate it. But when these simple steps are taken, you have a much better chance at leaving your audience enlightened rather than half-asleep.

Take Your Time and Focus on What’s Important

We’re starting off with a simple, but important, suggestion. People often feel pressured to create these really long presentations that cover a lot of material to make it look like they put a lot of work in. However, these tend to be the most difficult presentations to get through as an audience member, especially if the audience doesn’t have any previous knowledge about the subject.

For instance, my first semester of college, my politics professor brought in an air force pilot . He gave a dense presentation about all the equipment he used in his service that went all the way down to how different the nuts and bolts were in each plane. While his speaking skills were good, most of the class was bewildered because of how irrelevant most of the information was. Since we didn’t understand or care, we lost interest in the presentation.

The point is, you don’t need to go into extreme detail about minute things. You just want to give your audience the general ideas of the content so they understand the overview. Once the basics have marinated in their brains, they can ask more specific questions. They will be much more likely to remember the information that way than if you just rant for 20 minutes.

Don’t Read the Presentation Slides!!!

It drives me so crazy so when people do this. There are so many problems with it. First of all, we’re students at high-level institutions, not toddlers: We can read for ourselves.

Secondly, if you are reading off of the slides, the audience cannot see you. One of the advantages of presentations is the element of human connection, but when the audience cannot see the presenter’s face, that connection is blocked.

Thirdly, reading off the slides just screams laziness on the part of the presenter and is frankly a waste of time for the audience. It is especially annoying because it clearly demonstrates the presenter’s minimal effort to prepare. There’s more to a presentation than just preparing the text. You also need to understand what you are saying. Otherwise, anyone could do your presentation if all they had to do was read the slides.

If you truly comprehend what you are talking about, then you shouldn’t need to read anything. It should flow like you are explaining something to a friend. To help get out of your reading off of the slides rut, you should practice presenting beforehand to get a feel for what you are going to say.

Speak With a Strong, Clear Voice

So much of the energy from a presentation comes from the demeanor of the presenter. Confidence and breathing are both key for a strong, clear voice. Be sure to breathe and speak calmly, which may be difficult in front of an audience. Nerves can distort our ability to speak. To help, I always try to see my presentation as an opportunity to educate my peers about something I’m knowledgeable about rather than as a burden.

It also helps to practice your presentation beforehand. You should make sure that you understand the flow of the presentation and what you are talking about. Create some mental bullet points that you can reference for each slide. Even if you need to memorize a script, that is still much better than reading off of the slides.

Pictures Instead of Words

A crucial part of making a good presentation is putting yourself in the shoes of your audience and thinking about what would grab their attention the most. For most people, the answer is not a paragraph of text. People are much more drawn to pictures than they are to words. Whether it’s graphs, photos or drawings, images stimulate the audience to pay attention.

Keep the text on your slide to just bullet points and let images take up most of the space. You will find fewer heads down when you are presenting if you do this. It’s much more difficult to understand what the presenter is saying when you have to also read what is on the slides — unless the presenter is just reading the slides, but we’ve already covered why that’s a problem.

Following these easy steps will lead to an excellent presentation. They have all saved me from bad grades, like my microeconomics group final this past semester. My groupmates and I each divided up the sections for work. My section was last, and everyone before me did the typical thing where they wrote paragraphs of text on the slides, which they just read. Everyone in the audience, except the professor, was totally uninterested and just stared at their phones until my slides were up. I had images take up the entire screen with just some quotes in the background while I did the talking. Instantly, everyone’s head tilted up and was looking at the screen. I spoke clearly, gave a general overview of the concept, and my professor gave us an “A” on the project. That goes to show how much better a presentation can be with these simple tricks in mind.

  • college group projects
  • college tips
  • Google Slides
  • group project
  • presentation
  • public speaking

Elliot Jackson-Ontkush, Skidmore College

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Presenting in Front of Class: How a Solid Outline and Format Can Overcome Nervousness

Presenting in Front of Class: How a Solid Outline and Format Can Overcome Nervousness

It’s safe to say that paying attention to a poorly executed PowerPoint is likely pretty low on a college student’s to-do list. So it’s no wonder that most twenty-somethings dread their class presentations. And they’re not alone. Nearly 75% of people fear presentations, or have a fear of presenting in class, more than death. Between the nervousness that comes from presenting to your peers and the pressure of your final grade, class presentations can feel a lot more like a chore than a simple homework assignment. And as a result, many students will put it off until the eleventh hour. 

Unfortunately (for college students), it’s not uncommon that you’ll have at least one presentation assignment per course each semester. You do the math. If you’re taking 4 or 5 classes a semester, that could equal up to 10 presentations a year. Regardless of whether you’re a show-up-to-class-early kind of student, or would rather be asleep in the back row, it’s time to dust off your A-worthy public speaking skills. We can help.

All it takes is a solid presentation outline, a killer format, and a beautifully designed deck to help ease some of your nerves. Here’s how to not to be nervous when presenting in front of class.

Know your topic

It’s likely that your topic was assigned to you by your teacher or professor, and you couldn’t care less about it. We’ve all been there. But to really nail your presentation, you need to know your topic and your audience. It doesn’t matter if you’re presenting about why your favorite fast food chain should come to campus, or who built the Sphinx of Egypt— the more you know, the more comfortable you’ll feel talking about it. In fact, you should always know more about your topic than what you’re sharing. This ensures that you can answer any questions thrown your way that you might not be prepared for otherwise.

Once you have your assignment, don’t be afraid to get creative. Check out these 50 creative ideas to nail your next college presentation . Have fun with it, your audience (and teacher) will notice!

Structure your story

A solid outline, and firm grasp on how you’d like to structure your talking points, will help you feel much more organized going into presentation day. Structure your presentation like a story, so if you ever start to feel stuck or nervous, you can resort back to your story outline. Choose a beginning, middle, and end— and stick to one key point per slide as you build through the narrative. Our presentation templates help you structure your story in a more thoughtful way so that your presentation flows more naturally. 

Pretend you’re having a conversation with your friends and are telling them about what you had for lunch in the dining hall (even if you’re really talking about the top five most influential Presidents of the United States). Knowing your story, and making it more conversational, can help you overcome any lingering nervousness. This will also help keep your audience more engaged, which will make you feel more at ease.  

presentation at school

Build your confidence 

If your stomach is in knots, you can find comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. We’d be willing to bet that 9 out of 10 students have a fear of presenting in class. While we can’t physically calm your nerves, we can help you overcome them mentally. A strong presentation deck is the easiest way to build confidence when public speaking. If you’re proud of what you’re presenting (a killer deck), you’re going to feel much more relaxed at the podium in front of the classroom.

Beautiful.ai makes it easy for students to create something fun, modern, and clean regardless of the topic. And don’t worry: no all-nighters required. With our design AI, we handle the heavy lifting so you can create something beautiful without sacrificing movie night with friends. If you truly don’t know where to begin, we have an inspiration library— stacked with fully customizable slide templates — to kick-start your ideas. Gone are the days of spending all night on a Frankendeck that you’re embarrassed to share with the class. 

Focus on your material, not on your audience

You know how they say to picture your audience in their underwear? We’re telling you to do the opposite here. Focus on your material, instead. If you feel good about the material you’re presenting to the class, you’ll be a lot less concerned about the class itself. While you should always learn to read the room, and engage with your audience, that might make your nerves worse if you’re already feeling anxious. Instead, focus on what you know: your material. 

Include strong visuals so that your audience is more engaged and interested in what you’re sharing on the screen. That way, they’ll feel seen and connected to the content, even if you’re really just staring a hole through the back wall of the classroom. Beautiful.ai offers a free library of hundreds of thousands of high-quality imagery, custom icons, and logos for you to incorporate into your deck.

Practice, and then practice again

Of course, the above is all for naught if you don’t practice. It’s recommended that you practice one hour for every minute of performance. But we’re not like the regular presentation software, we’re the cool presentation software, and we know that no college kid in their right mind is going to spend five hours practicing for a five minute presentation. At the very least, you should run through your presentation 3-5 times from top to bottom. Learn the ins-and-outs of your presentation, and decide what key points you want (or need) to hit in order to crush it. If you’ve practiced, and feel good about your content, don’t be afraid to interact with the audience on game day and incorporate questions to get them involved. 

Pro tip: If you’re presenting remotely, you might even tape note cards to the top of your laptop to reference throughout the presentation. They will help keep you on track, and it will look like you’re staring into your computer camera and making eye contact with the audience on the other end of the video call while you read them. Win-win (you’re welcome). 

Jordan Turner

Jordan Turner

Jordan is a Bay Area writer, social media manager, and content strategist.

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  • Public Speaking

A visual representation of presenting before a class

Class presentations can be extremely stressful. The way you open your presentation will determine the way the rest of your presentation goes and how it is accepted by the audience. To make things easier for you, here is a list of powerful opening lines for a Class Presentation.

Before we get into the opening lines, here are some pointers to ensure your presentation has a good structure that will keep the audience engaged.

How to structure a good presentation

State the relevance and purpose to the audience, identify a core message, divide your presentation into three parts, use a simple and clear structure, use engaging and relevant slides, practice and rehearse your delivery, q & a session.

Determine the purpose of your presentation. What do you want your audience to learn or take away from it? Consider the knowledge level, interests, and expectations of your audience. This will help you tailor your content appropriately. Explain why the information is important or relevant to your audience

Identify a single central message that you would like to communicate to your audience. Then build your presentation around that core message. Select a clear and focused topic that aligns with the objectives of the assignment or class.

A presentation can be divided into three parts: an introduction detailing the purpose and structure of the talk; a body covering the main points; and a conclusion summarizing and highlighting the significance of your talk.

A good presentation structure means analyzing the core message of your presentation. Decide on a key message you want to impart to the audience, and then craft an engaging way of delivering it.

Design engaging and suitable slides that support your message and help your audience understand your presentation. Use rhetorical questions, anecdotes, or interactive elements to keep the audience engaged. Incorporate relevant visuals or multimedia to illustrate critical points. Ensure they are clear and legible, and add value to your presentation.

Practice your presentation beforehand to ensure that you can deliver it confidently and effectively.

Invite questions from the audience. Be prepared to respond thoughtfully.

Cite your sources if applicable. This adds credibility to your presentation. In fact, provide any recommended readings or resources for further exploration.

You can divide your presentation in the following manner-

Introduction:.

  • Hook : Start with an attention-grabbing statement, question, or anecdote related to your topic.
  • Presentation Statement : Clearly state the main purpose or argument of your presentation.
  • Preview : Provide an overview of what you’ll be covering in the presentation.
  • Each main point should be a separate section or slide.
  • Present one key idea per slide or section.
  • Provide evidence, examples, and supporting details for each point.
  • Use visuals like images, graphs, or charts to enhance understanding.

Conclusion:

  • Summary : Summarize the main points.
  • Restate Thesis : Remind the audience of your main argument.
  • Closing Statement : Provide a clear and impactful closing statement.

Structuring a class presentation effectively involves careful planning and organization. By following these steps, you can create a well-structured class presentation that effectively delivers your message and engages your audience.

Here are some additional tips for structuring your class presentation:

  • Keep it simple: Don’t try to cram too much information into your presentation. Focus on the most important points you want to communicate.
  • Use a variety of presentation techniques : This could include storytelling, humor, and interactive activities.
  • Be clear and concise : Avoid using jargon and technical language that your audience may not understand.
  • End powerfully: Leave your audience with a memorable thought or call to action.

By following these tips, you can create a class presentation that is informative, engaging, and memorable.

A powerful opening sets the tone for your class presentation and grabs your audience’s attention. Moving ahead to the main part of the article, here is a list of things you can incorporate to make your opening lines for a class presentation rather memorable.

Opening Lines for a class presentation

Ask a rhetorical question, use a startling statistic or fact, quote someone, make a provocative statement, interactive opening, visual description, make historical reference.

This is a great way to grab the audience’s attention and get them thinking about your topic. For example: “Have you ever wondered how the internet works?” or “What are the ethical implications of artificial intelligence?”

1. “Have you ever wondered why [topic] affects each and every one of us?”

2. “What if I told you that [startling fact or statistic]?”

Stories are a great way to connect with your audience and make your presentation more memorable. For example, you could tell a story about a personal experience related to your topic, or a story that illustrates a key point you want to make.

3. “Let me take you back to [a specific moment in time related to your topic].”

4. “I’d like to share a personal story that illustrates the importance of [topic].

This is a great way to grab the audience’s attention and make them want to learn more. For example: “Did you know that 90% of all data has been created in the past two years?” or “One in three people will experience depression at some point in their lives.”

5. “Did you know that [shocking statistic]?”

6. “It might surprise you to learn that [eye-opening fact].”

This is a great way to add credibility to your presentation. For example: “According to Albert Einstein, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.'” or “A recent study by Harvard University found that people who meditate regularly are more likely to be happy and successful.”

7. “As [famous figure] once said, ‘ [relevant quote].'”

8. “As Neil Armstrong once said, “That’s one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind.” I believe space exploration is essential for the development of mankind.”

This is a great way to get the audience’s attention and make them think about your topic in a new way. For example: “The future of work is remote.” or “Artificial intelligence will revolutionize every industry.”

9. “Today, I’m here to challenge how we think about [topic].”

10. “Let’s consider a perspective on [topic] that might be different from what you’ve heard before.”

Other than these, there are certainly other ways of opening your presentation such as:

This is a great way to engage the audience from the beginning of the presentation. This will help keep the audience hooked and trigger their thought process too.

11. “I’d like to begin with a quick exercise. Raise your hand if [question-related to your topic].”

A visual description will help the audience to draw things from their imagination and will keep them engrossed in what you have to say after.

12. “Close your eyes for a moment and imagine [vivid scene related to your topic].”

Humor can never go wrong if you know the audience you are dealing with. A good laugh will always make your presentation go a lot smoother and easier.

13. “They say that [humorous twist on your topic]. But today, we’ll uncover the real story.”

Pick up a historical fact or reference that is quite common or that you can prove happened. This helps engage your audience and they would want to know how is that reference relevant in the context of your topic.

14. “In [specific time period], [relevant historical event] changed the course of [topic].”

Stating something and immediately countering your own statement will confuse the audience into listening to you more keenly. Which is why it serves the purpose of having your audience’s attention.

15. “While most people think [common misconception], the reality is quite different.”

Remember to choose an opening that aligns with your topic and style, and be sure to transition smoothly from your opening into the main content of your presentation. Additionally, practice your opening to ensure you deliver it confidently and engagingly.

Now, let’s look at some examples of opening lines for specific topics of class presentation

Opening lines for specific topics of a class presentation

Climate change, globalization and its effects, mental health awareness, artificial intelligence, gender equality, entrepreneurship, space exploration, cybersecurity, diversity and inclusion, the benefits of reading, the dangers of smoking.

  • The challenges of poverty

The importance of recycling

16. “The world is on fire. Or at least it feels that way. The Amazon rainforest is burning, the Arctic is melting, and the Great Barrier Reef is dying. But we can still make a difference.”

17. “Imagine a world where our coastal cities are submerged, and our weather patterns become increasingly erratic.”

18. “In the next few minutes, we’ll confront a reality that demands our immediate attention: the accelerating crisis of climate change.”

19. “Today, our actions in one corner of the globe can have ripple effects thousands of miles away. The world truly is a web of interconnectedness.”

20. “As we discuss globalization, let’s remember that it’s not just about economics. It’s about cultures converging, traditions evolving, and societies adapting.”

21. “We all have mental health. Just like we have physical health. But why is it that we’re so afraid to talk about it? Why is it that we treat mental illness as a taboo topic?”

22. “Close your eyes and think about a time when you or someone you know faced a mental health challenge. It’s more common than you might think.”

23. “Mental health is just as important as physical health, but it is often overlooked.”

24. “One in five adults in the United States experiences mental illness each year.”

25. “Mental health problems can impact anyone, regardless of age, race, or socioeconomic status.”

26. “Imagine a world where machines can think and learn like humans. A world where robots can do our jobs, and self-driving cars can take us anywhere we want to go. This is the world of artificial intelligence.”

27. “From self-driving cars to virtual personal assistants, the rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping the way we live and work.”

28. “Today, we stand on the precipice of an era where machines can not only think but learn and adapt.”

29. “It’s time to talk about gender equality. It’s time to talk about the fact that women still earn less than men, that they are underrepresented in leadership positions, and that they face discrimination and harassment on a daily basis.”

30. “What do Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk have in common? They’re all entrepreneurs who started with nothing and built billion-dollar companies. But what does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?”

31. “The cosmos, with its vastness and mysteries, has beckoned explorers and dreamers for centuries. Today, we’re on the cusp of new frontiers.”

32. “As we look up at the night sky, it’s important to remember that each star represents a potential world, waiting to be discovered.”

33. “In an era where our lives are increasingly intertwined with technology, the battleground for our security has shifted to the digital realm.”

34. “Picture this: a breach in cybersecurity can lead to consequences as real and impactful as a physical break-in.”

35. “Diversity isn’t just about ticking boxes on a checklist. It’s about recognizing the richness that comes from embracing different perspectives and experiences.”

36. “In this room, we each bring a unique story and perspective. Together, we have the power to shape a more inclusive world.”

37. “Diversity and inclusion lead to innovation and creativity.”

38. “Reading can improve your vocabulary, grammar, and writing skills.”

39. “Reading can help you to learn about different cultures and perspectives.”

40. “Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.”

41. “Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other serious health problems.”

42. “Secondhand smoke is just as dangerous as smoking itself.”

 The challenges of poverty

43. “Poverty is a complex problem that affects millions of people around the world.”

44. “Poverty can lead to hunger, homelessness, and lack of access to education and healthcare.”

45. “We all have a role to play in fighting poverty.”

46. “Did you know that it takes 700 years for a plastic bag to decompose?”

These opening lines can be used as inspiration to create your own powerful opening line for your class presentation. Make sure it sets the tone for the rest of your presentation.

These opening lines are designed to capture attention and provide a strong foundation for your presentation on these specific topics. Remember to follow through with compelling content and a strong conclusion to leave a lasting impression on your audience.

List of other resources for you

As a college student, presentations carry a lot of weight, so How to Give a Presentation in Class as a College Student

As talked about, organizing your presentation is essential, hence Presentation Structures: Everything You Need To Organize Your Talk

Sometimes, you can have a lot of content and not know what to remove, 14 Techniques To Ensure Audience Engagement Through Long Presentations

Doing things at the last minute is not okay, unless and until you know how to get it done effectively. Help! I Have A Presentation Tomorrow & I Am Not Prepared

Sometimes you would not have someone around to practice your presentation, and for that Have A Presentation Coming Up. Here’s How You Can Practice It By Yourself

I hope this is helpful. When choosing an opening line for your presentation, be sure to consider your audience and what you want to achieve with your presentation. You can always try to get in touch with a professional to get advice on your presentation structure and how you present it. For this, check out our personalized coaching services !

Hrideep Barot

Enroll in our transformative 1:1 Coaching Program

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

  • Carmine Gallo

presentation at school

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

presentation at school

  • Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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  • For General Anxiety
  • For Panic Attacks
  • For Fears and Phobias

How to Get Out of a Presentation for Class: 6 Tricks

Tyler Ellis

Having to give a presentation at school or work can be a stressful situation for many of us. While it’s usually best to face our fears, sometimes we just aren’t ready to stand in front of the class. When anxiety gets the best of us, here’s how to get out of a presentation for class: 

  • Check the Syllabus in Advance for Class Participation Requirements
  • Communicate to the Teacher and Request Alternative Assignments
  • Keep a Valid Excuse Handy Just in Case
  • Offer to do More of the Work for Less of the Speaking
  • Pre-Record Your Presentation or Use Other Presentation Tools
  • Consider Online Classes

Not all of these options will work on every teacher or professor, so it’s good to learn them all.

Regardless, at least one of these options will work in 99% of situations.

Why Should You Know How to Get Out of a Presentation?

Make no mistake about it: This website is about beating anxiety and panic attacks ; not avoiding them.

So why am I dedicating an entire article to how to get out of a class presentation?

The simple answer is: I’ve been there.

Anxiety, especially social anxiety, starts to rear its ugly head right around high school or college for most of us. This is a difficult, and often confusing, chapter of our lives. We’re learning who we are and how our brain works while simultaneously juggling our social, romantic, and academic lives.

Standing in front of the class stressed me out so much in high school and college, I spent more time avoiding presentations than I did studying. My daily anxiety was so bad, it's surprising I didn’t just drop out altogether. This kind of environment was simply non-conducive to learning for me.

While I didn’t always avoid presentations, I sure did skip a lot of them. Unfortunately, skipping presentations reflects poorly on your GPA, which doesn’t always feel fair; After all, you’re an anxious student, not an incompetent one!

This article is for any student who is desperately nervous about a class presentation coming up.  For anyone who doesn’t want their GPA to suffer or to have to quit school due to social anxiety;  anyone who just isn’t ready to be pushed into facing a phobia before they’re ready.

Of course, ultimately, I want to see my readers conquer their fear of public speaking once and for all. Head over to this article if you’re ready to overcome presentation anxiety and stage fright   for good.

For everyone else, let’s just focus on how to get out of a class presentation for now.

Why am I Nervous About Speaking in Front of Class?

If anxiety and panic attacks are new to you, they can be pretty overwhelming and confusing. Perhaps something simple, like giving a speech in class, is making you nervous when it never did in the past. This is totally normal and was my experience as well.

Before my first few panic attacks, I would’ve never understood the fear of public speaking. Sometime in early high school, I had a completely random panic attack while giving a speech. Thankfully, it largely went unnoticed, but it made me anxious about every class presentation to follow.

A fear of public speaking can develop for a number of reasons. For many people, it’s a genetic predisposition to social anxiety; at a certain age, we start to worry more about what people think. For others, we learn to associate a negative or traumatic experience with the situation and become anxious when we think about it. 

While it may not make sense for us to panic in such a harmless situation, there’s an evolutionary explanation for this. Since our brains evolved to their current form many years ago, some systems once intended to assist us now simply cause us stress. Being surrounded by a crowd may be harmless today, but to our ancestors it may have posed a very real risk.

If you’ve got some time to kill, check out this piece on the evolutionary psychology behind anxiety .

1. Check the Syllabus in Advance for Class Participation Requirements

* Note – This trick is specifically for college students and may not work in high school*

Something I learned early on in college was that I simply learned better on my own. This was no disrespect to my professors of course, they were all great! But I was a psychology student who was genuinely fascinated by the course material.

I was content to read the textbooks by myself from the comfort of my dorm room. Struggling to stay awake in a 9am lecture hall, or nervously shifting in my seat before a class presentation, did nothing to improve my understanding of psychology. I learned best on my own.

Knowing this, I devised a system for how to avoid class presentations and class participation in general. I called this trick the “Take 7, Drop 5” method. Here’s how it worked:

  • During class enrollment, I would sign up for 7 classes per semester (The standard course-load was 5). These could be any classes that would count toward my degree.
  • I'd wait for the first week of class to come and go (syllabus week).
  • I’d skip syllabus week altogether ( you better believe my social anxiety didn’t want to play icebreaker games).
  • Now I’d look on the student portal to read the posted syllabus for each class. The syllabi are typically used as a loose contract to inform the student of how their grade will be determined.
  • If I saw a class where the grade was heavily dependent on participation (e.g., 40% of the grade coming from speaking in class, attendance, or group projects) I would drop it.
  • In general, I favored classes where the professors did not assign projects, or even grade attendance. Classes where the daily lectures were posted online were ideal for me.
  • In the end, I would drop two out of seven classes I originally enrolled in. This came with no penalty since I would drop within the first few weeks. I’d end with a standard course-load of 5 classes.
  • Repeating this process each semester, I managed to get great grades largely from the comfort of home. I would only really have to go into most classes to take the tests.

Funny enough, I actually had a number of friends ask, “ I never see you in class, how are you passing? ”

The reality was, this is how I learned best; self-guided and from home. It’s not a system that works for everybody, but it’s an option for anyone wondering how to avoid class presentations and participation.

2. Communicate to the Teacher and Request Alternative Assignments

I firmly believe that most teachers and professors really do want their students to succeed.

As professional public speakers , it can be easy for teachers and professors to forget that some students are socially anxious. Sometimes, they may want to push students to face their fears and grow.

Regardless, no teacher can know what you’re feeling unless you communicate with them.

The absolute easiest way to get out of a class presentation is to talk to your teacher about it. Sure, this can feel like an embarrassing and difficult topic to bring up. Nonetheless, I promise you are not the first person your teacher has spoken to about a fear of public speaking. 

You can pull your teacher aside for a private conversation, or even reach out to them via email. Let them know how hard it was for you to even come to them and open up about this issue. Explain to them that you are going through something difficult right now with your anxiety.

Most teachers will be able to sympathize with your situation and perhaps propose an alternative assignment for you. Others, however, might insist that the best way to conquer this fear is to tackle it head-on (which isn’t false). You can assure them that you plan to address the issue in your own way eventually; for now, you’re just looking for some compassion.

The important thing here is honesty and compromise.

Teachers deal with a lot of lazy students who come up with all kinds of excuses to get out of work. You want to make it clear to your teacher than this is not your intention.

Suggest a compromise.

Perhaps, rather than giving a 5-minute presentation, you could write a 5-page essay?

Make some ambitious suggestions and see if you can come to an agreement. After all, as long the work is getting done and you’re learning, isn’t that the most important thing?

I made these kinds of compromises with professors on a number of occasions. I’m not too proud to admit that one time, I even gave my presentation to the teacher privately in an empty room.

Be honest, open, and willing to put in hard work, and most teachers will be willing to work with you.

3. Keep a Valid Excuse Handy Just in Case

Perhaps the least ethical of my suggestions today, but this worked for me enough times to make the list.

Ah yes, the age-old “ my dog ate my homework” trick.

The simple fact is, things do come up in our lives that require us to take a day off from class.

For Missing a Presentation or Class

Good excuses:.

  • You’ve come down with an illness
  • Your child, parent, or spouse has come down with an illness
  • There has been a pet emergency and you need to go to the vet
  • You are occupied with a family emergency
  • A canceled or delayed flight (check flight cancellations first!)
  • There has been an emergency with your home (fire, gas leak, pests, etc.)

Bad Excuses:

  • "I forgot."
  • "I was tired and didn’t feel like coming in today."
  • "The alarm didn’t go off."
  • "My car broke down" (No longer a great excuse due to rideshare).
  • "My dog ate my homework" (You're better than that)!

The key to a good excuse is that it's out of your control and doesn't reflect poorly upon your reliability. Ideally, it's also something that cannot be disproved; if you use an excuse like a canceled flight, actually look up  flight cancelations from the night before.

If you’re going to use one of these excuses, you should let your teacher or professor know immediately. Waiting a week to give them your excuse takes away from your reliability and credibility. Inform them of your “situation” immediately, and ask for a chance to make up the assignment.

It’s unlikely your presentation would be rescheduled to cut into another day’s lesson. More likely, your professor will ask you to email your project over or present it privately during office hours.

Fun Fact: During my worst days with panic attacks and anxiety, I truly used some ridiculous excuses to avoid presenting. I’m by no means proud of this (it’s very embarrassing) … but one time, I went up to the professor with tissues pressed to my nose. I told her I had a nosebleed and had to go to the restroom. I handed her my speech and just never went back. Fortunately for me, she accepted and graded it.

Like I said, by no means do I think making excuses is the best long-term strategy. I’d just rather give any extremely anxious students an option beyond dropping out entirely.

4. Offer to do More of the Work for Less of the Speaking

If negotiations with your teacher or professor don’t go so well, you can always talk to your peers.

The good thing about public speaking in school is that most assignments are group presentations. If you can’t figure out how to get out of a group presentation, you can at least talk to your groupmates about how you’re feeling.

In today’s day and age, people are much more open and understanding of mental health issues. Anxiety is no different, and most people are aware that other people experience a degree of stage fright. With any luck, someone in your group will have less of an issue with this.

Something you might consider is asking to take a lesser role speaking in the presentation. If the other students are anxious as well, this may be a hard sell; but at least then you have some solidarity.

Otherwise, you can offer to do more of the work researching or writing the presentation in exchange for a lesser speaking role – a great deal for anyone who doesn’t mind talking. If all else fails, you can always slip someone a twenty to read your lines (sorry for my loose moral compass).

Note – for group presentations, really make an effort to negotiate a fair arrangement. Be willing to work hard to make up for less speaking. Don’t surprise the group and ditch; it’s unfair to pass your stress over like a baton. Your teacher won’t appreciate it either, and you’ll probably fail.

5. Pre-Record Your Presentation or Use Other Presentation Tools

This is my absolute favorite trick for how to get out of giving a presentation.

With this method, you can create a high-quality presentation without having to stand in front of the class and speak.  In other words: Get the A+ without the stage fright.

There are several ways to do this.

The most basic method is simply a pre-recorded video of you speaking to the camera in a “talking head” video. Depending on the quality you want, most people could do this for free by recording with a smartphone or webcam. For better results, use a quality camera and editing software.

Better yet, you could drop the video (or just an audio recording) in the corner of a standard PowerPoint presentation. This way, it’s as simple as hitting “play” and stepping away from the stage. You get the same information across without having to actively speak in front of the class.

The best results (in my opinion) would be to utilize some premium presentation software tools. Among my favorites are Doodly   and Toonly , which allow one to easily create high-quality animated videos (don’t worry, they’re extremely intuitive, drag-and-drop style). This is my favorite option because the result looks like you put in more work rather than less .

Check out this article on my favorite presentation software reviews   before you spend any money.

6. Consider Online Classes 

Not everyone thrives in the traditional classroom setting; I know I didn’t.

For these people, online classes can be a good option.

Now, more than ever before, we’re realizing that colleges can just as effectively teach students online as in-person. Even better, self-paced learning allows the kind of flexibility necessary to receive an education while balancing work and family. It’s often much more affordable as well.

Since I already have an article discussing how online classes can help anxious students , I’ll leave off here. If constantly figuring out how to get out of giving a presentation isn’t your thing, consider online classes.

Why Avoiding Presentations May Not be the Best Strategy

We’ve talked a lot about how to get out a presentation in school.

Now it’s time for me to be responsible and tell you a hard truth.

Avoiding our fears can be a massive relief, but ultimately, it’s a terrible long-term strategy. To actually beat our anxiety, we need to be willing to confront our phobias – even when this is uncomfortable.

My favorite way to do this is through gradual habituation . Basically, exposing ourselves to our fears at a slow, if slightly uncomfortable pace. Through time and practice, our fears are lessened bit by bit. The trick is to step just outside out comfort zone without necessarily “jumping right into the fire.”

comfort zone vs growth zone vs panic zone

Are you constantly looking for ways to get out of giving a presentation at school? Consider what a small step outside your comfort zone may look like. Could you raise your hand a bit more in class? Could you practice your speech in front of five close friends? Maybe you could try and read a poem at a small open mic night?

gradual exposure hierarchy image

When you're ready, check out our article on how to overcome the fear of presenting .

Rather than focusing on avoidance tactics, this article will actually help you to beat your stage fright. This is one of the best things we can do for our education, career, and mental health.  

Can a Teacher Force You to Do a Presentation?

Unfortunately, unless you have a formally recognized disability, your teacher can definitely “force” you to present. A teacher has every right to fail a student who is unable to give a presentation or speech in class. If you’re anxious, your best bet is to talk honestly with your teacher to try and find a compromise.

How to Get Out of a Presentation at Work?

While this article focused on students in high school and college, most of the same tactics can be used at work. Since work will more likely be about results than a graded task, the best option here is likely to use presentation tools. This should make your boss happy while also helping to minimize your stage fright.

How Do I Stay Calm During a Presentation?

Take control of your breathing; 4 seconds in, 7 second hold, 8 seconds out. Find a focus object in the room to focus your thoughts on whenever your mind starts to wander anxiously. Look for a friendly face in the crowd if you get too nervous. Remember that this will all be over in just a few short minutes.

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About the Author

Years of personal experience with anxiety disorders and panic attacks have led me to devise some pretty creative ways to keep my anxiety in check. In the past, anxiety and panic attacks felt like something I'd have to live with forever. Nowadays, panic attacks are a distant memory for me, and I'm free to pursue passions like writing and traveling the world. Hopefully, the information on this website can help you achieve the same. I do all the writing here myself, so don't hesitate to reach out with questions!

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YCDSB high school students left shocked after graphic anti-abortion presentation

By Tina Yazdani and Meredith Bond

Posted February 22, 2024 5:42 pm.

Last Updated February 22, 2024 8:50 pm.

A disturbing and graphic anti-abortion assembly at a Keswick, Ont. high school has left students shaken and looking for answers.

Grade 11 and 12 students at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Academy say they were exposed to shocking and offensive anti-abortion material at an assembly they were forced to attend on Wednesday.

The students, who CityNews has chosen not to name, say they felt it was important to speak out against what they were subjected to.

“We listened to an anti-abortion presentation from an organization that was heavily biased, they really only brought in one perspective of that conversation, and a lot of women in that presentation didn’t really feel like they were represented accurately.”

The presentation consisted of graphic images and made connections that have been described as racially and culturally insensitive.

“There was one point in the presentation when they compare abortion to horrific historical events that I did not feel like were comparable at all, [including] the Holocaust and slavery … it caught a lot of people off guard,” said the student.

Students say at a certain point, almost every female student got up and walked out of the room.

“By the end of the presentation, there were really only four women who were still sitting there, and teachers did actually give us the option to leave; they agreed the presentation was not appropriate.”

The students said it seemed the administration and the teachers were also shocked by the presentation and issued an apology to them on Thursday.

“At least it was recognized and they also understand that it was a mistake … I think myself and other students appreciate that apology very much. And that just helped me recognize the dangers of not looking into an organization properly and really doing the research,” said a student.

In a statement to CityNews, the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) said the speaker “departed from the pre-agreed material and shared inappropriate content during that presentation.”

“On the same day of the presentation, the school sent an apology letter to the community for the upsetting content, and school staff had conversations with students about their reactions to the material,” continued the statement.

Organization comments following YCDSB high school presentation

Keturah Dumaine, Eastern Strategic Initiatives Coordinator with the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, was the speaker at the YCDSB high school. She tells CityNews that “there must have been some sort of misunderstanding.”

“I was asked not to show photos or videos of abortion victims, and we always comply with requests from schools on presentation content,” Dumaine said.

“The presentation included prenatal images of human beings in the womb and an AbortionProcedures.com video with medical illustrations, along with narration from a physician with experience performing abortions explaining how the most common first-trimester procedure is done.”

Dumaine said she “shared a message of human rights for all human beings” while noting that she believes abortion is a human rights violation because it ends the life of an innocent human being.

“We know discrimination is wrong when we create second-class citizens based on gender, ethnicity, or religion, and abortion is age-based discrimination — all human beings deserve fundamental human rights, no matter how old they are,” she continued.

“While every injustice is different, the similarity is that whenever we say that some human beings don’t deserve basic human rights, bad things happen — this is how serious human rights violations happen.”

Students tell CityNews this is the first time they’ve been exposed to this kind of material and are concerned about what this could do to young impressionable students.

“I think this organization needs to kind of be blacklisted from all schools. It’s my understanding that we were the first school to receive this kind of presentation. And I really hope that other schools become aware of this organization and aren’t coerced into bringing them in and talking about that.”

One student added she believes there’s a time and place for this kind of discussion and it has to include both sides.

“There’s definitely a good way to represent both sides of the conversation. That’s just not what happened in this presentation. I think if we’re gonna have some discussions about such a heavy topic, such as abortion … I do think that students should be given the chance to make their own informed decisions,” said the student.

The YCDSB said they support the Catholic church’s teaching on the sanctity of life but “discussions of this issue must always be grounded in sensitivity and age appropriateness.”

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Kentucky Girls High School Basketball: How to Stream the South Oldham High School vs. Presentation Academy Game - February 23

presentation at school

View how Data Skrive uses AI here .

South Oldham High School is away from home versus Presentation Academy at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, February 23.

Follow high school basketball this season on the NFHS Network ! Keep tabs on your family or alma mater and tune in!

South Oldham vs. Presentation Game Information

  • Game Day: Friday, February 23
  • Game Time: 7:30 PM ET
  • Location: Louisville, KY
  • Live Stream: Watch Here

Other Jefferson County Games Today

Dupont manual high school at north bullitt high school.

  • Game Time: 6:00 PM ET on February 23
  • Location: Shepherdsville, KY
  • How to Stream: Watch Here

Moore Traditional High School at Pleasure Ridge Park High School

Trinity high school at portland christian school, eastern high school at doss high school, tbd at francis parker, waggener high school at valley high school, tbd at sacred heart academy.

  • Game Time: 8:00 PM ET on February 23

Central Hardin High School at Whitefield Academy

  • Game Time: 7:30 PM ET on February 23

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The Oak Ridger

New Oak Ridge elementary school, expansions at other schools needed; estimated cost $69.5M

W ith Oak Ridge 's population growing, leaders of the city school system are recommending that a new elementary school be constructed on the west end and additions and renovations made to three of the elementary schools and two middle schools.

The recommendation also includes the eventual closing of the current Linden Elementary School because the current school site would be difficult - and expensive - to expand or become the site of a new school.

It also includes returning the fifth grade to the elementary schools and making Robertsville and Jefferson middle schools into junior highs again, holding sixth- through eighth-grades. Redistricting throughout the system would also be required to balance the student population sizes at the schools and relieve the new school building.

View the presentation here .

The potential cost: $69.5 million, which doesn't include buying land for a new school on the west end of Oak Ridge, where the population growth is projected to continue. It also includes keeping to a timeline that begins with acquiring the land this year, completing the design and putting out the new school construction project for bid by 2025. Delays in meeting the timeline could increase the construction costs by 5% a year, according to Cope Architecture , which is a contractor for the school system.

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch advised those officials studying the projections and needs to "seriously think about" a land swap of city-owned land for the new school, rather than buying property. In response to a question, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said no new school site has been chosen.

Why does Oak Ridge need a new school, expansion of other schools?

Officials with Oak Ridge Schools informed Oak Ridge City Council and city government administrators of the projected need for more space at a joint meeting last year. A similar meeting with the same groups, including the city board of education, city council, and involved contractors, was held again this year, Feb. 20, at the School Administration Building.

Borchers presented a PowerPoint presentation showing the student and city population projections and what is being recommended by a joint group made up of officials from the school system and city government called the Enrollment Committee . He said the city schools have a "three-year window" before the elementary schools are out of space. This is based on an average of 20 students per classroom. That 20-1 ratio is based on a combination of state law and Oak Ridge Schools recommendations aimed at being beneficial to students.

Key highlights of the presentation

  • Based on current growth rates and existing or planned housing projects and new industries, Oak Ridge could add 2,000 new households by the year 2030 .
  • 13 relatively new or expanding housing developments are projected to increase the city's population by nearly 5,000 people, to a total of about 38,417.
  • Oak Ridge Schools' enrollment is 5,064, which is higher than expected. It's up from 4,657 in 2019. Linden and Willow Brook elementary schools, on the west end of the city, are at the biggest risks of running out of space because of an increasing student enrollment, Borchers said.

Recommendations from the school system and Enrollment Committee

  • Complete the new Linden Elementary School, which will be a kindergarten through fifth-grade school for up to 800 students, by 2027 at a cost of roughly $32 million.
  • Also by 2027, renovate and make additions to Willow Brook to increase the student capacity to 600. Cost estimate $6.5 million.
  • By 2028, renovate and add additions to Glenwood and Woodland to increase Glenwood's capacity to 600 students and Woodland to 800. Estimated cost $12 million. Also by 2028, shift fifth grade from middle schools to junior highs and redistrict as needed.
  • By 2032, make additions and renovations to Jefferson. Add two-story, 10-classroom addition, a two-story addition for expanded administration and addition for guidance/conference; expand cafeteria and add roof garden above, cover courtyard for multipurpose space, upgrade and address code deficiencies. Cost estimate: $8 million.
  • By 2033, make additions and renovations to Robertsville. Add two-story, eight-classroom addition; renovate vacated spaces for expanded administration; expand cafeteria, upgrade infrastructure and address code deficiencies. Cost estimate: $69.5 million.

Who is on the Enrollment Committee ?

Why not keep Linden and build a fifth elementary?

Two words: The cost.

Operating five elementary schools would cost approximately $33.3 million over a 20-year period compared with that of operating four, according to Borchers' presentation. That includes staffing an additional school, utilities, and additional administration for the school.

In addition, the current Linden school would have to be expanded for more students, according to school officials and Cope Architecture. The land around the school - an estimated 21 acres, the mayor said - has unsuitable soil and depressions and significant site improvements would be needed, Cope architect Peter Ludman said. He mentioned that the area is prone to karst or sinkhole problems. The site is also challenging for parents picking up or dropping students off at school, school buses, and emergency vehicles. Making significant changes and renovations at the school, built in 1968, would require improvements to the utility infrastructure and to make the school uphold to current building code requirements and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible.

This "would require gutting the building down to the support structure," according to the presentation document.

As Borchers told parents of students in Oak Ridge Schools by email after the joint board-council work session, "Our immediate ask of the city of Oak Ridge is to acquire land on the west side of the city and budget approximately $2.2 million dollars to create architectural design of a new school."

At the meeting, he said they would also continue to monitor the latest information on student enrollment and enrollment projections. The school system has also contracted with RSP Associates, described as a leading K-12 school planning company that does in-depth building capacity and student enrollment analysis.

"We're going to have to figure out how to pay for it," said council member Chuck Hope. He said students would always be Oak Ridge's top priority, but these needs would have to be balanced with the city's other needs and services for the population.

Information on the plans for the student growth can be found at: www.ortn.edu/growth/ .

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at  [email protected]  and follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @ridgernewsed.  

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: New Oak Ridge elementary school, expansions at other schools needed; estimated cost $69.5M

Linden Elementary School on the west end of Oak Ridge, which opened in 1968, along with Jefferson Junior High School. Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers and a committee examining the school system's increasing student population, future and needs is recommending closing Linden eventually and building a new school on the west end by 2027.

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Elon University home

Elon DPT students, graduates & faculty present research at the 2024 American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting

By Srikant Vallabhajosula , faculty

February 23, 2024

The Department of Physical Therapy Education has continued its stellar presence at the prestigious American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting this February in Boston.

The Elon University Department of Physical Therapy Education continued its stellar presence at the prestigious American Physical Therapy Association’s annual Combined Sections Meeting at this year’s gathering in February in Boston.

Eight abstracts on diverse topics ranging from Cardiovascular & Pulmonary, Geriatrics, Neurology, Pelvic Health and Sports sections were accepted for presentation. Six of the eight presentations were done by current 3rd year DPT students. Several Elon DPT graduates also attended and presented at the conference.

2024 Combined Session Meeting Presentations from Elon

(presenting author names bolded )

Educational Sessions

Cardiovascular and pulmonary research: the year 2023 in review.

Hannah McHugh G’17

The Female Overhead Athlete: Sex- and Sport-Specific Considerations for Rehabilitation

Natalie Myers, Chelsea Leonard Martin G’19 , Amanda Arnold, Ellen Shanley

Platform presentations

Trends in heart rate variability during pregnancy and postpartum in recreational runners.

James Gerosa, Koehna Jordan , Haley Langley, Liam McCullough, Srikant Vallabhajosula, Svetlana Nepocatych, Shefali Christopher, Angela Spontelli Gisselman

Collecting Comprehensive Performance Metrics Is Possible with a Concise Test Battery

Kayleigh Harwell Beach , Logan Deese, Travis Woerner, Haley Becker, Mary Kay Hannah, John Magill

Tandem Gait While Dual Tasking in Collegiate Athletes at Baseline and Post Concussion

Ashlyn Loring , Amy Smelko, Amber Olson, Caroline Ketcham, Eric Hall, Srikant Vallabhajosula

Poster presentations

Prevalence of mets in high school seniors and predictors of carotid femoral pulse wave velocity.

Caroline Guill , John Magill, Svetlana Nepocatych

Caroline also won the Catherine Worthingham Student Scholarship for her presentation at the conference.

Graded Treadmill Test to Assess Exercise Intolerance in Older Adults: A Pilot Study

Crystal Ramsey , Karen McCulloch, Deanna DeMarco, Allie Knuckles G’23 , Vicki Mercer

Comparing Obstacle Clearance in Virtual and Mixed Reality Environments in Older Adults

Alexander Japit , Matthew Lawler, Christopher Go, Alicia Wilson, Stacey Walton, Oliver Tuisa, Pratheep Paranthaman, Srikant Vallabhajosula, Alys Giordano

Does Dual Tasking Change Obstacle Clearance Patterns for Older Adults in Mixed Reality?

Matthew Lawler , Christopher Go, Alicia Wilson, Alexander Japit, Oliver Tuisa, Stacey Walton, Alys Giordano, Pratheep Paranthaman, Srikant Vallabhajosula

Use of the Optimal Theory to Facilitate Confidence and Increase Independence Following a Hemorrhagic Stroke

Deanna DeMarco G’23 , Dustin Patrick, Oliver Tuisa, Crystal Ramsey

Scenes from the conference:

presentation at school

Posted in: Academics & Research Faculty & Staff Student Experience

Tagged: Physical Therapy School of Health Sciences

Columbia school board looks at teacher allocation, class sizes for next year

presentation at school

The Columbia Board of Education on Thursday looked at how teachers are allocated throughout its school buildings.

Heather McArthur, Columbia Public Schools chief financial officer made the presentation.

The targeted class size for kindergarten through second grade classrooms is 23 students, while the targeted class size for third through fifth grade classrooms is 26 students, McArthur said.

The formulas are adjusted for at-risk student populations, she said.

"There's an ebb and a flow in each school from year to year," McArthur said of enrollment.

The upcoming change in school boundaries to accommodate an addition at Russell Boulevard Elementary School also will require adjustments, she said.

"There's going to be some movement of teachers once that decision is made," McArthur said.

The targeted class size in middle schools is 28 or fewer students, she said.

Allocation of teachers in high schools is based on enrollment, student demographics and course choices. Battle High School is prioritized with smaller class sizes, she said.

Asked about reducing class sizes further by board member John Lyman, McArthur said it would require a large investment and several additional teachers, which would need a voter-approved levy increase.

In a related discussion, the board informally approved remaining with EduStaff to keep the district supplied with substitute teachers, at a cost of $2.5 million.

The board will formally vote on the contract at its March meeting.

The company has improved consistently since a bumpy start with COVID followed by extreme labor shortages , said school board member April Ferrao, who participated in interviewing four companies.

"We don't have a learning curve" with EduStaff, Ferrao said.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at [email protected] or 573-815-1719. He's on X at @rmckinney9.

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COMMENTS

  1. How to Do a Presentation in Class: 10 Steps (with Pictures)

    1 Write note cards on index cards. Write main ideas on your index cards. Don't write details, or be stuck with the fate of looking down, staring at your note cards while reading. Put in some fun facts, interactive questions, and other interactive activities on the cards to share with the class. [1] Write down keywords or main ideas.

  2. 75 Unique School Presentation Ideas and Topics Plus Templates

    75 Unique School Presentation Ideas Plus Templates Watch on The templates are further divided into the following categories covering the most popular and best presentation topics. Click the links below to skip to a specific section. Unique science presentation topics to cultivate curiosity in class

  3. 8 Tips to Power-Up Your Classroom Presentations

    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.

  4. How a Simple Presentation Framework Helps Students Learn

    Benefits for Students One of the best parts of presentations is that they help the presenter to improve their communication skills.

  5. 31 of the best class presentation tips for students

    1. Use a slide deck. This class presentation tip is obvious, but I can't leave it off the list. If you're presenting to your fellow students, you will need some kind of visual representation of the information you're delivering. Very rarely will you present to your class without slides.

  6. 16 Public Speaking Tips for Students

    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.

  7. Student presentations

    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.

  8. 5 Presentation Tips for Students w/Templates

    Discover five presentation ideas that you can use the next time you're presenting in class! Get high-quality infographic templates https://www.easel.ly/inf...

  9. The Best Presentation Tips for Students

    The Best Presentation Tips for Students 1. Arrive Early And Be Technically Prepared Get to the room early and make sure you leave plenty of time for technical set up and technical difficulties. Have several backup drives (including an online version if possible) so that you are prepared for anything! 2. Know More

  10. Helping Students to Develop Presentation Skills

    Prepare the speech/presentation very well - plan carefully what you'll say and use speech cards with highlighted keywords Practice the presentation a few times - if possible, do it in front of a test audience, like your family Pay attention to proper posture - be mindful of weird mannerisms that may distract the audience Make eye contact

  11. Oral Presentation Tips: How to Deliver a Speech for School or Work

    Note: by "formal presentation," I don't necessarily mean a Shakespeare monologue or a scientific treatise on robot-assisted microsurgery. Giving an oral presentation on any subject-your favorite book, current events, a family story-can be "formal" and "technical" whenever its primary purpose is to communicate complex information.

  12. The Ultimate Guide to Effective Teacher Presentations: Strategies

    The Ultimate Guide to Effective Teacher Presentations: Strategies & Tips. Dianne Adlawan. January 08, 2024. Teachers, by nature, are considered professional presenters. Their main responsibility is to talk in front of their students to relay educational knowledge, sharpen their minds and skills, and even serve as a second guide alongside their ...

  13. Presentation Pro: How To Nail Your Next PowerPoint at School

    Speak With a Strong, Clear Voice. So much of the energy from a presentation comes from the demeanor of the presenter. Confidence and breathing are both key for a strong, clear voice. Be sure to breathe and speak calmly, which may be difficult in front of an audience. Nerves can distort our ability to speak.

  14. Presenting in Front of Class: How a Solid Outline and Format Can

    But we're not like the regular presentation software, we're the cool presentation software, and we know that no college kid in their right mind is going to spend five hours practicing for a five minute presentation. At the very least, you should run through your presentation 3-5 times from top to bottom. Learn the ins-and-outs of your ...

  15. 12 Reasons Why Presentation Skills Are Important for Students

    The 12 Reasons Why Presentation Skills are Important: Presentation skills are not just crucial for students but also for individuals of all ages and professions. Here's why they matter and how they impact everyone: 1. Effective Communication: Effective communication is the backbone of all human interactions.

  16. Free School Google Slides themes and PowerPoint templates

    School Presentation templates Use the best School PowerPoint templates and Google Slides themes to engage your students and educators with your presentations. All slide designs are easy to edit and 100% free to use. Filters Ads Ads Ads Ballpoint Pen Planner The ballpoint pen is considered one of the most important inventions of history.

  17. 9 Reasons Why Presentations Must Be a Part of School Curriculum

    7. Helps in Being Organized. Presentations induce organizational skills. When students make presentations, they arrange data. They are bound to compile, sort, and put their information in a systematic manner, which makes their slides easier to understand. This increases their capacity to be organized. 8.

  18. 46 Powerful Opening Lines for a Class Presentation

    43. "Poverty is a complex problem that affects millions of people around the world.". 44. "Poverty can lead to hunger, homelessness, and lack of access to education and healthcare.". 45. "We all have a role to play in fighting poverty.".

  19. 180+ Presentation Topic Ideas for Students [Plus Templates]

    Orana Velarde Feb 12, 2024 Coming up with a presentation topic idea that's meaningful, relevant and has a creative angle can be tough. If your teacher or professor just assigned you a presentation and also asked you to pick your own topic, you're in the right place.

  20. What Are Effective Presentation Skills (and How to Improve Them)

    Presentation skills are the abilities and qualities necessary for creating and delivering a compelling presentation that effectively communicates information and ideas. They encompass what you say, how you structure it, and the materials you include to support what you say, such as slides, videos, or images. You'll make presentations at various ...

  21. How to prepare for a Presentation: A Simple Guide

    Make your friends talk over each-other, practice without notes, or put some loud music on. Whatever it is that distracts you the most. Try to remember your presentation in full detail in those conditions before you come out in front of an audience. This is a surefire way to radiate confidence during your delivery.

  22. What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

    Read more on Business communication or related topics Power and influence, Presentation skills and Public speaking Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of ...

  23. How to Get Out of a Presentation for Class: 6 Tricks

    5. Pre-Record Your Presentation or Use Other Presentation Tools. This is my absolute favorite trick for how to get out of giving a presentation. With this method, you can create a high-quality presentation without having to stand in front of the class and speak. In other words: Get the A+ without the stage fright.

  24. YCDSB high school students left shocked after graphic anti-abortion

    A disturbing and graphic anti-abortion assembly at a Keswick, Ont. high school has left students shaken and looking for answers. Grade 11 and 12 students at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Academy say they were exposed to shocking and offensive anti-abortion material at an assembly they were forced to attend on Wednesday.

  25. Alamance-Burlington School System delays presentation of budget plan

    ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — Alamance-Burlington School System is delaying Superintendent Dain Butler's presentation on his plan to balance the budget until Monday. The presentation was ori…

  26. How to Stream the South Oldham High School vs. Presentation ...

    South Oldham High School is away from home versus Presentation Academy at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, February 23. Follow high school basketball this season on the NFHS Network!Keep tabs on your family ...

  27. New Oak Ridge elementary school, expansions at other schools ...

    Borchers presented a PowerPoint presentation showing the student and city population projections and what is being recommended by a joint group made up of officials from the school system and city ...

  28. Elon DPT students, graduates & faculty present research at the 2024

    Six of the eight presentations were done by current 3rd year DPT students. Several Elon DPT graduates also attended and presented at the conference. 2024 Combined Session Meeting Presentations from Elon (presenting author names bolded) Educational Sessions Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research: The Year 2023 in Review. Hannah McHugh G'17

  29. Office of Research reviews a year of progress at the 2024 Annual

    The Heersink School of Medicine Office of Research held its Annual Research Retreat on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the UAB Alumni House. Research leadership from across Heersink, UAB Central Administration, other UAB schools, and Southern Research attended the retreat. The agenda included presentations from the directors of four Heersink Institutes and Centers as well as Southern Research, each ...

  30. Columbia school board, CFO discuss target class sizes, moving teachers

    Allocation of teachers in high schools is based on enrollment, student demographics and course choices. Battle High School is prioritized with smaller class sizes, she said.