There’s something about standing in front of a class, or a group of people, presenting.
I usually freak out before. Just a little. or a lot. And then it happens - the flow.
The flow is this stage when all the pieces are put together.
I was working with a small class yesterday about blogging. It was more of a technical class, using a specific technology (Angel ePortfolio) that we use at the college.
After the nervousness I was feeling as I was preparing for the class, all it took was for the professor to introduce me to the class - and I went into my instructor mode. Words, descriptions, anecdotes and ideas flew out, putting the whole process in a logic structure, and there I was. Giving a presentation, and it wasn’t that bad.
This ability grew into me. or perhaps I grew into it. When I first started here, several months ago, I had to meet with a class, give them an introductory to PowerPoint and public speaking. I froze, sweat, stutter and lost all my words. Only once I shifted to a more workshop type of approach, things went into place.
Since then I gave approximately 12 workshops and a presentation.
The workshops were work related, but I really wanted to mention the presentation. It was my final exam for my English 101 course.
My final paper was not completed properly. Mostly due to a week of illness that caught me off guard, and somewhat due to some other issues. The final exam was a presentation. Each student had to stand up and present his/her final paper. It was to be a 5 minute long presentation. Covering our topic, the research process, conclusions and a nice “what if…” question, which was more of a “well… you wrote a paper, now what?”.
Final exam day arrived. I wrote some notes on my pretty Mac, but haven’t had a chance to print them. One by one students stand up, all holding papers, reading some, explaining some, and I knew that with my bad paper I needed to shine.
My turn is coming up and it clicks. I leave my laptop behind. flying solo. I stand up and present my topic - “US military presence in South Korea”. My research was based on original agreements and official documentation, avoiding opinionated articles. US was “abusing” its power, I even compared it to two characters from Titus Andronicus, and I ended my little presentation with a summary. US was not playing nice, ok. It happens, but it’s in the past. The US revised its methods and the agreements, and is doing pretty well. What next? well, use that change and study it, applying correct methods to future agreements. The US already did that with its new agreement with Bulgaria.
As I was speaking, I carried an occasional glance to the board, where my posted notes were projected. I made eye contact with a few students, related to other presentations and smiled at my professor as I ended my presentation. It went very well.
So here is my bit of advise on presentations, which may not be all that good, but works for me pretty well:
- Know your material. improvising is good, I do it often, but it has to have some grip in reality. so — PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE.
- Be confident. What’s the worst that can happen? someone getting bored?
- Make eye contact. Don’t read off notes or the screen. Pick a person who smiles encouragingly at you, and talk to them. look around the room occasionally. People like attention - give it to them.
- Relate to others. Give examples that most people can relate to. Don’t be afraid to give an example that shows you in a funny light. it’s human. In my powerpoint workshops, when I go over color schemes I often tell the participants that I use the pre-loaded ones, because the guys at Microsoft know how to match colors better than I do, pointing at my not-always-matching-amazingly clothes. It gets a couple of laughs and it calms everyone down.
- Summarize your whole topic at the end, emphasizing the important points. That way your message gets across.
- Thank. Thank your audience for their time and patience.
- Smile in relief.
