Effective presentations introduction

TITLE:

Effective inquiry presentations

AUTHOR:

Benjamin Blonder

GOALS:

Introduce students to several aspects of effective public speaking and oral presentation

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Process Skills

Next Generation Science Standards

INSTRUCTIONAL PROCESS:

PREPARATION

Materials

• a sample research poster, prepared badly (e.g. lots of small text, badly labeled figures, no organization, vague research question)

INTRODUCTION/ENGAGEMENT:

Essential questions

• What makes a presentation interesting and educational?

Student misconceptions

• posters should be read verbatim
• one person in a group should do all the speaking

.

EXPLORATION

Step-by-step description

• ask students to brainstorm people who have to give presentations, and why they give them
• point out that effective presentations help make impacts, regardless of how good is the content
• tell students you are going to give a presentation
• ask them to think throughout about what you could improve in the presentation
• give a simulated presentation, making sure to forget words, face the poster, read text, speak quietly, etc.
• afterwards, ask students what could be done better, and ask for explanations of why the change would help
• give the presentation again but taking into account all suggestions - ask students which they liked better
• emphasize that the three steps of effective presentations are 1) practice 2) practice 3) practice

APPLICATION

Why does it matter?

• share experiences from grad fellows' lives where presentations did or did not come across effectively

Extensions and/or follow-up activities

• ask students to later practice presentations in inquiry groups and critique each other before improving presentation style

ASSESSMENT

How will you determine if students “got it”?

• students will be able to articulate several ways to improve the 'bad' presentation
• students will give clear and effective presentations during the research symposium

RESOURCES

List any websites, texts, or journals to help others better understand the material in order to teach it

• How to give bad presentations: [1]