oral presentation comments for students

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30 presentation feedback examples

Jump to section

You're doing great

You should think of improving

Tips to improve

3 things to look for when providing presentation feedback

3 tips for giving effective feedback.

We’re all learning as we go. 

And that’s perfectly OK — that’s part of being human. On my own personal growth journey, I know I need to get better at public speaking and presenting. It’s one of those things that doesn’t necessarily come naturally to me. 

And I know there are plenty of people in my shoes. So when it comes to presenting in the workplace, it can be intimidating. But there’s one thing that can help people continue to get better at presentations: feedback . 

The following examples not only relate to presentations. They can also be helpful for public speaking and captivating your audience. 

You’re doing great 

• You really have the natural ability to hand out presentation material in a very organized way! Good job!
• Your presentations are often compelling and visually stunning. You really know how to effectively captivate the audience. Well done!
• You often allow your colleagues to make presentations on your behalf. This is a great learning opportunity for them and they often thrive at the challenge.
• Keeping presentations focused on key agenda items can be tough, but you’re really good at it. You effectively outline exactly what it is that you will be discussing and you make sure you keep to it. Well done!!
• You created downloadable visual presentations and bound them for the client. Excellent way to portray the company! Well done!
• Your content was relevant and your format was visually appealing and easy to follow and understand. Great job! You’re a real designer at heart!
• You always remain consistent with the way you present and often your presentations have the same style and layout. This is great for continuity. Well done!
• You always remain consistent with every presentation, whether it be one on ones, small group chats, with peers, direct reports, and the company bosses. You have no problem presenting in any one of these situations. Well done!
• You are an effective presenter both to employees and to potential clients. When controversial topics come up, you deal with them in a timely manner and you make sure these topics are fully dealt with before moving on. Well done!
• You effectively command attention and you have no problem managing groups during the presentation.

You should think of improving 

• You’re a great presenter in certain situations, but you struggle to present in others. Try to be more consistent when presenting so that you get one single-minded message across. This will also help you broaden your presentation skills by being able to portray one single idea or message.
• You tend to be a little shy when making presentations. You have the self-confidence in one-on-one conversations , so you definitely have the ability to make compelling presentations. Come on! You can do it!
• During presentations, there seems to be quite a lack of focus . I know it can be difficult to stick to the subject matter, however you need to in order for people to understand what the presentation is about and what is trying to be achieved.
• To engage with your audience and make them attentively listen to what you have to say, you need to be able to use your voice in an effective manner to achieve this. Try to focus on certain words that require extra attention and emphasis these words during your presentation.
• Knowing your audience is critical to the success of any presentation. Learn to pick up on their body language and social cues to gauge your style and tone. Listen to what your audience has to say and adjust your presentation accordingly.

• During presentations, it’s expected that there will be tough questions . Try to prepare at least a couple of days before the time so that you can handle these questions in an effective manner.
• To be an effective presenter you need to be able to adjust to varying audiences and circumstances. Try learning about who will be in the room at the time of the presentation and adjust accordingly.
• Remember not to take debate as a personal attack. You tend to lose your cool a little too often, which hinders the discussion and people feel alienated. You can disagree without conflict .
• The only way you are going to get better at public speaking is by practicing, practicing, practicing. Learn your speech by heart, practice in the mirror, practice in front of the mirror. Eventually, you’ll become a natural and you won't be afraid of public speaking any longer.
• Your presentations are beautiful and I have no doubt you have strong presentation software skills. However, your content tends to be a bit weak and often you lack the substance. Without important content, the presentation is empty.

Tips to improve 

• Remember it’s always good to present about the things you are passionate about . When you speak to people about your passions they can sense it. The same goes for presentations. Identify what it is that excites you and somehow bring it into every presentation. it’ll make it easier to present and your audience will feel the energy you portray.
• Sometimes it can be easier to plan with the end result in mind. Try visualizing what it is you are exactly expecting your audience to come away with and develop your presentation around that.
• Simplicity is a beautiful thing. Try to keep your presentations as simple as possible. Make it visually appealing with the least amount of words possible. Try interactive pictures and videos to fully immerse your audience in the presentation.
• It’s a fine balance between winging the presentation and memorizing the presentation. If you wing it too much it may come across as if you didn't prepare. If you memorize it, the presentation may come off a bit robotic. Try to find the sweet spot, if you can.
• When presenting, try to present in a way that is cause for curiosity . Make people interested in what you have to say to really captivate them. Have a look at some TED talks to get some tips on how you can go about doing this.
• Remember presentations should be about quality, not quantity. Presentations that are text-heavy and go on for longer than they should bore your audience and people are less likely to remember them.
• Try to arrive at every staff meeting on time and always be well prepared. This will ensure that meetings will go smoothly in the future.
• Remember to respect other people's time by always arriving on time or five minutes before the presentation.
• Remember to ask the others in the meeting for their point of view if there are individuals during presentations.
• If you notice presentations are deviating off-topic, try to steer it back to the important topic being discussed.

Presentation feedback can be intimidating. It’s likely the presenter has spent a good deal of time and energy on creating the presentation.

As an audience member, you can hone in on a few aspects of the presentation to help frame your feedback. If it's an oral presentation, you should consider also audience attention and visual aids.

It’s important to keep in mind three key aspects of the presentation when giving feedback. 

Communication

• Were the key messages clear? 
• Was the speaker clear and concise in their language?
• Did the presenter clearly communicate the key objectives? 
• Did the presenter give the audience clear takeaways? 
• How well did the presenter’s voice carry in the presentation space? 

Delivery 

• Was the presentation engaging? 
• How well did the presenter capture their audience? 
• Did the presenter engage employees in fun or innovative ways? 
• How interactive was the presentation? 
• How approachable did the presenter appear? 
• Was the presentation accessible to all? 

Body language and presence 

• How did the presenter carry themselves? 
• Did the presenter make eye contact with the audience? 
• How confident did the presenter appear based on nonverbal communication? 
• Were there any nonverbal distractions to the presentation? (i.e. too many hand gestures, facial expressions, etc.)  

There are plenty of benefits of feedback . But giving effective feedback isn’t an easy task. Here are some tips for giving effective feedback. 

1. Prepare what you’d like to say 

I’m willing to bet we’ve all felt like we’ve put our foot in our mouth at one point or another. Knee-jerk, emotional reactions are rarely helpful. In fact, they can do quite the opposite of help. 

Make sure you prepare thoughtfully. Think through what feedback would be most impactful and helpful for the recipient. How will you word certain phrases? What’s most important to communicate? What feedback isn’t helpful to the recipient? 

You can always do practice runs with your coach. Your coach will serve as a guide and consultant. You can practice how you’ll give feedback and get feedback … on your feedback. Sounds like a big loop, but it can be immensely helpful. 

2. Be direct and clear (but lead with empathy) 

Have you ever received feedback from someone where you’re not quite sure what they’re trying to say? Me, too. 

I’ve been in roundabout conversations where I walk away even more confused than I was before. This is where clear, direct, and concise communication comes into play. 

Be clear and direct in your message. But still, lead with empathy and kindness . Feedback doesn’t need to be harsh or cruel. If it’s coming from a place of care, the recipient should feel that care from you. 

3. Create dialogue (and listen carefully) 

Feedback is never a one-way street. Without the opportunity for dialogue, you’re already shutting down and not listening to the other person. Make sure you’re creating space for dialogue and active listening . Invite questions — or, even better, feedback. You should make the person feel safe, secure, and trusted . You should also make sure the person feels heard and valued. 

Your point of view is just that: it's one perspective. Invite team members to share their perspectives, including positive feedback . 

You might also offer the recipient the opportunity for self-evaluation . By doing a self-evaluation, you can reflect on things like communication skills and confidence. They might come to some of the same important points you did — all on their own.

Now, let’s go practice that feedback 

We're all learners in life.

It's OK to not be perfect . In fact, we shouldn't be. We're perfectly imperfect human beings, constantly learning , evolving, and bettering ourselves. 

The same goes for tough things like presentations. You might be working on perfecting your students' presentation. Or you might want to get better at capturing your audience's attention. No matter what, feedback is critical to that learning journey . 

Even a good presentation has the opportunity for improvement . Don't forget the role a coach can play in your feedback journey.

Your coach will be able to provide a unique point of view to help you better communicate key points. Your coach can also help with things like performance reviews , presentation evaluations, and even how to communicate with others.

Elevate your communication skills

Unlock the power of clear and persuasive communication. Our coaches can guide you to build strong relationships and succeed in both personal and professional life.

Madeline Miles

Madeline is a writer, communicator, and storyteller who is passionate about using words to help drive positive change. She holds a bachelor's in English Creative Writing and Communication Studies and lives in Denver, Colorado. In her spare time, she's usually somewhere outside (preferably in the mountains) — and enjoys poetry and fiction.

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How to Give Effective Presentation Feedback

A conversation with sam j. lubner, md, facp.

Giving an effective scientific presentation, like all public speaking, is an acquired skill that takes practice to perfect. When delivered successfully, an oral presentation can be an invaluable opportunity to showcase your latest research results among your colleagues and peers. It can also promote attendee engagement and help audience members retain the information being presented, enhancing the educational benefit of your talk, according to Sam J. ­Lubner, MD, FACP , Associate Professor of Medicine and Program Director, Hematology-Oncology Fellowship, at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, and a member of ASCO’s Education Council.

Sam J. ­Lubner, MD, FACP

In 2019, the Education Council launched a pilot program to provide a group of selected speakers at the ASCO Annual Meeting with feedback on their presentations. Although some of the reviewers, which included members of the Education Council and Education Scholars Program, as well as ASCO’s program directors, conveyed information to the presenters that was goal-referenced, tangible, transparent, actionable, specific, and personalized—the hallmarks of effective feedback—others provided comments that were too vague to improve the speaker’s performance, said Dr. Lubner. For example, they offered comments such as “Great session” or “Your slides were too complicated,” without being specific about what made the session “great” or the slides “too complicated.”

“Giving a presentation at a scientific meeting is different from what we were trained to do. We’re trained to take care of patients, and while we do have some training in presentation, it usually centers around how to deliver clinical information,” said Dr. Lubner. “What we are trying to do with the Education Council’s presentation feedback project is to apply evidence-based methods for giving effective feedback to make presentations at ASCO’s Annual Meeting, international meetings, symposia, and conferences more clinically relevant and educationally beneficial.”

GUEST EDITOR

The ASCO Post talked with Dr. Lubner about how to give effective feedback and how to become a more effective presenter.

Defining Effective Feedback

Feedback is often confused with giving advice, praise, and evaluation, but none of these descriptions are exactly accurate. What constitutes effective feedback?

When I was looking over the literature on feedback to prepare myself on how to give effective feedback to the medical students and residents I oversee, I was amazed to find the information is largely outdated. For example, recommendations in the 1980s and 1990s called for employing the “sandwich” feedback method, which involves saying something positive, then saying what needs to be improved, and then making another positive remark. But that method is time-intensive, and it feels disingenuous to me.

What constitutes helpful feedback to me is information that is goal-referenced, actionable, specific, and has immediate impact. It should be constructive, descriptive, and nonjudgmental. After I give feedback to a student or resident, my next comments often start with a self-reflective question, “How did that go?” and that opens the door to further discussion. The mnemonic I use to provide better feedback and achieve learning goals is SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely, as described here:

• Specific: Avoid using ambiguous language, for example, “Your presentation was great.” Be specific about what made the presentation “great,” such as, “Starting your presentation off with a provocative question grabbed my attention.”
• Measurable: Suggest quantifiable objectives to meet so there is no uncertainty about what the goals are. For example, “Next time, try a summary slide with one or two take-home points for the audience.”
• Achievable: The goal of the presentation should be attainable. For example, “Trim your slides to no more than six lines per slide and no more than six words per line; otherwise, you are just reading your slides.”
• Realistic: The feedback you give should relate to the goal the presenter is trying to achieve. For example, “Relating the research results back to an initial case presentation will solidify the take-home point that for cancer x, treatment y is the best choice.”
• Timely: Feedback given directly after completion of the presentation is more effective than feedback provided at a later date.

The ultimate goal of effective feedback is to help the presenter become more adept at relaying his or her research in an engaging and concise way, to maintain the audience’s attention and ensure that they retain the information presented.

“Giving a presentation at a scientific meeting is different from what we were trained to do.” — Sam J. Lubner, MD, FACP Tweet this quote

Honing Your Communication Skills

What are some specific tips on how to give effective feedback?

There are five tips that immediately come to mind: (1) focus on description rather than judgment; (2) focus on observation rather than inference; (3) focus on observable behaviors; (4) share both positive and constructive specific points of feedback with the presenter; and (5) focus on the most important points to improve future ­presentations.

Becoming a Proficient Presenter

How can ASCO faculty become more proficient at delivering their research at the Annual Meeting and at ASCO’s thematic meetings?

ASCO has published faculty guidelines and best practices to help speakers immediately involve an audience in their presentation and hold their attention throughout the talk. They include the following recommendations:

• Be engaging. Include content that will grab the audience’s attention early. For example, interesting facts, images, or a short video to hold the audience’s focus.
• Be cohesive and concise. When preparing slides, make sure the presentation has a clear and logical flow to it, from the introduction to its conclusion. Establish key points and clearly define their importance and impact in a concise, digestible manner.
• Include take-home points. Speakers should briefly summarize key findings from their research and ensure that their conclusion is fully supported by the data in their presentation. If possible, they should provide recommendations or actions to help solidify their message. Thinking about and answering this question—if the audience remembers one thing from my presentation, what do I want it to be?—will help speakers focus their presentation.
• When it comes to slide design, remember, less is more. It’s imperative to keep slides simple to make an impact on the audience.

Another method to keep the audience engaged and enhance the educational benefit of the talk is to use the Think-Pair ( ± Share) strategy, by which the speaker asks attendees to think through questions using two to three steps. They include:

• Think independently about the question that has been posed, forming ideas.
• Pair to discuss thoughts, allowing learners to articulate their ideas and to consider those of others.
• Share (as a pair) the ideas with the larger group.

The value of this exercise is that it helps participants retain the information presented, encourages individual participation, and refines ideas and knowledge through collaboration.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SLIDE DESIGN

• Have a single point per line.
• Use < 6 words per line.
• Use < 6 lines per slide.
• Use < 30 characters per slide.
• Use simple words.
• When using tables, maintain a maximum of 6 rows and 6 columns.
• Avoid busy graphics or tables. If you find yourself apologizing to the audience because your slide is too busy, it’s a bad slide and should not be included in the presentation.
• Use cues, not full thoughts, to make your point.
• Keep to one slide per minute as a guide to the length of the presentation.
• Include summary/take-home points per concept. We are all physicians who care about our patients and believe in adhering to good science. Highlight the information you want the audience to take away from your presentation and how that information applies to excellent patient care.

Speakers should also avoid using shorthand communication or dehumanizing language when describing research results. For example, do not refer to patients as a disease: “The study included 250 EGFR mutants.” Say instead, “The study included 250 patients with EGFR -mutant tumors.” And do not use language that appears to blame patients when their cancer progresses after treatment, such as, “Six patients failed to respond to [study drug].” Instead say, “Six patients had tumors that did not respond to [study drug].”

We all have respect for our patients, families, and colleagues, but sometimes our language doesn’t reflect that level of respect, and we need to be more careful and precise in the language we use when talking with our patients and our colleagues.

ASCO has developed a document titled “The Language of Respect” to provide guidance on appropriate respectful language to use when talking with patients, family members, or other health-care providers and when giving presentations at the Annual Meeting and other ASCO symposia. Presenters should keep these critical points in mind and put them into practice when delivering research data at these meetings. ■

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Lubner has been employed by Farcast Biosciences and has held a leadership role at Farcast Biosciences.

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21 Tips and Strategies Supporting Learners’ Oral Presentations

Design & assign.

There are many options to consider when assigning an oral presentation. As you answer the following questions, reflect on your own commitment to continue using traditional oral presentations for evaluation.

Determine Oral Presentation Type

If you answered “No” to at least half of the questions, you may want to consider the following alternative formats that mitigate some of the specific anxieties your ELLs experience with oral presentations. While the default may be the traditional individual or group presentation of concepts in front of the whole class, there are a number of alternatives that may serve the same purpose.

Consider the different types of presentations and the steps that you can do to help your learners succeed.

Types of Oral Presentations

Short oral talks in a group

Usually a short oral talk in a group is informal with little time to prepare for this type of speech. Learners  share their thoughts or opinions about a specific topic. This type of talk follows a structure with a brief introductory statement, 2-3 ideas and a concluding statement.  These brief oral talks can help students develop confidence because they are presenting to a small group rather than the whole class. They do not have to create and coordinate visuals with their talk and the talk is short. There still needs to be substance to the talk, so participants should be given advance warning that they will be asked to speak on a particular topic.  One advantage is that several students in the class can be presenting simultaneously; however, as a result, in-process marking is not possible.

Formal oral presentations in front of class

Formal oral presentations in front of the class usually require individual students to make a longer presentation, supported with effective visual aids. Adequate time has been given for the presenter to prepare the topic. This type of presentation can be used to present research, information in general, or to persuade. The presenter is often put in charge of the class during the presentation time, so in addition to presenting, the presenter has to keep the class engaged and in line. Formal oral presentations often involve a Q & A. Most of the grading can be done in-process because you are only observing one student at a time. It is very time consuming to get through a whole class of presentations and have the class engaged and learning and you are giving up control of many course hours and content coverage.

Group Presentations

• Tips for giving a group presentation

Sharing Presentations Online

Students can be made the presenter in online platforms to complete presentations.  Zoom, Blackboard, WebEx and other similar software allow the moderator (Professor) to make specific participants hosts which enables them to share their screens and control the participation options of other students in the class.  As each platform has variations on how to share documents and control the presentation, it is important that students are given specific instructions on how to “present” using the various platforms.  If possible, set up separate “rooms” for students to practice in before their presentation.

• Instructions for screen sharing in Zoom
• Instructions for screen sharing in WebEx
• Instructions for screen sharing in Blackboard Collaborate

Use Oral Recordings of Presentations Synchronously or Asynchronously

Consider allowing students to record their presentations and present the recording to the class.  While this would not be appropriate for a language class where the performance of the presentation is likely more important than the content, in other classes providing the opportunity for learners to record multiple times until they are satisfied with the output is an ideal way to optimize the quality of the presentation as well as reduce the performance related stress. The presentation can then be shared synchronously in class or online with the presenter hosting and fielding questions, or asynchronously posted on a discussion board or other app such as Flipgrid with the presenter responding to comments posted over a set period of time. A side benefit to the use of some of these tools such as Skye and Google Meet is that they are commonly used in the workforce so it good practice for post-graduation application of skills.

Possible Tools for Recording and Sharing

• Flipgrid – an easy to use app that lets students record short video clips and resubmit as many times as needed. The video stays in the Flipgrid app for other students to see (if shared) and allow for easy teacher responses whether via video or text. (Asynchronous)
• Skype   – Follow the instructions to record and share a video on the MS website (Either if posted on course platform)
• Google Meet – Follow the i nstructions to record and share a presentation on Google Meet . (Either if posted on course platform)
• Zoom – students can share their narrated PPT slides via Zoom (don’t forget to enable the sound)
• Powerpoint – Recording of narrations for slides
• Youtube – Recorded videos can be uploaded to Youtube to share by following instructions to upload Youtube video
• OneDrive – most institutions provide OneDrive accounts for faculty and students as part of Office 365. Students can save their video in OneDrive and choose who to share it with (faculty member, group, class)

Presenting in Another Language

If the goal of the presentation is to demonstrate in depth understanding of the course content and ability to communicate that information effectively, does the presentation have to be done in English?  Can the student’s mastery of the subject matter be demonstrated in another language with a translator? It would still be possible to evaluate the content of the presentation, the confidence, the performance, the visual aids etc.  On the global stage, translated speeches and presentations are the norm by political leaders and content experts – why not let students show the depth of their understanding in a language they are comfortable with?

If a more formal type of oral presentation is required, is it possible to give students some choice to help reduce their anxiety?  For example, could they choose to present to you alone, to a small group, or to the whole class?

Teach Making a Presentation Step by Step

Don’t assume that all the students in your class have been taught how to make a presentation for a college or university level class. Furthermore, there are many purposes for presentations (inform, educate, persuade, motivate, activate, entertain) which require different organizational structure, tone, content and visual aids.

• Ask the class to raise their hands if they feel ♦ very comfortable presenting in front of the class, ♦ somewhat comfortable presenting in front of the class or ♦ not comfortable presenting in front of the class.  This will help you gauge your learners’ prior experience / comfort and also let learners in the class see that others, both native speakers and ELLs are nervous about presenting orally in class.

Provide Clear Instructions

• Write clear, detailed instructions (following the suggestions in Module 3).
• Ask students to download a copy to bring to class and encourage them to record annotations as you discuss expectations.
• Example: How many slides should you use as your visual aid? Do you need to use outside sources? What tools can you use to create this presentation?
• Include the rubric that you will use to grade the presentations and explain each section, noting sections that have higher weighting.

Provide a Guide to Planning

• Have students write a description of the target audience for their presentation and explicitly state the purpose of the presentation.

• Encourage students to read widely on their topic. The more content knowledge the learner has about the topic, the more confident the learner will be when presenting.
• Teach students how to do an effective presentation that meets your course expectations (if class time does not permit, offer an optional  ‘office hours’ workshop). Remember – many of your students many never have presented a post-secondary presentation which may cause significant anxiety. Your ELL’s experiences with oral presentations may be limited or significantly different in terms of expectations based on their prior educational contexts.
• Have students view examples of good presentations and some bad ones – there are many examples available on YouTube such as  Good Presentation vs Bad Presentation .
• Provide specific guidelines for each section of the presentation. How should learners introduce their presentation? How much detail is required? Is audience interaction required? Is a call to action expected at the end?
• If audience interaction is required, teach your students specific elicitation techniques (See Module 3)
• Designing Visual Aids Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo
• Presentation Aids Video
• Paralinguistic features like eye contact are potentially culture – bound. If the subject that you are teaching values eye contact, then include this expectation in the presentation. On the other hand, if your field of study doesn’t require presentations typically, consider valuing the cultural diversity of your learners and not grading learners negatively for not making eye contact.
• Review the rubric. Let learners know what you are specifically grading  during the presentation. The rubric should be detailed enough that learners know what elements of the presentation are weighted the heaviest.

Model an Effective Presentation

A good speech is like a pencil; it has to have a point.

• Provide an exemplar of a presentation that you have presented yourself and recorded, or a presentation done by a previous student for which you have written permission to share.

Require Students to Practice

• Practice saying the presentation out loud
• Practice with a room mate/ classmate / family member / friend
• Go on a walk and talk – encourage students to get outside, and go for a walk – as they walk, they can say their presentation orally out loud. The fresh air and sunshine helps one to relax and reduce anxiety, so it is easier to focus on the talk.
• Record a practice presentation. Encourage students to find a quiet place to record and to use headphones with a mic to improve quality of the recording.
• If time allows, build formative practice presentations into the schedule. Have students practice their presentation in small groups and have other group mates give targeted feedback based on content, organization and presentation skills. Provide a checklist of expectations for the others in the group to use to provide specific, targeted feedback to the presenter. Students can watch their performance at home along with their peer’s feedback to identify areas for improvement.

• If you have assigned oral presentations in your class, review the course outcomes and the content covered in the assignment and determine if a formal oral presentation is necessary. 
• Think of one alternative you could offer to students who struggle with individual assignments.
• Annotate your assignment with notes indicating possible modifications you could make to improve the inclusivity and equity of the assignment.

Tips for Online Students , Tips for Students

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

Updated: July 15, 2022

Published: May 4, 2020

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!

Related Articles

Advice to Students on Preparing for Oral Presentations

At-home/in-class activity.

Instructors may want to share this page with students as they are preparing for a presentation. What would they add to this list? What has their previous experience been? You may want to ask students to write a reflection on one or two items here that they have had strong positive or negative responses to, either as a presenter or as an audience member, in the past. You may also want to ask students to work together in class to build a collaborative rubric for assessing oral presentations (or class participation ), after reviewing this list of criteria.

Guide to Oral/Signed Communication in Writing Classrooms

To reflect on past oral presentations and prepare for upcoming ones

oral presentations

Things to Think About Before Presentations:

Students may also benefit from viewing this series of YouTube videos by a former WR student on the skills of eye contact, posture, gestures, fluency, etc. for presentations, debates, or speeches. PART 1: Elocution and General Concerns 
(adapted from Well Spoken by Erik Palmer, 2011)

• For this class, your audience is a group of intelligent adults interested in the course topic, but who do not necessarily know much about your specific project.
• Other assignments in other classes might require you to gear your presentation to a very different type of audience. Consider this carefully as you prepare.
• Check assignment guidelines to make sure you meet all requirements.
• Choose to present material that YOU find interesting and engaging.
• Clarify any terms or ideas your audience might need explained or introduced.
• Connect your topic to your audience’s experiences and interests.
• Exclude information that is not essential and avoid repetition and generalization.
• Organization
• Grab attention with an opening that makes your audience want to learn more. Strategies include a challenge, a provocative question, a powerful quote, a surprising statistic, an unusual or unexpected fact, a poignant story, or a “teaser.”
• Choose the best organizational strategy. Possibilities include chronological/sequential, problem & solution, compare and contrast, and topical.
• Provide clear “signposts” to make it clear how you are transitioning to new ideas.
• Give a powerful closing that quickly reviews major points and perhaps leaves listeners with a memorable thought, a call to action, or other engaging ending.
• Visual Aids
• Use a minimum of visual aids–only ones that are a) relevant to the talk, b) important (in that they don’t just repeat what you say), c) accessible, both mentally and visually, and d) as simple as possible.
• PowerPoint slides should make no sense without you; in other words, your audience should need you to explain what is on them.
• Despite very natural fears of speaking in public, try to appear calm and confident.
• Do your best to identify and avoid nervous ticks and habits like playing with hair, adjusting clothing, rocking back and forth, continuously smiling or giggling, mangling notes, or saying “like,” “um,” or “uh.”
• Choose a way to stand that feels comfortable for you.
• Try to stand relatively still except for purposeful movement like gestures, crossing to a different location, and stepping forward or backward or side to side to emphasize points or transitions in your presentation.
• Try not to slouch, whether standing or sitting down.
• Don’t dwell on mistakes, which happen to everybody.
• Some strategies to help you calm down and maintain poise include visualizing the room/audience and reviewing the speech in your mind, or taking three long breaths before you go up to present, and another after you’re in place.
• Speak loudly enough so that everyone can comfortably hear every word.
• Enunciate (even over-enunciate if necessary) so each word can be heard.
• Practice pronunciation (and possibly grammar) beforehand.
• Demonstrate your enthusiasm by putting life into your voice.
• Emphasize some words and phrases with emotion and volume.
• Eye Contact
• Make near-continuous eye contact with your audience, surveying all individual faces as you speak in order to make people feel involved and also in order to see how they are responding. Use key words, not complete sentences, on notes.
• Familiarize yourself with your material so that you are not too dependent on looking at your notes as you speak. However, unless you are reciting a memorized passage for an assignment, you shouldn’t feel the need to memorize every word of your speech and remember it perfectly. You should be able to discuss your points in a conversational style. Effective eye contact is often dependent on a skillful combination of “extemporaneity,” “leadership,” and “retrieval” (see terms below).
• Use hands, body movement, and facial expressions to convey or emphasize points.
• Match motion to your words by holding up fingers when counting, using gestures to describe sound or motion, or prompting your audience–saying, “Raise your hand” while raising hand or “Look…” while pointing.
• Practice so that you don’t speak too slowly or too quickly out of nervousness.
• Use pacing to enhance your message–some parts should be faster or slower.
• Use pauses as a powerful tool for emphasis and dramatic effect.

PART 2: Extemporaneity

• Be familiar with material so that you can depart from your “script.”
• When others are speaking, don’t just wait for your turn to say something; listen carefully to what others say–a good discussion or Q & A should not be a series of isolated points, but should instead grow as participants respond to, debate, and add on to previous responses. Your audience will be more engaged if you genuinely consider and address their thoughts and concerns.

PART 3: Leadership/Authority

• You should be able to project in an oral or signed context the mastery you’ve achieved concerning the specific topic of your major research paper.
• Consider not just your narrow project or argument but also more general background regarding your broader topic that your audience might not know.
• Connect presentation to class concerns, and the interests of audience members.

PART 4: Retrieval

• When it comes to perfect memorization, there is no substitute for time and practice. Get a friend to read along as you recite to correct any small errors.

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How to Use Oral Presentations to Help English Language Learners Succeed

Please try again

Excerpted from “ The ELL Teacher’s Toolbox: Hundreds of Practical Ideas to Support Your Students ,” by Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski, with permission from the authors.

Having the confidence to speak in front of others is challenging for most people. For English Language Learners, this anxiety can be heightened because they are also speaking in a new language. We’ve found several benefits to incorporating opportunities for students to present to their peers in a positive and safe classroom environment. It helps them focus on pronunciation and clarity and also boosts their confidence. This type of practice is useful since students will surely have to make presentations in other classes, in college, and/or in their future jobs. However, what may be even more valuable is giving students the chance to take these risks in a collaborative, supportive environment.

Presentations also offer students the opportunity to become the teacher—something we welcome and they enjoy! They can further provide valuable listening practice for the rest of the class, especially when students are given a task to focus their listening.

Research confirms that in order for ELLs to acquire English they must engage in oral language practice and be given the opportunity to use language in meaningful ways for social and academic purposes (Williams & Roberts, 2011). Teaching students to design effective oral presentations has also been found to support thinking development as “the quality of presentation actually improves the quality of thought, and vice versa” (Živković, 2014, p. 474). Additionally, t he Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards specifically focus on oral presentations. These standards call for students to make effective and well-organized presentations and to use technology to enhance understanding of them.

GUIDELINES AND APPLICATION

Oral presentations can take many different forms in the ELL classroom—ranging from students briefly presenting their learning in small groups to creating a multi-slide presentation for the whole class. In this section, we give some general guidelines for oral presentations with ELLs. We then share ideas for helping students develop their presentation skills and describe specific ways we scaffold both short and long oral presentations.

We keep the following guidelines in mind when incorporating oral presentations into ELL instruction:

Length —We have students develop and deliver short presentations (usually 2-4 minutes) on a regular basis so they can practice their presentation skills with smaller, less overwhelming tasks. These presentations are often to another student or a small group. Once or twice a semester, students do a longer presentation (usually 5-8 minutes), many times with a partner or in a small group.

Novelty —Mixing up how students present (in small groups, in pairs, individually) and what they use to present (a poster, a paper placed under the document camera, props, a slide presentation, etc.) can increase engagement for students and the teacher!

Whole Class Processing -- We want to avoid students “tuning out” during oral presentations. Not only can it be frustrating for the speakers, but students also miss out on valuable listening practice. During oral presentations, and in any activity, we want to maximize the probability that all students are thinking and learning all the time. Jim Peterson and Ted Appel, administrators with whom we’ve worked closely, call this “whole class processing” (Ferlazzo, 2011, August 16) and it is also known as active participation. All students can be encouraged to actively participate in oral presentations by being given a listening task-- taking notes on a graphic organizer, providing written feedback to the speaker, using a checklist to evaluate presenters, etc.

Language Support —It is critical to provide ELLs, especially at the lower levels of English proficiency, with language support for oral presentations. In other words, thinking about what vocabulary, language features and organizational structures they may need, and then providing students with scaffolding, like speaking frames and graphic organizers. Oral presentations can also provide an opportunity for students to practice their summarizing skills. When students are presenting information on a topic they have researched, we remind them to summarize using their own words and to give credit when using someone else’s words.

Technology Support —It can’t be assumed that students have experience using technology tools in presentations. We find it most helpful using simple tools that are easy for students to learn (like Powerpoint without all the “bells and whistles” or Google Slides). We also emphasize to students that digital media should be used to help the audience understand what they are saying and not just to make a presentation flashy or pretty. We also share with our students what is known as “The Picture Superiority Effect”-- a body of research showing that people are better able to learn and recall information presented as pictures as opposed to just being presented with words (Kagan, 2013).

Groups -- Giving ELLs the opportunity to work and present in small groups is helpful in several ways. Presenting as a group (as opposed to by yourself) can help students feel less anxious. It also offers language-building opportunities as students communicate to develop and practice their presentations. Creating new knowledge as a group promotes collaboration and language acquisition--an ideal equation for a successful ELL classroom!

Teacher feedback/student evaluation --The focus of oral presentations with ELL students should be on the practice and skills they are gaining, not on the grade or “score” they are earning. Teachers can give out a simple rubric before students create their presentations. Then students can keep these expectations in mind as they develop and practice their presentations. The teacher, or classmates, can then use the rubric to offer feedback to the speaker. We also often ask students to reflect on their own presentation and complete the rubric as a form of self-assessment. Figure 30.1 – “Presentation Peer Evaluation Rubric” , developed by talented student teacher Kevin Inlay (who is now a teacher in his own classroom), is a simple rubric we used to improve group presentations in our ELL World History class.

Teaching Presentation Skills

We use the following two lesson ideas to explicitly teach how to develop effective presentation skills:

LESSON ONE: Speaking and Listening Do’s and Don’ts

We help our students understand and practice general presentation skills through an activity we call Speaking and Listening “Do’s and Don’ts.” We usually spread this lesson out among two class periods.

We first ask students to create a simple T-chart by folding a piece of paper in half and labeling one side “Do” and the other side “Don’t.” We then post Figure 30.2 “Speaking Do’s and Don’ts” on the document camera and display the first statement (the rest we cover with a blank sheet of paper).

We read the first statement, “Make eye contact with the audience,” and ask students if this is something they want to do when they are giving a presentation or if it is something they don’t want to do. Students write the statement where they think it belongs--under the “Do” column or “Don’t” Column. Students then share their answer with a partner and discuss why they put it in that column. After calling on a few pairs to share with the class, we move down the list repeating the same process of categorizing each statement as a “Do” or a “Don’t.” Students write it on their chart and discuss why it should be placed there.

After categorizing the statements for speaking, we give students Figure 30.3 “Listening Do’s and Don’ts .” We tell students to work in pairs to categorize the statements as something they do or something they don’t want to do when listening to a student presentation. This time, we ask students to make a quick poster with the headings “Do’s” and “Don’ts” for Listening. Under each heading students must list the corresponding statements--the teacher can circulate to check for accuracy. Students are asked to talk about why each statement belongs in each category and should be prepared to share their reasoning with the class. Students must also choose one “do” statement and one “don’t” statement to illustrate on their poster. Students can present their posters in small groups or with the whole class. This serves as a great opportunity to apply the speaking and listening “do’s” they just reviewed and heightens their awareness of the “don’ts!”

A fun twist, that also serves as a good review on a subsequent day, is to ask groups of students to pick two or three “do’s” and “don’ts” from both Speaking and Listening to act out in front of the class.

LESSON TWO Slide Presentations Concept Attainment

We periodically ask students to make slide presentations using PowerPoint or Google Slides to give them practice with developing visual aids (see the Home Culture activity later in this section). We show students how to make better slides, along with giving students the language support they may need in the form of an outline or sentence starters. An easy and effective way to do this is through Concept Attainment.

Concept Attainment involves the teacher identifying both "good" and "bad" examples of the intended learning objective. In this case, we use a PowerPoint containing three “good” slides and three “bad” ones (see them at The Best Resources For Teaching Students The Difference Between A Good and a Bad Slide ).

We start by showing students the first example of a “good” or “yes” slide (containing very little text and two images) and saying, “This is a yes.” However, we don’t explain why it is a “yes.” Then we show a “bad” or “no” example of a slide (containing multiple images randomly placed with a very “busy background”), saying, “This is a no” without explaining why. Students are then asked to think about them, and share with a partner why they think one is a "yes" and one is a "no."

At this point, we make a quick chart on a large sheet of paper (students can make individual charts on a piece of paper) and ask students to list the good and bad qualities they have observed so far. For example, under the “Good/Yes” column it might say “Has less words and the background is simple” and under the “Bad/No” column “Has too many pictures and the background is distracting.”

We then show the second “yes” example (containing one image with a short amount of text in a clear font) and the “no” example (containing way too much text and using a less clear font style). Students repeat the “think-pair-share” process and then the class again discusses what students are noticing about the “yes” and “no” examples. Then they add these observations to their chart.

Students repeat the whole process a final time with the third examples. The third “yes” example slide contains one image, minimal text and one bullet point. The third “no” example, on the other hand, contains multiple bullet points.

To reinforce this lesson at a later date, the teacher could show students more examples, or students could look for more “yes” and “no” examples online. They could continue to add more qualities of good and bad slides to their chart. See the Technology Connections section for links to good and bad PowerPoint examples, including the PowerPoint we use for this Concept Attainment lesson.

You can learn more about other presentations that support public speaking, such as home culture presentations, speed dating, talking points, top 5 and PechaKucha Book talks in our book, “ The ELL Teacher’s Toolbox: Hundreds of Practical Ideas to Support Your Students .”

Larry Ferlazzo has taught English Language Learners, mainstream and International Baccalaureate students at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento for 15 years. He has authored eight books on education, hosts a popular blog for educators, and  writes a weekly teacher advice column for Education Week Teacher .  He was a community organizer for 19 years prior to becoming a high school teacher.

Katie Hull Sypnieski has worked with English Language Learners at the secondary level for over 20 years.  She currently teaches middle school ELA and ELD at Rosa Parks K-8 School in Sacramento, California. She is a teaching consultant with the Area 3 Writing Project at the University of California, Davis and has leads professional development for teachers of ELLs. She is co-author (with Larry Ferlazzo) of The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide and Navigating the Common Core with English Language Learners .

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• 10 Effective Class Presentation Tips for College Students

Giving a presentation to your classmates can be a bit challenging, especially if you are new to visual or oral presentations or fear public speaking. 

However, class presentations foster an excellent opportunity for students to enhance their public speaking skills while broadening their perception and understanding of a particular subject matter. 

Also, the presentation provides a platform for students to connect with peers, professionals, and potential employers. 

By showcasing their skills and knowledge, they can build relationships and establish themselves as a better performer in their field. 

While presentation helps students to expand their horizons of knowledge and skills, beginners may be slightly concerned about where to start and how to master it. 

Worry not! Here, we discuss the best presentation tips for students for a flawless delivery of the subject.

10 Handy Presentation Tips for College Students

Effective delivery of a presentation requires efficient presentation techniques and exceptional presentation abilities. 

The following tips for presenting in class help students strengthen their public speaking skills, empowering them to effectively communicate their message or information to the audience.

1. Overcome Presentation Anxiety

While it is quite common to feel anxious before the presentation, it won’t allow you to deliver a presentation confidently. 

There are several reasons why students fear public speaking, including, worrying about committing a mistake, lack of experience, losing control, or what if their audience dislikes their speech. 

Nevertheless, don’t worry, as you can overcome your presentation anxieties with the following techniques:

• Prepare and practice your topic thoroughly.
• Just focus on the message you want to convey to your audience.
• Be open to feedback and criticism from others.
• Have a mindset that you are going to make it.
• Practice deep breathing to keep your mind calm and composed.

2. Learn the Art of Public Speaking

Learning and getting used to public speaking can help students feel more confident and comfortable in delivering their message to the audience. 

Also, it helps them to structure their thoughts and use perfect language to convey their content crisp and clean while engaging their audience.

There are several ways for students to learn public speaking skills, including:

• Online platforms and courses
• Local resources (community clubs, associations, etc.)
• Public speaking workshops
• Watching experienced public speakers and observing their techniques

Also Read:   17 Best Advice for College Students from Experts .

3. Craft Compelling Content

A robust opening statement sets the tone for the entire student presentation, helping you grab your audience’s attention. 

Ensure to develop a clear, concise, and thoughtful opening statement that talks about what the presentation is about and how it helps everyone out there. 

Moving on, your body content is the heart of your presentation, and that is what is going to keep your audience in the loop while conveying your ideas and thoughts. 

So, it should be well-structured, engaging, and easy to follow. Here’s how you can devise engaging content:

• Create a strong opening and ending statement with a powerful quote, thought-provoking question, or intriguing scenario.
• Clearly and precisely define your topic and its significance.
• Conduct in-depth research that is backed with statistical data or real-time stories.
• Organize your content with slides and images.

4. Add Engaging Visuals

Rather than constantly scrolling the loads of information, it is better to use visuals to engage your audience while helping them comprehend and retain complex matters and building emotional connections with them.

Tips for slideshow presentations:

• Use simple yet high-quality images.
• Add contrast and pleasing colors to make your slides look good.
• Incorporate snippets to support your visuals.
• Keep your slides consistent in terms of layout and design.
• Choose easy-to-follow fonts and numbers.
• Add data, icons, and infographics for illustration.

5. Balance Information and Entertainment

Adding humor to a presentation is a way to engage and connect with your audience more personally. 

It can help relieve tension, break the silence/drowsy state of mind, and make complex or dry information more perceivable during class presentation. 

Also, it helps keep your presentation memorable for a long time. Here is how you can add humor to your presentation:

• Know your audience and tailor your humor accordingly.
• Use humorous analogies, cartoons, catchphrases, or your own experiences.
• Try not to hurt others while using humor.
• You can make fun of everyday situations or activities, so people can relate with them.

6. Time Management in Class Presentation

Time management is one of the best tips for presenting in class. Starting and finishing your presentation in a predefined time frame is important. 

It helps you to convey your message precisely and effectively without disrupting the flow of the presentation and making it difficult for the audience to follow along. 

To manage your class presentation time, here are some presentation tips for students:

• Practice beforehand to know the required time.
• If you are going beyond the allotted time, cut short your content, delivering the most important points.
• Use visuals to quickly deliver messages.
• Use a timer to know that you are nearing the end.

7. Real-Life Examples

Listening to successful presentations helps you learn new techniques and gain insights on how to give better presentations. You can take note of key elements used, gestures followed, and eye contact made. 

Also, you can study the agenda of the presentation, like how it is structured, what topics are discussed, how properly visuals and icons are used, etc. 

Besides, you can pay attention to the language and tonality of the speaker to see how they used humor, stories, and emotional phrases to connect with audiences. 

Considering these insights, you can prepare your topic and present it flawlessly.

8. Take Peer Review and Feedback

Feedback is a way to learn where you lag and how you can improve further to build your credibility, professional knowledge and image. 

By receiving feedback from peers, you can identify blind spots, fragile areas, and how your content is perceived by others, enabling you to refine your work, address weaknesses, and develop new skills. 

Moreover, this presentation tip can strengthen your relationships with your peers while helping you present better every time.

Also Read:   Tips for Building Professional Relationships in College .

9. Stay Elegant and Attractive with Your Attire

What you wear and how you wear it matters when it comes to presenting in front of the public. 

The clothes you wear can greatly impact how your audience perceives you and your message. So, ensure to present yourself properly and professionally to attract your audience.

Here is how to dress up for class presentations:

• Keep your outfits simple, comfortable, and elegant.
• Avoid flashy colors and designs.
• Choose outfits according to the environment and temperature.
• Get your outfits properly stitched with the right fit. 
• Choose the right and soothing footwear.

10. Post-Presentation Reflection

Reviewing your past presentations can help drag strengths and areas for growth, which can help you make informed decisions and optimize your performance. 

For example, by analyzing your performance, you can assess what works well and what doesn't. This involves identifying areas for improvement concerning the use of visuals, snippets, icons, infographics, etc. 

Knowing these can help you make targeted improvements to enhance your future presentations.

Wrapping Up

A successful class presentation in college is vital for students’ academic and professional journey. 

It helps students develop valuable skills that will serve them in their future careers and provides them with an opportunity to showcase their knowledge and ideas to a wider audience. 

By mastering the art of presentation, students can set themselves apart from their peers and position themselves for success in their chosen careers.

 So, use the above-mentioned presentation tips for students to speak more confidently, sharing your thoughts and ideas.  

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16 Public Speaking Tips for Students

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

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

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

Public Speaking Tips

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

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

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

Tell Stories

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

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

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

Manage Your Anxiety

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

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

Press Play for Advice on Finding Courage

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

Follow Now : Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts

Maintain Perspective

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

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

Be Confident

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

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

Don't Apologize

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

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

A Word From Verywell

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

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

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

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

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 Feedback on Student Presentations

Barbara Louis

December 2019

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1. Objectives and benefits  2. Quality features, requirements & challenges  3. Implementation   4. Example method for peer feedback on lectures and presentations: 3-2-1

1. Objectives and benefits

Presentations are central activities both in academia and in professional contexts outside the university. In order to develop and refine their presentation skills, students need practise and appropriate feedback on their performances.

In contrast to exams or written assignments, in which the communication usually occurs between two persons (teachers and students), presentations address all individuals present in class . A good design of presentations and of the corresponding feedback considers this special characteristic by choosing appropriate feedback methods and by creating a constructive atmosphere in the classroom.

Both presenters and audience members can benefit from feedback given immediately after a presentation . Students experience a wider range of feedback than they receive on their own work alone, which can deepen their understanding of professional standards and the culture of academic discussion. [1]

There are various ways of providing feedback on student presentations. Teachers as well as students (peer feedback) may provide feedback. It can be delivered in written or oral form, on site or electronically at a later time (via e-mail or Moodle). The most common scenario is a discussion following a presentation. Finally, feedback may also be provided either on a final version of a presentation ( summative ) or on earlier, preliminary work phases ( formative ).

Research suggests that more feedback may not automatically result in better student learning. [2] This makes it all the more important to carefully design and prepare feedback activities.

2. Quality features, requirements & challenges

The general quality features for good feedback (see Teacher Feedback ) also apply to feedback on student presentations. Moreover, the group discussion setting holds a particular kind of potential . Feedback can take place directly after a presentation and may itself be subject of discussion, which constitutes the dialogical character of feedback that research has identified as especially beneficial to student learning. [3] During the discussion, students are encouraged to ask for clarification or more details, clear up misunderstandings, or discuss the feedback itself.

Establishing a respectful, constructive environment for presentations and subsequent feedback sessions constitutes a particular challenge . Since many students are not (yet) routine presenters, they may feel insecure and uncomfortable being the centre of attention. At the same time, students should learn and practise expressing criticism reflectively and respectfully, as well as reacting to it, as these are central academic practices. Therefore, a culture of tolerance is essential for student learning and motivation. [4]

The success of student presentations and the respective feedback activities hinges on the engagement of students who do not present. Teachers can assist students increase their engagement by clarifying the audience's responsibilities before a presentation, or by providing tools to help them understand and evaluate presentations (e.g. questions they should keep in mind as they listen, or feedback criteria). You can help your students formulate meaningful feedback and develop the skills necessary to participate in post-presentation discussions. Establishing accountability and helping students become aware of their duties as audience members contribute to a constructive working and learning environment. In doing so, you can also ensure that students engage with more than just their own presentation topics .

3. Implementation

The following steps should help you plan and implement feedback on student presentations in your course:

1. Plan: Consider presentations, as you plan your course :

• What content or skills should students acquire or prove through the presentation? What is the presentation’s role in the course?
• What kind(s) of presentation(s) do you want to include (specialist presentations, simulations of conference presentations, presentations on readings, etc.)? Should students present individually or in groups?

Depending on the choice of presentation, select an appropriate feedback format, informed by the following considerations (among others):

• Who should provide feedback? Teachers? Fellow students? Teachers and fellow students?
• What is the purpose of the feedback? To help improve a presentation draft (formative)? To explain the grade a student received on the presentation? To suggest improvements for future presentations? To inform students about their level of knowledge or skills acquisition (summative)?
• What learning activities should receive feedback? The intended student learning outcomes for the course determine whether presentation techniques or materials in addition to the presentation content should receive feedback (for instance, you can establish as the minimum requirement that the presentation be intelligible).
• When will feedback be provided? During the early developing phase of a presentation or on a presentation draft? On the complete slides just before a presentation? Directly after a presentation or at a later date?
• How should feedback be provided? In oral or written form? Immediately on site or during the following session? Electronically via email or Moodle?

2. Prepare : Once you have selected the feedback format, communicate it to your students, e.g. as a detailed assignment and/or feedback criteria. In doing so, you make explicit expectations and responsibilities, clarify the purpose of presentations in your course, and offer orientation on the aspects that students should address in their feedback.

• Ideally, both teacher and student feedback is based on specific criteria . Discuss these criteria or develop them together with your students. The latter gives students the chance to actively engage standards and expectations by reflecting, discussing and formulating them as feedback criteria.
• Discussing presentation topics and concepts with the students early on is an effective way for teachers to provide formative feedback. If possible, also take a quick look at the finished slides or handouts before students give their presentations. This allows you to make sure that the students have understood and addressed properly the most important points and topics, and that all participants understand and benefit from the presentation. [5]
• When planning peer feedback on lectures and presentations, consider that the audience only has a limited amount of time to listen to, understand, take notes, and react to the presentations using the provided guidelines. We recommend limiting the number of categories (circa 3 to 5) that the feedback should address, especially if students work on different topics and may therefore be less familiar with the content of the presentation. You may distribute various tasks among audience members (e.g. some pay attention to certain content-related aspects, others to the presentation materials, and others yet on presentation methods. You may form groups as you wish, e.g. according to seating arrangements or number schemes, etc.). Distributing responsibilities helps to cover the essentials while keeping the workload manageable for both the students and the teacher. [6]

3. Realise:

• In order to make sure that non-presenting students are clear about their roles in the feedback process, we recommend you discuss their responsibilities and the feedback process with them. For instance, do you expect students to ask questions immediately after the presentation, provide oral or written feedback? Should they focus on certain aspects of the presentation and comment on them, or decide for themselves what to comment on? (Note: The latter works better for experienced students.) 7  
• Engaging the audience is crucial. Feedback forms or criteria are useful tools that help to orient students. If contributing feedback counts toward the grade, some students may be more motivated to participate. Moreover, you can employ methods that help students engage and structure feedback (see example method 3-2-1 ).
• In order to provide an open and constructive atmosphere in class, we recommend you establish ground rules for behaviour for (peer) feedback activities, and discuss them with your students beforehand.

4. Example method for peer feedback on lectures and presentations: 3-2-1

This simple method helps students in the audience follow presentations and actively prepare for a subsequent feedback session. As a result, the quality of the feedback improves, and students are more likely to participate in discussions because they are not required to formulate questions or comments spontaneously.

Method Instruct the audience members to take notes on a piece of paper or a note card on the following points while they listen to the presentation:

• 3 things I have learned from the presentation (You can also be more specific and require students to address specific course topics)
• 2 things that could be improved in the presentation (You can also narrow the focus: Should students address content-related aspects or can they also critique the presentation itself? Note that students tend to comment on the slides or presentation methods, and thus avoid engaging the more difficult contents)
• 1 question I still have (Ask students to come up with one question about the content that still puzzles them)

After the presentation, teachers may use these notes in various ways. However, you should inform your students about the intended use as part of explaining the process. Here are some possibilities:

• Notes serve as the basis for feedback and discussions in class (oral feedback)
• Feedback providers hand over the notes to the presenters (written feedback)
• Feedback providers hand over the notes to the teacher (information for the teacher on student feedback practices, or on what students have learned from presentations; the teacher may discuss this information during the following class session).

[1] Universität Zürich. Dossier: Studentische Referate: Funktion, Didaktik, Durchführung. Arbeitsstelle für Hochschuldidaktik, 2017.  http://www.hochschuldidaktik.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:ffffffff-9a08-8cca-0000-000065e498ec/Du_Studentische_Referate.pdf [last accessed on 09.11.2022].

[2] Hattie, John, Mark Gan, and Cameron Brooks. „Instruction Based on Feedback”. In Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction , edited by Richard E. Mayer and Patricia A. Alexander. New York: Routledge, 2017, 290.

[3] Nicol, David. „From Monologue to Dialogue: Improving Written Feedback Processes in Mass Higher Education“. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 35, no. 5 (August 2010): 501–517.

[4] Hattie, John, Mark Gan, and Cameron Brooks. „Instruction Based on Feedback”. In Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction , edited by Richard E. Mayer and Patricia A. Alexander. New York: Routledge, 2017, 318.

[5] Hilger, Annett, Thorben Lübbert, Igor Pretzer, Jessica Reinartz, Julia Theißen, and Michael Schneider. „Seminar“. In Gute Hochschullehre: Eine evidenzbasierte Orientierungshilfe. Wie man Vorlesungen, Seminare und Projekte effektiv gestaltet , edited by Michael Schneider and Maida Mustafić, 39–62. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2015.

[6] Bruppacher, Susanne. „Studentische Referate in Seminarveranstaltungen. Lösungsansätze zu deren Verbesserung“. In Hochschullehre - adressatengerecht und wirkungsvoll , edited Silke Wehr, 107–114. Bern; Wien [u.a.]: Haupt, 2006.

[7] See e.g. Dryden, Louise, Tina Hyder, and Suresh Jethwa. „Assessing individual oral presentations“. Investigations in University Teaching and Learning 1, no. 1 (2003): 79–83.

Recommended citation

Louis, Barbara: Feedback on Student Presentations. Infopool better teaching . University of Vienna, December 2019. [https://infopool.univie.ac.at/en/start-page/teaching-advising/feedback/feedback-on-student-presentations/]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Austria License (CC BY-SA 3.0 AT) For more information please see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/at/

About this printout

This rubric is designed to be used for any oral presentation. Students are scored in three categories—delivery, content, and audience awareness.

Teaching with this printout

More ideas to try, related resources.

Oral presentation and speaking are important skills for students to master, especially in the intermediate grades. This oral presentation rubric is designed to fit any topic or subject area. The rubric allows teachers to assess students in several key areas of oral presentation. Students are scored on a scale of 1–4 in three major areas. The first area is Delivery, which includes eye contact, and voice inflection. The second area, Content/Organization, scores students based on their knowledge and understanding of the topic being presented and the overall organization of their presentation. The third area, Enthusiasm/Audience Awareness, assesses students based on their enthusiasm toward the topic and how well they came across to their intended audience. Give students the oral presentation rubric ahead of time so that they know and understand what they will be scored on. Discuss each of the major areas and how they relate to oral presentation.

• After students have completed their oral presentations, ask them to do a self-assessment with the same rubric and hold a conference with them to compare their self-assessment with your own assessment.
• Provide students with several examples of oral presentations before they plan and execute their own presentation. Ask students to evaluate and assess the exemplar presentations using the same rubric.
• Students can do a peer evaluation of oral presentations using this rubric. Students meet in partners or small groups to give each other feedback and explain their scoring.
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In the social and behavioral sciences, an oral presentation assignment involves an individual student or group of students verbally addressing an audience on a specific research-based topic, often utilizing slides to help audience members understand and retain what they both see and hear. The purpose is to inform, report, and explain the significance of research findings, and your critical analysis of those findings, within a specific period of time, often in the form of a reasoned and persuasive argument. Oral presentations are assigned to assess a student’s ability to organize and communicate relevant information  effectively to a particular audience. Giving an oral presentation is considered an important learning skill because the ability to speak persuasively in front of an audience is transferable to most professional workplace settings.

Oral Presentations. Learning Co-Op. University of Wollongong, Australia; Oral Presentations. Undergraduate Research Office, Michigan State University; Oral Presentations. Presentations Research Guide, East Carolina University Libraries; Tsang, Art. “Enhancing Learners’ Awareness of Oral Presentation (Delivery) Skills in the Context of Self-regulated Learning.” Active Learning in Higher Education 21 (2020): 39-50.

Preparing for Your Oral Presentation

In some classes, writing the research paper is only part of what is required in reporting the results your work. Your professor may also require you to give an oral presentation about your study. Here are some things to think about before you are scheduled to give a presentation.

1.  What should I say?

If your professor hasn't explicitly stated what the content of your presentation should focus on, think about what you want to achieve and what you consider to be the most important things that members of the audience should know about your research. Think about the following: Do I want to inform my audience, inspire them to think about my research, or convince them of a particular point of view? These questions will help frame how to approach your presentation topic.

2.  Oral communication is different from written communication

Your audience has just one chance to hear your talk; they can't "re-read" your words if they get confused. Focus on being clear, particularly if the audience can't ask questions during the talk. There are two well-known ways to communicate your points effectively, often applied in combination. The first is the K.I.S.S. method [Keep It Simple Stupid]. Focus your presentation on getting two to three key points across. The second approach is to repeat key insights: tell them what you're going to tell them [forecast], tell them [explain], and then tell them what you just told them [summarize].

3.  Think about your audience

Yes, you want to demonstrate to your professor that you have conducted a good study. But professors often ask students to give an oral presentation to practice the art of communicating and to learn to speak clearly and audibly about yourself and your research. Questions to think about include: What background knowledge do they have about my topic? Does the audience have any particular interests? How am I going to involve them in my presentation?

4.  Create effective notes

If you don't have notes to refer to as you speak, you run the risk of forgetting something important. Also, having no notes increases the chance you'll lose your train of thought and begin relying on reading from the presentation slides. Think about the best ways to create notes that can be easily referred to as you speak. This is important! Nothing is more distracting to an audience than the speaker fumbling around with notes as they try to speak. It gives the impression of being disorganized and unprepared.

NOTE:   A good strategy is to have a page of notes for each slide so that the act of referring to a new page helps remind you to move to the next slide. This also creates a natural pause that allows your audience to contemplate what you just presented.

Strategies for creating effective notes for yourself include the following:

• Choose a large, readable font [at least 18 point in Ariel ]; avoid using fancy text fonts or cursive text.
• Use bold text, underlining, or different-colored text to highlight elements of your speech that you want to emphasize. Don't over do it, though. Only highlight the most important elements of your presentation.
• Leave adequate space on your notes to jot down additional thoughts or observations before and during your presentation. This is also helpful when writing down your thoughts in response to a question or to remember a multi-part question [remember to have a pen with you when you give your presentation].
• Place a cue in the text of your notes to indicate when to move to the next slide, to click on a link, or to take some other action, such as, linking to a video. If appropriate, include a cue in your notes if there is a point during your presentation when you want the audience to refer to a handout.
• Spell out challenging words phonetically and practice saying them ahead of time. This is particularly important for accurately pronouncing people’s names, technical or scientific terminology, words in a foreign language, or any unfamiliar words.

Creating and Using Overheads. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Kelly, Christine. Mastering the Art of Presenting. Inside Higher Education Career Advice; Giving an Oral Presentation. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra; Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking . 12th edition. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015; Peery, Angela B. Creating Effective Presentations: Staff Development with Impact . Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2011; Peoples, Deborah Carter. Guidelines for Oral Presentations. Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries; Perret, Nellie. Oral Presentations. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Speeches. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Storz, Carl et al. Oral Presentation Skills. Institut national de télécommunications, EVRY FRANCE.

Organizing the Content

In the process of organizing the content of your presentation, begin by thinking about what you want to achieve and how are you going to involve your audience in the presentation.

• Brainstorm your topic and write a rough outline. Don’t get carried away—remember you have a limited amount of time for your presentation.
• Organize your material and draft what you want to say [see below].
• Summarize your draft into key points to write on your presentation slides and/or note cards and/or handout.
• Prepare your visual aids.
• Rehearse your presentation and practice getting the presentation completed within the time limit given by your professor. Ask a friend to listen and time you.

GENERAL OUTLINE

I.  Introduction [may be written last]

• Capture your listeners’ attention . Begin with a question, an amusing story, a provocative statement, a personal story, or anything that will engage your audience and make them think. For example, "As a first-gen student, my hardest adjustment to college was the amount of papers I had to write...."
• State your purpose . For example, "I’m going to talk about..."; "This morning I want to explain…."
• Present an outline of your talk . For example, “I will concentrate on the following points: First of all…Then…This will lead to…And finally…"

II.  The Body

• Present your main points one by one in a logical order .
• Pause at the end of each point . Give people time to take notes, or time to think about what you are saying.
• Make it clear when you move to another point . For example, “The next point is that...”; “Of course, we must not forget that...”; “However, it's important to realize that....”
• Use clear examples to illustrate your points and/or key findings .
• If appropriate, consider using visual aids to make your presentation more interesting [e.g., a map, chart, picture, link to a video, etc.].

III.  The Conclusion

• Leave your audience with a clear summary of everything that you have covered.
• Summarize the main points again . For example, use phrases like: "So, in conclusion..."; "To recap the main issues...," "In summary, it is important to realize...."
• Restate the purpose of your talk, and say that you have achieved your aim : "My intention was ..., and it should now be clear that...."
• Don't let the talk just fizzle out . Make it obvious that you have reached the end of the presentation.
• Thank the audience, and invite questions : "Thank you. Are there any questions?"

NOTE: When asking your audience if anyone has any questions, give people time to contemplate what you have said and to formulate a question. It may seem like an awkward pause to wait ten seconds or so for someone to raise their hand, but it's frustrating to have a question come to mind but be cutoff because the presenter rushed to end the talk.

ANOTHER NOTE: If your last slide includes any contact information or other important information, leave it up long enough to ensure audience members have time to write the information down. Nothing is more frustrating to an audience member than wanting to jot something down, but the presenter closes the slides immediately after finishing.

Creating and Using Overheads. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Giving an Oral Presentation. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra; Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking . 12th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015; Peery, Angela B. Creating Effective Presentations: Staff Development with Impact . Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2011; Peoples, Deborah Carter. Guidelines for Oral Presentations. Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries; Perret, Nellie. Oral Presentations. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Speeches. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Storz, Carl et al. Oral Presentation Skills. Institut national de télécommunications, EVRY FRANCE.

Delivering Your Presentation

When delivering your presentation, keep in mind the following points to help you remain focused and ensure that everything goes as planned.

Pay Attention to Language!

• Keep it simple . The aim is to communicate, not to show off your vocabulary. Using complex words or phrases increases the chance of stumbling over a word and losing your train of thought.
• Emphasize the key points . Make sure people realize which are the key points of your study. Repeat them using different phrasing to help the audience remember them.
• Check the pronunciation of difficult, unusual, or foreign words beforehand . Keep it simple, but if you have to use unfamiliar words, write them out phonetically in your notes and practice saying them. This is particularly important when pronouncing proper names. Give the definition of words that are unusual or are being used in a particular context [e.g., "By using the term affective response, I am referring to..."].

Use Your Voice to Communicate Clearly

• Speak loud enough for everyone in the room to hear you . Projecting your voice may feel uncomfortably loud at first, but if people can't hear you, they won't try to listen. However, moderate your voice if you are talking in front of a microphone.
• Speak slowly and clearly . Don’t rush! Speaking fast makes it harder for people to understand you and signals being nervous.
• Avoid the use of "fillers." Linguists refer to utterances such as um, ah, you know, and like as fillers. They occur most often during transitions from one idea to another and, if expressed too much, are distracting to an audience. The better you know your presentation, the better you can control these verbal tics.
• Vary your voice quality . If you always use the same volume and pitch [for example, all loud, or all soft, or in a monotone] during your presentation, your audience will stop listening. Use a higher pitch and volume in your voice when you begin a new point or when emphasizing the transition to a new point.
• Speakers with accents need to slow down [so do most others]. Non-native speakers often speak English faster than we slow-mouthed native speakers, usually because most non-English languages flow more quickly than English. Slowing down helps the audience to comprehend what you are saying.
• Slow down for key points . These are also moments in your presentation to consider using body language, such as hand gestures or leaving the podium to point to a slide, to help emphasize key points.
• Use pauses . Don't be afraid of short periods of silence. They give you a chance to gather your thoughts, and your audience an opportunity to think about what you've just said.

Also Use Your Body Language to Communicate!

• Stand straight and comfortably . Do not slouch or shuffle about. If you appear bored or uninterested in what your talking about, the audience will emulate this as well. Wear something comfortable. This is not the time to wear an itchy wool sweater or new high heel shoes for the first time.
• Hold your head up . Look around and make eye contact with people in the audience [or at least pretend to]. Do not just look at your professor or your notes the whole time! Looking up at your your audience brings them into the conversation. If you don't include the audience, they won't listen to you.
• When you are talking to your friends, you naturally use your hands, your facial expression, and your body to add to your communication . Do it in your presentation as well. It will make things far more interesting for the audience.
• Don't turn your back on the audience and don't fidget! Neither moving around nor standing still is wrong. Practice either to make yourself comfortable. Even when pointing to a slide, don't turn your back; stand at the side and turn your head towards the audience as you speak.
• Keep your hands out of your pocket . This is a natural habit when speaking. One hand in your pocket gives the impression of being relaxed, but both hands in pockets looks too casual and should be avoided.

Interact with the Audience

• Be aware of how your audience is reacting to your presentation . Are they interested or bored? If they look confused, stop and ask them [e.g., "Is anything I've covered so far unclear?"]. Stop and explain a point again if needed.
• Check after highlighting key points to ask if the audience is still with you . "Does that make sense?"; "Is that clear?" Don't do this often during the presentation but, if the audience looks disengaged, interrupting your talk to ask a quick question can re-focus their attention even if no one answers.
• Do not apologize for anything . If you believe something will be hard to read or understand, don't use it. If you apologize for feeling awkward and nervous, you'll only succeed in drawing attention to the fact you are feeling awkward and nervous and your audience will begin looking for this, rather than focusing on what you are saying.
• Be open to questions . If someone asks a question in the middle of your talk, answer it. If it disrupts your train of thought momentarily, that's ok because your audience will understand. Questions show that the audience is listening with interest and, therefore, should not be regarded as an attack on you, but as a collaborative search for deeper understanding. However, don't engage in an extended conversation with an audience member or the rest of the audience will begin to feel left out. If an audience member persists, kindly tell them that the issue can be addressed after you've completed the rest of your presentation and note to them that their issue may be addressed later in your presentation [it may not be, but at least saying so allows you to move on].
• Be ready to get the discussion going after your presentation . Professors often want a brief discussion to take place after a presentation. Just in case nobody has anything to say or no one asks any questions, be prepared to ask your audience some provocative questions or bring up key issues for discussion.

Amirian, Seyed Mohammad Reza and Elaheh Tavakoli. “Academic Oral Presentation Self-Efficacy: A Cross-Sectional Interdisciplinary Comparative Study.” Higher Education Research and Development 35 (December 2016): 1095-1110; Balistreri, William F. “Giving an Effective Presentation.” Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 35 (July 2002): 1-4; Creating and Using Overheads. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Enfield, N. J. How We Talk: The Inner Workings of Conversation . New York: Basic Books, 2017; Giving an Oral Presentation. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra; Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking . 12th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015; Peery, Angela B. Creating Effective Presentations: Staff Development with Impact . Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2011; Peoples, Deborah Carter. Guidelines for Oral Presentations. Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries; Perret, Nellie. Oral Presentations. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Speeches. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Storz, Carl et al. Oral Presentation Skills. Institut national de télécommunications, EVRY FRANCE.

Speaking Tip

Your First Words are Your Most Important Words!

Your introduction should begin with something that grabs the attention of your audience, such as, an interesting statistic, a brief narrative or story, or a bold assertion, and then clearly tell the audience in a well-crafted sentence what you plan to accomplish in your presentation. Your introductory statement should be constructed so as to invite the audience to pay close attention to your message and to give the audience a clear sense of the direction in which you are about to take them.

Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking . 12th edition. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015.

Another Speaking Tip

Talk to Your Audience, Don't Read to Them!

A presentation is not the same as reading a prepared speech or essay. If you read your presentation as if it were an essay, your audience will probably understand very little about what you say and will lose their concentration quickly. Use notes, cue cards, or presentation slides as prompts that highlight key points, and speak to your audience . Include everyone by looking at them and maintaining regular eye-contact [but don't stare or glare at people]. Limit reading text to quotes or to specific points you want to emphasize.

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Department of Anthropology

Honors Program

The Honors Program in anthropology allows exceptional undergraduate students to undertake independent research on a topic in consultation with faculty members. This program is open to all anthropology majors with junior standing who have a 3.3 GPA in all general university courses and anthropology courses, and who are approved for acceptance into the Honors Program by the departmental faculty.

Application | Honors Committee | Requirements | Coursework | Thesis | Oral Exam | Theses Examples

Application Process

The first step is the formulation of a thesis topic in consultation with an appropriate faculty member within the Department of Anthropology who will serve as Honors thesis adviser. In consultation with the adviser, the student should write a 4-5 page (double-spaced) description of the proposed Honors thesis and include at least 12 citations. This description, with the signatures of the student and adviser, should be submitted to the Director of the Departmental Honors Program, T.S. Harvey . The Director of the Honors Program will submit the proposal and student’s academic file to the anthropology department faculty for approval. If the applicant is approved, the student will then be authorized to enroll in Anth 4998: Honors Research. The proposal is due to the Director of the Honors Program by March 20 of the student’s junior year. If the 20th falls on a weekend, it is due on the following Monday.

Honors Committee

Once approved, the next step is the formation of the student’s Honors Committee.

The committee consists of three to four faculty members selected by the student in consultation with their faculty adviser. The Honors Committee includes the faculty adviser, the Director of the Honors Program, and one additional faculty member from the department.

Students may opt to include an additional faculty member from the Department of Anthropology, a faculty member from another department at Vanderbilt, or a faculty member from an accredited anthropology department at another college or university, subject to approval by the Director of the Honors Program. In such cases where three other faculty members serve on the student’s Honors Committee, the Director of the Honors Program will serve as a non-voting ex officio member.

The student must submit the signatures of the student’s Honor Committee to the Director of the Honors Program no later than the second week of the first semester of the student’s senior year.

Requirements

Completion of the program requires:

• 3 credit hours in ANTH 3890: Honors Thesis Research, evaluated by the professor for that course; and 1 to 2 credit hours in ANTH 4998: Honors Research (select the section under your adviser’s name), evaluated by the Honors thesis adviser.
• 4 to 5 credit hours in ANTH 4999: Honors Thesis, evaluated by the honors thesis adviser.
• Submission of a written thesis, evaluated by the student’s Honors Committee.
• Oral presentation of the thesis (15-20 minutes), evaluated by the student’s Honors Committee.
• Oral examination (defense) of the thesis, administered by the student’s Honors Committee.

The honors thesis hours are expected to be in excess of the 30 hours required for the major in anthropology.

Students meeting these requirements receive Honors or High Honors in anthropology, depending on the quality of their thesis, grades in anthropology courses, and examination results. Successful departmental Honors students will receive a Vanderbilt diploma that records Honors or High Honors in anthropology.

Honors students will complete ANTH 4998: Honors Research and ANTH 4999: Honors Thesis Writing for a total of 8 to 10 credit hours (4 or 5 hours each semester). These hours will be devoted to the research and preparation of an Honors thesis and completion of the honors presentation and oral defense. At the end of the fall semester, student work must be approved by the Honors Committee before the student advances in the program. These independent research hours are expected to be in addition to the 30 hours required for the major in anthropology.

If a student decides to opt out partway through the Honors Program, they may retroactively convert the ANTH 4998: Honors Research credit hours to ANTH 3850 or 3851: Independent Research, as long as the adviser and committee approve this action.

Honors Thesis

The Honors thesis is an original work based upon the results of the student’s independent research. The topic and length must be determined on the advice of the student’s faculty adviser in consultation with the Director of the Honors Program.

Honors theses in the Department of Anthropology normally range between 50 and 75 double-spaced pages in length. The entire first draft of the thesis must be completed and turned in to Honors Committee members by March 15. The final thesis must be submitted in digital form to the department administrator no later than the last day of final exams. Failure to meet these deadlines will result in removal of the student from the Departmental Honors Program.

Honors Thesis Presentation and Oral Examination

The Honors thesis is given to the Honors Committee, which appraises the student’s written work and determines if the student is ready to give his/her presentation. The presentation should occur in April. Immediately following the presentation, the Honors Committee administers an oral examination (i.e, the student defends his/her thesis). The Honors Committee has four options in assessment of student performance:

• High Honors
• Successful completion of independent research, but no Honors
• No Honors and no credit for independent research

Senior Honors Theses Examples

Below are some examples of anthropology research theses topics:

• Alyssa Bolster: Diet in the Wari Imperial Hinterlands: Stable Isotope Analysis of the La Real Burial Population (600 – 1000 CE), Arequipa, Peru . Adviser: Tiffiny Tung. Supported by The Emily Ann Bennett Plant Award in Anthropology.
• Elizabeth Rosenthal: Barriers to Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare for Transgender and Non-Binary Individuals: A Social Media and Context Analysis Study . Adviser: Sophie Bjork-James. Supported by the Anthropology Research Grant.
• Jordan Rhym: Power and Influence of Protest Music and Chants During the 2020 Black Lives Matter Movement . Adviser: Gabriel A. Torres Colón. Supported by the Anthropology Research Grant.
• Joshua Woods: Heart Health in the Heartland: An Ethnography of Heart Disease in Hardeman County, TN . Adviser: T. S. Harvey. Supported by The Emily Ann Bennett Plant Award in Anthropology.
• Krista Panageas: Structural Racism and COVID-19; An Ethnographic Approach to Death, Suffering and Relief. Racial Disparities in Healthcare Made more Eminent by Covid-19 Outbreak. Adviser: Norbert Ross. Supported by the Anthropology Research Grant.
• Lindsay Ahlmeyer: Examining Childhood Stress in Huancavelica, Peru: An Analysis of Non-Specific Stress Markers among the Santa Bárbara Mining Community During the 16th-18th Centuries . Adviser: Tiffiny Tung. Supported by the Anthropology Research Grant.
• Sophie Rust: Doulas: A Bridge Between Western Medicine and Marginalized Communities . Adviser: Sophie Bjork-James. Supported by the Anthropology Research Grant.
• Olivia Core: The Soul of Afro-Puerto Rican Identity: How Bomba Reflects and Creates Black Solidarity . Adviser: Gabriel Torres Colón
• Amy Reith: The Application of Machine Learning Methods to Archaeological Practice: Using Classification Algorithms to Better Understand Soil Samples Collected at Maya Sites . Adviser: Markus Eberl
• Rachel Lee: Black American leisure travel in Puerto Rico . Adviser: Gabriel Torres Colón

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• Speaking exams
• Typical speaking tasks

Oral presentation

Giving an oral presentation as part of a speaking exam can be quite scary, but we're here to help you. Watch two students giving presentations and then read the tips carefully. Which tips do they follow? Which ones don’t they follow?

Instructions

Watch the video of two students doing an oral presentation as part of a speaking exam. Then read the tips below.

Melissa: Hi, everyone! Today I would like to talk about how to become the most popular teen in school.

Firstly, I think getting good academic results is the first factor to make you become popular since, having a good academic result, your teacher will award you in front of your schoolmates. Then, your schoolmates will know who you are and maybe they would like to get to know you because they want to learn something good from you.

Secondly, I think participating in school clubs and student unions can help to make you become popular, since after participating in these school clubs or student union, people will know who you are and it can help you to make friends all around the school, no matter senior forms or junior forms.

In conclusion, I think to become the most popular teen in school we need to have good academic results and also participate in school clubs and student union. Thank you!

Kelvin: Good evening, everyone! So, today I want to talk about whether the sale of cigarettes should be made illegal.

As we all know, cigarettes are not good for our health, not only oneself but also other people around. Moreover, many people die of lung cancer every year because of smoking cigarettes.

But, should the government make it illegal? I don’t think so, because Hong Kong is a place where people can enjoy lots of freedom and if the government banned the sale of cigarettes, many people would disagree with this and stand up to fight for their freedom.

Moreover, Hong Kong is a free market. If there's such a huge government intervention, I think it’s not good for Hong Kong’s economy.

So, if the government wants people to stop smoking cigarettes, what should it do? I think the government can use other administrative ways to do so, for example education and increasing the tax on cigarettes. Also, the government can ban the smokers smoking in public areas. So, this is the end of my presentation. Thank you.

It’s not easy to give a good oral presentation but these tips will help you. Here are our top tips for oral presentations.

• Use the planning time to prepare what you’re going to say. 
• If you are allowed to have a note card, write short notes in point form.
• Use more formal language.
• Use short, simple sentences to express your ideas clearly.
• Pause from time to time and don’t speak too quickly. This allows the listener to understand your ideas. Include a short pause after each idea.
• Speak clearly and at the right volume.
• Have your notes ready in case you forget anything.
• Practise your presentation. If possible record yourself and listen to your presentation. If you can’t record yourself, ask a friend to listen to you. Does your friend understand you?
• Make your opinions very clear. Use expressions to give your opinion .
• Look at the people who are listening to you.
• Write out the whole presentation and learn every word by heart. 
• Write out the whole presentation and read it aloud.
• Use very informal language.
• Only look at your note card. It’s important to look up at your listeners when you are speaking.

Useful language for presentations

Explain what your presentation is about at the beginning:

I’m going to talk about ... I’d like to talk about ... The main focus of this presentation is ...

Use these expressions to order your ideas:

First of all, ... Firstly, ... Then, ... Secondly, ... Next, ... Finally, ... Lastly, ... To sum up, ... In conclusion, ...

Use these expressions to add more ideas from the same point of view:

In addition, ... What’s more, ... Also, ... Added to this, ...

To introduce the opposite point of view you can use these words and expressions:

However, ... On the other hand, ... Then again, ...

Example presentation topics

• Violent computer games should be banned.
• The sale of cigarettes should be made illegal.
• Homework should be limited to just two nights a week.
• Should school students be required to wear a school uniform?
• How to become the most popular teen in school.
• Dogs should be banned from cities.

Check your language: ordering - parts of a presentation

Check your understanding: grouping - useful phrases, worksheets and downloads.

Do you think these tips will help you in your next speaking exam? Remember to tell us how well you do in future speaking exams!  

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Students, Faculty Expand Research on Reparations for JCSU

Charlotte, N.C./May 6, 2024 - “We are taking a stand on a crime against humanity.”

Is JCSU owed reparations? It’s a question a group on campus is posing in the form of an oral presentation and white paper, 109 pages long: “The HBCU Choice Bill: White Paper & Reparations Toolkit for JCSU Leadership.”

On Monday, May 6, 2024 Dr. Laurie Porter, Dr. Sabina Otienoburu, JCSU students Ashley Hall ’24 and Taylor Dobson ’24 spoke before a small group of JCSU administrators and staff. Each member of the group shared evidence in support of institutional reparations for the University.  

Reparations, can be defined as the making of amends through financial or other contributions to those who have been wronged. In the case of American history, reparations often refers to financial restitution owed Black Americans whose ancestors worked the land without compensation. Full reparations, according to the JCSU group “is an international law term that ‘indicates the degree in which reparations must redress crimes against humanity.’ Under International Law, reparations must ‘wipe out all consequences’ of a crime or harm.”

Reparations has been a topic of conversation since General Sherman’s special Field Order No. 15, issued January 16, 1865. The agreement would have allotted 400,000 acres of land to former slaves, a coastal plot stretching from South Carolina to Florida. The bill was overturned by President Andrew Jackson. Another bill introduced in the US Senate in 1894 would have granted each ex-slave $500 in reparations plus a monthly pension of $4 - $15. According to the NAACP, the bill died in congressional committee.

The group of JCSU students and faculty have been intrigued by the topic of reparations since Spring 2023. Their interest was piqued by the viewing of the documentary, “The Big Payback,” co- produced by actress Ericka Alexander and award-winning documentarian Whitney Dow. The film traces the mission of a young alderwoman in Illinois to pass the first tax-funded reparations for Black Americans in her town of Evanston.  

On this journey, JCSU students began to think about the history of Johnson C. Smith University, a history that dates back to 1867, a school built by the formerly enslaved. Prodded by the film, students began to ponder the inequities of the era, including education policies and segregation, North Carolina state tax code history, and the calculus of dollars spent/services rendered vs. services received and dollars owed: reparations.

The film, even in Dow’s eyes, was a conversation starter: “We like to think our film is a sort of activator.” The filmmaker hoped to instigate a re-interpretation of reparations through the lens of modern times.

“Most Americans look at reparations or even the idea of healing the rift between Black and white Americans as something that’s so big it’s almost impossible.”  

Ericka Alexander seemed committed to making the impossible, possible. She focused on community engagement as a brand of problem-solving: “Conversation is a natural thing, and it’s also how people can get to a solution.” For Alexander, the benefits of talking are even more far-reaching. “It’s also how people get educated.”

In March of 2023, Alexander and Dow held a reparations debate tour, passing through North Carolinas 10 HBCUs, including JCSU. Dr. Laurie Porter’s team of students argued a case for JCSU, presenting research in support of the HBCU Choice Bill. 

“The systematic denial of Black taxpayers to public education through the University of North Carolina education system created dramatic wealth and mobility gaps,” said Dr. Laurie Porter, Associate Professor of Communications.  

This led to the creation of private HBCUs like Johnson C. Smith University, where Black students were welcomed. While partnerships with the Presbyterian Church and later the James B. Duke Endowment and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) helped to pay for students’ education in JCSU’s early years, the cost of a private education began to steeply rise in comparison to state-funded institutions.

“Private HBCUs are the least funded institutions across the board,” said Porter.  Now Porter, Otienoburu, Hall and Dobson are on a mission to fill the void.

During the May 6 session, Porter shared the group’s financial assessment. In 2023, for example, the average cost for attending a private HBCU was between $26,000 and $30,000 a year, while UNC Charlotte’s tuition costs hovered just over $7,000 on average, per year. Further, several HBCUs have noticed that predominately White institutions (PWIs) have duplicated programs previously unique to HBCUs.  

The affordability of public education has created a disruption in historical models of educational supply and demand. As a result, a number of students who were interested in a private HBCU experience have turned to the public education system for their post-secondary degrees. Nationwide, HBCU enrollment has dropped 16 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. 

In order to rectify the issue, Porter, along with Otienoburu, Hall and Dobson propose the creation of an Urban Institute, created and run by JCSU, with existing and potential corporate and non-profit partners.

Hall and Dobson said they polled a number of students and alumni about reparations, and they were surprised to learn that their poll participants had little to no knowledge on what reparations were.

“Many older alumni we interviewed are against reparations because they feel the ship has sailed on that opportunity,” Hall said. “While our current students had little knowledge of reparations and the institution’s history, they have an immense pride for JCSU.”

After hearing their presentation, Kinloch showed her support for seeking reparations as an institution. 

“Reparations are important,” she said. “We are owed so much. How do we get what we deserve without being placed under a system that never extended their hand to help in the first place?”

Kinloch discussed several other solutions, such as continuing conversations with existing and potential partners as well as forming relationships with other local universities to expand academic programming and services. 

“Your presentation needs to be heard by others,” said Kinloch. 

Porter, Otienoburu, and JCSU students plan to continue to build on their research and present new findings to Dr. Kinloch and the JCSU Board of Trustees in the near future.

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18th Flatfish Biology Conference - 2024

Convened by NOAA Fisheries and first held in 1986, the Flatfish Biology Conference provides scientists, researchers, and students with an opportunity to present their findings and share knowledge on all aspects of flatfish research.

The 18th Flatfish Biology Conference will be held on November 13 and 14, 2024, at Water's Edge Resort and Spa in Westbrook, Connecticut. 

Accommodations

The conference has been held at the Water's Edge since 2002. 

• Venue website

July 12, 2024

Deadline for oral presentation and poster titles, september 20, 2024, deadline for abstracts, october 12, 2024, last day to get the reduced hotel rate, november 13, 2024, day 1 of conference, november 14, 2024, day 2 of conference.

Last updated by Northeast Fisheries Science Center on 05/08/2024