Years of observing students who have been set an oral presentation task have allowed us to form the opinion that the greatest challenge for most students is in their perception of the requirements and their ability to meet them. They develop a negative self-assessment before they even commence the task, resulting in a lack of confidence which becomes their greatest hurdle.
Experience has shown that students’ confidence can be increased with activities and techniques that address their anxieties and allow them to achieve success that they did not think was possible. They are almost ‘tricked’ into performing more confidently.
Give them confidence in their content.
Most students hate to be boring. The people they least want to bore are their peers. Even though most of them deliver their presentation to the class, they’ve only had feedback from their teachers (and possibly their parents). Allowing them to get validation from their peers in the preparation (subject and content selection) means that they will go into their delivery being confident that what they have prepared is interesting to their audience.
Give them confidence in their delivery.
With vocal delivery, most students can name the different components; but, this does not mean they are confident in their use. It’s all a matter of degree:
- How loud is loud enough?
- How much do I need to emphasise?
- What level of emotion should come through in my tonality?
- How long should I pause for?
Students need to develop a sense of their own delivery. They need to know long should the right pause feels. Involving students in practice delivery in groups allows them to learn from each other. They can stretch their vocal use without the self-consciousness of doing it alone. Activities like choral reading and reader’s theatre can give them confidence-building practice.
Give them the confidence to be separated from their script.
Some students’ attachment to their scripts is obsessive. They convince themselves that if they don’t have every word in front of them they will lose their way, resulting in a massive, embarrassing failure. One exercise that has much success with these students is to have them deliver their presentation from the back of the classroom (with the class simply turning their chairs around). This way, the student’s script can be projected on the screen. Then, they are shown the revised version of their script, using abbreviations and sentences shortened to phrases or just single words. Without exception, the students are able to deliver their presentation with just as much confidence in their content. And, they sounded much more natural!
Give them confidence in their conclusion.
A successful presentation must finish on a high, with a powerful, memorable conclusion. The most appropriate analogy for most students’ presentations is a slowly deflating balloon. Their presentations don’t conclude, they just run out of energy; making it hard for the audience to engage with and for you to give them the mark they deserve.
Overcoming this can require nothing more than a modified preparation process. Most students, by default, write, prepare and deliver their presentation in the same order – from start to finish. Changing their preparation process can happen at two stages:
- In the writing. Having students write their opening and conclusion together makes it easier for them to create the ‘tie-back’ that all good conclusions exhibit.
- In the delivery. Rehearsing their presentation as one block will mean that they practise their opening more than their conclusion. Having them ‘chunk’ their presentation allows them to practise their conclusion most. This way, in their delivery, they are working towards the part of the presentation they know best – not away from it. This makes it easier for them to get back on track if they do lose their way and it is much more likely they will finish strongly.
Using these exercises in the classroom has proven that students can be ‘tricked’ into realising they are better than they think they are – giving their confidence a boost.
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