Student Presentations: How to Give a Presentation that Gets the Grade
Giving presentations is one of the most frustrating aspects of high school. Some of us have no idea how to choose the perfect topic, or what tools to use to make a presentation appealing, and some of you may even have a fear of public speaking! All of these reasons are 100% valid. If you checked off one or more of these boxes, we totally understand and have some awesome tips to help you strengthen your academic confidence and prepare for your next class presentation!
Types of Presentations
Presentations are an important part of our academic work. They allow us and our teachers to check our progress on previously learned topics. It is also a great way to discover new information. There are several types of presentations:
Informative Presentations: Reports, lectures, training seminars, and demonstrations.
Instructive Presentations: Workshops, training sessions, or webinars.
Persuasive Presentations: Anything that attempts to persuade the audience to do something (e.g., voting, reading a specific book, recycling).
Motivational Presentations: TEDTalks, the presentations about ordinary people’s success.
Decision-making Presentations: Presentations at business meetings, government meetings, etc.
Progress Presentations: A team stand-up presentation. This includes an agenda, talking points, updates, discussion topics, and time for questions at the end.
Demonstrative presentations: How to get ready for exams, how to create a Halloween mask, how to play piano, etc.
While each type of presentation has its own purpose, the goal is the same: bringing out your inner champion!
Best Tools for Creating Presentations
As already mentioned, the visual part of giving a presentation is very important too. To make your presentations interesting, productive, engaging, and likable, there are some free online tools and resources that can help. Here are some effective tools for creating presentations:
Microsoft PowerPoint: This program is the most popular in schools, and creating slides in it is very simple. There are even templates that you can use!
Prezi: This enables you to build a virtual environment in which you can move and adjust the zoom level. Once you learn Prezi, it can help your presentation stand out from the crowd.
Google Slides: A free alternative to PowerPoint, Google Slides has many of the same features and ease of creating awesome presentations
Canva: An online tool for making presentations, graphics, illustrations, and much more! The layout gallery has many free, attractive slide templates, and it is simple to use.
Slido: A web-based presentation tool for creating polls and asking questions. It is a very helpful app to engage participants during classes, especially online.
Kahoot: A platform that turns answering questions into a contest. It can be used as a fun game to liven up a presentation as well as for questions that help you gauge the audience's level of knowledge.
Multimeter: A presentation tool for making word clouds, polls, and quizzes. It’s a great way to engage the audience and make the class enjoyable.
Pollev: This app helps you engage your audience in real-time voting by sharing a QR code and inviting them to participate!
How to Prepare for Your Presentation
A presentation's success is ensured by thorough preparation. To do so, I encourage you to outline the critical parts of your presentation and write them down! Additionally, proper research is super necessary for your and your audience because having the right evidence and knowledge about your topic can help you teach others on the spot. I recommend using flashcards to ensure that your findings are correct if anyone asks you to elaborate on them.
As always, practice makes progress! Not perfect. Always aim to do your best, and practice before your big day! You can practice with music, and even rehearse in front of your friends and family to prepare. These actions will help you feel more relaxed and oriented during the presentation.
Here are some other helpful tips that can help you prepare and to keep in mind for presentation day :
Using effective body language and eye contact while presenting is important! It shows your confidence and that you’re interested in the topic you’re presenting on.
Using visual aids can help you get your audience’s attention. Don’t hold back on making your presentation the best yet!
Engaging with your audience by asking and answering questions.
Being well organized improves self-confidence and reduces fear of failure
Making the audience laugh creates a nice environment and thus reduces stress
Planning and rehearsing actually make a huge difference! I promise you will feel more confident and prepared come presentation day.
Writing a script for your speech reduces your chances of missing any important information and will help you keep track of all the points you want to make!
Final Thoughts on Student Presentations
We hope you found the tips we included in this article helpful. It's a good idea to look at other presentations you like and see what you can come up with. Take what they've done and try doing it your way, or take their advice and make it your own! We believe that one of the best ways to learn how to give great presentations is simply to do it. Good luck!
Still need some extra help with planning or have any questions? Chat with an UPchieve coach for free!