As a college student it is almost a must to be able to present an oral presentation. No matter what your major is, most probabaly it requires the ability to do a nearly perfect representaion. Especially in high school, students try to do everything to avoid making a speech or an oral presentation. I can still remember my first speech back in grade 5 which went terribly wrong. Though i was far from being a shy student, i was so nervous on the day of my speech that i could not eat that morning. I was so quiet in school that my friends thought that i was maybe sick.
Anyway somehow i managed to finish my speech which was from my point a view a disaster as a i mentioned before. From my own experience, i believe most students feel uncomfortable doing a speech or a presentation because they simply lack the methods of preparing and delivering an effective oral presentation. Here are some examples of what you should do before, during and after an oral presentation. Before you do a presentation,you should make a really good preparation. Most students who do bad are the ones who are unprepared.
First of all make sure you understand the actual topic because only then you are able to present your work well. Then oraganize your ideas logically and systematically. A good idea is to prepare some helpful notecards. Once you have finished with your preparation, present your work to your friends or to your family to see their reaction. Try to improve whatever they criticize. On the day of your presentation, make sure you look good and feel comfortable. Arrive in class before the audience, as you have to check the tools and equipment that you are going to use. The most important part is the actual presentation.
However once you well prepared you should not be too worried about presenting. There are only a few details you should be aware of . The number one rule is to speak loud and clear all the time, because if your audience is having a hard time understanding you, then they will simply not pay attention. Also do not stare at the floor or at your notes. Try to look at the audience, and try to make eye contact as much as possible. Another point is not to let your presentation get boring. A good way to prevent this is to let your audience take part in the presentation.
Late in my high school years i had a presentation which involved a quizz and a competition and my whole class paricipated in it, even my teacher. Lastly remember your audience does not know about your preparations or your notecards, so if you are stuck or forgot a point, just move on and do not let your audience notice it. Finally if you are finished with your topic, do not just leave. It is always good to sum up your presebtation incase your audience missed some points. Then also be prepared to answer some questions or to go through several points again.
Only if there are no more questions asked, can you start to pack your things. Do not forget before you leave to thank your audience. Soon or later you will be asked to do an oral presentation, whether it is in high school, college or at your job. Even though it seens like a hard task in the beginning, once you know the methods and techniqes, you will notice it is actually not that hard. If you go through your work step by step as mentioned above, you will absolutely have no problems preparing and delivering an effective oral presentation.
