Last time we talked about the three primary elements of a powerful presentation.Now let's talk about the common obstacle.
In many cases the number one obstacle to giving a powerful presentation is fear. In personal development circles, there is a story circulating about a survey done in the USA about what people were afraid of. Apparently the number one fear was of public speaking, and more people listed this as their top fear than they did dying! True or not, there are a lot of native speakers who would find giving a presentation a daunting task. This is no less true for students in an English as a Foreign Language or English for Academic Purposes classroom.
Unfortunately the teacher, whilst prepared to give input on language, may not be a confident public speaker outside the classroom context, and so has less real experience to draw on when helping students with this task.
There is a way forward for the teacher finding him or herself in this situation. One important distinction to know is between courage and practice. Fear is a very normal response in a new situation, and for most, being called on to present to a group is a new situation. It does not mean that the person experiencing the fear is lacking in any aspect other than practice. Repetition is both the mother of skill and the death of nerves! The way to help students overcome anxiety is to put them in situations where they have to present (for short periods) so often that they get used to it. The task moves students back from their panic zone into their stretch zones.
Another way to approach these frequent mini presentations is as an opportunity to give constructive feedback to the students. This helps build a connection that every time the students do a presentation, they learn something. A question for the teacher is, what is one thing that the student can do to improve their presentation? One way to organize this feedback is to compile a checklist that the student is always measured against. Thus there is a clear way of assessing progress available to both students and teachers.
What appears on the checklist will probably depend on the criteria that will be used eventually to assess the student. This therefore is a question for the individual teacher working within their particular context. One size does not fit all. However, a useful way to organise the checklist may well be in to the areas of language, body and voice, as mentioned above.
In summary, presentations can be stressful for native speakers and are additionally challenging for a non native speaker. Presentation skills are sometimes taught by teachers who might not be particularly confident giving public presentations outside the classroom, themselves. Teaching and presenting are overlapping but different skills. One way forward is to deliberately address the ‘fear’ element by immersing the students regularly in giving short presentations. Competence can then be improved and measured by use of a checklist of core skills, created with reference to the individual institution’s assessment criteria. This checklist is then used to guide both teachers and students along the way to giving powerful presentations.
Unfortunately the teacher, whilst prepared to give input on language, may not be a confident public speaker outside the classroom context, and so has less real experience to draw on when helping students with this task.
There is a way forward for the teacher finding him or herself in this situation. One important distinction to know is between courage and practice. Fear is a very normal response in a new situation, and for most, being called on to present to a group is a new situation. It does not mean that the person experiencing the fear is lacking in any aspect other than practice. Repetition is both the mother of skill and the death of nerves! The way to help students overcome anxiety is to put them in situations where they have to present (for short periods) so often that they get used to it. The task moves students back from their panic zone into their stretch zones.
Another way to approach these frequent mini presentations is as an opportunity to give constructive feedback to the students. This helps build a connection that every time the students do a presentation, they learn something. A question for the teacher is, what is one thing that the student can do to improve their presentation? One way to organize this feedback is to compile a checklist that the student is always measured against. Thus there is a clear way of assessing progress available to both students and teachers.What appears on the checklist will probably depend on the criteria that will be used eventually to assess the student. This therefore is a question for the individual teacher working within their particular context. One size does not fit all. However, a useful way to organise the checklist may well be in to the areas of language, body and voice, as mentioned above.
In summary, presentations can be stressful for native speakers and are additionally challenging for a non native speaker. Presentation skills are sometimes taught by teachers who might not be particularly confident giving public presentations outside the classroom, themselves. Teaching and presenting are overlapping but different skills. One way forward is to deliberately address the ‘fear’ element by immersing the students regularly in giving short presentations. Competence can then be improved and measured by use of a checklist of core skills, created with reference to the individual institution’s assessment criteria. This checklist is then used to guide both teachers and students along the way to giving powerful presentations.
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