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Introduction
Communication with a group of secondary students involves gaining student attention, gaining student respect, and holding the group's attention. Good presentation organization, optimizing group participation, and controlling personal nervousness can increase effectiveness of communication with secondary students. Efficiently communicating complex concepts to the group involves considering the use of specific tools and skills.
Gaining a Group's Attention
Opening
The first sentence can be used to effectively gain the group's attention, even before the presentation topic is clearly defined. The first sentence can be tied to the main topic in the second sentence of your presentation. How can a first sentence command attention? The speaker can:
• Present a fictional or true situation involving suspense. For example: "The passenger boat carrying 130 celebrating young people drew closer and closer to the top of the waterfall, in the dark." This example might preceed a safety presentation.
• Tell a true, personal experience. For example: "As a sophomore in high school, the day came when my failure to be able to add three, 2-digit numbers cost me $97." This example might preceed a math presentation.
• Ask a question. For example: "As you think back, is there one person in your life who has consistently given you truthful information?" This example might preceed a psychology presentation.
• Give an interesting quote. For example: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." This example might preceed a business ethics presentation.
If extraneous noise exists, a statement of pending action or providing a benefit to quiet group members can quiet a room sufficiently that subsequent statements can be effectively heard. As the presenter makes subsequent statements without hesitation, their content can gain more attention from the group, further reducing extranous noise. Benefits that can be provided for quiet group members include giving attention, identification by name, and public commendation.
• Statement of action to come: Informing the group that the presentation will begin can be done with a statement similar to, "Well, I guess we'll go ahead and get started."
• Attention: Asking a quiet group member to provide assistance gives attention to the quiet individual, and can result in decrease of extraneous noise. Assistance might be requested for holding a chart or flipping power point screens.
• Identification by name: Addressing a quiet group member by name can result in extraneous noise reduction. For example, "Jason, good morning. Tiffany, good to see you."
• Public commendation: Thanking or expressing appreciation to group members who are silent can effectively stop extraneous noise. For example, "I want to thank each one whose attention is on this, first, power point slide at this time." Effectiveness can be increased by making eye contact with the commended individuals while making a statement.
• Eye contact: Eye contact provides personalized attention during a group presentation without verbal interruption. Looking at one student while making a statement or two may be followed by making eye contact with a different student for the next statement. Rather than generating emotions of being left out, making eye contact with a single student while a statement is made will look about the same to the rest of the group as if you were looking out over the crowd in general. Eye contact provides connection with students (NRCS 2007).
• Entertainment: In using body language, keep in mind that group attention is captured by entertainment (Kawasaki 2006). Using hand and position movement to make the presentation more interesting will keep your group focused on the presentation (Patel 2007). For example, if the presentation includes instruction on sanding wood, moving one hand in a sanding motion will entertain, thereby maximizing group focus.
• Shaking Hands: Before the presentation, shake hands with group members, greeting then individually (PETA 2007). Group attention you command at the beginning of the presentation will be increased.
• Taking Steps: Taking steps to the left and, later, to the right catches attention. Taking steps forward and to the side when starting to make a point, and standing still while finishing the point, are effective. The next point can be made from the opposite side of the lectern or table (Veen 2007).
Establishing credibility is partially a function of presentation preparation, and is partly a function of character.
• Show respect: The presenter deserves respect from secondary students. The students deserve respect from the presenter. While a student’s question may reflect lack of a base of knowledge, the student’s intelligence is, or almost is, fully developed by secondary school age.
• Understate rather than overstate: Slight overstatement may seem like the way to impress a group with a point. Ironically, the opposite tends to be true. When presenting information, credibility is maximized when the temptation to exaggerate is carefully resisted.
• Commitment: How easily the words, “I’ll get back to you on that” roll off the tongue. A presenter who later provides the group leader with the answer to a difficult question has gone the extra mile, whether or not a commitment was made to do the investigation. A tool to maximize credibility is to refrain from committing to look up additional information, but to provide additional information if it is obtainable.
The direction of a presentation may decrease as a result of verbal habits. To strengthen logical progression of information explanation to secondary students, and command the students’ respect:
• “Ah” and “Um”: Rather than use filler words such as “ah” or “um”, take a deep breath and state the next point. (Mother Tongue Annoyances 2007)
• Record One’s Own Speaking: Most speakers are not aware of the extent of their own filler word use. If a presenter can record themselves speaking, the presenter may be surprised at the frequency with which filler words are used. Professional growth result from recording, and listening to, one’s own speech. (Mother Tongue Annoyances 2007)
Student interest in a presentation can be increased by speaking with variety of tone.
• Allowing the tone of voice to rise, then to fall to lower tones, tends to increases listener interest in a subject.
• While leading up to a main point, a speaker’s tone might rise during a statement.
• When stating a conclusion, the speaker’s vocal tone might lower at the end of the statement, for emphasis.
The tool of varying vocal volume can maintain student interest in the presentation.
• Higher vocal volume may be used when presenting a quote.
• Lower vocal volume may be used just prior to stating a main point, to get student attention.
A presentation may be organized to:
• First, tell students what the general outline of the presentation will be.
• Second, present the backup information, and main points in logical order
• Finally, conclude with an overall summary of information described during the presentation.
• "Sandwiching"This presentation organization may be described as “sandwiching” the main points of information between an initial overview and a concluding summary. For secondary school students, this presentation organization is often effective.
Photograph from FreeFoto at www.freefoto.com
• Thoroughly preparation will facilitate logical information organization for the students (USAF 2007).
• If necessary, and if permissible, reduce the scope of information to be presented sufficiently to allow time for a logical, clear description to be made to the students. A thorough explanation of key information may be more effective that a general overview of a wide range of subjects (USAF 2007)
• Organize the body of the presentation to include the facts and logical development first. If conclusions will be made, give them after the structure of backup information has been explained (USAF 2007).
Group participation may be more active if the presentation is planned for the specific group of secondary students.
• Prior to the presentation, learning about the group will be beneficial for gaining optimal group participation (USAF 2007).
• Adjust sections of the presentation for applicability to the group to whom it will be presented. Such “audience-centered” (USAF 2007) presentations may spark optimal group participation.
It may save time in the long run to accept question at several stages during the presentation. Questions answered early in a presentation can keep a student’s understanding strong as the presentation progresses.
Glossophobia, the fear of speaking, can be more accurately stated as the fear of bringing embarrassment on onesself by what one says or does in front of a group (Haliburton 2006)
• The best cure I have found for a shaking hand is to breathe in deeply, hold the breath a second and release it slowly.
• The natural concern for a speaker is that such a pause may derail student attention.
• Double benefit: Ironically, the pause during a speech is more likely to hold students’ attention than it is to lose attention. The reason is that the natural reaction of a presenter is to speak more quickly than normal. The deep breath, therefore, provides a double benefit of increasing calmness of hands and giving the listener time to digest the previous point (Budd 2006).
To maintain focus, take actions before the presentation to help prevent distractions from arising, and minimize the impact of distractions that do occur during the presentation.
• Keep your mind on the goal of delivering an interesting, clear, presentation to the students.
• Should a technical difficulty or other issue arise, address it with a maximum of one, short statement of commiseration, and return your focus to the presentation at hand. (PETA 2007)
• Arrive early, both to keep ability to concentrate sharp and to allow handling any issues ahead of time. (PETA 2007)
• To maintain maximum self-confidence,focus as you speak and concentrate on the goal. (PETA 2007)
Great visual aids can clarify points better than an hour of explanation with a flip chart.
• Use a projector attached to your computer in place of a flip chart or posters if you have access to a projector (Mann 2007). Not only will students see more vivid colors, but transition from one visual to another will be quicker.
• Beyond Bullets: For Power Point, Keynote, Mac, or other presentation software, Cliff Atkinson’s ideas from his book, Beyond Bullet Points give tools for producing greater clarity in visual aids than bulleted points can provide. His book provides a template for a more interesting electronic presentation. (Mann 2007)
• Pre-enter Text: If the presentation involves students watching on a projector as the presenter types in text, use of free software such "as Texter on Windows, TextExpander on the Mac or Snippits on Linux will" allow text entry in advance. (Mann 2007). This is especially useful when presenting software to the students.
• Smooth Transitions and More: For showing visuals with smoother transitions, KeyJNote command line utility may be downloaded free for Mac,Windows and Linux. With KeyJNote, the presenter can tab from one thumbnail to another, allows specifying times for transitions, provides a progress bar for presentation timing, and provides other features. Use keyjnote.exe lifehacks101.pdf to send PDF files or image files to KeyJNote. (Mann 2007)
Speak to the students in your group rather than at them (Mann 2007). Allowing students to ask questions helps removes the risk of speaking at the students. When answering questions:
• Minimizing student embarrassment: If the question reveals failure to listen: Be careful to give a compliment before answering the question. After the question has been answered, the questioner is likely to feel embarrassed, remembering the information that was provided earlier. It is wise to compliment the student on one other factor. (Nate’s Productivity Tips 2007). Sandwiching the information between compliments will encourage other students, students who may have listened with discernment, to ask their questions.
• Answering the difficult question: Students may ask questions for which the information is not readily available. In such a case, allow more time as you speak, choosing words carefully. Minimize side-to-side motion of your arms and legs. Slower speech allows more time to think during response, and minimizing lateral motion tends to give the impression of intelligence (Mann 2007).
You were selected to make a presentation to students because your knowledge can help them, and/or your example can inspire them. Your presentation may clarify information for a student, helping them, and gaining their admiration for years to come.
Photograph from FreeFoto at www.freefoto.com
Budd, Andy. 2006. “Public Speaking Tips”, 07-06-06. Available at
http://www.andybudd.com/archives/2006/07/public_speaking_tips/ (Accessed October 20, 2007)
Haliburton, Janet, Tech. Sgt. 2006. United States Air Force. “Practice Produces Perfect Proclamations”. Luke Air Force Base. Available at http://www.luke.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123031222 (Accessed October 20, 2007)
Kawasaki, Guy. 2006. “How to Get a Standing Ovation”. Available at http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/how_to_get_a_st.html/ (Accessed October 20, 2007)
Mann, Merlin. 2007. "Public Speaking". Lifehacker. Available at http://lifehacker.com/software/public-speaking/ (Accessed October 21, 2007)
Mother Tongue Annoyances. 2007. "Mother Tongue Annoyances". Available at http://www.mtannoyances.com/?p=417 (Accessed October 20, 2007)
Nate’s Productivity Tips. “The Hamburger Method of Constructive Criticism”. 2007. Available at http://n8tip.com/the-hamburger-method-of-constructive-criticism-works-for-vegetarians-too (Accessed October 21, 2007)
Natural Resources Conservation Sources (NRCS). 2007. “Public Speaking”. Available at
http://www.mn.nrcs.usda.gov/intranet/pit_stop/Public%20Speaking.pdf/ (Accessed October 20, 2007)
Patel, Neil. 2007. “Ten Tips for a Killer Presentation”. Quick Sprout. Available at http://www.quicksprout.com/2007/09/01/10-tips-for-a-killer-presentation/ (Accessed October 21, 2007)
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). 2007. “Public Speaking Fact Sheet”. Available at
http://www.helpinganimals.com/pdfs/angel-publicspeaking.pdf (Accessed October 21, 2007)
United States Air Force (USAF). 2007. “Preparing to Talk”. Available at http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/kline-speak/b33ch1.htm (Accessed October 21, 2007)
Veen, Jeffrey. 2004. "Seven Steps to Better Presentations". Available at
http://www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000483.html/ (Accessed October 20, 2007)
Handling Extraneous Noise
Body Language
Tips for Gaining Respect among Secondary School Students
Credibility
Direction
Tips for Holding Group Attention
Variety of Tone
Variety of Volume
Tips for Organizing Presentation Content
Overall, Organization Structure
Detailed Tips for Effective Presentation Organization
Group Participation
Planning for Optimizing Group Participation
Taking Time for Student Questions
Tips for Conquering Nervousness when Speaking
Breathing
Focus
Tips for Presenting Complex Concepts to the Group
Visual Aids
Tips on How to Address Questions
Conclusion
Sources
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