Five Ways To Brush Up Your Presentation Skills For Class

Any teacher would agree that the biggest challenge inside the classroom is capturing the attention of the students and retaining it. While most students tend to lose focus during a classic lecture, all hope’s not lost.

One of the best tools that can be used for this purpose has always been in our PCs.

It’s the classic MS Powerpoint!

When used appropriately, any lesson can turn into an engaging activity. It also comes with a host of features you can play around with, however, presentation skills are essential.

Read on to find out five ways to take your presentations from good to great:

1) Use Visual Aids For Better Retention

It’s best to keep your word count low. The more visual content you have, the more likely your students can grasp concepts and learn it better. Visual aids can include diagrams, flow charts and graphs. But you don’t have to stop there - videos make a great addition to make presentations more engaging!

2) Switch it Up and Often

You’re well aware that the average attention span of a student is not very long. Consider switching up teaching methods every 15-20 minutes. For example, you can add a quiz or a group activity to brainstorm ideas in between your presentation to make sure your class is listening.

3) Add A Little Humour

Emotional responses aid memory. Adding a little humour to your presentations can make it more memorable for students and also drive a conversation during class. Do make sure to use humour sparingly and wisely within context.

4) Everyone Loves A Pop Of Colour

Colours can be used to draw attention to a topic, emphasise something that will most likely come in the exam, help to remember important information and even organise data. Just be careful to avoid overusing colour - rendering it useless.

5) Provide A Summary

Take frequent pauses to summarise the points discussed so far or ask one of the students to volunteer to do so. This helps to re-instil information, thereby, increasing recall for exams.

Another great way to amp up your presentations is by incorporating Virtual Field Trips to give your students a feel of the world, right from the classroom!