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In high school, we were never taught how to properly deliver presentations or give good talks. What the heck is a discussion question and why did we have to come up with one? I’m going to share with you some of the secrets and techniques that I have learned throughout the years. Remember that there was no public speaking course. There wasn’t a Powerpoint seminar. Public speaking is a good skill to have in your life especially when you’re in school and 20% of your mark comes from the presentation.

My goal here is to be brief. I will expand on these topics in the next couple of days or weeks even. Heck, I just might make presentations the main focus of my blog.

Be Yourself

: Have you ever stopped and observed your own behavior? Compare yourself around the comfort of your own friends. Then look at yourself again when you’re giving a presentation. What changed? You were a nervous wreck because you tried to be someone you are not.

Be Prepared

: We all get the jitters before giving our speeches. It’s only natural. You don’t want to screw up, you don’t want to look like a moron, and whether or not you get that $5000 grant rides on your ability to sell yourself and what you are doing. The way I see it, the main reason students get scared and nervous going up there is because they’re afraid. Why are they scared? Because they are scared of the unknown. If you practice and rehearse repeatedly, you maximize the amount of control you have. The more in control you are the less scared you will be because you know what to expect.

Connect with your audience

: For us, it is our peers. The one thing that drives me crazy after watching some of the presentations on stage is that I don’t have a reason to participate. We have a line in our prerequisites of the presentation assignment that goes something like this:

“Come up with a discussion question involving your topic.”

More often then not, it’s something bland like “What do you think about X?”

That is not going to work. Why? I guarantee you that none of them will know about the theory as much as you do. You’re the one giving that presentation and force feeding them that information. Your mark rides on their discussion and their feedback. If the class doesn’t participate as much you are royally screwed. So here is my advice to you: Pick a question that not only relates to your topic but applies to your audience.

Let me give you an example. I had to give a talk about crimes and their evolution in society. My question to my class was why do you download music and not buy it from the store? Why download movies instead of renting? I framed a question that applied to everyone in class. It was something that I know every person had experience with. I chose a topic that was contemporary and applicable in society today. I only brought enough material for 10 minutes worth of actual presenting. I had to fill it up to 20 minutes. That class discussion filled up the last half of my presentation with no problem.

The next thing I’ll blog about is the presentation from start to finish as well as the delivery.