Cultivating confidence and calm when speaking to an audience is important for students and teachers alike.
Students
Practice, practice, practice. Whether you take five minutes before a presentation to review your words or you run through your entire project the night before, a practice run can smooth out most wrinkles. In addition, the more practice students have throughout
Understand stage fright. Mikael Cho, Educator and Public Speaker, helps individuals to understand and identify their stage fright in his TedEd video “The Science of Stage Fright (and How to Overcome It.)” In it, he explores how stage fright affects the body (sweaty palms, heart racing) and ways to move past this fear in order to successfully present in front of an audience.
The effect of enthusiasm. When someone conveys passion for or
Teachers
Know your audience. Teachers know that students receive information in different ways from adults; furthermore, a class early in the morning might interact with a presentation differently than a group late in the day. Age of the audience,
Utilize verbal and nonverbal communication. What a teacher says is just as important as how they say it. Whether it is taking a power stance at the front of the room to exude confidence or modulating the tone, pitch, and speed of a speech, The Teaching Center
Help students help themselves. Teachers can help students strengthen their own oral communication and presentation skills by giving them opportunities throughout the school year to share, practice, present. The
Whether in the classroom, in a boardroom, or simply in front of a group of friends, a capable public speaker has the power to change minds and move mountains. Now is the time to tap your potential and improve your presentation skills in 2018.
Additional Resources:
5 Public Speaking Tips from TEDxPortland Speaker Coach, Amy Wolff