Student Assessment 4 - Practice PRAY!

Hi everyone! I have already taken 6 classes this week through Student Assessment 4. This assignment requires your Spies R Us groups to study 2 websites that will be made known to you in class followed by an eight minute presentation in front of your classmates. This will be followed by 2 minutes of Q & A.

I give the groups a choice of selecting 1 person to make the presentation or to have everyone play a part. I have found students reluctant to speak, prefering to appoint someone else to do all the talking.

If your goal is to be a better public speaker, this is a GREAT opportunity to practice PRAY, especially Y for YES! Say YES to this opportunity to develop your public speaking skills. Don't shy away from this. If you cannot speak in front of your classmates, how can you learn to be comfortable standing in front of a bigger crowd? When I started to learn about public speaking, my instructor had me videotaped and I had to make presentations in front of my classmates. Then they had to evaluate my delivery. Your situation is much easier! So, don't waste this opportunity. When every fiber in your body is saying, "No!", remember, say, "Yes!"

There is limited time for research and presentation. This means you have to be selective. Let me give you a few tips...and enjoy your next tutorial with me! :-)

• Ask yourself what the top 4 to 5 issues are. Get to know them well rather than to find out everything about the subject.
• Then write down the information in point form so that you have access to it at all times. But don't read from your notes; it's very boring.
• When you speak, look at your audience. You MUST get used to this because establishing eye contact is very important. If you do not connect visually with people visually, then you are not able to see how they are responding. Additionally, people tend to see you as being credible if you make eye contact with them. Having shifty eyes that dart from one focus point to another does not convey authenticity or confidence.
• When speaking, speak clearly and slowly. When I told my students they had 8 minutes, they said, "Wah, so long, ah?" Watch your time. If you have 4 major points and have 8 minutes, then if you take 2 minutes for each point, you're right on target! If you really cannot use up 8 minutes, then make sure the time you do take are packed with good stuff from your research. Don't fill time with repetitions of your points! Boring!
• Conclude your presentation well. Not one of the Spies R Us groups concluded their presentations well. At the end of your presentation, state the subject and give the main points in summary.
• One Spies R Us group used a powerpoint presentation to accompany the presenter! Instead of noting the points down on paper, the presenter had the points down in a powerpoint presentation. These were in bullet form. The background was vibrant. The points were not wordy. He spoke well. That was an excellent presentation.
  
• During the Q&A, DON"T BLUFF YOUR WAY out of questions you don't have the answer for. A number of students tried that and when I asked further questions, they got deeper and deeper in trouble with their reasoning. If you don't know the answer, give an educated guess.