Opinion: The good, the bad, and the eloquent about class presentations

I’ve been on Speech Team for three years, and I still don’t like class presentations.

For one thing, it’s a hassle to design a slideshow and memorize a speech. For another, it’s pretty nerve-wracking to stand up in front of peers and present. It’s a common feeling.

“When I was in high school, I hated presentations,” said OH English teacher Abby Bartle. “I was so shy, I didn’t want to get up there. … I wish that I had been forced to do more presentations and get more comfortable.”

Even though giving a good presentation is challenging, the benefits are worth it. 

Speaking and Listening skills are a major focus of the Common Core Illinois State Standards, which inform curricula, including those used at OH.

According to the Common Core State Standards, “Students must learn to work together, express and listen carefully to ideas, integrate information from oral, visual, quantitative, and media sources, evaluate what they hear, use media and visual displays strategically to help achieve communicative purposes, and adapt speech to context and task,” according to the Common Core State Standards.

Speaking and listening includes everything from Socratic Seminars to informal discussions to, of course, formal presentations, where students are in charge of creating slideshows, memorizing information, and presenting to the class.

“I think we don’t explain the ‘why’ behind what we do enough. … If kids understood the benefits… maybe they would see the value … and… try to push themselves out of their comforts a little bit more,” OH Social Studies Department Chair and AP Seminar teacher Jennifer Keto said.

While it may seem silly to be taught how to speak professionally, it is a crucial skill for many careers, and is a lot different than the casual communications many high schoolers are used to.

“In the real world, you are going to have to speak to people, not … always in a presentation mode, although a lot of professions do require that in some capacity,” Keto said.

For everyone, from public figures doing national press conferences to a construction manager talking to a client, the ability to speak in a professional way is a crucial skill, and speaking and listening practice helps people build those skills starting in high school. 

“It’s better to do it now with low stakes assignments instead of your first time being asked to speak in this meeting, or in a college lecture or something like that. So when they’re low stakes, low pressure, it’s easier to develop those informal, impromptu speaking skills,” Bartle said.

The best way to learn something is by getting practice, and it’s a lot easier to get that practice with classmates and teachers someone has already started building a relationship and trust with than in a professional meeting or college lecture. Additionally, when presentations are assigned, typically every student in the class will need to do one.

“Teenagers think that there’s always a spotlight on them and that everybody is always watching them… but every person has that same feeling, so everyone is just worried about themselves,” Bartle said.

Effectively listening is another skill that presentations develop. Listening to peers respectfully, having empathy for anxiety that they may be experiencing, and paying attention even though they may not be an authority figure are important skills. The best way to learn these skills is through practice, and the best way to practice is by listening to class presentations.

“If you go up there and everybody listens to what you’re trying to say… students… can…understand it more than [if] you [were] … reading it [directly from a book],” said OH senior Arda Simsek, who is taking AP Seminar.

Having information in different formats can help it be more engaging. It is also important to be able to listen to peers, and determine which pieces of information are most important to take notes on.

“I think that we need to do more [presentations],” Keto said. “We’re trying to build all these other skills, too, so sometimes I feel like we fall short in building every skill that we need to … for kids to be… effective humans… but I think we strive to.”

Whatever the quantity, though, the quality of the presentations matters too.

“If you’re too nervous… you’re probably going to stutter, and [other] students will probably… take the wrong notes,” OH junior Melissa Madera said.

One thing that’s important for presentations is being well-prepared by setting up a clearly organized slideshow if possible, and practicing the speech.

“I would suggest students reach out to their teachers if they want… extra help. I suggest they practice as much as they possibly can before their presentation, and I would recommend just being brave and jumping in and taking the opportunity for what it is,” Bartle said.

While notecards can be really beneficial for remembering key points, the order of points on slides, or specific citations or statistics, they aren’t a replacement for practice and memorization.

“You have to… memorize what you’re gonna say. … Most classes… say you [can] use a note card… but I feel like you… want to have eye [contact] in front and see the whole class, and present to the class,” Simsek said.

Eye contact may be annoying, but it is important, both to people being able to understand the speaking and to building authority by seeming confident.

“Having good eye contact skills and [not being] nervous in general can be very… beneficial because it won’t be very convincing to businesses [if you’re] rambling and just nervous,” Madera said.

Though they can be frustrating and difficult, class presentations build crucial skills, and allow students to communicate effectively for their futures.