Or you've stared at a bright red screen with yellow words typed in because the professor wanted to be creative and keep your attention. But really your eyes are watering more than after chopping up an onion.
Or the final worst thing is a presentation where the professor puts up slide after slide and reads off the text. Even the occasional animation/entrance effect can't make up for how boring it is. Soon all the words start blending together and you have no idea what she's even talking about anymore. (I've been guilty as charged of this--I am ashamed to admit).
Giving a successful and effective presentation has many things to consider:
- Do I use a supporting format (i.e. PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.) or not?
- Do put a lot of information on the slides or just a little
- How much information should I practice on my own?
- Should I use pictures or video to enhance it?
In today's online class, you'll learn the very basics of a presentation platform called Prezi. It's a creative way to present information (more than just words) that allows for a more fluid and inspiring experience for those who are receiving the information. I also think it's more fun to make a Prezi than a PowerPoint. Think about your future career goals and what kind of information you'll have to present and what kind of audience you'll have to present to...
- Concussion prevention tips to parents of your athletes?
- The importance of quality Physical Education to a school board?
- Your master's degree thesis to your committee?
- Protein/carb ratio nutrition tips to personal training clients?
As a future physical activity professional, sharing with and educating your students will be a very regular part of your job. Being able to use a tool (like Prezi) is just another way to show that you can be flexible, creative, and also hopefully keep their attention.
Here's a few questions I'd like you all to comment on this week:
What was the WORST presentation you ever have seen? Why was it so bad?
What was the BEST presentation you have ever seen? Why was it so effective?
Feel free to compose your own comment or also comment on a classmate's posting.
One of the worst presentations I have seen was involving a projector and plastic slides. The instructor lecture was dull and his voice was monotone as he read directly from the slide. When taking notes, we had to wait for him to move the slide up to continue writing the rest of the sentence. Also, sometimes the plastic slides would have smudges and the font was hard to read.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best presentations that I have seen was by a physical education teacher in the Wayne County School District. The teacher incorporated the use of a smart board in her classroom and it made her presentations a lot more interesting. Students were allowed to go up to the board and pick their favorite exercise, when they touched the board the exercises became an interactive video. I believe that the students really enjoyed the lesson because they could relate to it using touch screen technology.
Evan Cox
The worst presentation I've had was probably from my sociology professor as WVU. She had a whole powerpoint made that took the entire class period to present and she had every slide basically filled from top to bottom with text and just read off the slides and would occasionally ask a question or two.
ReplyDeleteThe best presentation was actually by my high school health teacher. He just made a simple powerpoint but he only had two or three points per slide and then would discuss/explain/and give examples to help us learn and remember all the information given in that presentation. I think this method was effective because he kept everyone's attention and kept us all involved in class.
One of the worst power points that I have ever had to sit through was in a high school social studies class. The class was mostly history of the US government. I sat through slide after slide after slide all semester of just staring at names and dates. Many of them important, yes, but many of them also just taking up memory for no reason. I usually ended up finding something different to do like text girls or sleep, since the teacher's monotone voice was basically a lullaby
ReplyDeleteI can say that I have had so many bad presentations in my lifetime that I've lost count. Whoever taught those instructors/teacher how to deliver a power point presentation needs to banned from the education professional.
DeleteHere's something to consider...when PowerPoint came up and became popular, I bet very few universities/colleges actually taught their professors how to use it effectively. It's definitely on the shoulders of the professional, whether you're a teacher, a construction site manager, or a librarian to stay up to date not just on what current technology is, but also on how to use it. The down side is that is many times easier said than done.
DeleteOn the other hand, one of the best power point presentations that I have experienced was actually from a middle school math teacher. One wouldn't think that powerpoints in math would keep a 12 year old's attention, but my teacher always included jokes and sports talk in his powerpoints to keep us students paying attention. He would also include random bonus points by including catch phrases written on the slides or clues to a puzzle that would give us extra points on exams.
ReplyDeleteThe best power point presentation that I experienced was from a college basketball coach. The reason I say this is because his presentation had videos, asked lots of questions, lots of discussion.
DeleteThe best power point presentation I have seen was from a volleyball coaching clinic. The power point had pictures of athletes demonstrating the drill's or form. It also had diagrams or the drills the had enough detail for both instruction and reason for the drill.
ReplyDeleteOne of the worst power point presentations I have seen was from my freshmen year of college. You could tell the professor was not comfortable with power point. The font was so small you couldn't read it and the colors were to similar.
The Worst PP presentation I have ever sat through was a high school world history class. Granted teaching about European history to a bunch of American high school students who aren't terribly interested to begin with is hard enough,but just watching and listening to him read off slide after slide was miserable. Adding a little personality to the information a joke here and there or an interesting fact would have went a long way.
ReplyDeleteAs for good presentations, my freshmen year of college sociology professor did great PP presentations. He added short activities in the PP to keep students attention and give a break from long periods of text which sociology seemed to have. Also during lecture he would have class debates about certain topics/issues we were talking about. Sometimes he even related it to our local area which got more students involved.
The worst presentation I have ever sat through was in an AP Humanities class in high school. The presentation was on classical music, and consisted of slides with only words on them and classical music in the background. This failed to keep my attention and put me to sleep. Needless to say I dropped that class.
ReplyDeleteThe best presentation I have experienced was in an African American Literature class. This presentation included pictures, video clips, and enough information to grasp what was important. The teacher provided the students with discussion questions for us to ponder as a class and in small groups. This presentation encompassed many topics that were graphic, but intriguing making it easy to pay attention.
The worst presentation that I had experienced was at work in a business meeting where people had been selected to share best practices and how it affected the bottom line of profit. The presenter just read from a power point with too much information crammed into each slide. A lot of the information was number based and we had very little interaction with the person that was talking. Many ideas were skimmed over with sparse explanation or application to real situations. The presentation seemed to go on forever and you could only think your time could be better spent. It was also apparent that this person put a lot of hard work into this power point.
ReplyDeleteThe best presentation I experienced was also at work, in a training session with a colleague. He had put together a power point that was eye catching and relevant to his ideas. He used only a few lines on each slide but he spoke facing us and seemed very knowledgeable. He used a lot of his experiences and by sharing them he formed a connection with us. His presentation seemed effortless and he appeared natural like we were just having a conversation. He also interjected appropriate humor at times that seemed to drop the guard in the audience to be more open to hear what he had to say. Some people just seem to have a gift.
The worst presentation that I have seen was my freshmen year of college at ASU, The class was Psy101 and my professor made a power point that was so plain and each slide was just filled with information that he read from word for word. He rarely looked up and never asked a question to the class to keep us engaged.
ReplyDeleteThe best presentation that I have seen was from a guest speaker, it was my junior year of high school, the class was business management class. The guest speaker was full of energy during the presentation. He used a power point that had only the main points he wanted to touch on and would elaborate on the topics. He kept the class involved by asking questions, making jokes, telling stories that has happened to him in the business world.