FAQs

How long should the presentation be?
Response: A good rule of thumb in this class is 5 minutes per person or 10 minutes for a solo presentation. Anything much longer than this usually demonstrates an inability to hit the main points.

It's distracting to be bombarded with questions in the middle of the presentation. Can we save all the questions until the end? (This applies only to live presentations.)
Response: When you present, you are the instructor, and you should be treated like an instructor. Instructors generally have to deal with questions throughout their presentations and usually appreciate questions, which often help to clarify concepts, offer instant feedback to the presenters, and indicate an alertness in the audience. The disadvantage of saving questions until the end is that you lose the context in which the questions are most relevant. Presenters who are easily disoriented by questions are probably not prepared enough.

You (the instructor) keep asking questions to which I'm pretty sure you know the answer. Why do you do that? (This applies only to live presentations.)
Response: Sometimes I feel that the presenters need some coaching. My questions and comments are your opportunity to learn and improve. If I just let it slide and possibly make some obscure comments later, it will probably have very little impact on both the presenter and on the audience. In addition, members of the audience are not always comfortable asking questions, so I try to set an example for them as well.

Why do you (instructor) ask us such tough questions? Are you just trying to make us sweat? (This applies only to live presentations.)
Response: Presenters are presumed to be experts on the topic they're discussing. Questions should only give them the opportunity to show off what they know. Though some of the questions may seem tough under stress, my questions are usually quite basic, and anyone who sweats profusely when asked basic questions is probably not prepared. Those who are a little shy should compensate with more practice.

If we don't know the answer to a question, do we automatically lose points? (This applies only to live presentations.)
Response: The purpose of presentations is not to gain or to lose points. The purpose is to engage everyone in a learning experience. Grades are generally based primarily on the effort that goes into presentations and feedback to peers. Obviously, if you show very little understanding of the topic you are presenting, it would not be unreasonable to assume that you could have benefitted from a greater effort.

Do I actually have to talk or can I just put some slides together and have someone else in the group do the talking for me?
Response: Everyone in group should contribute slides to the presentation and everyone needs to talk. Those who are most reluctant to talk during the presentations are often the ones who benefit the most.

What type of feedback can we expect?
Response: Feedback is probably most effective when offered right away. For live presentations, I try to offer feedback DURING the presentation, usually in the form of questions. My questions are often a suggestion that something was either not clear or not discussed. Sometimes I will just say "too much text on the slide" or "very nice formatting". For both live and recorded presentations, classmates should post some feedback in the Presentations forum shortlly after the presentation, while everything is still fresh and relevant. Feedback should ideally have three components: What you liked, what you learned (be specific), and things to improve.

I'd like to point out some things they could improve in the presentation but I don't want to step on anybody's toes. What should I do?
Response: You are not doing the presenters any favor by keeping silent. In order to improve, presenters need honest feedback from you. And it is certainly possible to do that in a polite, constructive way, without hurting people's feelings.

Presentation Topic

The selected topic should be relevant to course material and should offer new insights or information (beyond what was already covered in class). When preparing your presentations, think about how movie producers create movies. They don't simply make movies about "the same, old, boring stuff" but rather try to find something completely novel or controversial or perhaps add a new twist to an old idea. So do try to put some effort into making your topic interesting.

Presentation Format

Every presentation should at the very least include an overview with motivation (i.e., Why is this topic exciting?), at least a few relevant questions throughout, and a summary of the important points of discussions at the conclusion. An informative but concise hand-out covering the big ideas in the presentation is also highly recommended. Presentations should be limited to about 5 minutes per person (10 minutes for solo presentations). PowerPoint is the suggested presentation tool, although presenters are welcome to explore other props/possibilities which you feel will enhance your presentation and stimulate your audience. Here's a common layout:

• Introduction of speakers
• Outline of presentation
• Body of presentation
  • Questions throughout
  • Pictures throughout
  • Bulleted key points (with minimal text)
• Summary of important ideas
• Something to think about
• References (sources used)

Specific suggestions for an effective presentation

Some of this applies only to live presentations but some of it is also relevant to recorded presentations. A presentation is meant to be both a learning as well as a teaching experience. Learning should occur as you research the topic, rehearse, and ultimately present to the class under a little of bit of pressure to do the best job you can. As teachers, you should expect questions of any kind, at any time (just like I do when I'm up there). The presentation should be as interactive as possible, and questions scattered throughout the presentation (not simply at the end) help to facilitate this interactivity. Since the presenters have presumably had a chance to become experts on their topic, no question should be considered too difficult. Furthermore, if you can't answer some question, there is no shame in saying you don't know. Indeed, this is yet another opportunity to learn. Finally, don't be so fragile that you cannot handle a little bit of ribbing (real or imagined), particularly if you didn't give it a full 100%. Again, it's all about learning and being able to handle constructive criticism. And here are some quick tips (see also "Key elements" below for more detail).

• Evidence of preparation
  • Minimize dependence on note cards
  • Talk, do not read like a zombie
  • Minimize text on slides
  • Make sure everyone can hear you--LOUDER!!!
  • Distribute workload evenly among groupmates
• Interactivity
  • Maintain eye contact with the audience
  • Show enthusiasm
  • Invite questions. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF QUESTIONS!
  • Ask provocative questions throughout
  • Reward good answers with candy
• Use interesting material
  • Don't show a slide if you can't explain it
  • Include fun pictures and sounds
  • Dazzle the audience with a cool demo/video (when appropriate)
  • Avoid using terms which have not been explained and are not likely to be understood
  • Watch out for the drag factor ("Leave them wanting more, not less.")
• Use credible and peer-reviewed sources
  • www.Wikipedia.com is usually a good starting point
  • Include nationally recognized sites and/or journals
  • Avoid agenda-biased sources
  • Show skepticism of conspiracy theories
  • Make sure to distinguish good science from bad science

Feedback to Peers

Shortly (within about a day) after each presentation, you will need to post feedback to peers in the Presentations forum. Feedback posted many days after the presentation tends not be very helpful and will therefore receive very little credit. Please use the following format:

• Things you liked.
• Things you learned.
  • Be as specific as possible. Do NOT simply say you learned a lot, with no other detail.
• Areas for improvement.

Grading of presentations

Your presentation grade will be determined by the effort that goes into your presentation and the substance in your feedback to peer presentations. You will not be expected to be a polished presenter but you should, of course, try to do your best and hopefully you find this guide helpful. Since there is no way to produce effective evaluations in absentia, attendance to the presentations, both in mind and body, is mandatory.

Why evaluate: In terms of learning, presentations can be divided into 3 phases: research/preparation, actual presentation, and feedback. Having to offer feedback motivates the observer to pay attention and the presenter to be a bit more prepared. And even though it is sometimes somewhat painful to receive negative feedback, hopefully the feedback is offered in a constructive way and we all learn from it.

How to evaluate: In order to write an effective evaluation, you will probably need to jot down some notes during the presentations. These notes should include the names of the presenters, some highlights from the presentation, and your overall impressions of the presentation (see key elements below). Try not to be overly generous or empathetic in your feedback. The more effective feedback tend to be the ones that points out deficiencies and offers constructive criticism (see "Feedback" below).

Submission of evaluations: Please submit your evaluations/observations for your classmates in Canvas's Presentations forum as soon as you can after each presentation.

Self-reflection: Please evaluate your own group as you would any other, but do this in your Journal (not in the Presentations forum). Make sure to address effort and areas of possible improvement. While it may feel a bit awkward to evaluate ourselves, the following few questions should help. Was your material fresh and exciting? Did you get the audience involved and excited? Did you put your heart and soul into this presentation? (If you're not sure, the answer is probably 'no'.)

Sample feedback

It is very often the case that students feel overly empathetic toward the presentations of their peers and as a result forget to offer meaningful constructive criticism. Try to avoid this mistake and try to offer feedback which is as complete and truthful as possible. If you find it difficult to be direct, you can still make your point in a very gentle way, as these examples demonstrate.

Direct: I was really looking forward to this presentation because I have always been interested in black holes, but did not know too much about them. Unfortunately, I found the presentation to be lacking in quite a few areas. The biggest problem was that there was way too much text on the Powerpoint and the presentation basically consisted of the presenters just reading the information right from the slides. The information was way too technical and there was really no energy or fun about the presentation. I found it incredibly hard to follow and do not think I really learned too much about black holes.
Gentle:  You guys really presented some complex information. I really liked the Powerpoint and you certainly did a ton of research. Definitely too much text on the slides, but I liked the diagrams and pictures.

Direct: UFO's is a potentially interesting topic. However, this presentation seemed to go by too quickly and did not have any real info to sway a viewer left or right. She kinda ran through a bunch of slides with a lot of flying baloney, without giving a sense of what is and is not credible. This really disappointed me since this is obviously a subject where so much could be said. The info was seemed kinda thrown together and didn't follow a set path. The slides worked well though and the videos maintained viewer attention, but again there was no balanced perspective in terms of credibility. I just didn't come out of it remembering a damn thing I'd "learned" as I sorta felt it was presented as fluff and the attitude at the end of presentation kinda made it seem irrelevant to me.
Gentle:  Good job entertaining the audience, but you probably should have tried to debunk some of the "facts" you were presenting about UFO's.

Direct: This is by far perhaps one of the worst presentations. It started out with a bang but ended in an ooze of nothingness. We are in a college-level course and there is no need for antics and clown laughter. The song at the end was fun but only fun...was it even necessary? The level of comic performance was outstanding if this was a rehearsal for a Saturday Night Live show...but the level of information was never there. A presentation can be fun and informative at the same time, but he couldn't even answer basic questions related to the topic. Having antics without the education is like watching the Simpsons without the laughter...there is no point.
Gentle: Good effort trying to amuse the audience, but it might have been better to focus on the actual topic.

Direct: Fizz Icky's presentation appeared to be a collection of loosely connected factoids and techno jargon. He was not able to develop one big concept and had very little interaction with the audience. Astro Sallie had the same difficulties as Fizz, although she did not rely on her notes as much. I would suggest the group as a whole invest more effort into being creative and test the material on some friends before presenting to the class.
Too gentle: They all did a great job. The subject matter was a little over my head but that was probably my fault.

Direct: Ned Fors was reading his notes almost exclusively, with very little eye contact. His slides had way too much text and had no questions for the audience. He covered too many details and the big picture was not clearly defined. Ned probably should have practiced a bit more.
Too gentle: Ned covered an amazing amount of material. I wish I was a bit more prepared to absorb it all.

Direct: Al Einstein was very articulate and had a clear grasp of his topic. He was very interactive, always maintaining good eye contact with the audience. His questions drew audience participation and his slides had very entertaining pictures and sounds. He hit on the big ideas, without boring the audience with unnecessary details.
Too vague: You did great.

Key elements

What makes a good presentation? While opinions may vary and there is no one correct way to present, there are certain key elements that many effective presentations have in common. As you're developing your presentation, try to keep these elements in mind (as if you were evaluating your own presentation).

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