Making an IOP interesting

[aleniard]

Our english teacher told us that the audience's reaction to our presentation will also be an important part of our grade. So our teacher will deduct points from our gades if he notices people sleeping or looking disinterested. Do you guys know how to make an audience full of teenagers actually look interested during a presentation ?

[IB`NOT`ez]

37 minutes ago, aleniard said:

Our english teacher told us that the audience's reaction to our presentation will also be an important part of our grade. So our teacher will deduct points from our gades if he notices people sleeping or looking disinterested. Do you guys know how to make an audience full of teenagers actually look interested during a presentation ?

Hmm, that's a rather subjective method of marking.

Not exactly a guide on how to make the IOP "interesting" per se to teenagers, but this article written by a veteran English Lit student from Australia gives good advice on how to improve the quality of your presentation's content,and how you as the presenter can be more engaging -- all which would in turn engage your audience better.

http://www.studbuds.org/2017/01/14/how-to-succeed-in-the-foaiop/

Edited June 22, 2017 by IB`NOT`ez

[aleniard]

Thank you i'll check it out

[Nomenclature]

Bribe them all beforehand?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edited June 23, 2017 by Nomenclature

[azara]

I'd get together beforehand and make an agreement that you'll all look bright-eyed and fascinated by each other's presentations.  Seems like a weird method of marking.  

In terms of making an actually interesting presentation:

• Look up and around.  Not just at the teacher, but expand your gaze.  Glancing up for a moment and then continuing to read isn't very genuine, so try your best to really look around and find eye contact with the audience.  
• Vary your tone.  Nobody is interested in hearing a robot reading words off a notecard.  Imagine that you're explaining your points, as if you were explaining them to somebody on the street.  You can practice by standing in the mirror, and explaining it to yourself.
• Don't be afraid to pause.  Take breaths after important phrases, and at the ends of sentences.  For my IOP, I went through my cards and marked places to stop.  This is very helpful, because it keeps you calm, as well as making what you're saying sound much more impressive.
• Take a strong stance.  Don't hide behind a lecturn or a table, unless you have to.  Stand upright, slightly forwards from anything you could shrink into, and raise your chin.  Try not to be too stiff, but also don't slouch.  Not only will this give you a stronger presence, it will help you to feel more confident.  If you tend to sway from side to side when you're speaking, place one foot slightly in front of the other.  This will stop you from doing that
• If you can, use a stopwatch so you can see how much time is left.  Lots of people rush through speeches because they're worried they'll run out of time.  Subsequently, the speech is boring, and it just seems like the speaker can't wait to get to the end.  A good speaker makes you believe they want to be there, in the moment.  Know approximately where you should be up to in your speech at various times, so you don't fall into the time-poor trap.
• No death by PowerPoint, please.  One picture or some keywords per slide.  One slide per minute, max.  Too many words may make the audience look at the screen, but they definitely won't be interested in you.  PowerPoints are great, but keep the focus on what you're saying.  This means the audience will be forced to watch and respond to you = they appear more interested.

One thing I found was a real problem when I was giving presentations whilst nervous, was that I would royally screw up my breathing and basically run out of air.  I still don't know why this happened, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.  If you find yourself in trouble, don't push to keep going.  Finish your sentence, take a breath, and collect yourself.  It might seem like an eternity to you, but honestly, the audience probably won't even notice.

Good luck  

Edited June 23, 2017 by azara

[Blackcurrant]

Give them a shot of something. Or watch TED talks or Malcolm Gladwell and see how they entrance an audience. Perhaps the audience is ready to be interested. That may not be the case in a classroom.