How to Be an Effective Presenter and Lecturer: Innovative Teaching Methods for Engaging Students
By Nahla Abbas, Academic Team Lead in Health, LSST Wembley
At LSST, we strive to foster an enriching educational environment for students and staff. Our primary objective is to ensure that students receive knowledge engagingly and effectively while empowering our lecturers with strong presentation skills and innovative teaching methods. Here are practical tips and strategies to enhance your presentations.
Tips for Being an Effective Presenter
1.Know Your Audience: Tailor your presentations to meet the needs of LSST’s students and staff, making your content more relevant and engaging.Students: When delivering a presentation on a complex topic, relate it to current events or trends that interest students. For instance, if your subject is on marketing, discuss recent successful marketing campaigns that fellow students are familiar with.
Staff: In a staff meeting about new administrative procedures, reference specific challenges or successes experienced by the team, showing how the new procedures can address these issues.
2. Clear and Organised Content: Structure your presentations with a clear Beginning, Middle, and End.A. Beginning: Captivate Your Audience
Hook: Start with a surprising fact, quote, or question to grab attention.
Overview: Clearly state what your presentation will cover and why it is important.
B.Middle: Deliver Clear and Organised Content
Main Points: Break down your content into 3-5 key sections. Organise each section with bullet points or numbered lists for clarity.
Visual Aids: Enhance understanding with slides, images, and videos.
C. End: Summarise and Conclude Powerfully
Recap: Briefly review the main points covered in your presentation.
Conclude: End with a memorable statement or a call to action to leave a lasting impression. Use outlines and summaries to help who you are presenting to.
3. Engage with Storytelling: Share real-life examples and anecdotes to make your lectures relatable and memorable.
4. Use Technology: Incorporate Multimedia elements such as videos and interactive slides to capture and maintain the interest of your audience, whether they are students or staff.
5. Encourage Participation: Ask questions and facilitate discussions to keep both students and or staff engaged to promote critical thinking.
6. Body Language and Voice: Maintain eye contact, use appropriate gestures, and modulate your voice to emphasise key points.
7. Feedback and Adaptation: Regularly seek and use feedback to improve your teaching methods or if you are a student to further improve your presenting style.
Innovative Teaching Methods to Enhance Presentations
1. Flipped Classroom: This approach allows the classroom to be more student-centered than just a lecturer leading the class. For example, as a student you can be told by a lecturer to review lecture materials at home and engage in interactive activities during class for more hands-on learning (Bishop & Verleger, 2013). This will in turn enable you as a student to learn at your own pace and to grasp difficult concepts.
2. Active Learning: Implement group discussions and problem-solving sessions to make learning interactive and collaborative (Prince, 2004). This will provide you as a student with a deeper understanding.
3. Gamification: It is more exciting and fun when game elements like quizzes and competitions are introduced into your classrooms, making learning more enjoyable and engaging. For example, use kahoot.com – it is invaluable for engagement.
4. Project-Based Learning: As a student, project-based learning will help enhance learning by assigning projects that require applying what you’ve learned to real-world scenarios. This approach develops critical thinking and teamwork skills (Thomas, 2000).
By combining effective presentation skills with innovative teaching methods, I strive to create an inclusive learning environment at LSST. One strategy I implement is using diverse examples and case studies that reflect the backgrounds and experiences of all students. This approach ensures that every student feels represented and valued in the classroom.
For instance, Maria a final-year Health student shared, “I appreciate how the course materials include examples from various cultures. It makes me feel more connected to the content”. Such inclusivity not only enhances student engagement but also enriches the overall learning experience for everyone involved.
At LSST, we are committed to fostering an enriching educational environment where effective presentation skills and innovative teaching methods play a crucial role in engaging both students and staff. By tailoring our presentations to meet the diverse needs of our audience and integrating dynamic techniques such as storytelling, multimedia elements, and active learning strategies, we aim to make learning a vibrant and interactive experience.
As educators, it is imperative to continuously seek feedback and adapt our approaches to enhance the learning journey. Whether you are a lecturer refining your delivery or a student exploring new ways to present ideas, these strategies not only elevate learning outcomes but also contribute to a more inclusive and supportive classroom environment.
Let’s continue to explore, innovate, and collaborate to ensure that every learning experience for students and staff at LSST empowers and inspires.
References
Bannister, E.B. Use Storytelling to present with power. Presentation Guru available at: https://www.presentation-guru.com/use-storytelling-to-present-with-power/ Accessed 08.07.2024.
Bishop, J. L., & Verleger, M. A., 2013. The flipped classroom: A survey of the research. ASEE National Conference Proceedings, Atlanta, GA.
Prince, M., 2004. Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93(3), pp.223-231.
Thomas, J. W. 2000. A review of research on project-based learning. San Rafael, CA: Autodesk Foundation.
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