First of all, let's define what we mean by 'presentation'. For our purposes, we mean:

'A short talk by one person to a group of people introducing and describing a particular subject (for example: a new product, company figures or a proposed advertising campaign).'

This is a narrow definition. In reality, presentations may be given by more than one person, are not necessarily short and are not necessarily a 'talk' since they may be by video, Internet etc.

Choice Of Subject

Unless you are going to specify subjects for presentation, the first question that goes through any student's head is 'What will I talk about?' That is where preparation on your part, perhaps weeks before, can help.

Before any mention of a presentation, elicit interests from each student. These may be hobbies, professional activities, past holidays etc. Rarely do you find that every student in a group is a professional sky-diver, brain surgeon or stand-up comedian. Yet, with a little prompting, you will often find that each student has an interest or skill that is particular to her but of potential interest to others. Having dug a little into each student's mind, you can store the interests for the moment when you start teaching presentations. Even then, you do not normally need to suggest to each student what he could talk about. Say something like: 'The subject could be anything, for example, your work, your hobby, a holiday.' Only if a student is at a complete loss do you need to help her with your previously elicited list of interests. But students are often more imaginative than we suppose. One of the best student presentations seen by one teacher was 'How To Change Baby's Nappy', illustrated with a life size doll, Pampers, talcum powder and a flask of water!

Time limit

If students are apprehensive about giving a presentation, it may help to point out that it need not be a long presentation, 'just 5 or 10 minutes, plus questions.' In reality, it is far more difficult to prepare and give a 5-minute presentation than a 20-minute one. The important thing is that they be given a time-limit of some kind. It is up to you to decide this. It will depend on how many students there are, the overall time available, and whether the presentations are to be given during the same lesson or over a series of lessons. If you are teaching presentation giving (rather than using presentations simply for speaking practice) you should adhere strictly to time limits. Nevertheless, it would be wise to build a certain amount of overrun time into your lesson plan.

Equipment

Encourage students to use support material and visual aids. The bare minimum would be a whiteboard or flipchart. If you have an OHP, so much the better. Remind them not to overcrowd their graphics. One graphic, one point. Two points, two graphics. And don't forget the value of realia, actual products or samples that the presenter brings in from outside.

Preparation

Without doubt, preparation is the key element of any presentation. You cannot make this point too forcefully. Encourage your students to take time to prepare. Proper preparation gives the presenter confidence on the day. You can help them to prepare by explaining what they need to think about: why? who? where? when? how? what?

The Presentation

As a teacher, you are presenting all the time and probably take for granted the sheer mechanics of presentation. You can help your students by teaching the principles of presentation under these main areas:

preparation

structuring

language

signposting & linking

visual aids

body language

audience rapport

Keywords And Notes

Show your students how to prepare notes and keywords instead of a text. Remind them that the objective is not to show everybody the top of their head and read a text. The objective is speaking, (apparently) spontaneous speaking. The presenter who knows his subject and speaks unaided, without text, even without notes, is fascinating. The presenter who reads a text is soporific.

Questions

Presenters usually indicate to their audience when they will answer questions - ie, during or after the presentation proper. Questions and answers are a supremely valuable part of any presentation for there is true interactivity. Encourage students to look on questions, even hostile questions, positively. A hostile questioner is demonstrating interest. Furthermore, with correct handling, he can be turned into a powerful ally. A member of the audience who asks no questions and makes no comments is far more dangerous!

Teacher Feedback

When teaching presentations, you will probably want to give feedback on each presentation. Try using a prepared observation feedback form, divided into sections such as body language, signposting and audience rapport. After the presentation, you can give your comments verbally and/or in writing. A feedback form is particularly valuable in giving the presenting student something tangible to take away, both as a mark of achievement and as a tool for improvement.

Peer Feedback

Depending on group, level and culture, you may wish to invite feedback from other students on the presenting student's performance. You can give the audience a prepared feedback form, listing the points to watch out for and comment on. The audience should be looking for positive points at least as much as for negative ones. This can be a useful activity as it sensitises all students to the do's and don'ts of presentation giving.

Using Video

Videoing each presentation for subsequent playback and comment can be productive. You might give each participant a cassette of his performance. Again, this depends on various factors. The important point is that any such exercise should have a positive, beneficial result. If there is a danger that videoing will be counter-productive, don't do it. If you're not sure, ask your students. Maybe they will all clamour to be videoed!

Presentation Resources

A number of ELT coursebooks deal with the language and skills of presentation giving. There is a particularly useful chapter in 'Business Class' (David Cotton & Sue Robbins, published Addison Wesley Longman ELT - ISBN 0175563373).