Hi Guys!
(reading notes) My name is Lisa and today I’m going to be talking about the issue of teenage binge drinking.
*BUZZER*
So hey guys!
(too casual) You guys obviously know me and I obviously know you.
Sooo, today my topic is going to be about teenage binge drinking *BUZZER*
Hey everyone.
(closed arms) Today I’m going to be talking about teenage binge drinking *BUZZER*
Hey everyone.
(speaks very quickly)Today I’m going to be talking about the issue of teenage binge drinking *BUZZER*
*giggles* sorry guys, I kind of forgot my next sentence.
*crickets chirping*
ORAL PRESENTATIONS - The Basics
#1 START OFF WITH A BANG
The first thing to remember is to PLEASE start off in an interesting way.
No more of this :
So unoriginal- “Good Afternoon everyone, as you may know, my name is Lisa, today I’m
going to be talking about binge drinking”
So cliche.
So Boring- “Hi my name is Lisa and today I’m going to be talking about binge drinking”
Try to start off a little bit more like this:
a) How would you feel if you were stuck inside a cage, 24/7, left inside a dungeon where
it’s completely dark and there’s just no way of escaping?
This is exactly what it’s like for caged chickens.
b) Let me guess, everyday before school, you have a certain routine.
You wake up, you brush your teeth, you put your uniform on, have breakfast and you’re
ready to go.
You catch the train and then you’re at school.
But, what if the train is sort of crowded that you end up not being able to catch the
train in time, not making it to school in time and missing out on that assessment that
you have first thing in the morning.
Today I’m going to be talking about the importance of adding more trains to our public
system.
(Originality is key)
Whether it’s just starting off with rhetorical questions, an anecdote or a scenario of some
sort, please just try to get creative and get your audience’s attention immediately.
You’ve only got one chance to get this right.
So you might as well start it off with a BANG!
#2 BODY LANGUAGE
Don’t cross your arms because that means that you’re shut off from your audience
and that you’re not ready to engage with them and to welcome them into your topic.
Feel free to use your arms - not too much, but try to keep yourself relaxed, keep your
body relaxed, so that you’ll move naturally.
Look interested in your topic as well, it should be something that you’re passionate
about.. so if you look disinterested, then what’s the point of anyone else being interested
in what your topic is about.
Make sure that your expression fits the topic, so if it’s going to be something upsetting,
if it’s something devastating, emerge your emotions with that.
Get in tuen with what your topics about.
#3 NO AWKWARD BREAK
If you get stuck, don’t stop.
Don’t be like….
*eyes wandering around*...
Um… *giggle*......
“Geez, what was it?”
But just stand there, recollect your thoughts and then go again.
It might feel like eternity, but at the very least, you’re not filling in your oral with
random words that just don’t contribute to anything.
And it also disengages the audience too.
“And so, as I was mentioning before, the statistics are so high that one of…”
#4 PRACTICE
One of the things that people don’t do enough of is practice their oral.
They get held up in writing the actual oral and they get stressed out on the actual day.
But what about practicing beforehand?
You need to make sure that your speed is on point.
Just remember that you’ll probably be nervous.
So you’re going to be speaking a little bit faster than you normally would be.
Make sure you memorize, the speech as much as possible.
Memorizing a speech means that you can then, shift away from just looking at your paper,
and that you can start focusing on actually targeting the audience that’s in front of
you.
The more you can engage with them, the better it will be for you.
And the more confidence you will have.
Okay guys, I hope you enjoyed this video.
I wanted to do something a little different.
Especially with oral presentations, it’s all about the performance, so I kind of wanted
to tap into that a little bit.
I know that some of the points that I’ve addressed here today seem really obvious - but
despite the fact that it’s obvious, there’s still a reason why this stuff happens.
And you still see it every single year, and I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.
There’s always that one classmate that does the big no-no or that one classmate that’s
you know - talking like this *talks behind paper*,.
Whatever it is, hopefully if you’re one of these people, what you learned from today
or what has been reiterated into your head for today, Start applying that into your oral.
If you guys like this video, please give it a thumbs up because that will let me know
that you guys are more interested in deeper oral presentation topics.
So whether, that is structuring an argument or how to present in front of different audiences,
I know some schools do it in front of the classroom, but other schools just do it in
front of teachers, or small groups of students or how to formulate arguments to be more persuasive.
So if you actually needed some help with what topic you should do for this year’s oral
presentation, if you haven’t decided already, I’ve actually compiled a list of about close
to 20 oral topics potentially you could choose.
They’re pretty much the best ones that are out there at the moment, so definitely check
out the description box below and you will find a link to the blog post for that where
you can also download a PDF.
Best of luck for your oral.
I’m sure you guys are going to do absolutely fine.
Just remember at the end of the day, even if you have no idea what you’re talking
about.
Confidence, is key.
I could be talking about nonsense right now and talking about God knows what and yadi
yadi yah, but because I’m making eye contact, because my tone is reassuring, you will most
likely, believe it.
Okay so yeah, I’ll see you guys next time.
BYEE!