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Academic Class Presentation Ideas

Ideas with a Difference for University and College Students

Mar 19, 2009 Thaddeus Lawrence

PowerPoint as a tool for class presentations has been overused. Stand out and engage your audience with these simple yet effective presentation ideas.

PowerPoint is functional and formal, making it extremely popular and practical in many settings. But it is overused and students presenting their work enjoy greater freedom and flexibility in varying their modes of delivery. Below are some presentation ideas that will engage your audience and have them wanting more.

Stage a Musical

Create different key characters for your team members and work the content into the script of the musical. You can go the extra mile by wearing costumes and using lights. While the songs will connect strongly with the auditory sense, your wardrobe and illumination creativity will leave in imprint in the minds of your audience.

Film an Amazing Race

If your material contains the discovery of new ideas, you can use a video camcorder and record your physical journey through different thematic checkpoints complete with challenge. For audience interaction, you can pause the video and have the crowd attempt the challenge, which can come in the form of a quiz or riddle.

Tell a Story

Turn your presentation material into a coherent story. Then dress up as grandpa on a rocking chair regaling his grandchildren with his larger-than-life tales by the fireside. You can check understanding by having the audience repeat your key points or responding verbally to your proclamations, the way grandpa does!

Conduct a Debate

Put forward two sides to an argument or the pros and cons of an issue through a scripted debate. Divide your team members into the two opposing camps and engage one another in a witty repartee that will leave your listeners in awe of your speaking prowess. A moderator can also reiterate the key points examined.

Sing a Song or Rhyme

Instead of speaking out your ideas, sing them aloud. Use popular rhymes or tunes that your audience will be familiar with and give them copies of your lyrics so they can sing along with you. You can engage them further by dividing them into sections and having them sing to different but complementary tunes like an orchestra.

Draw Cartoons and Comics

If you still insist on flashing slides onto a screen, instead of merely cutting and pasting pictures or images, draw cartoon characters complete with speech bubbles to represent the key dialogues. You can draw them on a piece of paper and scan them into the computer. Then set up a slideshow and let it run.

Academic presentations do not have to be humdrum and mind-numbing. With a little more creativity in your presentation , you can inject excitement and energy and present serious issues in a fun way that will make your segment the most talked about part of your next class.

The copyright of the article Academic Class Presentation Ideas in Colleges is owned by Thaddeus Lawrence. Permission to republish Academic Class Presentation Ideas in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.