Giving a talk or presentation in front of your class can be a nightmare for a dyslexic student! It may remind you of those terrible times when you were called on to read out loud back at school
Giving a public performance like this can make anyone feel stressed and anxious.
However, with careful planning, your anxiety can definitely be reduced.
Try to organize things for yourself beforehand. Break up your talk into short pieces which can each be summarized on a card the size of a postcard.
Hold these cards in your hands as you talk, and use them to provide cues for each of the steps in your talk.
Pick out the key words on each card and write them in red or highlight them.
Plan your presentation carefully along A-B-A lines:
A - Tell them what you're going to tell them,
B - tell them,
A - and then tell them what you've told them.
Support your ideas and themes with anecdotes, examples, statistics and facts. Don't be afraid to use humor appropriately.
Make eye contact at some point with all members of the group.
Be aware of your body language and don't fidget as you talk.
A common fault when making a presentation is for the student to hurry and talk too fast (probably in order to get the talk over and finished!).
Do the opposite. Make yourself slow down.
Remember that what you are saying will probably be fairly new to your audience, and they may need a little time to take it all in.
Speak clearly, don't gabble or mumble, and speak louder than you think necessary.
Try to get another student to listen to your talk beforehand, so you know if you have any annoying habits, or if you repeat words like 'OK', 'er.' or 'you see' too often.
If you have visual aids, drawings, overhead projector transparencies, etc. to use in your presentation, mark each one on the appropriate card so that you will know when to show it.
Microsoft Powerpoint is a program that will let you prepare your whole presentation, with images and text headings, on a laptop. You can then plug it into a projector for people to see it on a screen while you talk.
If you are using an overhead projector, avoid walking in front of the screen, or reading the transparencies out loud to your audience. Refer to them, but let them illustrate/back up/summarize what you are actually saying - images are generally more effective than words.
Handle any questions using the mnemonic:
TRACT:
T - Thank the questioner,
R - Rephrase the question for the rest of the audience,
A - Answer the question to the group,
C - Check with the questioner that they are satisfied, and
T - Thank them again.
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