Good presentations in education are marked by clear organization, integration of the material into the broader course content, two-way communication, and student-friendly supporting material.
Organize material logically. Presentations in education must be tightly organized so that the audience can easily access information. The simpler the organizational structure, the better (see Chapter 12 and 24 ). Use organizing devices such as preview statements, internal summaries, and transitions to help listeners follow ideas in a lecture, for example.
Integrate discussion to overall course content. Describe how the lecture for the day relates to the previous day’s lecture. In a discussion or group activity, make clear connections between students’ comments and other topics that have been raised or will be raised later in the course.
Tailor examples and evidence to the audience. Use familiar examples and evidence that the audience can grasp easily. Don’t support an idea with a statistical proof, for example, unless students are trained in statistics. Using familiar examples will enhance learning (see section on analogies in Chapter 23); try to choose examples that are close to the students’ experiences.