| Lack of Confidence/Nervousness As you would expect an overwhelming majority of students reported feeling nervous as the biggest issue they faced when undertaking oral presentations. The participants were asked to examine what exactly made them nervous. The main reason given was lack of experience and clear understanding of good presentation skills. |
Clarity/Consistency of Expectations It is a problem for most students that they are often given minimal specific guidance before undertaking the presentation. The different marking criteria between lecturers and different priorities emerged as a major challenge. |
| “The Public Dimension” Students universally reported that being assessed in front of peers intensified their nervousness and was a major challenge. |
Preparation Students generally were not sure of the best way to prepare and organize information. |
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Technology Most lecture theatres and tutorial rooms have access to computers and screens for PowerPoint presentations. This Technology brings both advantages and challenges. Some students felt unsure about using the new technology others were not convinced they were using it in the best possible way. |
Inattentive Audience Bored faces, doodling, reading other things or just general inattentiveness makes it very difficult for students to present confidently. See Being a Good Audience Member to assist your peers in overcoming this challenge. |
| Mature Age Students Many of the older students had been out of the education system for quite a few years and none had had much experience in public speaking. The whole experience was new and very frightening especially as they were being assessed on it. They also felt added pressure because of their age, they felt that the younger students expected more from them, and probably looked up to them, but in fact in the public forum they felt they had so much less to offer. They didn't like having their lack of skill, limited knowledge or any other possible inadequacies exposed in front of the much younger students. |
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What Students Think About Oral Presentations
The creation of this site was made possible by the contribution of a large number of students. Because this site was intended to fulfil a need amongst ACU students in particular, it was important to give existing students an opportunity to offer their input and to discuss their experiences. Fifty-four ACU students from McAuley campus participated in focus groups. The students identified the main challenges that they felt they faced when they were asked to undertake oral presentations and they pooled their suggestions for ways to improve their public speaking skills based on their own experiences. This page is based on the ideas that came from the focus groups.
Concerns Identified by Students
The following table lists some of the most common student concerns identified by participants in the ACU focus groups.