How to Survive School

*5*: Presentations

"The, um, like, the first, like, person to ever like, um, go to space was, like, um..."

Some people are not so eloquent with speech.

Projects and presentations can be fun, but they can also be total nightmares, whether it's an assigned group project, or your teacher lets you choose your group or you have to work alone.

If you're anything like me, you'll procrastinate the project until about nine p.m., the night before it's due, group project or not.

And then, of course, you'll go up and present, and your classmates will get so irritated because of your unnecessary usage of the word "like" and the sound "um."

Here are two tips for how to make the project experience a little less stressful:

1) Procrastination domination:

As I've mentioned before, I am a huge procrastinator.

But, although it's thirty times more stressful to procrastinate, I always end up doing very well.

For example, in fourth grade, we had about two and a half months to make a science fair project.

I was late in choosing my project, and I literally waited until the day before the science fair to actually make the presentation.

The end result?

I was one of three fourth graders to qualify for the regional level of the science fair.

Not only was this already incredibly impressive (at least to me and my parents), but I also ended up beating my brother (he was in fifth grade, and the competition was required for both fourth and fifth graders). And, to top it all off, my actual experiment was complete stupidity. It was based off the following question: Which type of water works best on plants: tap water, salt water, or sugar water?

Can you guess which one was the correct answer?

Anyways, I have a certain phrase that I use when I do projects: procrastination domination.

I always do better when I procrastinate on projects.

This something I've noticed for most students: the less time you have, the harder you will work (in regards to an important project).

However, I am not a superhero. You still have to have enough time to finish it. For example, if you have to build a roller coaster track out of construction paper in half an hour... you will fail. But, if you have one night to make an entire poster on Boo Radley's contribution to the theme of To Kill A Mockingbird, you will probably pass.

Why? Well, if you start the night before, no matter how late you start, you will always have the entire night. Even if you get super sleepy, you can just chug some coffee and keep going, until 3 AM, or even just 10:30 PM.

So, be smart with your procrastination, but know that you are not actually screwed if you do everything the night before.

2) Balance of effort:

Never, ever, under any circumstances, do all of the work in a group project. Force and bribe and blackmail your classmates if you need to, but never try and do the whole thing. Not only will it make you look like a total try-hard, but also, why in the world would you do all of that when you have people to help?

Plus, if you try to do all the work in a group project, it can be really annoying to the other people.

But don't be the slacker either, because that is usually way worse, especially if there is some kind of peer evaluation.

If you are going to slack, at least do well while you're actually doing the presentation. Don't screw up your group's presentation on Pearl Harbor by saying "It was a really unemotional moment," when on the slide, it clearly states that it was very emotional. Plus, it is common sense.

Just make sure that you do your fair share, and that the other people in your group do the same, or at least, they do all that they are capable of doing.

***

Whether it's a powerpoint, a poster, a speech, or something else, whether it's a group project, or one you have to do by yourself, there are some very important things to remember.

1) Practice:

Unless you procrastinated, it's very important to practice what you are going to say. This way, you are familiar with everything. When I was younger, I used to memorize my presentations, but obviously, it's a bit harder to do that now. Note cards are helpful, but if you just know your topic well, you should be okay. And if you don't, just YOLO it (do your best), and it will probably be just fine.

2) Eye Contact:

Yeah, this isn't something that I do usually, unless I feel really comfortable in the classroom environment. Most of the time, I just stare at the presentation or read directly off the note cards or speech or whatever.

And, I usually get knocked off points for it. So, here are some things that might help: stare at a wall instead of at a person, make sure you know your presentation really well, and don't look at your friends because they will probably try to mess you up.

3) Speaking:

We all have nervous tendencies; when I am nervous or out in an awkward situation, I smile. The more nervous/awkward I am, the more I smile, and on some occasions I have just started laughing.

But a lot of people mess up their speech by saying "um," "like," or "and yeah," every other word. Others just speed up their speech or talk more quietly. Again, these make for a bad impression, so just remember the following: this one project is not going to kill you. Calm down, your life (believe it or not) does not depend on this project. Slow down and relax a little.

4) Questions:

Everybody fears this. If you slacked off and don't know your topic that well, this part of the presentation can be especially terrifying. A lot of times, teachers will allow students to ask questions about your topic, and you will have to answer them.

If you don't know shit, here's what you do: remember your presentation, and dig from whatever you made; and be honest. If you don't know the answer, just say that you will look it up and get back to them if you find out (not that you actually will get back to them, but teachers usually get really impressed when kids say this. If you're doing a group project, it's even better; just let your partner or groupmates answer the questions.

***

That's basically all I have to offer up on this topic. Hopefully it helped.

If not, oh well.

I tried my hardest (eh, not really), so sorry if I failed you (basically half of the group projects I've done).