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Teaching Resources

Improving Presentation Style

Resource overview.

Strategies for making your presentation style more effective in the classroom

Effective lecturers combine the talents of scholar, writer, producer, comedian, showman, and teacher in ways that contribute to student learning.”

Wilbert J. McKeachie, Teaching Tips

An effective teacher is an excellent communicator and therefore thinks about improving his or her presentation skills. One of the most important aspects of communicating is shaping both content and style to fit your audience. In the classroom, if you cannot communicate in a way that is both comprehensible and interesting to your students, their learning will be greatly reduced.

To strengthen your presentation skills, focus on improving your skills in these three areas:

Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

• Find out all you can about the room in which you will be presenting. Visit the room ahead of time to familiarize yourself with its size and layout, as well as the type of chalkboards, chalk, erasers, and multimedia available. In addition, obtain any necessary training on the multimedia.
• Use the classroom as a stage. Move around to engage and interact with your audience. Do not stand in one spot the entire time. Move with purpose; do not walk aimlessly.
• Prepare. Preparation is essential. All excellent teachers are well prepared for each class. Practice in the room if you can, especially if you are new to teaching. In addition, prepare yourself emotionally and psychologically by taking the time to organize your thoughts and to look forward to teaching before every class.
• Speak loudly and clearly. Project your voice and face your audience when you are speaking. Speak slightly louder than you do in a normal conversation. Use a microphone in a medium to large classroom. The class may include students with hearing problems. Moreover, a microphone will help ensure that students can hear you even when you turn to the chalkboard momentarily.
• Modulate the tone, pitch, and speed of your speech. Do not speak in a monotone. Vary the pitch and speed of your voice for emphasis and effect. Use appropriate pauses. Rather than using filler words such as “uh,” for example, simply pause before moving on to the next idea or point.
• Use gestures and facial expressions to help you explain, emphasize, and communicate the material. However, be careful not to develop distracting habits such as pacing or repeatedly adjusting your glasses or hair. To find out if you are unconsciously doing anything that may be distracting to your audience, have a colleague observe one of your classes or have your class videotaped. To schedule a videotaping and teaching consultation, call The Teaching Center at 935-6810.
• Develop a teaching persona. Decide how you want to be perceived and what mannerisms you want to have. For example, do you want to be quiet, humorous, formal, or informal? Whatever persona is right for you, aim to convey confidence and ease. Move with certainty and assuredness, and be careful not to seem pompous or intimidating.
• Show passion and enthusiasm for the topic. If you are not interested in the subject, you cannot expect your students to be interested, either. Point out the fascinating aspects of what they are learning.
• Do not read your notes or slides. Doing so will lower your energy level and lead your audience to feel less engaged.
• Interact with and pay attention to your audience. Make eye contact with the students, not with the wall or chalkboard. Build a rapport with the class. Make sure the class is with you (following and understanding what you are discussing). If they appear to be lost, take additional time to explain points and to ask and answer questions.
• Do not take yourself too seriously. Be able to laugh at yourself and your mistakes. Feel free to bring humor into the classroom, but direct it at yourself, rather than at your students’ questions and ideas.
• Keep track of the time. Do not start early or end late. The students often do not recall or listen to information presented after the class period is technically finished.

Effective Use of the Chalkboard and Visual-Aids

Using the Chalkboard

• Write legibly and big enough that your writing can seen in the back of the room.
• Think about the organization of the material on the board.
• Fill one board at a time, starting at the top of each board and writing down.
• Do not scrunch in words at the very bottom of the board or in the margins. The students in the back will not see the words at the bottom, and no one will see the words in the margins.
• Underline or mark major assumptions, conclusions, etc.
• Use color to emphasize points.Before the course starts, determine which colors are most visible in the back of the room.
• Erase a board only when you have run out of room.
• If you find a mistake on a previous board, do not erase it. Cross it out, then write the correction in, which is what the students must do.

Using Visual Aids, such as PowerPoint Slides

• Do not use visual aids unless they serve a clear and important purpose. Visuals should aid quick comprehension and support the main points.
• Book and check out the presentation equipment in advance.
• Talk to your audience and not to the screen.
• Use the visuals to enhance your presentation, not as a substitute for a verbal presentation.
• Use a pointer, if necessary.
• Coordinate the audio and the visual.
• Design your visuals with clarity and simplicity in mind.

Effective Design and Meaningful Organization of Content

Visual Design Suggestions

• Use single words or phrases.
• Organize the content visually.
• Choose a font that is easy to see. Choose a font that is simple, plain, and easy to read such as Times New Roman, Ariel, or Helvetica. Select a font size that is large enough to be seen at the back of the room. The minimal acceptable size is typically 24-point. Use both upper- and lower-case letters; all upper-case letters are difficult to read.
• Keep the design simple. Too many words, graphics, or different colors are distracting and cause students to miss the important points.
• Use short quotes, not long extracts, from documents.
• Assign a title for each visual. Doing so will help your audience organize and retain the information on each visual.
• Use summary lists.
• Limit the number of ideas on each visual. For example, limit the number of bullets on a page to approximately 4 to 6. Each bullet should be short, approximately one line. Do not crowd the visual with text; it will be too difficult to read.
• Use color for emphasis and organization. Color is useful, but needs to be used judiciously. The color should be used for emphasis or for distinguishing among data. Think about the color wheel: adjacent colors blend together and colors directly opposite each other are contrasting and provide better readability. Reds and oranges stand out, but are hard to continually focus on; therefore, use these colors only for emphasis. Greens, blues, and browns are easier to continually focus on, but do not grab a person’s attention.
• Design diagrams and tables that are simple and clear, with readily recognized symbols. Your audience must be able to read all data in your diagrams and tables. Often, this means that you will have to simplify a more complex or detailed table or diagram that has been prepared for a printed format.
• Use horizontal (landscape) layout, not vertical (portrait). Screens, video monitors, and computer monitors are shaped for a horizontal, not a vertical, format. In addition, a horizontal format is easier to project in rooms with low ceilings.

Content Organization Suggestions

• Plan the content. Think about the type of students in the class, the goals for the course and the current session, the type of material to be presented in the current session, and the type of media, if any, that you are going to use.
• Provide a structure. Each class session or presentation should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
• List objectives or provide an outline at the beginning of each class session. Providing an outline helps students identify the most important points and follow the lecture or discussion more effectively.
• Organize course content with a theme or storyline. How do you want to arrange the material? How does each part of the material relate to what comes next.
• Remember that a typical student’s attention span is 15-20 minutes. Every 15-20 minutes, either change your teaching method or change activities. Use different teaching methods in one session to keep the students’ attention and to reach students who have different learning preferences. (See Teaching with Lectures .)
• Allow for pauses and “wait-time.” Wait-time is the pause after the instructor either asks a question or asks for questions. Students need time to think of a response to a question, or to think of a question to ask. Do not be afraid of silence. Most instructors wait 1-3 seconds for a response. However, increasing the wait-time to 5-10 seconds dramatically increases the number and quality of responses. (See Asking Questions to Improve Learning .)

Clark, Donald. “Making Presentations that Audiences Will Love.” PowerPoint Presentation. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/templates/presentations.ppt .

—.“Monthly Speaking Tips.” LJL Seminars. http://www.ljlseminars.com/monthtip.htm .

“Common Visual Aids.” Faculty Development Committee. Honolulu Community College. http://letsgetengaged.wikispaces.com/file/view/using_visual_aids.pdf

“Creating Visual Aids That Really Work: Designing Effective Slides Using PowerPoint.” Effective Communications Group (ECG), Inc.  http://ecgcoaching.com/library/ps/powerpoint.php

Davis, Barbara Gross. “Delivering a Lecture.” Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 1993.

Edwards, Paul N. “How to Give an Academic Talk.” School of Information. University of Michigan. http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/PDF/howtotalk.pdf .

McKeachie, Wilbert, et al. McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

“Presentations.” Teaching and Learning Center. Eastern Kentucky University.

Sammons, Martha. “Students Assess Computer-Aided Classroom Presentations.” The Journal Online, May 1995. http://thejournal.com/articles/1995/05/01/students-assess-computeraided-classroom-presentations.aspx?sc_lang=en

• Presentation Skills

7 Tools to Improve Your Presentation Skills

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• Rhubarb Front Page -guidelines for contributors-
• How to Engage Classrooms and Foster Soft Skills with Interactive Educational Slides
• 22 Effective PowerPoint Presentation Tips
• Essential Strategies to Boost Your Public Speaking Confidence
• What is a Pitch Deck and Why Do You Need One?
• Enhancing Creativity: A Guide to Harnessing Mid-Journey Prompts for Image Creation
• Strategic Planning for Conference Success - A Step-by-Step Guide for Teams
• Effective Presentation Skills for Professionals
• Presentation Skills: Using AI To Help You Thrive in Your Presentations
• Mastering Soft Skills to Deliver Impactful Presentations
• How to Present Statistics and Analytics in an Effective Manner?
• Five Reasons Why Singing Lessons Will Be a Game Changer for Your Public Speaking Efforts
• Captivating Presentations: Techniques to Engage and Retain Your Audience
• How Can AI Help in Creating Winning Presentations?
• How to Dress to Impress During an Important Presentation
• How to Present Effectively to your Colleagues
• How to Become a Better Public Speaker
• How You Can Improve Your Video Editing Skills
• What is Your Story? How to Identify Your Story from Raw Data
• Why Public Speaking and Communication Are So Important to Your Career
• Preparing for Oral Presentations
• Learn Better Presentation Skills with TED Talks
• How to Get People to Actually Listen to What You’re Saying
• Can Presentation Science Improve Your Presentation?
• 7 Public Speaking Tips For Introverts
• Psychological Secrets for Effective Presentations

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Deathly afraid of speaking in front of a crowd? Or maybe you just want to hone your presentation skills?

No matter your current skill level, perfecting your presentation skills is an ongoing process that can always be improved. From refining your delivery to engaging your audience, these skills are invaluable whether you're a student, a professional, or a seasoned speaker.

And while there's no shortcut to mastering public speaking, there are a wealth of tools available to help you on your journey.

Let’s cut to the chase: here are some essential tools that you can use to elevate your presentation skills !

1. Remote Clicker

There's nothing quite as momentum-breaking and inefficient as having to walk to your laptop while delivering a presentation to change slides. Or worse - having to tell someone "Next slide, please" after each slide, and then potentially encountering an odd dance of human error when the slides aren't what you're expecting.

If you want to do away with all that trouble, there's one handy tool that can help you out.

A remote clicker is a useful tool that enables you to control the pace of your slideshow presentation. If the conference room or venue you're presenting in doesn't have one, bring your own wireless remote control for personal use. Many Bluetooth remote clickers can work across and connect with multiple devices. These can be found in online retailers.

Besides controlling slideshow slides, these clickers also stop and start videos and help facilitate the Q&A segment of your presentation—which can make your presentation smoother overall.

2. Presentation Software

When it comes to creating memorable and appealing slides, having the right software can make a world of difference.

Fortunately, there are many software options available that are capable of helping you craft creative and appealing slides. Microsoft PowerPoint is the industry standard when it comes to presentation software, offering a wide range of tools and templates to create professional-looking slides. Prezi is another well-known slideshow maker known for its unique zooming and panning effects, allowing users to create dynamic and interactive slideshows that can captivate an audience.

Another good slideshow maker is Google Slides . This integral part of the Google Suites offers similar features to that of PowerPoint, but it also embraces a collaborative spirit by enabling multiple users to work on a presentation at once.

3. Projector

When delivering a presentation in a large venue, you'll want everyone to be able to see it—no matter where they are in the room.

To accomplish this, you'll need to have a projector on hand that's capable of delivering large, high-resolution, and quality projections. The right projector helps convey your message without any notable drawbacks.

With a wide variety of this equipment in the market, consider factors such as brightness, resolution, and connectivity options before getting hold of one. Brightness is often measured by Lumens, and higher ones provide brighter presentations, which is especially good for presentations held outdoors.

Higher-res projectors provide clearer images for bigger screens.

And lastly, you'll want to get a projector that can connect to a wide variety of office devices—HDMI and VGA ports typically do the trick.

4. Adapters

To connect your laptop or presenting device to a projector, you will most definitely need adapters to bridge any compatibility gaps.

Adapters come in various types, such as HDMI, VGA, or USB-C, depending on the ports available on your devices and the inputs supported by the projector. These adapters enable seamless connectivity and ensure that your slides are actually shown on the screen—no errors or anything of that sort.

Of course, if you have a specific laptop or device on hand, it's important to check for compatibility between your devices and the projector to avoid any connectivity issues.

Additionally, you may consider wireless connectivity options that eliminate the need for physical adapters, such as Bluetooth. While more expensive, a wireless projector provides added convenience during your presentations—helping save time and reducing effort on set-up.

5. Voice Amplifier

While you can train yourself to project your voice louder, this won't always be effective in larger venues or with audience members farther away from the stage.

One way to fix this issue is by getting a voice amplifier. A voice amplifier is—as the name suggests—a portable device that amplifies your voice. This enables clarity and loudness, ensuring that everyone in the room can hear your message without straining.

As a start, seek out compact and lightweight voice amplifiers like here with practical designs. The ones that can allow you to adjust volume settings and wear a headset or put on a clip-on microphone are ideal. The difference of having a voice amplifier accompany you during speeches is like night and day. So if you want to confidently deliver your presentation with improved clarity and engagement, definitely consider getting one.

6. Portable Timer

Keeping track of time during a presentation is crucial to ensure that each of your sections is smooth and everything is wrapped up by the end of your allotted timeslot.

And while our phones have timers, it's not exactly a good look to hold or silence your phone during presentations. Instead, consider propping up a portable timer in a good vantage point from the stage to help you manage your presentation time effectively.

The best part about timers is that they're fairly discreet. You won't need anyone to come up to you mid-presentation to tell you you only have five minutes left, which can be distracting your audience.

By using a portable timer, you can maintain control over your presentation's timing, stay on schedule, and deliver a polished and professional talk .

7. External Speakers

While your voice amplifier is good for your vocal clarity, external speakers help you play out the audio playback or multimedia segments in your presentation.

When selecting external speakers for your presentation setup, consider their sound quality, compatibility, and portability.

If the venue is small, you can do away with a portable boom box connected to your laptop or playback device.

For larger venues, a more complicated sound system may be necessary—but these are usually provided by the venue providers, so don't hesitate to ask and figure out whether they have the right cables to connect to your personal devices.

Continue to: Top Tips for Effective Presentations Preparing for a Presentation

See also: How to Improve Your Presentation Skills How to Present Effectively to your Colleagues How to Improve your Public Speaking Skills

• Presentation Hacks

7 Presentation Tips for Teachers

• By: Kelly Allison

Teachers are essentially professional presenters. Talking to a group of students, parents and other teachers is all a presentation. This means teachers give presentations constantly. These presentation tips are geared towards this hard-working group of professionals.

Giving this many presentations can cause speakers to become burnt out. This tips will help teachers perform better in front of their variety of audiences.

1) Give Lots of Thought to Your Visual Aids

Visual aids have a research-backed ability to decrease learning time, improve comprehension, and increase retention. They’re critical for teachers. Don’t simply add visuals as a quick after-thought. Be thoughtful about the ways movie clips , infographics , and even GIFs can enhance the content. Keep in mind that entertainment value is just as important as a visual aid’s ability to support your argument. Students who are entertained will also retain your lessons.

2) Don’t Read from the Slides

One of the biggest presentation mistakes teachers make is reading directly from the slides. Not only is this incredibly boring for anyone to sit through (child or adult) but it’s an ineffective way to teach. Do what you can to keep your slide content to a minimum. Let the visual do most of the legwork rather than the text. Research shows an audience learns 79% more from textless visuals.

3) Tell a Story

Storytelling is one of many presentation tips used by speakers across all industries. Telling a story with your content will make your lesson more compelling. It’s a whole lot easier for your students to remember details from a story. Any set of data has a killer story to tell, it’s just a matter of finding it. If you’re struggling to come up with narratives, then recruit a presentation mentor to help you get the wheels turning.

4) Simplify Your Topics

It’s easy to share a ton of details about a topic that you know everything about. It’s hard for your audience to understand it all. Edit your lessons down to one main idea per slide. Supporting points can be broken out across additional slides. Don’t worry about high slide counts. Worry about how easy your topic is for your audience to understand.

5) Keep Telling Them What They’re Learning

All of our presentation tips revolve around our method : Tell your audience what you are going to say, say it, then tell them what you just said. This works well on student audiences. Introducing, delivering and reiterating a topic helps solidify it in the minds of any audience. This effective tip is found in nearly all high-quality presentations.

6) Include Plenty of Interaction

No one wants to be talked at for any significant long time. Especially not students who are forced to stay seated for hours at a time. Don’t speak straight through your presentation without a little engagement. Use questions, role-playing and small group discussions to get students involved. This will make it easier for you to hold their attention. Presentation tips on audience engagement create excitement and interest in your deck.

7) Show Your Personality

Set aside formality in favor of a more casual approach. Conversational speech will make you an effective teacher. Take time to get to know your students and their parents. Avoid using formal language that will make you appear distant. Crack a bad joke or two to make you more relatable and show some personality.

Want even more ways to elevate your teaching skills this year? Then check out our Catapult training to propel yourself to the next level of the presentation game.

Kelly Allison

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Chapter 6 Instructor Guide: Preparing for a Presentation

Instructor guide.

Note: The instructor guide provides ideas for how to engage with the chapter. It can be adapted to an instructor’s pedagogical context, and is intended only to suggest approaches. There are myriad ways to deliver content depending on student level, delivery mode, and time allotted to a given topic, and users are encouraged to be creative in any way that suits their style and needs. Learners may also use the instructor guide as a tool for a self-guided experience.

Learning Goals

• List the key factors required to prepare an effective presentation
• Identify steps used to create a presentation
• Plan to deliver an effective presentation with confidence

Summary of the Chapter

This chapter describes in-depth some practical and essential aspects for creating and delivering effective presentations. Some critical elements, such as preparation and practice, make it easier to execute. These alone will not be adequate for a decent presentation; a good amount of energy and physical and mental rest are also required. This chapter offers suggestions like creating flashcards with information about the presentation in bullet points to help remember the talking points while practicing. Because the audience is not physically present if the presentation is virtual, various additional details must be managed. The chapter also discusses some points for an effective virtual presentation.  

Considerations for Lesson Planning

Sessions devoted to effective presentations can be a compilation of activities. When introducing strategies for building and delivering presentations, it can be useful to watch examples of effective and ineffective presentations, and to discuss which elements affect the presentations watched. It can helpful, also, to invite guest speakers for various course-specific topics and then ask students to reflect upon their experiences with each speaker. Importantly, learners need to recognize that there is not one specific way to deliver a successful presentation — focusing on clarity, delivery, and the rhetorical situation (Chapter 1) guides learners towards strong presentation skills.

Practice! Practice! Practice! It’s important to give learners opportunities to experiment with different presentation elements and delivery styles. Consider, also, offering content related to reducing nervousness, deep breathing, and the physiology of stage fright.

Assessment Strategies

Presentations can be assessed by focusing on different components of the whole. For example, consider assessing for delivery (i.e., clarity of speaking, pacing, eye contact, body language, etc.) separate from the content that is delivered where the instructor would be focused on the research and actual information the learner is delivering. In many cases, students become especially nervous when speaking in public, so reducing the “weight” of a delivery score within the whole grade of the presentation can serve to alleviate some worries.

Other elements to assess can include slide design (if slides are used), organization of the content, use of citations and references, etc.

Additional Resources

Algonquin College Library, How to Create an Effective Presentation , (Jan. 20, 2016). [Online Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXYxManvI8E . [Accessed Nov. 12, 2021].

Algonquin College Library, How to Deliver an Effective Presentation , (Jan. 20, 2016). [Online Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4y1OO9rppA . [Accessed Nov. 12, 2021].

L. Atwood, C. Westin. Business Presentation Skills: Speaking and Presentation Skills for Business. BCCampus. E-book. [Accessed January 1, 2022].

G. Lay, “Standing Ovation”, [nd], Noun Project [online]. https://thenounproject.com/icon/standing-ovation-969109/

M. Shwantes, “9 Helpful Tips to Calm Your Nerves Before Speaking,” 2017, https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/9-simple-tricks-to-overcome-your-fear-of-speaking.html [Accessed January 1, 2022].

Tech Adapt: Emerging Technologies and Canadian Professional Contexts Copyright © 2022 by Victoria M. Abboud is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Effective Teaching Strategies

Helping Students Find Their Voices: Four Corners of the Classroom

• October 10, 2011
• Lora Helvie-Mason Ed.D

Do you find that students often struggle to put together effective oral presentations? To help students, try this activity as a way to provide feedback before the big speaking day. The four-corners activity can foster confidence in students while informing them about effective non-verbal/verbal delivery, audience needs, and how to craft effective speaking notes.

Using the four corners of the classroom, each student delivers his or her presentation to a small group, receives individual feedback, and then rotates within that group from speaker to audience member. This activity is ideal for a full class period (50 minutes) and requires only a timer.

Here’s how to structure the four corners:

Preparation: You will want to schedule this activity at least a week before the presentation is due. Ask students to bring all of their speaking materials with them: rough draft outlines, final outlines, references, and speaking notes. It is okay if students have not fully completed their speech—they will still get something out of this activity. In fact, if a student tells me they don’t have speaking materials, I insist they participate using whatever materials they have. I begin setting up the classroom about 10 minutes before class begins. Desks should be moved to the four corners of your classroom. The desks should be facing the corner in a semi-circle. The speaker will stand with their backs to the corner and face a mini-audience of approximately five desks (depends on class size).

Activity: Next, divide the students into four groups (a group for each corner). I purposefully put students who may not know one another well, who can learn from one another, or who have similar issues, together in a group. The students will deliver their presentation to their mini-audience. Four speeches occur simultaneously. In a typical classroom, the mini-audience will have no trouble hearing their speaker. The teacher will move around the room, with the timer, and provide feedback. I generally stop each round of speeches at five minutes (which reflects my speaking assignments). At the end of the first round of speeches, allow a few minutes for the group to critique and offer suggestions for the speaker. Then, each group elects another member to speak and the process continues until all group members speak.

The instructor: The instructor moves around the room; stopping to listen in on each of the four groups and offer feedback. It is an easy way to hear where the class may struggle and learn what areas need improved for future instruction, too!

The audience: Depending on how structured you want the activity, you can give the audience a list of criteria to look for or even assign each student to a specific role. For example, one student can watch for non-verbal issues, one can critique the introduction and conclusion, and another can examine oral references. If you prefer something less structured, simply ask the students to provide general comments and feedback.

Results: Typically, students are actively involved, engaged, and excited for the “four corners” day. It is an activity that fosters peer-to-peer interaction and is a good way for students to practice in a non-threatening format. The instructor can provide targeted, individualized feedback on oral presentations before the big day. Best of all, this activity provides students with the chance to orally present their speech with a live audience. They can see where the gaps are, if their speaking notes are helpful, and what to change before presentation day.

Lora Helvie-Mason, EdD is an assistant professor of communication studies at Southern University at New Orleans.

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• Business Skills
• Learning Strategy

How to Improve your Training Presentation Skills

on 25 Jan 2021

When executed well, even training presentations can be entertaining, engaging, have the audience rapt and motivate learners to perform better after it's over.

But, while 10% of people excel when giving presentations, a similar number have an extreme fear of them, experience panic attacks, anxiety and even melt-down.

Where do you stand on this spectrum? And how can you improve your own presentation skills? We have some simple steps to follow to help improve your presentation skills.

1. Identify the purpose of your training presentation

What are you trying to achieve? For example, are you trying to increase awareness, communicating a change in legislation, explaining real world experiences, or motivating the audience to change their working practices? How will you quantify success ?

2. Identify your target audience

Who is your intended audience? What level are they at? What prior knowledge might they have ( what do they already know ), etc?

3. Define your call to action

Always try to end your presentation on a high. Your audience may find this part the most memorable. State your learning objectives at the start of your presentation. Motivate the audience to reflect on what they've learnt, apply it to their own job or act on your message in some way.

4. Split your presentation into 3 parts

Planning and preparation, delivery and the big ending. This makes it more manageable enabling you to focus on each area.

5. Create a script

What exactly will you say and how will you say it ? How much should you say? (Saying too much will bore your audience.) Should you ad-lib? Will you need a slideshow? How can you make sure you cover all the points but still come across as genuine? Have a crib-sheet with the key points.

If you are video conferencing, having two screens will help, as you can see your presentation on one screen and use the second for your script to respond to any feedback. 

5. Choose an appropriate delivery mechanism

What's the best way of communicating with your audience? What's likely to appeal to them? How can you engage them ? Should you have break-out groups, audience participation, voting, a Q&A, a demonstration, etc?

Delivery mechanisms

Always ensure that your internal or external venue has all the facilities you need.

• Face-to-face at your office
• Face-to-face at an external venue
• Instructor-led e-learning
• Microlearning
• Informal (i.e. video conferencing)

7. Practise, practise and practise

Practise really does makes perfect. Rehearse your presentation with your colleagues . Or if it is not commercially sensitive why not try it with family or friends?

The more comfortable you are with what you're saying and how you deliver it, the better it will be.

8. Use positive body language

Use positive body language, including making eye contact with different people around the room, using open - rather than defensive - gestures, and avoiding any distracting mannerisms (such as jangling coins or keys).

If your presentation is via video conferencing make sure your lighting is good and use background blurring if you feel that your setting could be distracting.

9. Channel your adrenaline positively

Adrenaline affects people in different ways - some presenters dance around the room, some race through the script to the end, while others are rooted to the spot, devoid of all emotion.

Remember that all these responses are completely natural - prepare mentally like an actor who's about to go on stage.

10. Have a backup

If you're using technology, have a backup in case of equipment failure. Don't get flummoxed by a poor WiFi connection, and let all your preparations go to waste.

Remember that if you are video conferencing it is important that the learners have a good WiFi connection too!

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Improving instructor development and performance with observations.

Published in Sept/Oct 2020

One of the most critical influences on knowledge transfer, effective instructors are essential for building a great learning and development (L&D) organization. Research in childhood, adolescent and adult learning shows some instructors are more effective than others, but feedback and development efforts improve instructor performance. Instructors can have a variety of effects; one great instructor can influence hundreds, and even thousands, of learners. Therefore, it is critical for instructors to have the resources and support necessary to be successful.

New instructors, seasoned subject matter experts (SMEs) and lifelong educators can continue to grow and improve with constructive feedback. An effective evaluation practice focusing on instructor development includes data from multiple sources, collected via multiple methods. Observation is commonly used in academic settings but is less common in corporate training. In this article, we will discuss the value of observations for instructors, learners and organizations; review best practices for designing and implementing an effective observation practice; and identify and overcome challenges.

Value of Observations

Systematic observations can yield rich qualitative data, as well as quantitative ratings regarding learners, instructors and the learning environment. Observations provide a source of developmental feedback for instructors and are often the only opportunity instructors have for receiving behavioral feedback. While learner reactions and performance are indicators of instructor effectiveness , direct observation of instructors’ behavior in the classroom provides information about instructor performance that instructors can directly control and improve.

Lessons learned from the use of classroom observation in K-16 settings, such as the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) Project , provide insights for developing an observation practice in corporate L&D. The MET Project was a three-year study to explore measures of teacher effectiveness and highlights the value of using observations for teacher development.

Tips for Designing and Implementing an Effective Observation Practice

A well-designed observation practice provides a rich source of data to develop instructors and support comprehensive program evaluation. While this may seem like a linear process, it should be agile and iterative with lessons learned from each phase informing adjustments to subsequent iterations.

Step 1: Plan

Planning is critical and lays the foundation for all subsequent steps.

• Create or select an observation rubric to measure instructional behaviors. These behaviors should be linked to learner and program outcomes and provide actionable insights to help instructors improve. Rubrics should include quantitative ratings as well as opportunities for written feedback. Several models and instruments of instructor performance have been developed and used for K-12 and adult learning contexts. Select the most appropriate model or instrument based on the training content, context and instructor. For example, some behaviors are more relevant for face-to-face instruction than for virtual training. Models and instruments developed to improve instruction for adult learners will be more relevant in corporate L&D than those developed for younger learners.
• Determine who will observe . In academic settings, administrators and peers are often used as observers. In a corporate setting, observers could be internal to the L&D program or include administrators and peers who teach similar or different subjects. One unique consideration in L&D settings is that many instructors are not trained as professional educators, so it may be helpful to include observers who have experience as professional educators to provide SMEs with feedback related to teaching practices.
• Train observers to rate using the rubric and assess interrater reliability. If possible, use multiple observers to increase reliability. Raters should be trained to use the rubric and to develop a shared mental model. In addition to assessing interrater reliability as part of observer training, reliability should be monitored over time, and there will likely be a need for follow-up training to ensure raters remain calibrated. If it’s not possible to have multiple raters, have a single observer do multiple observations.
• Determine the method of observation . Should observations be in-person, recorded or both? There are pros and cons for both scenarios. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a massive shift to virtual instruction, which presents the opportunity to record virtual sessions for feedback. Recording sessions, even when doing live observation, is a good practice given its benefits and limited drawbacks.
• Create an observation sampling plan . An observation sampling plan ensures having enough observations from multiple sources across courses and instructors. Recording all sessions for possible observation is a great practice if feasible, but sessions can be selected in advance by the organization or even by instructors. Some best practices from the MET Project include allowing teachers to choose their own recordings for observations, supplementing full-length observations with shorter observations, and announcing observations to reduce anxiety associated with being observed and keep the focus on development.

Step 2: Observe

Gather feedback from observers to determine if adjustments need to be made to the rubric or sampling plan. Rating quality should be monitored by assessing observer reliability and retraining observers as needed.

Step 3: Self-discovery and coaching

Linking and presenting data from observation with other sources (e.g., learner survey and assessment data) can help instructors reflect on instructional practices, impact on learning and identify areas for improvement. Instructors can engage in self-discovery and reflection and participate in developmental feedback conversations with a manager or coach by reviewing data from these sources. Protect learner confidentiality when data from learners is provided, such as survey data, particularly when class sizes are small or still in session at the time instructors receive feedback. Coaches can help instructors interpret feedback, identify areas for improvement and determine what actions instructors should take to incorporate feedback in their teaching practices.

Step 4: Instructor development plan

Working with a lead instructor, manager or coach, instructors can create an instructor development plan (IDP) focusing on chosen areas for improvement. This IDP should include SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound) to address the agreed upon areas for improvement, as well as describe how their personal goals support organizational goals.

Once an instructor or coach chooses an area of improvement, they should define a specific individual goal for the area, identify the related organizational goals and specify the measure of success. Each goal should be supported by a list of specific actions, and those actions should be accompanied by a list of resources needed. It is critical that organizations provide resources for IDPs to be implemented effectively.

Step 5: Commit, act and evaluate

Instructors, learners, coaches and business leaders must commit to instructor development and improvement by supporting behavior-based changes. These efforts need to be evaluated over time to determine if the changes are having a positive impact on organizational outcomes.

Overcoming Barriers

There are many perceived barriers to conducting observations, but these barriers can be overcome with the right approach.

• Negative view of observations by instructors . Many instructors are not comfortable being observed or fear negative consequences. Create a positive feedback culture, and use observations to focus on development and improvement rather than a purely administrative process.
• Observation itself can impact the behavior we are trying to observe . Develop a supportive feedback culture, observe regularly and make observation less obtrusive by using technology (i.e., video recording).
• Observation only captures a snapshot of behavior. Develop sampling plans to ensure multiple observations of an instructor at different points in the training course.
• Observation is time-consuming, resource intensive and difficult to integrate. Create an efficient plan for observation and leverage technology to support collection and display of observation data along with other key metrics of instructor effectiveness. Technology cannot only be used to systemically capture ratings but also to provide feedback, develop and monitor the success of IDPs.

Developing and implementing an effective observation process creates a win-win-win for instructors, learners and the L&D enterprise. Adding an observation practice into an existing feedback practice allows stakeholders to combine and compare data from multiple sources. Done correctly and combined with other sources of data, observations can have a positive impact on teacher development, as well as learning and organizational outcomes.

• #facilitator training
• #instructor development
• #instructor performance
• #observation

Reanna P. Harman, Ph.D., and Elisabeth G. Dezern

Dr. Reanna Harman is a director, and Mrs. Elisabeth Dezern is a client implementation and experience manager at ALPS Insights . ALPS Insights provides L&D evaluation, analytics and insights through its software platform, ALPS Ibex TM , as well as consulting and analytics services.

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Presentation Training Institute

A division of bold new directions training, 8 ways to improve your presentation skills.

Whether you are a student, an educator, a business professional, or a small business owner, presenting to an audience is something you will have to do many times throughout your life. Knowing how to deliver an idea is a beneficial skill, no matter what line of work you are in. That said, speaking in front of an audience is oftentimes one of the most feared tasks. For those not born with a natural eloquence, public speaking and presenting can be remarkably nerve-racking. The good news is that like any other skill, presenting is something that can be improved with practice. Here are just a few of the best tips to help you improve your presentation skills. 

1. Practice!

Just as you would any other sport or skill, if you want to be a better presenter you have to make time to practice. Rehearse your presentation multiple times in order to improve. Practice in front of a mirror, in front of a mock audience, and even record yourself. Ask for genuine feedback from friends and family. Also, review the recording and be mindful of your pace, tone, body language, and delivery. Make note of any improvements that need to be made and keep practicing until you feel confident about your performance. 

2. Attend Other Presentations

It can be very helpful to see other presenters and make note of what they did and did not do well. Pay attention to things like their tone, body language, eye contact, movement, audience reaction, and visual tools. Was the presentation successful and engaging? Did the presenter connect with the audience? This can be an effective method for improving your own presentation skills. 

3. Know Your Audience

Before you begin preparing the content of your presentation, consider who the message is intended for. Learn as much as you can about the audience and their needs or challenges. This will help you align your message with their specific needs and determine your choice of words, level of information, and motivation. 

4. Know Your Stuff

Research and prepare until you become an expert on your topic. The more knowledge you have on your topic, the more confident you will appear when presenting about it. You want your audience to see you as an authority in your field so be sure you know your information backwards and forward.

5. Be Mindful of Body Language

Practicing confident body language is just as important as practicing the words you speak. When your body language is demonstrating confidence, your audience will see you as credible. Pay attention to things like eye contact, posture, hand gestures, voice inflection, and tone. Body language is a powerful tool that can help you communicate emotion and connect with your audience. 

6. Attend Workshops or Training

Public speaking and presenting is not an easy skill to master so it can be helpful to attend professional workshops, training, or even social groups such as Toastmasters in order to learn more and practice your skills. This allows you to learn from more experienced presenters and also practice in a safe environment where you can receive the feedback you need to improve your skills and gain confidence. 

7. Engage the Audience

Oftentimes people dread attending presentations because they feel like a one-sided conversation. It can be boring to sit and listen passively for an hour as someone throws information at you. Presentations, however, don’t have to be a one-dimensional experience. Welcome and encourage audience participation by asking questions, taking a poll or survey, telling a story, or playing an icebreaker. This will boost engagement and make attendees feel part of the conversation. 

8. Take Deep Breaths

When we are nervous, our muscles tighten, our hearts pound, and we may even hold our breath. Before stepping on stage, take several minutes to practice deep breathing exercises. This will help relax your muscles and deliver oxygen to the brain. This helps to calm your nerves and reduce anxiety. 

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Helping Students Overcome Presentation Anxiety

By  Traci Levy

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We’ve all watched the scene in teen movies: a terrified student has to present in front of the class. The student freezes or panics. The class erupts into jeers and laughter.

Fortunately, students in my introductory politics class at Adelphi University don’t go that far. But they still don’t like presentation days, often turning into uncomfortable, flustered bundles of nerves before their classmates. Many times, they talk too fast or blunder through their hard work, losing their classmates’ attention along the way.

Sound familiar? Recasting the presentation format into a more manageable setup may ease student stress and foster more effective presentations. That’s what I found from classroom experimentation over several semesters.

As my students have said, their presentation anxiety arises largely from fear. So I imagined how I might reorganize to mitigate that worry, weighing different ways people give presentations: standing, sitting, arranging themselves behind a table, walking and talking, and so forth.

The antidote I’ve developed—the Presentation Cafe—positions student presenters around tables, one in each corner of the room. At every table, a group of three makes a presentation while three to six other students listen and ask questions. That lets students gather and engage in smaller clusters.

I chose the experience precisely because it evokes a cafe, where friends sit around tables and talk with ease. In my rendering, the research shared by presenters takes the place of croissants and coffee as the food for thought.

Upsides and Downsides

How does it work? On Presentation Cafe days, I divide the class into presentation slots, scheduling three or four groups, depending on class size, to present simultaneously. Each presenting group makes its presentation a few times. Students who are listening circulate among the tables, eventually hearing all of that day’s presentations.

The advantages I’ve discovered have a few dimensions. First, students enthusiastically and almost unanimously seem to prefer sitting around a table and presenting to smaller groups rather than 15 to 22 other students. Out of 40 students between the two sections of this class that I have taught, 38 preferred this approach, one wasn’t sure and one sheepishly admitted he liked standing in front of a class. He’s perhaps a natural politician in the making—but truly the exception to the rule.

Second, by giving their presentation three times in one day, students can practice and improve their oral presentation skills. I’ve circulated to catch at least part of every group’s presentation each time. Most students have made improvements in pacing, length and even content in subsequent presentations. They’ve also seemed more relaxed and confident with each presentation.

Third, students have scored higher on our class assessment question that was related to the presentation material. I’ve tested students on part of the information several weeks later in an essay on an exam. My department collects data on this question for assessment purposes. Correlation isn’t necessarily causation, and multiple factors could be at play with the higher scores. Still, I’ve been happy to see that a smaller percentage of students have scored “unsatisfactory,” while more have scored in the “satisfactory” and “superior” assessment ranges. That’s compared to previous semesters, when I used a traditional presentation method.

This presentation setup has worked well even with students presenting and listening wearing masks due to COVID safety rules. In fact, it’s probably worked better since presenters haven’t had to project their voice across the room.

Does this approach work in online synchronous classes? It’s easy to group students in breakout rooms on virtual platforms like Zoom. In fact, now that some Zoom settings even allow students to choose and switch between breakout rooms, this strategy is more practical than ever in online classes. From my experience, however, it’s harder to circulate as efficiently between online breakout groups. I can’t visually scan the room to see when students are starting or ending their presentations.

Admittedly, this approach has some potential downsides, even for in-person classes. Although every group can see most other presentations, they can’t see them all. I could remedy this issue by assigning more presentation days. However, time is precious, and the number of days I’ve assigned has worked well for my students.

It may also be harder for a professor to notice points that might need to be clarified or corrected. Even though I circulate throughout the room, hearing parts of all presentations, students can sometimes make mistakes. In the future, I plan to grade the papers and return feedback before students deliver their presentations to minimize the likelihood that they present any incorrect or confusing information.

All in all, however, with students less anxious, presentations improved and attendance and assessment scores up, the Presentation Cafe will be a regular feature of some of my classes. Maybe next time, I’ll even bring croissants.

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Dealing With the Ghosts of Leaders Past

Jacob A. Brown, Jeffrey S. Bednar, C. K. Gunsalus and Nicholas C.

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5 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills

“You need to enjoy doing what you’re doing, and if you don’t, it reads. Something in you needs to stand behind what you say or the audience will turn off.” - Adam Lazarus, public speaking expert

The latest free Knowledge Hub webinar featured public speaking expert and SCS instructor Adam Lazarus , who shared valuable insight into how anyone can begin to improve their presentation and communication skills. 

Lazarus kicked off the webinar by asking participants to picture someone who they think of as an excellent communicator and then share or make a note for themselves about what makes that person great at communication.

“It’s very important to articulate for yourself what you think is great so that you have a measure for yourself of what you want to emulate,” he explained. 

“I’m going to take a guess and say somebody picked Obama. And I’m going to also say, I’m sorry, you cannot be the next Obama. You can only be the next you. I’m not interested in who you choose, but why you choose who you choose. So you can take those qualities and figure out how you present them.”

Lazarus then asked participants what stands in the way of excellent communication and questioned how many people feel nervous speaking publicly, whether in one-on-one interviews or speaking in front of a boardroom full of people. 

“It’s considered the number one fear amongst human beings, even above death, according to The Book of Lists,” he said.

“Now I hope it’s not your case that you feel like you’d rather be dead than communicating,” he added.  “And I don’t say that to diminish the experience of feeling really bad and uncomfortable, anxious, sweaty and tired – all the things that happen…but the good news is that public speaking and communication is a skill that can be learned.”

Lazarus went on to share his approach to effective public speaking and communications, which includes, five main aspects: 

• Pleasure: “You need to enjoy doing what you’re doing, and if you don’t it reads. Something in you needs to stand behind what you say or the audience will turn off,” Lazarus explains. “Often what happens because we’re nervous, is we diminish our own enthusiasm towards what we say. We can’t begin there.”
• Complicité (or connection) : Lazarus says that despite advice some people may have received to look above the audience instead of directly at them to alleviate nerves, it’s actually important to do the opposite. “We need to look at the audience and read what’s happening back.” When you’re paying attention to your audience and their feedback, you can adjust to keep them engaged.
• Authenticity: You are who you are and you cannot be anyone but who you are. You are dynamic in front of somebody in your life, whether it’s your partner, your dog, or your friends, where you light up and sound like you care. And what we want to do is pull that person up in front of the room, appropriately.”
• Mistakes or failure . “I promise you, you are going to make mistakes,” Lazarus said. But he explains the important thing is not to get hung up on mistakes or convince yourself the audience has been greatly upset by a fumble you might make during a presentation.
• "Today I was good, tomorrow I hope to go on. Today I was bad, tomorrow I hope to go on.” Inspired by a saying from a teacher Lazarus studied under, the quote refers to the idea of communication improvement being a lifelong process. Lazarus says we don’t need to limit working on these skills to when we have a formal presentation or communication to prepare. We can take everyday communication as an opportunity to practice and improve our skills. He says: “We’re always working at communicating, getting our message across, being impactful, and dynamic.”

See the full webinar recording, including a follow-up question and answer session, below.

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Instructor 1 > Chapter 6: Classroom Instruction > Flashcards

Chapter 6: Classroom Instruction Flashcards

Which characteristic of an effective public speaker involves use of relevant examples, storytelling, and metaphors?

Good development of ideas

Instructors can improve presentations by:

making a video recording and reviewing it for distracting actions

An oral presentation generally consists of three parts referred to as the:

introduction, body, and summary

Which method of sequencing information begins with information that students are familiar with before introducing unfamiliar material?

Known-to-unknown

Why do instructors use transitions to keep students’ attention between portions of the lesson?

Continuity and consistency

Which step of the four-step method of instruction introduces the lesson?

Preparation

Which step of the four-step method of instruction has the instructor follow an orderly, sequential outline to deliver the lesson content?

Presentation

Which step of the four-step method of instruction has the instructor provide opportunities for students to learn through a variety of activities?

Application

Which instructional method is MOST effective for providing facts, rules, and regulations?

Illustrated lectures

Which instructional method is an effective way to teach manipulative skills and mechanical functions?

Demonstrations

Which instructional method allows instructors to talk to the overall group and invite the group to reply?

Leading class discussions

The development of psychomotor skills typically occurs in _____ phases.

Which structured exercise reviews and discusses detailed accounts of past events for students to analyze and synthesize possible answers to the problem?

Case studies

Which structured exercise involves students acting out the role of a character in a scenario to prepare for situations they may encounter while fulfilling their job duties?

Role playing

Which structured exercise permits students to experience a situation, make decisions, and see the results of their decisions without the negative consequences that can occur at an actual emergency?

Simulations

Which type of learning requires that each student successfully master the learning objectives or outcomes of the lesson or course before progressing to a new one?

Competency-based

An advantage of the competency-based approach to teaching is:

students are prepared to advance to more complex knowledge or skills

Which teaching strategy is the most prevalent approach to teaching in the fire and emergency services?

Instructor-led training

Which teaching strategy requires instructors to be very organized and disciplined in order to maintain a high level of student satisfaction and performance with the reduction of a formal structure?

Blended or hybrid learning

Which teaching strategy minimizes the interaction between a student and an instructor?

Computer simulation

What is the art of clearly and concisely explaining information in ways that an anticipated audience can understand?

Effective speakers organize their material so that:

their audience is never lost during the presentation

Which characteristic of effective speakers involves keeping appropriate eye contact with audience members?

Good delivery skills

Which major element of good vocal characteristics of an effective speaker involves clearly emphasizing each syllable, accent, and pause?

Enunciation

Instructors can improve any presentation by:

getting plenty of rest the night before a presentation

Which part of an instructor’s oral presentation is to get the attention of the students?

Which part of an instructor’s oral presentation is to present the information in a logical sequence?

Which part of an instructor’s oral presentation is to review the objective of the presentation?

Which method of sequencing information in a presentation begins by teaching the basic knowledge or skill, then introducing more difficult knowledge as the lesson progresses?

Simple-to-complex

Which method of sequencing information in a presentation teaches students in a sequential order for each skill?

Step-by-step

Educational research recommends that instructors evaluate student’s understanding:

during the lesson

Which of the following is a purpose of transitions when giving presentations?

Preview what will happen next

What are two types of transitions speech communication professionals teach?

Verbal and nonverbal

The steps for the four-step method of instruction include _____, presentation, application, and evaluation

preparation

Which step of the four-step method of instruction can be combined with the application step so students can participate in activities that require them to safely demonstrate skills?

During which step of the four-step method of instruction does the instructor provide opportunities for students to learn through a variety of activities?

Which step of the four-step method of instruction typically uses written and oral tests to assess cognitive learning?

Which instructional teaching method does an instructor use to explain a topic with the help of audiovisual aids?

Giving an illustrated lecture

Which instructional teaching method does an instructor use to teach physical principles?

Providing demonstration

Which instructional teaching method allows for interaction between the instructor and the students?

Which common category of the whole group discussion format intends to have students gain knowledge from other group members or develop new ideas?

Which type of group discussions have the main advantage that students express their ideas and opinions more openly with their peers than when an instructor is present?

Both large and small group discussions require that instructors demonstrate _____ to ensure that students achieve course goals.

Which discussion technique is used to generate as many ideas as possible while operating under the principle that there are no bad ideas?

Brainstorming

Which skill enables the instructor to evaluate prepared questions so questions can be improved, if needed?

Knowing how to create effective questions of their own

Which question type doesn’t necessarily have one correct answer and often does not call for a spoken response?

How should an instructor respond when a student answer is only partially correct?

Positively reinforce the correct portion, then redirect the question back to the student or ask another student to complete the answer

An instructor can respond to students’ questions that may be complex, illogical, or off topic by:

deferring the questions that are beyond the scope of the lesson

During which phase of the development of psychomotor skills does the instructor provide a great deal of influence while demonstrating as much patience as possible to encourage the student?

During which phase of the development of psychomotor skills does the instructor serve more as an evaluator and a coach than a teacher?

Associative

During which phase of the development of psychomotor skills does the instructor become the coach and is there to help students refine their efforts?

A case study involves analyzing and examining facts through:

discussion and problem-solving exercises

Which type of structured exercise involves students acting out the role of a character in a scenario to prepare for situations they may encounter while fulfilling their duties?

A simulation may include elements of:

computer-based training

Which type of structured exercise provides students with experiences to inspect, use, test, and evaluate equipment or processes?

Field and laboratory experiences

Which type of learning involves instructors teaching specific criteria that students must meet during testing?

Learning objectives are written to establish the _____ for competency by identifying and clearly describing the learning outcome (behavior).

What would be an advantage of the competency approach to teaching?

Students are prepared to advance to more complex knowledge or skills

Which teaching strategy splits some of the responsibilities among more than one instructor?

Multiple instructors

Which teaching strategy helps make abstract concepts more relatable to students?

Explain and illustrate with examples, stories, analogies, and metaphors

Which teaching strategy do instructors use to help students to recognize the importance of key points through emphasis and repetition?

Reinforcing learning

Which teaching strategy combines traditional (face-to-face) and online teaching methods?

Blended or hybrid

Which teaching strategy leads to an increased depth of knowledge and understanding of the material versus the traditional method?

Student-centered learning

Which teaching strategy has students read and study the material at home prior to coming to class?

Flipping the classroom

Computer based training (CBT) may be used in a more structured format to provide:

distance learning

Which teaching strategy holds students solely responsible for achieving course objectives determined by the instructor or chosen by the student?

Self-directed learning

Which teaching strategy has instructors pull from a variety of resources to better meet the learning needs of each student?

Individualized instruction

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The Ultimate Guide to Effective Teacher Presentations: Strategies & Tips

Dianne Adlawan

Teachers, by nature, are considered professional presenters. Their main responsibility is to talk in front of their students to relay educational knowledge, sharpen their minds and skills, and even serve as a second guide alongside their parents. They also speak in front of parents, co-teachers, and school administrators. This just means that preparing for a presentation is already not new to them.

Still, teachers can become so comfortable with their presentation routine that their techniques turn into autopilot. The result of a repetitive task can become tiring and not challenging anymore which may result in students losing interest or attention span in the process.

The tips featured in this article are dedicated to these hard-working professionals. This will help them prepare and perform a better presentation in front of any type of audience.

Why You Should Prepare for a Presentation

• Preparation helps you build to structure your thoughts to create a well-organized presentation. By taking the time to prepare, you can decide what information is most important, plan the flow of the presentation, and make sure that everything is connected and easy to follow.
• Second, it allows you to think ahead of the questions that your audience might ask. Especially if you’re giving a presentation to a group of various audiences, who are curious about the topic at hand. By preparing in advance, you’ll be able to answer any questions they may have, which will not only increase their understanding but also boost your credibility as a teacher.
• Lastly, preparation helps you make the most of your time. Advanced preparation ahead of the presentation can ensure that you’re not wasting time trying to organize your thoughts at the last minute.

Effects of an Organized and Well-Planned Presentation

An audience engages with a speaker who knows their words and poses a confident attitude. While the projector may display clear and concise slides, the presenter is the main ingredient to every presentation.

For teachers, a well-planned lesson presentation helps the teacher maintain the attention and interest of their students, which is crucial for effective learning. Additionally, being organized and prepared will help teachers convey their ideas more effectively and it will help the teacher to feel more confident, which also impacts their teaching and in turn can help to build trust and rapport with their students.

Possible Outcomes of An Unprepared Presentation

Let’s suppose you haven’t allocated enough time to plan and prepare for an important presentation. What could be the potential outcomes?

• Increased Stress and Anxiety: Lack of preparation can lead to increased anxiety and stress, which can not only hinder your ability to deliver a convincing presentation but also hurt your mental health and work balance. It can cause a “mental block,” causing you to lose focus and concentration during your delivery.
• Poor Presentation Delivery: Without proper preparation, your presentation can appear scattered and disjointed. This can lead to an incoherent message that fails to convince your audience.
• Diminished credibility: Delivering an unprepared presentation can harm your reputation as a professional. It can portray you as disorganized and unreliable which could lead your colleagues or students to question your competence and reliability.

Effective Visual and Content Organization Tips

Consider this as the first stage towards an effective teacher presentation. Before moving on to improving your verbal communication cues, let’s enhance first your presentation visuals and content.

Visual Tips

1. add powerpoint animations and different media.

Establishing an attractive slideshow is one of the keys to a successful presentation. This will put a good impression on your audience that you’re prepared just by seeing how well-designed your presentation is. Of course, images add to slideshow attraction, but consider adding another forms of media such as GIFs and videos, as well as animations! Microsoft PowerPoint has a lot of fun & captivating features that you may not be aware of. Check out this example of an easy yet appealing Slide Zoom trick in PowerPoint that you can add to your presentation to wow your audience.

@classpoint.io Did someone say FREE??? Yes, we did. Here are free websites to help you upgrade your next PowerPoint presentation! 😎 #powerpoint #presentation #design #studytok #edutok #tutorial #tipsandtricks #ai ♬ original sound – r & m <33

Read Next: Make Your Presentations POP With This PowerPoint Animation Template

2. Use Readable Font Styles

Make sure to use the best font style that makes your presentation look sleek, readable, and won’t strain your audience’s eyes while reading. We all want to use a fancy font, trust me, I get it. But most of the time, simplicity is beauty, especially if you’re presenting a professional-looking slideshow. Font styles such as Poppins, Tahoma, Verdana, Montserrat, and Helvetica are great examples of font styles that screams simple yet professional to look at.

On the other hand, font styles such as Bradley Hand, Comic Sans, and Chiller are not ideal choices as they are not meant to captivate your audience’s eyes. And another tip is to stick to two or three fonts only!

3. Use Relevant Graphics

Selecting graphics for designing your presentation depends on your audience and the goals you aim to achieve with the presentation. For example, if you are presenting in front of students and your goal is to keep them engaged, motivated, and actively participating, then you might consider incorporating charts, tables, and relevant shapes into your design.

It’s important to remember that your presentation design should align with the theme of your topic.

Free Websites to Upgrade your Presentation Graphics:

• Craiyon. com
• The Noun Project

4. Use Audience Engagement tools to Activate Learning

Want the quickest solution to an engaged audience? Well, it’s audience interactive activities! Adding interactive activities to your presentation can help keep your audience engaged and interested. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use ClassPoint, an audience engagement tool added right into PowerPoint presentations.

With ClassPoint, you no longer need to worry about strategies to keep your students engaged, as this tool transforms PowerPoint into a teacher presentation tool with a teacher toolbelt and student quizzes , polls, and games that make presentations more fun & engaging.

By combining ClassPoint with your presentation techniques, you can focus solely on setting up your lesson content in PowerPoint and allow ClassPoint to handle the rest for achieving a learning-activated presentation lesson .

🔍 Learn more about ClassPoint, the teacher add-in for better lessons & student engagement 👍

5. Use a Laser Pointer

Help focus your audience attention by using a laser pointer!

With the help of a laser pointer device, teachers are able to attract the attention of their audiences and concentrate on essential points in their presentations. Highlighting these main ideas and terms assists the speaker in organizing their speech, preventing distraction, and increasing retention of the information presented.

You can use a physical laser pointer & clicker, or with the addition of ClassPoint into PowerPoint, presenters can easily turn their cursor into a laser or a spotlight . This can make it even easier for students to follow along and is a convenient tool for creating a more captivating teacher presentation.

Secret tip: if you write on your slide with the laser, it will leave disappearing ink! 🪄

Content Tips

1. research and fact-check your presentation.

As educators, it is crucial to equip ourselves with reliable and accurate information before presenting to our students. We have a responsibility to not only educate them but to also mold them into critical thinkers who are equipped with factual knowledge. Without thorough fact-checking, we risk disseminating misinformation and hindering their intellectual growth.

To avoid such situations, we must prioritize research and fact-checking before presenting any information. Conducting research helps us not only in finding accurate information but also in ensuring that the sources we use are reliable and credible. Moreover, taking the time to fact-check demonstrates our commitment to providing students with high-quality education and the desire to create a safe and accurate learning environment.

2. Be Prepared to Anticipate Questions during the Presentation

It is important to be well-prepared for a presentation especially anticipating and addressing questions. This applies particularly to a teacher presentation, as educators face varied expectations and questions. Adequate preparation allows you to organize ideas and justifications, and it can deepen understanding, boost confidence, and improve adaptability. Addressing questions, makes your audiences feel heard and appreciated. This will result in comprehensive presentations, enhanced confidence, improved information flow, and an atmosphere of respect and understanding.

A great & visual way you can elaborate, or explain your material in new ways, is by using ClassPoint’s whiteboard tools added to PowerPoint. ClassPoint’s added toolbar presents teachers with unlimited whiteboard slides they can open whenever they need, and user-friendly yet comprehensive pen tools with available shapes, and text boxes. Plus you can also use ClassPoint’s quick poll or other question types to assess students’ understanding with hard data & insights.

Addressing questions well makes your audience or students feel heard & appreciated leading to improved learning, enhanced confidence, and a respectful, safe learning environment.

3. Provide an Outline Structure of your Content

When you are preparing your presentation, it is best to first create an effective outline structure that will guide your presentation flow and help you focus on the main learning objective. But what you may not be doing, is offering that outline structure to your students, but you should!

Providing students with a clear understanding of what this lesson is about, the structure of the lesson, and what they will be able to take away from it is important. By doing so, you can help students stay focused and follow along with the material. Additionally, you are setting expectations and ensuring that everyone is on the same page, which can help promote student autonomy. So, include an outline at the start of your presentation lesson.

Step-by-Step Strategies for a Successful Presentation

Before presentation, know your audience, your students, or observers.

Once you have completed your deck, you may want to add a guide script and any additional notes with important points you don’t want to forget or you want to highlight in your presentation to impress your students .

Practice your presentation delivery/lesson

Practice delivering your presentation give you a chance to fine-tune your content and get your facts down. This will help you become more comfortable with the material and identify areas that need improvement. You can practice in front of a mirror, record yourself and watch it back, or even rehearse with a colleague or friend. When practicing, pay attention to your posture, tone of voice, and pacing. By doing so, you’ll be able to deliver a confident and engaging presentation that will captivate your audience.

Use a friendly tone of voice and pace

Adjust your tone to match your message, and avoid speaking too quickly so that your audience will get the chance to absorb the information you’re sharing. By being mindful of these aspects, you will capture your audience’s attention and leave them feeling informed and inspired.

Use engaging body language

Body language is essential for engaging your audience during a presentation. Stand up straight, make eye contact, and use hand gestures to emphasize important points. You can also move around the classroom to keep your students’ attention. By using engaging body language, you’ll be able to convey your message more effectively and keep your students interested throughout the presentation. You’ve got this!

During Presentation

Create an icebreaker.

Having an icebreaker is a warm-up for your students’ brains, allowing you to focus and engage with the material being presented. It also helps break down any barriers or tension between the presenter and the audience, making for a more relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Additionally, an icebreaker provides an opportunity for the presenter to showcase their creativity and personality, adding an extra level of excitement and engagement to the presentation.

Good thing that ClassPoint has numerous features to help you perform an entertaining and unforgettable icebreaker. Here are some examples that you can use during an icebreaker.

• Quick Poll : Quick Poll allows you to create interactive polls right inside your presentation. When used as an icebreaker, it can engage the audience, initiate discussions, and provide valuable insights that help tailor the content to participants’ preferences.
• Word Cloud: Presenters can ask thought-provoking questions related to the topic or general interest. Using Word Cloud, the audiences can answer through their mobile which can be instantly seen as collective responses, with the most frequently mentioned words appearing larger.
• Short Answer : In short answer, you can challenge your audiences’ thought process in a short-form writing activity with no options to get from to test their ability to understand.
• Image Upload : Using single image, audiences can interpret what they feel like, or their mood using only the photos in their gallery or surroundings. A creative yet fun way for an icebreaker!

Speak clearly

Effective communication is crucial when presenting important information to students. Speaking clearly helps ensure that students understand the concepts being taught and follow instructions effectively. As a teacher, it’s important to focus on clear speech to promote effective communication and help your students comprehend the material being presented.

Pay attention to your audience’s attention

Since distractions are aplenty, attention spans are dwindling, it’s important for presenters to captivate their audience’s attention right from the beginning. For teachers, when speaking in front of your class, you should not only focus on the content of your presentation but also on your students’ attention.

To ensure that your students won’t start drifting away or zoning out, start with a compelling opening that immediately grabs their attention. Use vivid storytelling, examples, or demonstrations to engage your students and drive home your message. Don’t forget the power of humor, and never be afraid to be yourself – authentic, passionate, and confident.

Add Personality: share short relatable stories

“A great personality makes everyone feel energized; just like a flower’s fragrance that freshens ups the complete surrounding.” 29 Personality Quotes to Achieve Greatness

As to what is stated in the quote, having a positive and vibrant personality affects the overall mood of your surrounding, it can capture the audience’s attention and maintain their interest throughout the presentation. While the ultimate goal is to deliver a presentation rich with new learnings and knowledge, adding humor can do no harm to lift up the mood in the room. You might want to start by segueing a short story that your students can relate to and make interactions by encouraging them to share a story too or ask questions.

Post-Presentation Reflection

Take the comments by heart.

Receiving feedback from your students is a great way for evaluating the efficacy of a teacher presentation. This can help you identify areas where you can improve and tailor your teaching tactics to better suit the needs of your students. Listening to your students’ feedback can also promote a feeling of cooperation and enable them to become more actively involved in the learning experience. So, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback and take it to heart in order to continually improve your presentations.

Experienced educators understand that they are perpetually crafting their skills, and feedback from their audience brings an opportunity for professional advancement. In addition, accepting audience feedback illustrates esteem and worth for the students’ views. It promotes a feeling of cooperation and enables students to become more actively involved in the learning experience.

Preparing for a presentation is essential for teachers to deliver engaging and impactful content to their students. By structuring thoughts, anticipating questions, and preparing ahead, teachers can achieve a well-organized presentation that will enhance the students’ understanding and leave them feeling confident.

By following our strategies and tips teachers can achieve successful lessons using PowerPoint presentations. And, with the help of an advanced educational technology tool like ClassPoint, teachers can create dynamic and memorable presentations that their students will enjoy and actively participate in.

Try out ClassPoint today and experience a whole teacher presentation in PowerPoint! ✨

About Dianne Adlawan

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Human Subjects Office

July 2024 irb connection newsletter, irb efficiency initiatives and results to date, irb efficiency initiative: current and upcoming, herky hint: help messages, aahrpp accreditation: preparing for site visit interviews, course-related student projects: is irb approval required, learning opportunity: irb overview lecture in icon, in the news, upcoming educational events, irb efficiency initiative s and results to date, by kelly o’berry and michele countryman.

Beginning in January 2024, the Human Subjects Office (HSO) rolled out six major initiatives to improve Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) review processes. This article provides an evaluation of previous programming changes that were presented at the May IRB Efficiency Initiative Information Session .   

Here’s a brief overview of the initiatives and results to date:  

60-Day Withdrawal Due to PI Inactivity (effective 1/29/24): 1,059 New Project and Modification Forms submitted since implementation. Of these, 106 forms were withdrawn (10%), 17 were recreated, and 9 were resubmitted.  

DSP Approval Timing (effective mid-February 2024): The new process for faster signoffs from the Division of Sponsored Programs allowed the release of HRPP approvals an average of 48 days earlier ( 36 days median).  

Required Actions After the IRB Meeting (effective 4/1/24): the average time to provide the PI with required actions from IRB meeting minutes has gone from 9 days to less than 24 hours since April 1.   

Assign a Meeting Date Goal (effective 4/1/24): Limited data is available, but 71% of studies met the date goal. More in-depth information will be available after the June rollout that separated IRB review from HRPP Committee Approvals.   

60-Day Withdrawal Due to PI Inactivity (effective 1/29/24)  

HawkIRB forms are automatically withdrawn if there is no response to workflow in 60 days . This change will allow for more accurate metrics for IRB review time.   

In addition to the two-week reminders, a new 55-day HawkIRB email notice states that the form will be withdrawn in five days. The form in the PI’s inbox shows the number of days in Workflow over the total days since submission. At 55 days , the form is highlighted in red in the PIs inbox.   

Evaluation data for New Project forms and Modification forms:  

The 106 withdrawn forms represent a considerable timesaving for HSO staff reviewers. Most withdrawn forms have not been recreated and very few recreated forms have been submitted to the IRB.  

NOTE: For a withdrawn form, the PI can only use the “recreate” link once. It is best to hold off on recreating the form until all issues that were holding up the response to the workflow questions in the original form have been resolved.  

DSP Approval Timing (effective mid-February 2024)  

Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) approval is required in HawkIRB for industry-initiated, industry-funded clinical trials where a research contract is required to document institution and sponsor expectations. The research application can be approved by the IRB, but not released to the study team until DSP approval is documented. In February, DSP updated their “contract approval” process for these industry-sponsored clinical trials. DSP approval used to be documented when the contract was fully executed; contract negotiations were complete, all signatures in place (institution, PI, and sponsor), and budget approved. Now DSP issues approval in HawkIRB when contract negotiations are complete, even if signatures and/or budget remain pending. This removed a significant delay in the HRPP approval process. Note: The PI must continue to work with the sponsor to obtain signatures and finalize the budget prior to initiating the research.  

This change affected 38 studies from mid-February to early June. Faster DSP sign off allowed the release of HRPP approvals 48 days earlier than the previous average. For these studies, the median turnaround for IRB approval was 36 days , which is considerably below the goal of a 45-day median from submission to approval for full board review.  

Assign a Meeting Date Goal (effective 4/1/24)  

Application Analysts can now set an IRB meeting date goal, and a due date for meeting this goal, at the beginning of the IRB review process.   

NOTE: There were several limiting factors for evaluation of this change. IRB meeting agendas were full through April 22 when this change took effect on April 1. The first New Project form included in this evaluation was submitted on April 2 and scheduled to a meeting on May 9. This evaluation is based on data from early May through mid-June.  

Also, when this change took effect the hold for three Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) committees prevented scheduling forms to an IRB meeting. The IRB Efficiency Initiative rollout on June 14, 2024, lifted this hold by separating the IRB and HRPP Committee approvals. Future data will provide a more in-depth evaluation.  

Required Actions After the IRB Meeting (effective 4/1/24)  

HSO staff can now provide required actions to the PI shortly after the IRB meeting, which gives the PI/research team a head start to address required actions before receiving the full set of IRB meeting minutes.   

Before April 1, 2024, the average time to provide required actions to the PI in the full meeting minutes was 9 days. The goal is to provide required actions within 24 hours and the full set of meeting minutes within four business days.   

Of 167 sets of meeting minutes completed between April 1 and mid-June, HSO staff effectively decreased the average time to provide required actions to the PI to less than 24 hours. The research community has provided positive feedback about this change.    

Seventeen sets of minutes (10%) did not meet the goal due to the complexity of the issues the board discussed. Approximately half of these minutes were from a monthly IRB-01 Executive Committee meeting. The Executive Committee reviews more complex study design and compliance-related issues.  

IRB Efficiency Initiative Announcements and Updates  

See IRB Efficiency Initiative Announcements and Updates for information about o ther initiatives that are in progress or have been implemented since June 2024, including: launching the new HSO website , adding a chair designee to assist with IRB-02 post-approval forms, onboarding a new IRB-02 chair, Primary Reviewer process enhancements and more.  

By Kelly O’Berry and Michele Countryman  

The IRB Efficiency Initiative rollout in June 2024 separated IRB review and approval from the other Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) committee approvals. This article provides an overview of that change and a summary of other initiatives in progress, updated documents, policies and procedures and information session/demonstration recordings.  

Separate IRB and HRPP Committee Approvals - June 2024 Rollout  

HawkIRB programming changes rolled out June 14, 2024, separated IRB review and approval from other HRPP Committee approvals. Prior to this change, the IRB could not begin the convened board review process until the issuance of approval from three committees/entities: Conflict of Interest in Research (CIRC) , Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee (PRMC, in Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center) , and Research Billing Compliance (RBC) . The HSO can now schedule a New Project or Modification form to a convened IRB meeting before the completion of these HRPP committee reviews/approvals.   

The second programming change allows the IRB to grant full IRB approval before the issuance of all HRPP approvals. Prior to this efficiency initiative, the IRB would hold approval pending approval from these additional HRPP committees: Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) , Medical Radiation and Protection Committee (MRPC) , Institutional Biosafety Committee and Nursing Research Committee (NRC) . Additionally, the IRB can now grant approval before the Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) signs off on the grant or contract.  

The Principal Investigator (PI) can now submit a Modification form in HawkIRB to address requests from HRPP Committees that complete their review after the IRB approves the New Project form. The New Project form is released when the Modification form is approved and released in HawkIRB.  

Several documents, policies and procedures were updated or added in June. See a detailed list at the end of this article .  

What’s Next for the IRB Efficiency Initiative?  

The following initiatives are in progress or have already been implemented since the June IRB Efficiency Initiative Information Session:  

New IRB review and approval structure for IRB-02 (social/behavioral research) – Effective at the start of Fiscal Year 2025, we added an IRB Chair Designee to assist with approval of post approval forms (e.g., Modification, Continuing Review, or Modification/Continuing Review) meeting an expedited or exempt criteria for approval. This enhancement is consistent with a long-standing IRB-01 review structure and is consistent with IRB practices across the nation. The new IRB-02 Chair Designee is an experienced IRB member who is already serving as an IRB-01 Chair Designee.  

New IRB-02 Chair – The new IRB-02 Chair, an experienced IRB member, will begin onboarding and training in August as part of succession planning for IRB-02 Chairs.  

Primary Reviewer process enhancements for full board review – HawkIRB programming is underway to update the Primary Reviewer Checklist used at convened board meetings and enhance the training process for Primary Reviewers.  

HawkIRB Application Redesign – This initiative to streamline the HawkIRB application began with the rollout of Section III updates on January 29, 2024. The goal is to make forms easier for researchers to complete and more efficient for the IRB review. This is a continuation of the 2022-2023 initiative to update the HawkIRB form for projects that qualify for Exempt Status. The next HawkIRB application redesign rollout will focus on updates to the single IRB review process. This is in preparation for the anticipated FDA adoption of the revised Common Rule regulations regarding the use of a single IRB for multi-site projects.  

New HSO website – The new HSO website is now live! HSO staff are still making final tweaks and corrections to URLs. It will take time for search engines to only identify pages of the new website. Use the gold buttons on the home page and the menu options to find what you need. We welcome your feedback. For assistance with finding anything on the new website or to provide feedback, please contact us at [email protected].   

AAHRPP Accreditation Site Visit – 2024-2025 is our HRPP reaccreditation period and will involve a significant amount of HSO time and resources. There are two steps in the reaccreditation process. The UI is currently at Step I; the initial application was submitted in March, and we are currently responding to AAHRPP review of submission materials. Step II is the site visit which will occur this fall. The site visit includes interviews with select PIs and research staff. See February through July IRB Connection Newsletter articles for additional information about accreditation and preparing for the site visit.  

Announcements and Updated Resources  

The following documents were updated or added during the June IRB Efficiency Initiative rollout:   

New Resources:  

Other HRPP Committee Tool – Includes an organizational chart, information about each committee and when their review is required, and regulatory references for these reviews. [Link at end of first paragraph]  

HRPP Committee Review Process Flow Chart – Illustrates the timing of steps in the IRB review process and HRPP committee approvals. [Link in first sentence of the second full paragraph]  

UI IRB Standard Operating Procedures and Researcher Guide    

Updated Policies and Procedures:  

External IRB Standard Operating Procedures    

VA Researcher Guide  

May 2024 IRB Efficiency Initiative Information Session (recording)  

Trainings and Demos:  

HawkIRB demo: Separating IRB and HRPP Committee Approvals (recording)  

WCG Training (recording, June 19, 2024)  

IRB ICON Course for Researchers – Slides, recordings, demo recordings and instruction documents  

Herky Hint: Help Messages  

By rachel kinker, mpa.

Are you working on your HawkIRB application and not sure how to answer a particular question? Within the application, there are little blue circles with “i” (for “information”) associated with most of the questions in the HawkIRB application.   

For example, the Help Message on the index page provides a lot of information:  

Overview of the HawkIRB system  

Template Consent Forms and Other Attachments  

Resources for assistance with preparing HawkIRB applications  

About the Help Messages  

Resources on the Human Subjects Office website  

Principal Investigator (PI) Responsibilities  

HawkIRB Delegates  

Guidance for Community-Based Research  

Throughout the application, other Help Messages provide guidance for what information to include in response to specific questions in the HawkIRB form. When you click on the Help Message, a new window will appear with additional text describing what to include in the response to each question.   

For example, in section VII.E., each Help Message describes what to submit and how to respond to the question.   

The Help Messages may also contain links to other departments that you may need to connect with or specific policies you should know. For example, the cash handling policy appears in the Help Message for question VII.E.9  

Utilizing the Help Messages throughout the application can answer researcher questions along the way and may expedite the application process by reducing workflow. If you have suggestions for how to improve the existing Help Messages, please contact [email protected].  

AAHRPP Accreditation: Preparing for Site Visit Interviews    

By emily shultz, cip  .

The Human Subjects Office (HSO) is preparing for the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) site visit that will take place in late summer/early fall 2024. The University of Iowa Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) has maintained accreditation since 2003. The practice of becoming accredited and maintaining accreditation is one of receiving input on how well the UI is following policies and procedures, and how well these policies and procedures meet the accreditation standards.  

About six weeks prior to the site visit, AAHRPP staff will send an email that contains:  

the names of the site visit team members,  

a draft agenda for the site visit,   

a list of personnel who will be interviewed.   

During the virtual site visit, the site visitors will meet (via Zoom) with small groups of HSO staff, IRB Chairs, IRB members, UI researchers and UI research team members, as well as members of committees with research oversight responsibilities, such as:  

Medical Radiation Protection Committee  

Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee  

Institutional Biosafety Committee  

Nursing Research Committee  

Division of Sponsored Programs  

Conflicts of Interest in Research Committee  

The interviews are typically done with two site visitors and 2 or 3 interviewees. Most interview time is with the IRB chairs, IRB members, and staff.   

Utilizing the documents submitted with the application for reaccreditation and the information gathered during the site visit, AAHRPP site visitors will look for evidence that, “the entire HRPP meets accreditation standards—and that protecting research participants is a shared organizational priority.” A month or two after the site visit, the HSO will receive feedback on how well the UI HRPP is meeting the requirements and will receive recommendations on areas where improvements can be made.  

Site Visit Interviews  

Andy Bertolatus , emeritus associate professor of internal medicine and one of the UI IRB-01 chairs, has been an AAHRPP site visitor for more than 20 years. The following information is based on insights he provided, in addition to information available from AAHRPP.  

When site visitors meet with members of the research community, they do not expect anyone to be able to recite federal regulations on the required elements of consent or the criteria for approval. When interviewing researchers, the site visitors will likely ask questions about the researcher’s:  

Areas of expertise and type(s) of research conducted   

Approach to conducting the consent processes   

Feelings about working with the IRB  

How they find out about changes in IRB policies/procedures  

Where they go for information or whom they contact for questions  

Resources Available  

For the UI research community, many resources are available online. These include, but are not limited to the following:  

UI IRB Standard Operating Procedures and Researcher Guide  

Human Subjects Office (HSO) website  

Conflict of Interest in Research website  

HHS Electronic Code of Federal Regulations 45 CFR 46   

OHRP Guidance  

FDA Regulations Part 50  

FDA Regulations Part 56  

FDA Guidance  

This is the final article in the AAHRPP Accreditation series. Previous articles are available on the HSO website IRB Connection page . Information for this article was adapted from the AAHRPP website .  

Course-Related Student Projects: Is IRB Approval Required?  

Students may conduct some research projects with human participants as a course assignment without approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). According to the UI and IRB policies, all human subjects research conducted by University of Iowa faculty, staff, or students must have approval from the IRB prior to initiation. IRB review is required if the project is intended to “develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge,” including thesis or dissertation projects. However, research methods course projects are generally more limited in scope and are intended to help students learn how to conduct research. These projects satisfy curriculum requirements and are not intended to further scientific knowledge in a particular field or discipline.  

IRB Approval Not Required  

Course-related research activities would not require IRB approval if:  

The purpose of the assignment is to teach research methodology.  

The results of the assignment will not “contribute to generalizable knowledge” because they are only used to satisfy a course requirement or because of limits on who will have access to the results of the project.  

The procedures will be limited to surveys, questionnaires, interview procedures, observation of public behavior, or standard educational exercises.  

The projects will not include people who are incarcerated or minors as participants or utilize data about these two populations.  

Data will be recorded without any identifying information (such as code numbers, birth dates, etc.) or identified data are not sensitive in nature (i.e., do not pose a risk of harm to the participants’ reputation, employment, financial standing, or do not put them at risk for criminal or civil liability).  

The project is not receiving monetary compensation or direct financial support from an external company, organization, or agency.  

The project will not be conducted at the Veteran’s Administration Health Care System (VAHCS) or use any VA resources.  

The project is not conducted or supported by a federal department or agency that follows the federal regulations for the protection of human subjects (the ‘Common Rule’).  

NOTE: Honors, master’s, and doctoral thesis and dissertation projects always require IRB approval if they involve research with human subjects. If any aspect of the class project is intended to be used for a thesis or dissertation, students must obtain IRB approval prior to any study activities (recruitment, data collection, etc.).  

Policy and Checklist  

The “Course-Related Student Project” policy specifies the parameters for class projects that can be conducted without IRB approval and contains a link to the Course-Related Student Projects Checklist .  

The checklist is a fillable pdf that helps students and instructors determine whether a project qualifies as a course-related student project. If any aspect of the project design indicates that IRB approval might be required, a pop-up message directs the student to submit a Human Subjects Research Determination (HSRD) form in the HawkIRB system to ask if the project needs IRB approval. If that occurs, there will be a red STOP on the completed checklist.  

Students should complete the Course-Related Student Project Checklist based on their project design and submit it to the instructor. Based on the completed Checklist, the instructor is authorized to determine that a project complies with the policy and can be conducted without IRB approval. If there is a red STOP in the Checklist, the instructor should advise the student to submit an HSRD form and receive a determination before conducting any research activities.  

The policy and the checklist can be found in the UI Standard Operating Procedures and Researcher Guide ( Section I, Part 12.D). See also the Course Instructor Responsibilities for using the Course-Related Student Project policy and checklist.  

Information for Participants  

Even when a course-related student project can be conducted without IRB approval, it is a recommended best-practice that the student share the following information with potential subjects:  

Student name and name of the course  

Course instructor name and their contact information  

Who will have access to individual and summarized results (e.g., instructor, group/team members, the whole class, an outside company/agency/organization)  

That participation is voluntary, and they may stop participating at any time.  

Resources  

For more information, students and instructors may review the Course-Related Student Research Projects web page  and the Course-Related Student Research Projects Policy and Procedures educational tool the Human Subjects Office website.  

(link sends e-mail)

Learning Opportunity: IRB Overview lecture in ICON  

By rachel kinker, mpa  .

Do you work with or teach individuals who are new to the University of Iowa and learning to conduct human subjects research? The recorded IRB Overview presentation posted in the IRB ICON Course for Researchers provides a general orientation to the UI IRB and the IRB approval requirements for human subjects research.   

This is an excellent supplemental lecture for any research methods or responsible conduct of research course. It is also ideal for students doing research as a course requirement. Learners must access the IRB ICON course through the portal on the HSO website . After the first login, the course will appear in your ICON Dashboard.  

This presentation covers:  

Regulatory definition of human subjects research  

Guidelines for human subjects research: why and when IRB approval is required  

Basic ethical principles for the conduct of human subjects research  

Student Principal Investigator (PI) training requirements (HawkIRB Part 1 and 2 trainings)  

Criteria for IRB approval  

Information about the UI IRB  

What to expect from the IRB review process  

Research off campus or outside the United States  

Course-related student projects   

Additional resources exist for courses where students complete a research project as a course requirement. The IRB policy on Course Related Student Projects outlines conditions under which IRB approval is not required for these projects. Instructors should use the Course Related Student Project Checklist to determine whether IRB approval may be required.  

If your class needs further guidance on specific research-related topics, please reach out to [email protected] to discuss additional options.   

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IRB Efficiency Initiative Information Session

The Human Subjects Office invites the UI research community to attend monthly information sessions about the IRB Efficiency Initiative on the fourth Wednesday of the month from 12-1 pm, via Zoom. We will discuss the changes and demonstrate HawkIRB enhancements being implemented to streamline the IRB review process. The monthly sessions will cover upcoming enhancements and expected roll out dates. Pre-register to receive the Zoom link.  

Wednesday, August 28, 2024  

12:00 PM-1:00 PM  

Pre-register to recieve the Zoom link  

Office Hours  

Human Subjects Office staff host IRB Office Hours via Zoom to provide assistance with electronic IRB applications (in HawkIRB) and to discuss study proposals prior to submission.  All researchers are welcome to attend. No appointment is necessary.  

Summer office hours run June 5th through August 28th.  

Wednesdays (2:00 PM-4:00 PM) via Zoom  

Visit the Human Subjects Office website for complete information about IRB Office Hours and the Zoom link.  

Recorded Training  

The IRB ICON Course for Researchers HawkIRB training sessions provide an orientation to the electronic IRB application and review system. These sessions are for anyone preparing to submit a HawkIRB application for the first time and for those who would like guidance about the proper completion of HawkIRB forms. Five recorded trainings are available 24/7.   

The recorded trainings are available on ICON at IRB ICON Course for Researchers .   

Note: HawkIRB training Parts 1 and 2 satisfy the Student PI Training Requirement.