School Presentations
This is gonna be something of a rant, so bear with me.
Presentations have never been my strong suit. Most people probably feel the same way. I never know how much to explain, how much to leave for the audience to figure out.
I always feel my body heat up, my palms sweat, my voice rush and stumble and stutter over the simplest words. So many eyes on me at one time, in near silence––I am not one to sit long in the spotlight.
Nowadays though, with so many phones and computers and tablets allowed in classrooms, people don’t really pay much attention to the presenter. At least, it used to seem like people paid attention, but I guess distractions just used to be less accessible, not entirely absent. But now, if the professor doesn’t seat themselves at the back of the class, people can spend the entire presentation checking their Instagram or reading a random blog post. Of course, everyone will clap obligatory at the end, with little to no genuine appreciation for who they just ‘listened’ to. You’ll hear the same comment/compliment rephrased three times and then the professor will give a short spiel with feedback. They’ll quickly move on to the next to fit in as many people in the class time as possible, so no quality time really gets spent for each student.
What is the point of these presentations? Is it just a requirement on the syllabus? How do we actually learn to present in front of groups for important meetings later on in life if our practice trials in school don’t have the same level of pressure/seriousness? I get it. I also text in class and check my email or whatever. But on days when you know people put in a lot of work into their assignment (or maybe they just bs’d it like most students do), it seems disrespectful, to not give the 5-10 min of your brain’s juice to recognize someone’s work.
Nobody wants to sit through someone else’s presentation that is irrelevant to the audience’s own work/life apart from being in the same class. But maybe we can show each other a little solidarity, knowing we all don’t want to be there. Might make class time, and presentations a little more valuable, if also more stressful, since everyone’s eyes will be on you, not on their phones.
End rant.
Have a great day everyone