Some Reminders To Help You Earn A Higher Grade On Solo Presentations

Do not read your slides to us!

Even though most of your classmates do not ask questions, they are capable of reading, and you do not have to read your slides to us when you make your solo presentation. Reading slides is boring and insulting, so don't do it!

Unfortunately, in the few solo presentations that we've seen to date, too often we've watched the presenter as he read to us. How did that make you feel? . . . Exactly! So don't do it when it's your turn. Use your slides to prompt your comments. And do not use too many words on one slide. The best slides include bullet points and single words or phrases rather than complete sentences. It's also fine to include images to dress up the slides.

Students who read their slides often have nothing to add but what's on the slides! That's a sign of shallow work, and often times it's a matter of a student copying words out of another source and placing them on slides. As you've seen (again unfortunately) some students use words and phrases that they cannot define -- don't do it because it's very likely that someone is going to ask you, "What does that mean?" and if you can't explain it, you lose points.

Follow these guidelines
Your solo presentation is your final assessment for this course . . . this is the most critical grade. Here are some other suggestions:

1. Invest time in your project. Do the research. Collect information. Decide how you're going to present. You need to present for at least 12 minutes and not more than 20 minutes. That means you probably need to work on this project for 3 to 4 hours in advance. Considering the importance of the grade, that's not a lot of time, is it? 
2. Spend time practicing your presentation. You should be able to talk to the class without even looking at your slides, other than glancing at them for a prompt. You need to share information with the class that's not on the slides. It's not a good idea to memorize the material, but you should practice it repeatedly so that you're familiar with it and you can deliver it in a conversational tone. Pretend that you're talking to a  small group of people who are sitting around a diwaniya. Practice!
3. Speak clearly. If I can't understand you, your grade decreases. Don't mumble. Make sure your English is correct. It may be a good idea to practice your presentation in front of one or more people who can critique it for you and who know English.
4. Come and see me at least a week before your presentation and review your content with me. If you deliver a final product that's filled with basic English errors, you lose points, especially since you could have come to me in advance and I would have reviewed the material with you. You would then have time to make corrections before you present.
5. If you include a guest as part of your presentation, the guest cannot speak for more than 5 minutes and you must still present for at least 12 minutes. 
6. If you include video/s in your presentation you must make certain that the video will load quickly. Do not include more than 2 videos and do not use a video that's longer than 4 minutes. Bring the URL to class so that you can easily locate the video if need be. 
7. Involve the audience in your presentation. Granted, your colleagues are difficult to motivate. They do not ask questions. A couple may even fall asleep while you present! However, there are several students in the class who take the course seriously and they're earning As. These are students who frequently ask questions and participate. Look at them and engage them in your presentation. Your grade increases when you can get other students to participate. 
8. Be ready to present when your name is called. If you don't know when you're presenting, find out! Then be prepared. We're running a day behind with presentations, but we could easily catch up in one evening, especially if someone fails to show up and present. You get one chance to present -- and if you miss that slot your grade is a zero. If we have time at the end of the semester to include missed presentations we'll do so, but if you miss your slot you will have earned a low grade for the course. 
9. When you present you must give me a hard copy of your presentation. You cannot give it to me after the presentation. You cannot email it to me before or after the presentation. Give me a hard copy at the time you present. 

You CAN earn an A
It's not difficult to earn an A on the solo presentation -- but you won't earn an A without following the directions above.