5 Ways to deliver punchy presentations.

It is very difficult at the best of times to have a positive frame of mind on a Friday afternoon when you're sitting at a staff development meeting. Making sure you get the most out of the training provided means keeping an open mind, having a positive attitude and trying your best not to think about the cold beer waiting for you when you get home!

Unfortunately, no matter how good or relevant the topic being covered is to you, a poorly presented session will undoubtedly mean you are not getting out of it what the organisers intended. Here are a 5 ways to ensure you keep your attendees focused during the presentation and talking about it to their friends and colleagues afterwards.

1. KISS (Keep it simple, stupid)

An overused cliché that still rings true. Trying to convey 13 separate points in a brief 1 hour 20 minute session is impossible - at best your audience will remember the first and the last point. Instead, keep your message short and to the point. Identify a few key things and maybe expand on each a little.

The teacher's dilemma

How can we prepare students for standardised tests at the end of high school and still teach them valuable 21st Century Skills necessary to be successful in the job market?

Teachers often have to balance these two aspects: teaching their students what they will need to know to perform well at the end of the year versus giving them the skills needed to succeed in life. The pressure from school management is immense and teachers will rely on what they know when the going gets tough. Trying to find new and interesting ways to get students working together and solving problems quickly falls by the wayside when the pressure is on. 

This approach may be successful in the short term, but in a world where robotics and AI is fast becoming commonplace, the need for modern-day skills becomes even greater.

If change was easy, I wouldn't have to write about it!

Change management.

A buzz word you will see on many a CV out there in the wild. But what does it mean in a practical, day-to-day working environment? I hope to talk a little bit about it from my perspective as a Tech Integrator in an educational setting.

The phrase in my job description of “integrating modern technology” would immediately make it clear that some form of change management would need to occur, and boy, do teachers just love change...Warning: a sweeping statement is about to follow.

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