9 - Presentation Techniques

Summary

The basis of this chapter is techniques that students with dyslexia find productive for dealing with presentations. These strategies include, making a plan, using visual images, preparation by continuous rehearsal and timing, using activities for audience participation for the purpose of taking the spotlight off oneself, and ensuring the topic selected for presentation is interesting and enjoyable to assist with motivation, planning and delivery of the presentation, and also to ensure audience questions can be answered due to student wider interest in the topic. As with all chapters, advice on techniques is punctuated by quotes from dyslexic learners who use the methods presented. For example, below, a student uses marks on her presentation script to help with alleviating nervousness in connection with the presentation, ‘If I do panic and start to talk too fast, I can see from the slashes where I can pause and breath and then restart.’ Thus, quotes from dyslexic learners not only help to illustrate appropriate methods but are also a way to give the dyslexic reader of the book something to identify with in terms of the emotional aspect of learning, i.e., the quote here illustrates the student worrying about panicking during the presentation.