About Class Discussion Etiquette and Oral Presentations

Hi everyone,

A student emailed me recently mentioning that they find the idea of giving oral presentations a bit scary because they are shy. The advice I thought up for them in response is actually applicable to the whole class, so I am posting the information here in the hope that it will benefit everyone.

My basic message is: don’t be afraid. Here’s why.

General Code of Conduct

In each of the courses I teach, I work to be scrupulously fair to each individual student and to the class as a whole. All I ask in return that each of my students works to be scrupulously fair to all of the other students in our class. Part of that means respecting the UofT Code of Academic Integrity. Another part has to do with communication style and listening skills.

In most undergraduate classrooms, students say a lot less than professors, and student-student interaction is weak. But in a 199Y seminar course, the communication styles of the students are centrally relevant. There is always a wide spectrum of extroversion/introversion: some students are more talkative while some others prefer to think more carefully before volunteering an answer to a question. Our diversity as a group is entirely natural, and it is an asset academically.

As the professor, I work to ensure that everyone gets to make valuable contributions to the intellectual life of our seminar class — regardless of their communication style or their academic background.

A few basic ground rules help to ensure courtesy, respect, and inclusiveness. This is mostly just common sense.

• Only one person may speak at a time. This is for (a) general politeness and (b) making class discussions easier to follow for people with hearing impairments.
• No student may disrespect, mock, or ridicule any other student in the classroom, especially when that person is speaking.
• Extroverts are welcome in my classroom. If you’re an extrovert, sometimes you’ll need to hold back on asking a question or offering a comment because it’s someone else’s turn to speak or because you’ve used up your fair share of airtime already.
• Introverts are welcome in my classroom. If you’re an introvert, sometimes you’ll need to push yourself a wee bit outside your comfort zone to make sure your voice gets heard. This gets a lot easier with gradual practice. (Ask me how: I am an introvert!)
• There is no such thing as a stupid question in my classroom. Your professor will never disrespect/mock/ridicule you for giving a wrong answer. Why? Fear is by far the biggest hindrance to learning that I have ever seen in the wild. I want you to feel safe enough in my classroom to take intellectual risks, make mistakes, and learn from them without ‘punishment’.

I enforce my classroom code of conduct fairly, even-handedly, and without personal bias. The vast majority of the time I don’t have to do anything at all. But when a disruption does occur, I deal with it quickly and appropriately and I do my best to save face for all parties.

Oral Presentations

Everyone in my past 199Y classes got nervous about giving oral presentations on modern physics — from the shyest ESL student to the former high school debate team member. Why? Having debating experience doesn’t help much, because I don’t grade you on the quality of your rhetoric. Instead, I grade on two different criteria: (1) physics accuracy and (2) quality of pedagogy. The upshot is that everyone in the class is really in the same boat. (The boat called “HMCS Nervous”.)

The Code of Conduct I mentioned above for classroom discussions is extended by one further rule during student Oral Presentations, to make things easier for presenters. It is:-

• Noone may interrupt a student presenter while they are presenting. No hands up. No questions. No noisy candy wrappers. No food smells. No cellphone rings. Just SILENCE and a level playing field for everybody. Not even the professor gets to interrupt or question the student presenter during their presentation timeslot. In other words, once the presenter has the floor, they and only they have the talking stick. The sole exception to this sixth rule is that the audience may smile and laugh appropriately at the presenter’s jokes.

Undergrad students get nervous about giving presentations. Grad students get nervous about giving presentations. Postdoctoral research fellows get nervous about giving presentations. Even professors get nervous about giving presentations. In each case, the solution is PREPARATION and PRACTICE in advance.

Prof. Peet’s Secret Formula for Successful PMU199Y Presentations Without Sleep Loss:-

1. Research the topic you’re presenting, with your professor’s guidance/assistance (in office hours or via email/SkypeIM) as needed. To combat procrastination, start researching as soon as you know your topic.
2. Write your draft speech notes, based on your research from step 1. Get this document ready at least five days before the day of your presentation.
3. Practice your draft presentation all the way through — in private. Take notes on what needs improving just after you’ve finished (eg did you go over/under 3.5 minutes? were some sentences out of order? did some of it sound confusing?). Then incorporate improvements into your next draft of your speech notes. Iterate this step, two or three or a few times, until you have 3.5 minutes of material that explains your topic well and gets its physics right.
4. Practice your presentation all the way through — to your mirror, your cat, or (in my case) your teddy bear. Repeat (say 2-3 times) until giving the presentation to that ‘audience’ feels comfortable.
5. Practice your presentation all the way through — to a live friendly human being, e.g. your Mom, your kid brother, Grandpa, Aunty Freda, your cousin, roommate, beer friend, or someone else you trust not to be mean to you.
6. Presto! You’re ready! On the day, you can read your speech notes word for word if you get stage fright. You’re not expected to memorize your presentation in advance. (I allow only written notes, no electronics or props.)
7. If you get stuck preparing/practising, ask your friendly professor for help. (She trains undergrads, grad students, and postdocs to give physics presentations, and she started building a reputation as a good technical and public speaker twenty years ago.)

Well, I hope that helps.

Cheers,

Your Professor Peet.