How would you deliver effective presentations in a multicultural classroom? I am not an outstanding presenter. I have always been presentable, but was not excellent in public speaking. Recently, I began to take tremendous pride in my ability to give highly effective presentations on what may be considered difficult–and sometimes controversial–topics to classes of 20-50 people from different countries, especially during the pandemic, when my voice was muffled by the face mask I was wearing.
I began teaching in Berlin in late 2021. It was quite a surprise that many in-person classes were not at all cancelled. We had to wear face masks. I was very anxious, in part due to the pandemic. The students, all masked, seemed rather relaxed (well, one can always tell from their gazes and postures).
I had not delivered presentations for a while. The prospect of speaking to a class of 20 people brought back junior high school memories, when my mind went blank on the day when I had to speak in front of the class. It took me further back to my primary school days, when I started shaking in my seat an hour before I had to sing solo to pass the music exam. That was long before I learned to enjoy singing and joined the school choir. Well, if I could overcome the innate fear to audition for the choir and become a member, there was no reason why I could not become a decent presenter or enjoy teaching.
Having fun and feeling confident while speaking does not make a good or even decent presenter. I had a professor who obviously enjoyed speaking about postmodernism. His passion for the topic shone through his voice and bodily movements. Yet students hardly enjoyed his classes. In fact, they struggled to jot down his key points because he kept rambling about a topic that was new to them and concepts that were not exactly easy to grasp. Some former student of his, from America, even mentioned his name in scorn and disgust. I have no doubt that the professor was knowledgeable and passionate. It was indeed a pity that he was not appreciated by students from the country where he spent years to obtain his graduate degree, who ought to have at least tolerated his teaching style and manners of speaking.
Evidence indicated that I did manage to present my materials effectively and engagingly, even though I might not have been appreciated by every one in the class. I found out that the following strategies help facilitate clear, well-organized, and engaging presentations even in tough situations such as those created by the pandemic:
1. I took time and care to ensure that my PowerPoint slides looked elegant and simple. Overly colorful slides would have been distracting. While I did not have specific font sizes for the headings and texts, I made sure that all texts were spaced properly. The same dark color tones (black, dark grey… etc) were chosen for both headings and texts. Key words and terms were highlighted in bright colors (such as red and orange).
2. I had a script for every lecture. I did not completely follow the script, the key function of which was to help pace my presentation. It is said that the normal speed of speaking is 100 words per minute, meaning one speaks 6000 words in a one-hour lecture at a normal rate. However, my lecture script contained far fewer words, often no more than 4000 words, to provide room for regular pauses, repetitions, and clarifications. Thus, I seldom needed to rush, or bring in/make up new points on spot. In sum, my time management was excellent.
3. My lecture slides never contained long passages from my scripts, but only bullet points. Therefore, I never gave the impression that I read from slides: I never did so. The students still had to listen to ensure that they understand the materials.
4. I offered concrete examples for each theory that might be deemed abstract. I did not give too much thought to this in my first try because I was unaware of how abstract some of those theories were. On my second and third try I took much care to lay out the examples in detail.
5. I ended every lecture with a discussion section, during which I gave a few questions that aimed to engage students with regard to various parts of the presentation. This was to ensure that they understood every part of the lecture and no part was left out.
I feel certain that I did a more-than-passable job despite my lack of experience teaching the specific topics to a highly diverse group of students (some local Germans and many from other parts of Europe and other continents)–all the while wearing a face mask that effectively muffled my voice to some extent. First, I did not receive any formal or informal complaint about my choice of teaching materials, pedagogical approach, or clarity issues. Second, quite a number enrolled in another course of mine the following semester.
In retrospect, I certainly could have done better (well, conscientious people tend to feel guilty because they overthink and set high standards for themselves). Yet things went so smoothly that I congratulated myself when the first semester ended.
My experience during the pandemic has brought tremendous pride to me and in a way restored my well-being that was harmed by the extremely toxic climates elsewhere. My teaching has continued to improve after I took off my mask (I sometimes do feel guilty about not having done even better in my first few times, but I have tried to brush this feeling aside.) The strategies and skills I developed during the pandemic are, without a doubt, transferable to other occasions, and hopefully can inspire my readers to become even better presenter than they already are!