So you've asked your ESL students to do a short presentation.  You've given them the handouts with all the instructions and details of what they are supposed to do.  You've given them a minute or two to absorb the information and come up with any questions they might have about the presentation.

The first thing that you are asked is:  "Can I do a PowerPoint presentation?"

This is a classic tipping point between language learning and the value of including computers in the process.  It is an area where you need to tread and think carefully before making your decision.

I used to let students use PowerPoint when doing presentations for their ESL classes.  However about 4 years ago I switched and since then have uniformly said "NO" in response to the question above.  I have not been disappointed with this decision.  I see roughly 50 student presentations a month in our lab and most of them support my choice.

Don't get me wrong here.  PowerPoint can be a great tool for presentations.  But in the hands of a beginner (both in terms of using the software and giving presentations), it can also be devastatingly bad.

In my classes, the purpose of having a student do a presentation is to give them an opportunity to prove (and showcase) their abilities to:

• choose and develop a topic
• brainstorm content
• organize their ideas
• develop logical connections between their ideas
• perform in front of an audience
• speak understandable English
• meet time limits

In most cases, when PowerPoint is added to the mix, students spend a disproportionate amount of time preparing the PowerPoint slides for their presentations and end up:

• adding in way too much text
• adding in way too much gee whizzery (flashing, sliding, blinking text)
• reading the slides verbatim
• not practicing enough
• looking at the projector (computer) screen 90% of the time
• getting slides out of order
• using a different (non-compatible) version of PowerPoint to build their presentation
• adding in images/audio that don't display or play on the machine used for the presentation
• and a whole lot of other things where the technology negatively influences their presentations

In essence, the technology ends up getting in the way of the primary purpose - which is to give a presentation in English. 

Keep in mind however that these problems are not unique to ESL students giving PowerPoint presentations.  These are the same kinds of problems that  native English speakers have when using PowerPoint to give presentations.  I don't know how many times I've sat through a PowerPoint based presentation giving by a native English speaker where they:

1. handed out paper copies of all the slides
2. displayed the slides on a screen for all to read
3. then read the slides verbatim to the audience

YAWNNNNN…..

Many of these were given at high level conferences, and every single one of them was a waste of time. 

Giving a good presentation is a skill that requires practice.  Giving a good PowerPoint presentation requires another set of skills on top of good presentation skills.  In my ESL classes, the primary objective is to help the students gain confidence and competence in giving a stand-up presentation without having to worry about the technology.  Once they can do that, then PowerPoint can be added to the mix.  When it is, I spend a good deal of time teaching them about how to put together and deliver a good presentation using Powerpoint.  In another post I'll go into detail about what goes into giving a good PowerPoint presentation.

Cheers,

Eric

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