Evaluating Presentation Strategies and Suggesting Better Ones

Purpose, audience and context.

Strategy, Evidence, Effectiveness, Suggestion.

Any three: a story, a surprising fact, a question, a prop, a quotation.

The audience couldn't read that much from a distance, the speaker turned her back and lost eye contact, and the audience disengaged (phones came out).

Sample: "Ending with 'So, yeah, that's it' left us without a message. Holding up the frozen lock again and naming when the bike club meets would have given us a memorable final image and something to do."

Sample: a joke fits a school assembly but not a memorial; a quick poll works in a class of 25 but is hard in a gym of 600 without technology.

Audience reaction (laughter, silence, phones out, questions) is direct evidence of whether a strategy actually engaged people, so it supports your judgment.

A closing that tells the audience what to do next.

Any two: questions, a show of hands, a poll, asking people to imagine something, a short pair discussion.

False. It depends on purpose, audience and context.

An opening designed to grab the audience's attention.

An ending that returns to the opening story, image or line.

Not effective for this audience: 45 minutes of lecture loses young listeners' attention. Suggestion: open with a short realistic scenario, add a show-of-hands poll ("Who has had a stranger message them?"), and use one or two visuals of privacy settings. These involve the audience and make advice concrete.

Usually not: the audience doesn't know the content yet, so there's nothing to ask. Better: an engaging question tied to the topic ("How many of you have...?") at the start, and open questions at the end.

Probably not effective: the slang may confuse or exclude this audience and fast clips may be hard to follow. Suggestion: plain language, slower pacing, larger visuals and real examples relevant to them.

S: a story about a classmate who started cycling and saves bus money. E: the gym became quiet and attentive. E: effective; a peer example makes the change feel achievable and adds a practical benefit for students. S: end the talk with it, followed by a call to action.

A suggestion shows you understand why the strategy failed and what would work for that audience; it makes feedback useful and practises your own presentation thinking.

Look for: a named talk; accurate evidence for the opening and ending; judgments tied to purpose, audience and context; and a new opening clearly adapted to a different named audience, with a reason.

Partly. Applause is often polite and expected, so it doesn't show what the audience understood or whether they were persuaded. Better evidence: attention during the talk, questions afterward, people signing up or changing behaviour, or what audience members remember later.

Sample criteria: Opening (immediately engages this audience and previews the purpose); Structure (clear signposts; listeners always know where they are); Engagement (interaction or stories that suit the audience); Ending (memorable and tells listeners what to think or do). Look for criteria tied to purpose and audience, not just "good."