Your Audience

In-class presentations are usually graded. It stands to reason, then, that your audience is really one person: the professor doing the grading. It also stands to reason, then, that the presentation is really about you - how well you know the material.

It's a mistake to think so, and in order to give a great in-class presentation, you have to completely change your mind about who the audience is and what the professor cares about.

The professor is actually the least important person in the audience. The reason this is so is that it is very likely the professor won't learn very much from your presentation. In some cases, the professor will know more about the topic than the presenter. In other cases, the professor may not know the topic deeply, but will be the most equipped person in the room to understand what you are saying. The professor will be able to "fill in the gaps" if you are less than clear.

But a good presentation isn't defined by the fact that the most knowledgeable person in the audience gets it - it's exemplified when most or all of the audience gets it. The professor is likely to grade you not based on what the professor gets out of your presentation, but rather what the professor guesses the weakest students in the class get out of your presentation.

Class time is valuable. There are only so many sessions in a semester, and if the professor is giving 2 or 3 or more class sessions over to student presentations, you can bet the professor is hoping that those sessions aren't wasted for the audience. The professor is expecting you to teach them - it's not just 15 minutes for you to show the professor what you know.

So what should you do? When designing your presentation, don't think about what the professor knows, think about what your classmates know. The more effective you are in teaching them, the more successful the presentation will be and the better grade you'll receive.