Perspective from the Organising and leading Change course

Have you ever trembled or froze in the presence of 50- 60 students, where you felt that you could not find words to describe yourself anymore? Those eyes that are staring at you demanding to know answers of what you are presenting, do you hear yourself saying, " I hope the ground swallows me!""

Well thóse are the signs of stage frights and its a common experience that everyone as students go through. Every student wants to make a good presentation but don't know how? We had learned that there are 5 p's that are used as leverages for change by (Mcallaster,2004), but 5P's for a presentation that we came across for the FIRST TIME.
The 5 P's for presentation are : Prepare your message, Prepare your tool, Prepare your show, Prepare your voice and Prepare your presence.Each "P" elaborated on a different aspect of the presentation. all combined to make the presentation more effective. For instance: Prepare your tool had following details:What props will accentuate your message?Are your key words on cue cards, not on slides? KISS :keep it simple and stupid.

Cecilia Bjursell, had invented these guidelines for us. By knowing these 5 P's, a simple message can have an effective, inspiring impact and be prepared before hand for the stage frights.
We picked up a simple concept with a Santa Claus theme, it was about identifying organizing and leading change within our own group. Using the articles we identified the problem and solutions; for instance we divided the change into three lifecycle stages (instead of four ) of the Pumpin/Prange Model (Welter, 2008) and we also highlighted the role of leadership,Protean organization and in the end contributed the "six thinking hats" concepts as our closure .

For a change, instead of faces that stated " We are bored to death", we had people who were actually smiling at us and also appreciated our effort.

I am not sure as to how would we be marked but the presentation and the 5P's was a useful structure to build a presentation and we had a good learning experience as student teachers. Below are the details for the other P's,it may be helpful for those who want to make a good impression on the students and their grades!


Prepare your message:

-Why are you giving this speech?
- What do you want to communicate?
- Have you found a suitable structure?

Prepare Your Show

- Who will be listening?
- Where will the act take place?
- Can you manage within the given time?

Prepare Your Voice

- Start with a warm-up routine
- Try out comfortable postures
- Deep breaths cure nervousness

Perform With Presence
- Try to connect with the audience
- Try to be flexible
- Keep the time!

Reference

Bjursell,C (2008) The 5P's of Presentation. Retrieved December 17, 2008 from http://jibsnet.hj.se/documents/files/download/241294779/8270942712690104572/jocd28%20presentation%202008.pdf

De Bono, Edward (2000). Six Thinking Hats. Penguin, ISBN 0140296662.

MCallaster, C.M. (2004) “The 5 P’s of Change. Leading Change by Effectively Utilizing Leverage Points within an Organization”. Organizational Dynamics. Vol 33, no 3, 318-328.

Welter, F (2008). Lecture November 11th: Business Development, Retrieved on 2008-11-20 from Jonkoping International Business School website.