Presentation skills: Conveying emotion

At a Glance
Discipline
- Social sciences
Instructional Level
- University
Course
- Indigenous Studies
Tasks in Workflow
Social Plane(s)
- Group
- Whole Class
Type of Tasks
- Discussing
- Presenting
Technical Details
Class size
- Small (20-49)
Time
- Single class period (< 90 mins)
Instructional Purpose
- Application & knowledge building
Overview
This activity is intended to make students aware of the importance of conveying emotions during a presentation.
The instructor divides the class into two and explains to the class to pick a partner from the opposite group and announces that the students will present to their partner what they ate for breakfast this morning. Privately, the instructor explains to Group 1 that they will present in the most bummed out way and privately to Group 2 that they will present in the most excited way.
Students then pair off and present to one another. The class then gets into a circle and discusses what they think happened when they were presenting to one another. The instructor explains what she told each group to do and explains how conveying moods is a critical part of giving a good presentation; if people are bored, it means the presenter may be conveying a bored mood.
Students are encouraged to practice picking a mood and conveying it in their presentations (e.g. inspiring, moving, funny, call to arms, etc.).
This activity is intended for class size of 20 students.
Instructional Objectives
Students will be able to explain the impact of conveying emotion on an audience during a presentation.
Workflow & Materials
Activity Workflow
Applied Strategies
Published: 18/09/2018
Copyright: © 2025 Marshall. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication on this website is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.