Grad School First Class Presentations

By Jumoke Eniola

TBH, when I started grad school in Ottawa, I was not prepared for my first class presentation as an international student. Embarrassing to admit, I know, but see, if you schooled where I schooled, you would be nervous too. 

At grad school, we had daily class presentations in nearly all my courses. Classes were nothing like what I was used to as an undergraduate in Nigeria where the lecturer comes and dictate lecture notes to our usually very large class of about 300 students, for the 3-hour class period. I wrote so many notes back then, using all forms of shorthand, I was a stenographer. 

The classes were gigantic indeed back in Nigeria and my smallest lectures had at least a hundred students. On the flip, as an international student, I found myself in smaller "seminars", usually less than 15 students per class. I was initially confused about the word "seminars" used interchangeably with lectures or classes. 

With continuous presentation practice, I got a hang of it. I believe you will too.

The tip is to prepare before class.

You might find class presentations daunting if you are fresh from university and you had not worked professionally before your international graduate studies. The key to a successful class presentation is good preparation. 

Read and understand your topic. Rehearse your presentation out loud before lectures.

Go to class confidently, reminding yourself, you did not fly over 6,000 miles to chicken out. You are not paying the huge international fees to fail in the hands of a mere presentation or to fail at all.

You've got this.

Jumoke Eniola

Toronto

PC: Jan Vasek from Pixabay