Why Teachers Shouldn’t Make Students Present

Teachers should not make students present even though it is a good skill to learn. It can help students improve their public speaking and “in the real world.” However, it doesn’t, because if that were the case, everyone would enjoy presenting and wouldn’t have an issue. In reality, presenting can make the students develop anxiety and stress. It is not easy for students to stand in front of multiple people, especially ones they don’t know, and start talking. Some people have glossophobia, which is the fear of public speaking that most high school students have. Their hearts start to beat rapidly, they tremble, start to sweat, and get dizzy. 

Presenting isn’t just based on how much information you have or if your presentation contains everything that was required. It is also important that you make eye contact with the audience, and how you are talking. If you have glossophobia, it can be hard because you may stutter and your nerves won’t let you speak clearly and which can affect your grade. Forcing someone to present, especially with anxiety, can lead them to more intense problems that would go along with them to adulthood. When a project is introduced to students and it involves talking in front of the class it makes their anxiety raise because that is all they can think about. 

Most students agree that they should be able to decide if they want to present or not. As it’s shown in the previous article, 80% of students decide to deal with presenting even though they are not comfortable with it. Students should not feel the pressure of having to present just because it’s a life skill and will help them, which it may not. It will increase their fear, and that is not the best way for them to get over that fear. 

Another article mentions some of the struggles that students had with public speaking. One worry that people have is pronouncing things. There are a lot of people who don’t know how to pronounce big words so they avoid them as Ayala mentions in the article. She has experience with stress around pronunciation and public speaking. Also, something that teachers should consider is how this is affecting the students’ mental health and their feelings. 

Many will disagree, especially teachers who argue that it can help students overcome their fear or make them able to improve their public speaking skills. That is not the case, and it’s something that won’t help students improve those skills. It takes small steps to improve a skill. The majority of students can agree that presentations do affect us and are not going to help us. Some won’t mind talking, but that doesn’t mean that everyone enjoys it. Teachers should consider whether this is actually helping students or is it only affecting them negatively. Teachers should not be making students feel uncomfortable in their classrooms. School is a place to feel safe and comfortable and not a place where students feel anxious because of a presentation.