Performing Presentations for a Young Audience

Presentations for different age groups have to be created with different mindset. It is a critical job and when carrying it out, you need to put yourself in the shoes of the audience. This is not as easy as it sounds; no matter how hard you try you cannot  think exactly like them.

Hence, the best way is to spend sometime with the people of the age group you are going to make the presentation for. The most crucial presentation to be made is for the adolescents and youth. These are vacillating minds and can easily be molded.

This makes it significant and a delicate subject at the same time.  There are certain pros and cons that you should count and keep in  mind while preparing the presentation:

• If it is a child development Power Point Presentation, then it has to be interesting and interactive.
• Your listeners will get distracted easily if you give long speeches.
• Make it conversational, include narratives, accounts of real-life stories.
• It should not look like you are advertising something. If they do not like a particular topic or product, they will not be paying any heed to your words.
• Stay neutral all the time! These are young minds, they might catch any word and build their perceptions on it.

Your presentation will vary with different age-groups, here is an overview of what you should dwell upon specifically for each of them:

Age 6 to 12

• They will not want to read sentences, catchy captions and graphics will keep them fascinated.
• Try to relate incidents from their daily life, they will reciprocate better.
• Be very articulative in your speech, a little drama will be more effective.

Age 13 to 15

• They are in the most vulnerable stage, hence your presentation should be designed like a blend of words and illustrations. Too little or too much of any of these will make it ineffective.
• These are inquisitive brains, they like to know about new things. But do not pull any topic into too much of details, you will lose your audience.
• Allow them to participate with you and share their experiences. But do not force!

Age 16 to 19

• They are smart and they are critical. Difficult to impress but once you have won their confidence they are the best participators.
• You have to choose a very interesting topic, something that is current and appealing, but not provocative.
• Enthrall them with ideas and let them share their viewpoints at the end, you can have a good discussion with this group.

Practice for the presentation, its is not solely about the topic but also how will you put forward your ideas. Keep your mind open because when presenting to the youth, there is lot to learn from as well.