All eyes are on you, your heart feels like it’s beating out of your chest, and right as you feel like everything is going well, your paper starts to shake in your hands. Presentations are used throughout your life as you grow up. 

Public speaking is a very nerve-racking thing to do and group presentations may calm down the nerves of students. Group presentations make me feel more relaxed because I know it’s not just me in front of the class and I have other people to help me by my side, boosting my confidence. In a group presentation, you may still have an individual part where you present the slide or part of the presentation you worked on. But instead of being by yourself, you’re with your group who is sharing the same experience as you are. 

Public schools ensure students are introduced to public speaking at an early age and include it often in the classroom so kids can get more comfortable talking in front of peers.

Group presentations should fulfill state standards for public speaking because it’s still a presentation but just in group form. Yes, group presentations are different from individual presentations, but I do think they add valuable opportunities and provide students with the necessary skills. 

Teachers might argue that individual presentations can be beneficial because students are working independently and talking in front of the class by themselves, but group presentations are better because students do not feel alone while presenting. Group presentations give students a chance to collaborate with peers, and working with others teaches you how to respect others’ working habits and to have trust in one another to successfully get the presentation done. 

Working with others also creates teamwork habits that can carry into a job as they get older. Group presentations are just as crucial to a student’s learning experience and add more life lessons than a regular individual presentation. In almost every job you have to collaborate and communicate with your peers.

Group presentations also create relationships with others. When you are working on a project with your peers you tend to spend more time with them creating a friendship. Feeling comfortable at school is one of the biggest worries staff and administration have for students.

. On the topic of feeling comfortable at school, I think one of the worst feelings is being nervous or dreading something until it happens.

 Being calm and feeling confident for a presentation is more important than fulfilling state standards, and if speaking with a group eases many students then that should be the standard. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, the majority of people struggle with fear and anxiety during public speaking, it’s ranked the number one fear in the country. For others, the fear of public speaking means fear of presenting to even a single person if that person has the power to evaluate you.