Exploring the Challenges Faced by Tertiary Students in Developing Formal Presentation Skills and Possible Solutions in an EFL Context

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4409449/v1

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Research Article

Exploring the Challenges Faced by Tertiary Students in Developing Formal Presentation Skills and Possible Solutions in an EFL Context

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4409449/v1

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This research aims to identify Bangladeshi undergraduates’ weaknesses in formal presentations and to discern feasible ways to enhance their formal presentation skills. The study is both quantitative and qualitative in nature where the data were collected through the questionnaire responses of 311 randomly selected Bangladeshi undergraduates, the formal presentations observations of 140 randomly selected Bangladeshi undergraduates, and the semi-structured interviews of 18 randomly selected faculty members and employers. Results show that the tertiary level learners of Bangladesh perform poorly in formal presentations mainly because they do not know how to consolidate an argument, and they do not know how to communicate with the audience. The paper recommends as well how tertiary students can sincerely communicate something valuable when they know and believe what they want to say, and they know the audience and care about them.

presentation skills

Bangladeshi tertiary students

presentation anxiety

oral presentation

Some of the faculty members teaching in different public and private universities in Bangladesh opine that tertiary-level students do not give their utmost efforts to acquire formal presentation skills (Al Harun et al., 2016; Al Mamun, 2021; Islam, Ahmad & Islam, 2022). In addition, according to some of the employers of different multinational companies and private institutions, most of the Bangladeshi undergraduates and graduates do not know how to give standard formal presentations. Not only university faculty members but also employers are quite concerned whether the tertiary level students are accumulating necessary practical knowledge or not; as most of them do not possess clear ideas about what they want to say and how to communicate with the audience, they can neither build arguments nor express them with efficacy. They also admit that most of the methods measuring the level of practical knowledge are quite obscure, however, by inspiring the Bangladeshi undergraduates to acquire essential formal presentation skills, a general awareness can be created among them that they should never forget to enrich their minds with real-life wisdom.

Therefore, urgent initiatives should be taken to enhance formal presentation skills among Bangladeshi undergraduates. At first, it is essential to identify their mistakes and weaknesses. Literature reviews of recent research papers should provide guidelines for designing a questionnaire, and their responses would help to portray the general perceptions of Bangladeshi undergraduates about formal presentations. In addition, observations of formal presentations that the undergraduates perform as parts of their coursework should also help to discern their mistakes and identify gaps between their perceptions and practices. Semi-structured interviews of the university faculty members and employers should also shed light on the shortcomings of tertiary-level students during their formal presentations. Finally, an overall synthesis of the analyses of the questionnaire, the observations, and the semi-structured interview data should guide to enlisting of some feasible recommendations that may ensure the enhancement of the formal presentation skills among Bangladeshi undergraduates.

Research Question

The aim of this research was to identify the feasible measures to enrich formal presentation skills among Bangladeshi Undergraduates. Therefore, the research question was:

What are the ways to enhance the formal presentation skills among Bangladeshi Undergraduates?

Formal presentations in English constitute a crucial component of the formative assessment in the tertiary level courses of Bangladeshi universities (Ibna Seraj et al, 2021; Mridha & Muniruzzaman, 2020). Formal presentations enable the learners to bridge the gap between their conceptual knowledge and practical knowledge in real-life situations and demonstrate in formal languages (Al Mamun, 2021; Islam, Ahmad & Islam, 2022). Through regular practices of formal presentations, the learners improve their communication skills, and become more effective and persuasive presenters (Mobarak, 2020). Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the majority of Bangladeshi undergraduates do not possess adequate language and communication skills neither in Bangla nor in English (Suchona & Shorna, 2019). Those who are weak in English, maximum of them are weak in Bangla as well. They often suffer from speaking anxieties, a large number of them are not proficient enough in creative and independent thinking (Farooqui, 2007). The tertiary level students of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia also suffer from similar problems (Abbasi et al. 2019; Al-Hassaani et al., 2022; Alrasheedi, 2020; Chand, 2021; Samad et al., 2022; Oli & Ramesh, 2022; Venkateswara & Divya, 2021; Wahyuningsih & Afandi, 2020). Therefore, they suffer when they plunge into preparing their presentation without having an in-depth and a thorough knowledge of the subject matter and the materials (Nisha, 2020). It is unfortunate that the small number of presenters who are good in language and communication, some of them are overconfident about their linguistic proficiencies (Farooqui, 2007). They tend to compensate for their lack of preparation by showcasing their rich vocabulary and overwhelming the audience with a plethora of information, mostly irrelevant (Suchona & Shorna, 2019). It is a common practice among the Bangladeshi undergraduates that they put a serious effort on preparing special scripts for their formal presentations (Ibna Seraj et al, 2021). A number of tertiary level presenters are not aware that appropriate natural gestures could reinforce their energy to establish the main argument of the presentation (Al Mamun, 2021). The general tendency of the Bangladeshi undergraduates is to deliver presentations as informative as possible, and to get it over with. Most of the students cannot deliver a concise, accessible and concrete presentation (Islam, Ramalingam & Hoque, 2022). Driven by the instrumental motivation, they prepare the script as if it is a written discourse — replete with complex and compound sentences, infrequent pedantic words and jargon — forcefully delivered as a spoken discourse. The students either deliver their memorized script, or read it out to audiences (Rani 2020). Different studies show that Chinese, Vietnamese and Turkish undergraduates also make similar types of mistakes (Amoah & Yeboah, 2021; Anh et al., 2022; Dağtan & Cabaroğlu, 2021; Dang et al., 2022; Günes & Sarigöz, 2021; Seref & Çinpolat, 2021).

A large number of Bangladeshi undergraduates are not careful enough in designing the beginning, middle and end of the presentation (Rani, 2020). Therefore, the overall structure is not strong, organized or persuasive enough to establish the central argument of the presentation (Islam, Ahmad & Islam, 2022; Islam & Stapa, 2021). Most of them cannot maintain the consistency of the core message and often deviate from their presentation objectives (Suchona & Shorna, 2019). Chou (2021) and Emperador-Garnace (2021) find similar tendencies among Taiwanese and Filipino undergraduates. Although Bangladeshi undergraduates wholeheartedly agree that there are no alternatives to adequate rehearsals and practices before the final presentations, most of them do not rehearse more than twice (Islam & Stapa, 2021). They hardly follow any systematic strategy considering the time management, a skill which is not possible to achieve without proper rehearsals (Al Harun et al, 2016). Moreover, most of the Bangladeshi undergraduates are not aware to give sufficient effort to learn the expectations and the interests of the audience (Al Harun et al, 2016). Therefore, they are hardly prepared to answer the inquiries that might arise within and after the presentation. Most of the tertiary level presenters cannot conclude with a strong closing statement or a concise call to action to put a lasting impression on the audience (Islam, Ramalingam & Hoque, 2022). In connection, there is a general tendency among Bangladeshi undergraduates to ignore the question-answer session altogether (Nisha, 2020). As they hardly anticipate or prepare for any in-session or post-session queries, most of the presenters are scared to face the question from the audience (Mobarak, 2020). There are observations that while answering the audience’s questions, some presenters provide feedback which is contradictory to the central argument of the presentation. There are instances where the presenters keep silent or speak about something irrelevant (Mobarak, 2020). This phenomenon is also observed among Thai undergraduates (Sha'ar & Boonsuk, 2021; Sirisrimangkorn, 2021). The Bangladeshi Undergraduates are not careful enough to support their arguments with valid and relevant statistics (Ibna Seraj et al, 2021). They tend to lengthen their speech with generalized stereotypical data without proper citation. Very few of them equip their presentation with authentic case studies and testimonials (Al Harun et al, 2016). Regarding the use of multimedia and technology based dynamic visual aids, there are observations that the Bangladeshi undergraduates are often unaware of the appropriate and balanced use of them (Islam & Stapa, 2021). They either overuse these visual aids or ignore it completely. They often overcomplicate their slides with exaggerated animations, excessive graphics, and ornate fonts (Islam, Ramalingam & Hoque, 2022). Often, they become so dependent on their PowerPoint slides that without them they cannot deliver their presentation (Nisha, 2020). They hardly prepare for any hardware or software-related malfunctions (Mridha & Muniruzzaman, 2020).

Most Bangladeshi Undergraduates perceive that a formal presentation is a platform for showcasing their intellectual prowess and wealth of information. It is a typical tendency of tertiary-level learners to congest their formal presentations with as much information and knowledge as possible, as they believe that the central objective of the presentation is to educate and inform the audience. They become so preoccupied and overwhelmed with delivering their formal speeches that they forget to communicate naturally. They alienate the audience as they carry on with their didactic orations which seem even, they do not believe.

This empirical research is both quantitative and qualitative in nature and the instruments of this research were: questionnaire, observations and interviews. In order to collect the quantitative data, a questionnaire was designed on the basis of the findings of the literature review, and was randomly distributed to three hundred Bangladeshi undergraduates studying in different disciplines of Bangladeshi public and private universities. Therefore, the data was analyzed to identify the perceptions of the tertiary-level learners regarding their pre-presentation, presentation, and post-presentation activities. Simultaneously, formal presentations of one hundred and forty Bangladeshi undergraduates studying in different disciplines of Bangladeshi public and private universities were observed to discern the gaps between the learners’ perceptions and practices of formal presentations. To collect the qualitative data, twelve interviews were taken; the interviewees were the faculty members teaching in different public and private universities of Bangladesh, and the employers of different private organizations. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed to analyze the observations of the faculty members and the employers. By cross-referencing and synthesizing the quantitative and the qualitative data, a few recommendations were made that should guide the Bangladeshi undergraduates to enhance their formal presentation skills.

Data Analysis

Quantitative Data

To collect the quantitative data for this empirical research, a questionnaire was designed based on the findings of the literature review. Quantitative questions were randomly distributed, through an online survey, to three hundred and fifty Bangladeshi undergraduates studying in different disciplines of Bangladeshi public and private universities. Among them, 311 Bangladeshi undergraduates submitted their responses. The analysis of the quantitative data based on the survey questions (see ‘Appendix 1: The Questionnaire) is presented below:

Among the 311 responses, 178 (57.23%) respondents came from the Bangla medium. 49 (15.75%) came from the English version and 53 (17.04%) from the English medium. The remaining 31 (9.96%) respondents came from the Madrasa medium. 125 respondents were from Southeast University (SEU), 70 from North South University (NSU), 20 from Dhaka University (DU), 20 from BRAC University, 16 from United International University (UIU), 13 from East West University (EWU), 11 from Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), 12 from Jahangirnagar University (JU), 6 from Jagannath University (JnU), 6 from American International University Bangladesh (AIUB), 4 from University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), 2 from World University Bangladesh (WUB), and 1 from Dhaka International University (DIU), 1 from Bangladesh University (BU), 1 from Manarat International University, 1 from Northern University (6 responders mistakenly mentioned the names of their colleges which were later corrected). These respondents are studying in the disciplines of BBA, English, CSE, EEE, Economics, Bangla, Pharmacy, Architecture, and Journalism. Therefore, it is evident that the 311 respondents came from different disciplines of the public and private universities of Bangladesh (initially 350 tertiary level students were given the ‘Google Form’, and finally 311 responded).

Among 311 respondents 52 (16.72%) were in their first year, 91 (29.26%) in their second year, 58 (18.64%) in their third year, 97 (31.18%) in their fourth year and 13 (4.18%) were in their fifth (or above) years. 42 (13.50%) respondents stated that they were involved in different part-time jobs, 3 (0.96%) in full-time jobs, and the rest 266 (85.54%) were not involved in any jobs. Among the 45 respondents who were in different part-time and full-time jobs, 43 (95.55%) admitted that they suffered in their professional lives as they did not know how to give formal oral presentations.

To evaluate the perceptions of Bangladeshi undergraduates fourteen closed-ended questions were asked in the questionnaire. The results are presented below:

Table 1

The perceptions of Bangladeshi undergraduates regarding their Formal Presentations
Closed-ended questions	Always	Often	Sometimes	Rarely	Never
1. To achieve a clear focus and consistency, do you carefully design the beginning, middle and ending of your presentation?	97 (31.18%)	131 (42.12%)	68 (21.86%)	18 (5.74%)	-
2. Do you collect updated, relevant and dependable data, statistics, testimonials or case studies to build your arguments to persuade your audience?	72 (23.15%)	147 (47.26%)	78 (25.08%)	14 (4.50%)	-
3. Do you utilize adequate and appropriate visual aids and multimedia to clarify and emphasize the crucial elements of your presentation?	48 (15.42%)	134 (43.08%)	126 (40.54%)	3 (0.96%)	-
4. Do you anticipate and predict the questions that might arise from the audience and prepare the answers in advance?	58 (18.64%)	110 (35.36%)	117 (37.65%)	15 (4.82%)	11 (3.53%)
5. Do you practice/rehearse your formal presentation several times to check whether you can utilize the allotted time effectively or not?	86 (27.65%)	121 (38.91%)	71 (22.82%)	33 (10.62%)	-
6. Do you start your presentation with an interesting opening to draw the attention of the audience?	40 (12.86%)	144 (46.31%)	98 (31.51%)	20 (6.42%)	9 (2.89%)
7. Do you use simple and conversational language to illustrate real life examples to explain your points?	65 (20.90%)	135 (43.41%)	93 (29.91%)	4 (1.29%)	15 (4.82%)
8. Do you utilize a positive and welcoming body language to enhance the impact of your presentation?	76 (24.43%)	124 (39.87%)	107 (34.42%)	2 (0.64%)	2 (0.64%)
9. During your presentation, do you change the pace and tone or utilize pauses to emphasize the vital points?	44 (14.15%)	92 (29.58%)	112 (36.01%)	41 (13.18%)	22 (7.08%)
10. Do you monitor the verbal and nonverbal reactions of the audience and address them accordingly?	45 (14.46%)	88 (28.30%)	110 (35.36%)	31 (18.97%)	37 (11.89%)
11. Do you have back-up plans if there are any technical or technological issues or malfunctions?	50 (16.08%)	114 (36.65%)	126 (40.51%)	15 (4.82%)	6 (1.93%)
12. Do you intentionally repeat the major points several times to reinforce the focus of your presentation?	33 (10.61%)	111 (35.36%)	110 (35.35%)	47 (15.16%)	10 (3.22%)
13. Do you conclude your presentation with an inspirational note and a strong call to action?	50 (16.08%)	117 (37.62%)	101 (32.48%)	42 (13.51%)	1 (0.32%)
14. Do you utilize the question-answer session not only to clarify the audience's confusions but also to reinforce the central message of my presentation?	52 (16.72%)	117 (37.62%)	101 (32.48%)	38 (12.22%)	3 (0.96%)

In the questionnaire, there is an open-ended query where the respondents are asked to mention some additional techniques that they apply to increase audience engagement in their formal presentations. 186 responses are received in total. They emphasized maintaining a balance between seriousness and humor to establish an effective environment for presentation. They opine about the precision and concreteness of the language; therefore, they prefer audio-visual or multimedia aids. Furthermore, they share their ideas about the importance of sharing personal anecdotes which connect the audience deeply. A number of the respondents argue that a presenter should know how to use similes, analogies, and metaphors to enrich the graphic quality of their oral speech. Some added that it is essential for a presenter to utilize trendy issues to evoke the audience’s interest. A number of the respondents state that the proper and balanced combination of ethos, pathos, and logos is crucial to achieve the strength of any persuasive argument.

An analysis of the questionnaire data reveals a collective perception of Bangladeshi undergraduates that they are taking every step necessary to enhance their formal presentations; however, they are not achieving their expected results. The collective disappointment can be recapitulated in one of the 186 open-ended feedbacks, where a respondent comments, “I do everything right, but when I stand for presentations, everything goes wrong.” Therefore, there are certain gaps between the perceptions and the practices of Bangladeshi undergraduates.

To identify this gap, 140 tertiary-level learners were randomly selected (who were studying in different disciplines of Bangladeshi public and private universities) and their coursework-related formal presentations were observed and assessed. Among 140 presenters whose formal presentations were observed, 21 (15%) were from the Bangla medium, 59 (42.4%) from the English version, 44 (31.4%) from the English medium, and 16 (11.2%) from the Madrasa medium. All of them were studying in different disciplines of different public and private universities in Bangladesh where the medium of instruction was English. The presenters who came from the English medium demonstrated better only in pronunciation and fluency. On the basis of overall performances, presenters from different backgrounds almost performed similarly, and most of them demonstrated almost the same shortcomings and mistakes. According to this study, presentation performances were not influenced by the pre-university medium of instructions.

31 (22.1%) presenters were studying in Southeast University, 29 (20.8%) in University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, 29 (20.8%) in Jagannath University, 25 (17.8) were studying in BRAC University, 21 (15%) in Dhaka University, 15 (10.8%) in Jahangirnagar University, and 15 (10.7%) were studying in in Eastern University. The overall performances of the presenters from all the universities (regardless of public or private) were not so different from one to another. Almost identical mistakes and weaknesses can be identified among all the presenters.

Among the presenters, 41 (29.3%) were studying in their first years, 20 (14.3%) in the second years, 33 (23.6%) in the third years, 36 (25.7%) in the fourth years, and 10 (7.1%) were studying in the fifth years or above. The overall performances of the fourth- or fifth-year presenters were hardly any better than those of the third- second, or first-year presenters. Therefore, the performances did not improve much from the first-year presenters to the last-year presenters. It was observed that the presenters could not enrich themselves much regarding their formal presentation skills.

All of them presented their formal presentations in English. The assessment rubrics and results are presented below:

(SA = Strongly Agree; A = Agree, N = Neutral, D = Disagree, SD = Strongly Disagree)

Table 2

The Assessment Result of the Formal Presentation Observations
Assessment Rubrics	SA	A	N	D	SD
1. The presenter started the presentation with an interesting opening and drew the attention of the audience.	7 (5%)	11 (7.9%)	70 (50%)	48 (34.2%)	4 (2.9%)
2. The presenter used simple and conversational language to illustrate real life examples and to explain the points.	17 (12.1%)	33 (23.6%)	86 (61.4%)	3 (2.1%)	1 (0.8%)
3. The presenter had a clear focus and maintained consistency.	11 (7.9%)	29 (20.7%)	40 (28.5%)	31 (22.3%)	29 (20.7%)
4. The presenter maintained a positive and welcoming body language.	17 (12.1%)	48 (34.2%)	70 (50%)	3 (2.2%)	2 (1.5%)
5. The presenter successfully designed the beginning, middle and ending of the presentation.	17 (12.1%)	10 (7.1%)	23 (16.4%)	49 (35%)	41 (29.2%)
6. The presenter collected updated, relevant and dependable data, statistics, testimonials or case studies to build arguments.	47 (33.6%)	13 (9.3%)	21 (15%)	34 (24.2%)	25 (17.8%)
7. The presenter utilized adequate and appropriate visual aids and multimedia to clarify and emphasize the crucial elements of the presentation.	11 (7.9%)	23 (16.4%)	21 (15%)	48 (34.2%)	37 (26.4%)
8. During your presentation, the presenter modulated the pace and tone and utilized pauses to emphasize the crucial points.	10 (7.1%)	18 (12.8%)	40 (28.5%)	70 (50%)	2 (1.5%)
9. The presenter monitored the verbal and nonverbal reactions of the audience and addressed them accordingly.	7 (5%)	11 (7.9%)	17 (12.1%)	57 (40.7%)	48 (34.2%)
10. The presenter intentionally repeated the major points several times to reinforce the focus of the presentation.	33 (23.6%)	40 (28.5%)	18 (12.8%)	48 (34.2%)	1 (0.8%)
11. The presenter utilized the allotted time effectively.	11 (7.9%)	11 (7.9%)	17 (12.1%)	64 (45.7%)	37 (26.4%)
12. The presenter concluded the presentation with an inspirational note and/or a strong call to action.	10 (7.1%)	29 (20.7%)	18 (12.8%)	66 (47.1%)	17 (12.1%)
13. The presenter utilized the question-answer session to clarify the audience's confusion and to reinforce the central message of the presentation.	32 (22.8%)	16 (11.4%)	31 (22.1%)	39 (27.8%)	22 (15.7%)

Among the selected presenters, 50% started their formal presentations in generic ways which was not enough to draw the attention of the audience, a large number (almost 37%) could not attract the audience at the beginning at all. However, almost all of them (97%) used natural conversational language. 43% of presenters did not have a clear focus in the presentation and they suffered to maintain the consistency of their deliveries. More than half of them could not take advantage of their body language. More than 64% of presenters could not design a proper structure which had a clear beginning, detailed middle and satisfactory ending. 42% of them could not strengthen their formal presentation with updated and relevant information or statistics. More than 60% of the presenters could not establish their points in spite of having multimedia slides. Almost 80% of them delivered their presentations in a flat voice (without any variations in pace and tone) which sounded almost robotic. Almost 75% of the presenters couldn’t maintain a proper eye-contact with the audience, in consequence, they neither monitored that audience was not listening to them, nor improvised their deliveries to grab the attention of them. 35% of the presenters deviated from their presentation focus therefore could not establish their main arguments (they even did not repeat the central concepts). More than 72% of them could not complete their presentations on time as they chose too broad topics, moreover (it was evident that they didn’t properly rehearse or practice). 59% of them had to wrap-up so abruptly that they could not complete even half of their presentations. However, almost 28% of them managed to conclude their presentations with lasting impressions. More than half of the presenters could not utilize the question-answer session as the last attempt to communicate with the audience. 43% of them completely avoided the question-answer session and therefore failed to connect with the audience.

Most of them became so preoccupied and overwhelmed with information and knowledge that they forgot a crucial element of presentation — communication. A large number of tertiary level presenters suffered as they tried to communicate their information and knowledge with the audience. Almost the entirety of their efforts was exhausted to accumulate and synthesize the information and knowledge. They became excessively concerned regarding the dissemination of information and lost their confidence; moreover, they focused on their deliveries so seriously that they often forgot to utilize their natural and authentic manners of speaking. After stepping onto the platform of the formal presentation, they almost forgot how to communicate naturally and genuinely, and their speech seemed artificial, forced, and pretentious. They committed a blunder when their speeches lost their persuasiveness, as if they did not even believe in themselves. Another blunder was committed when most of them did not rehearse adequately. They failed to utilize the allotted time properly and were forced to end their presentations abruptly. They hardly tried to maintain eye contact with the audience to monitor their engagement; consequently, they could not succeed in building any connections with the audience. As they alienated the audience from their presentations, they lost every chance to establish deep communication with them. Based on the assessment, it can be stated that an alarming number of the presenters shared too much information but were not clear to themselves what they wanted to say; therefore, they could not communicate whatsoever.

Qualitative Data

In order to find the answer of the research question, another research instrument was employed ‒ interviews. Eighteen interviews were conducted in total. Among them, eight interviewees were faculty members teaching in different disciplines in renowned public and private Bangladeshi universities, and ten interviewees were employers serving in different multinational and private companies. According to the interviewees, a large number of Bangladeshi undergraduates got part-time jobs and most of them got full-time jobs after their graduation. They were expected to know how to connect their academic knowledge with practical knowledge, and to perform in formal presentations by demonstrating their real-life wisdom. The faculty members shared their opinions regarding the reasons why most Bangladeshi undergraduates suffer while delivering formal presentations at their tertiary level. The employers shared their opinions about the mistakes Bangladeshi undergraduates make in their professional presentations (mostly in part-time jobs). They were asked specific questions which were designed to identify the gaps between the perceptions and practices of the Bangladeshi undergraduates.

Most of the interviewees agreed upon the fact that a large number of Bangladeshi undergraduates were weak not only in English but also in the Bangla language; however, their deficiencies in presentation skills were not merely caused by their shortcomings in language, some causes were beyond their linguistic weaknesses. Every interviewee unanimously agreed that Bangladeshi undergraduates must develop formal presentation skills at the tertiary level, not only to shine in academic life but also to enrich their professional career. All of the interviewees are seriously concerned about the poor presentation skills of the Bangladeshi undergraduates, and they believe urgent measures must be taken as soon as possible to enhance their formal presentation skills. Urgent steps should be taken so that the tertiary level learners get adequate exposure, practical training and practices of formal presentations before entering into professional life. The interviewees opined as well that formal presentations are one of the most effective ways to combine theoretical knowledge with practical knowledge.

Eight of the interviewees (faculty members of different public and private universities) asserted that the tertiary level learners were explicitly taught about formal presentation skills; however, most of them could not demonstrate adequate skills in their course-related formal presentations. Ten of the interviewees (employers of different private organizations) were quite skeptical about the ways the tertiary level learners were taught formal presentation skills as most of them performed poorly in their professional presentations. Therefore, the teachers try to teach the Bangladeshi undergraduates how to give proper formal presentations, but unfortunately, it is not working well.

According to the interviewees, most of the Bangladeshi undergraduates fell under two categories: either they were overconfident (who neither took these formal presentations seriously nor were willing to put in their best effort) or extremely nervous (who panicked even after making serious preparations). The overconfident presenters hardly cared about practices or rehearsals and perceived that they could ‘wing it’ with their inherent talent. They usually aimed to ‘bombard’ the audience with a plethora of half-relevant information and to impress the audience with their ‘linguistic charisma’. They often took way too many topics to cover and, in the end, they had to conclude their presentations abruptly. They blabbered about many things but could not mean what they had to say. On the other hand, the extremely nervous presenters (who were way too serious and preoccupied with their presentation script) usually lectured the audience in robotic manners but hardly connected with them. They put their best effort to accumulate valuable knowledge and information to share but no audience listens to them.

In the preparation stage, the interviewees opined, the major mistakes the Bangladeshi undergraduate presenters commit are: not rehearsing enough, including irrelevant information, not studying the audience, not keeping the time-limit in mind, and not having any specific purpose or arguments to establish. In the presentation stage, according to the interviewees, the Bangladeshi undergraduate presenters: ignore the audience, give lectures in a mechanical way, do not utilize body languages, over-complicate the multimedia slides, deviate from the focus point, and cannot conclude their presentations in a satisfactory manner. The interviewees also mention that, after the formal presentations part, most of the Bangladeshi undergraduate presenters ignore the question-answer session and lose the last chance to communicate with the audience.

Eight of the interviewees (faculty members of different public and private universities) mentioned that they followed their own rubrics to assess the presentation performances. They opined that the presenters should be given some instant feedback (not during but after the presentation), and a thorough and thoughtful feedback later. Again, ten of the interviewees (employers of different private organizations) were quite doubtful about the ways the tertiary level learners’ formal presentation performances were assessed. According to these ten interviewees, presentation assessment should be focused on ‘the argument’ (what to say) and ‘the communication’ (how to say).

Finally, after synthesizing all the data from the questionnaire, the observations and the interviews, it can be stated that any formal presentation becomes successful if the presenter knows exactly what to say and how to deliver it. If the presenters know what to say, they will be able to consolidate their argument; and if they are knowledgeable about the audience, they will be able to find out ways to communicate the arguments with them. Based on this idea, this research comes up with a few recommendations to enhance the formal presentation skills among Bangladeshi undergraduates.

This empirical research aimed to find out feasible ways to enhance the formal presentation skills of Bangladeshi undergraduates. Based on the data analysis, it can be asserted that the tertiary-level learners of Bangladesh perform poorly in formal presentations mainly for two reasons: they do not know how to consolidate an argument, and they do not know how to communicate with the audience. As the problems are identified, the recommendations can be given accordingly.

In the pre-presentation stage, the presenters must have a clear understanding of the topic they aim to present. Sometimes the topics are given to presenters, and sometimes presenters need to come up with their topics themselves. After specifying the topics, presenters should ensure a deep and thorough knowledge of the topic and must narrow down what they need to speak to consolidate their arguments (preferably one). To build their arguments, presenters need to learn how much time they will get to present their topics, and who will be the audience, as these play crucial roles to narrow down the arguments. In connection, they will get an idea of how much information could be disseminated within the time frame. According to the time frame, they should design the beginning (an adequate introduction), the middle (supported by information and logic), and the ending (with a strong end to establish the argument). The presenters must be careful to accumulate updated, relevant, and necessary information, and to present them in a lucid, focused, and interesting manner. If they feel the necessity of using humor or any jokes, they should carefully plan the delivery to ensure the best timing; at the same time, they must check whether the jokes are offensive to the audience or not. They need to ensure an optimum utilization of props, handouts, or multimedia slides if necessary. The presenters should take adequate measures to handle any technical or technological malfunctions as well. They must plan the final or concluding part of the presentation to recap the crucial points that will establish the central argument; this central argument will get embedded into the audience’s mind; therefore, the presenters should focus on one argument to achieve a strong end.

The presenters should start their formal presentation with an interesting opening to draw the audience’s attention. It might be a quotation, anecdote, interesting news, or surprising information that has connections with the presentation argument. Using natural, conversational, and authentic language is always preferable, and it should be supported by welcoming body language. The presenters should remember, presentation is not merely about verbal communication; nonverbal gestures, postures, and body movements are also a significant part of communication. As long as presenters remember that they have something concrete to share, and they need to communicate, body language will automatically be adjusted with the speech. When disseminating information, presenters should utilize variation in pace and tone to save the audience from boredom; the silence of one or two seconds can also help to create drama in speech. If they forget any information or make mistakes, without stuttering they must admit it instantly. As presenters must communicate, maintaining eye contact is essential; sometimes eyes communicate deeper than the mouth. By monitoring the verbal and nonverbal reactions of the audience, presenters can improvise different techniques to address them. If any questions arise from the audience, presenters should welcome it and answer tactfully (even if it is irrelevant). The language of presentation should be loud enough to be heard from the audience sitting at the back, clear enough to avoid any ambiguities, and authentic enough to reach the audience’s mind. Presenters should employ humor and jokes sparingly so that the audience do not get annoyed. If multimedia slides do not work, the presenters should not waste time on it and come up with alternatives as soon as possible. The presenters should not hesitate to repeat the focus points of the presentation in order to communicate what they need to say. The last minute is as crucial as the first minute, where presenters must consolidate their arguments to provide the audience with a memorable call to action (and food for thoughts). At the end, the presenters must not forget to appreciate the audience for their attention, time and support.

After the formal presentation, the presenters should take the privilege of question-answer sessions. Even if the audience keeps silent, the presenter should encourage them to ask questions (even the irrelevant questions are helpful). When the audience feels that presenters are eager to establish a real connection, they may feel interest to learn more about the presentation topic. As presenters have the arguments ready, question-answer sessions could be the ultimate option for the presenters to communicate their ideas and thoughts with the audience. Success in formal presentations cannot be achieved by reading out texts, vomiting out the memorized information, or giving didactic lectures. Presentations work when presenters have something valuable to share with the audience. Presenters can sincerely communicate something valuable when they know and believe what they want to say, and they know the audience and care about them.

It cannot be denied that most of the tertiary-level students of Bangladesh suffer from formal presentation anxieties (Al Harun et al., 2016; Al Mamun, 2021; Islam, Ahmad & Islam, 2022). All they need is encouragement so that they can come up with their own voice and own expression. Each learner is unique and it is essential to tailor teaching approaches to meet individual needs. Weaker presenters can gain confidence and enrich their presentation skills if they get support, guidance and a nurturing environment. It is feasible to enhance the formal presentation skills of the Bangladeshi undergraduates, if they are encouraged to give serious effort to clarify what they have to say and to genuinely communicate with the audience. If they have a clear understanding of the criteria and expectations for the formal presentation and have access to necessary resources, they can design the content, structure and delivery. They should be taught how to break the daunting process of presenting into smaller manageable tasks so that they can concentrate on one aspect at a time and thus save themselves from being overwhelmed. They also need adequate practice opportunities before the formal delivery where they can refine their presentation skills. They should be offered constructive feedback to encourage a growth mindset that mistakes pave the pathway to success. The Bangladeshi undergraduate need a supportive and inclusive environment where they can feel valued and encouraged to engage in peer activities, collaborations, teamwork, group presentations, debates, public speaking etc. Whenever they make progress, it does not matter how small it is, it should be treated as an achievement and therefore their efforts and endeavors should be acknowledged and celebrated. Bangladeshi undergraduates need to be inspired which will eventually boost their confidence and motivation to enhance their formal presentation skills, and they will be able to figure out how to find their original voice and how to communicate with others.

Availability of data and material

Both of the qualitative and qualitative data collected and analyzed in the present study are available upon request.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

No funding was gained when the present study was completed.

Authors' contributions

SR developed the concept of the study and supervised it. RH collected data, analyzed data, and wrote the paper.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express gratitude to all the participants who kindly helped with data collection in this study.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This research project was approved by the IRB Committee of North South University. The authors declare that this study has followed applicable research ethics and that all human participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Ethical guidelines/ Accordance

The present study was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Institutional Review Board of North South University.

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No competing interests reported.

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Exploring the Challenges Faced by Tertiary Students in Developing Formal Presentation Skills and Possible Solutions in an EFL Context

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