Here, we’ll show you 8+ interactive presentation ideas for students that will help you improve their retention and attention span!
If you look at the evolution of education and teaching methods in the last few decades, you can see how technology has played a significant part in it.
Interactive presentations are about how teachers can make their students feel involved by making learning fun and exciting. Traditional teaching methods like storytelling, examples, visual and audio aids, etc., are still indispensable, but the question is, how do you make these interactive?
| Needs | Ways to present information to a class |
| Presenters want the audience to interact with each other better | Story Telling |
| Presenters want the audience to understand the context better | Games, Debates and Discussions |
| Presenters want the audience to share their concerns and thoughts toward topics better | Quizzes, Brainstorming |
| Presenters want audience to share their concerns and thoughts toward topics better | Live Q&As |
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8 Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
You've done your research and prepared excellent learning materials for your students, went over the topics to teach in a day, over and over again, to perfection. Add a little sprinkle of "interactive activities" to the recipe, and you are all in to make the classroom experience memorable and engaging for your students.
Here are six interactive activities you can try online and offline to engage your students.
#1 - Story Telling | Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
One of the best ways to grab your student’s attention is to tell stories. This could be a great icebreaker activity on a Monday to beat the blues, or you can use it as a filler activity after a complex class of maths, science or history.
You might wonder, what’s so interactive about this? Here’s how you could make this exciting and interactive for your students.
Tell Your Story
Suitable for middle and high schoolers
Divide the class into groups. Ask each team to make an online presentation on a book, a movie, or a story they know of. The story could be left on a cliffhanger, and you could ask the audience how they think the story would end.
For this activity, you could use the open-ended slides on AhaSlides where the students could write their entries and display them in real time on the screen.
Once everyone has put in their answers, the narrating team could reveal the ending, and the person who guessed the correct answer, or came closest to the right one, would get a prize.
#2 - Interactive Games | Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
Irrespective of which grade you are teaching, everyone loves to play games. Merging interactive games into your lesson plan can motivate your students to pay better attention in class and engage them.
You can either link the games to the topics you teach in the class or simply have them as fillers or as an icebreaker activity.
Here are three fun games you can play virtually or in class with your students.
🎉 Icebreaker games are a fantastic way to break the ice and connect people in any setting, from classrooms and meetings to casual gatherings."
Pictionary
Suitable for all ages
There’s rarely anyone who doesn’t get excited hearing about this classic game. The game can be played in pairs of two, or you can divide the whole class into groups, depending on the class size and grade you are teaching.
If you are hosting a virtual class, you can play Pictionary on Zoom using its whiteboard feature. Otherwise, you can use an online Pictionary platform like Drawasaurus, which can host up to 16 participants simultaneously.
Ambassadors
Suitable for middle and high schoolers
Ambassadors is a great game for teaching geography lessons. Each player is assigned a country to represent. The players are then asked to describe the country with facts about it, such as its flag, currency, food, etc.
The audience is given a specific time limit to guess the country. Instead of simply asking them to guess the answer, you can use a create a free word cloud to showcase everyone’s responses. The most guessed word would be highlighted largest in the centre of the cloud, with the rest descending in size depending on how many times your players submitted them.
Show and Tell
Suitable for primary students
Teaching complex vocabulary can be pretty tricky, especially with young learners. This is a perfect game to teach them new words, what category they belong to, their meaning and their uses.
Give the students a category - for example, stationery - and ask them to pick one item that belongs to the category and share something about it. It can be either a memory, a story or something they know about that item.
💡 Take a look at 100s more fun games you can play with your students in class!
#3 - Quizzes | Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
Whether you want to teach something new, give the students a surprise test to see if they remember what they’ve learned till now, or have a fun activity, quizzes are the best way to go about it.
From multiple-choice and audio questions to picture quiz rounds and matching pairs, there are many interactive quizzes you can play in class to engage your students.
#4 - Brainstorming | Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
Along with hard skills the students learn with practice and learning techniques, it is essential for them to have specific soft skills too. Most often, when there’s any interactive activity in the class, students think of getting the ‘correct answer’.
This kind of restricts their thinking, but when you have brainstorming activities, there’s a free flow of ideas. They can write any statement that comes to their head, which helps to improve their interpersonal skills and also their retention span.
Brainstorming can be either based on the presentation topic, or you could have a random game of your student's choice. Let's look at two brainstorming activities you can play with your students.
Tick-Tock
Suitable for all ages
If you are looking for a simple game with little preparation, Tick-Tock is the one. The game is played in groups and each group will be given 1 topic.
- The students of each group are seated in a circle for this activity
- Give each team a theme or a topic, say Cartoons
- Every student in the team should name one cartoon within a set time limit and continue the game for the next two rounds.
- You can have one topic per round and eliminate students who didn't answer within the time limit.
- The last one standing wins
- This can be played both as a filler or can be played according to the subject you are teaching.
Bridge the Words
Suitable for middle and high schoolers
Teaching English can be fun and exciting if you know how to use the right tools and activities at the right time. 'Bridge the words' can be used to teach compound words and vocabulary to students.
The complexity of the words can be decided based on the grade you are teaching.
- The game can be played individually or in groups.
- Give your students a list of words and ask them to choose one from it
- The students then have to come up with as many compound words as possible within a particular time
If you want to play this game with young learners, you could use a "match the pair" slide on AhaSlides.
💡 Check out some more tips and tricks to host a successful brainstorming session for your students.
#5 - Q&As | Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
Irrespective of what grade or subject you teach, your students will have some questions about the material.
But most of the time, students hesitate to ask questions because they are not confident enough or they fear that others might think the questions are silly. So how can you tackle this problem?
A live Q&A can be a fun and interactive experience for your students with the help of online interactive platforms like AhaSlides.
- Students can send in their questions anonymously or with their names, depending on their choice.
- The questions will appear from newest to oldest, and you can mark the questions that are answered.
- Your students can upvote the popular questions, and you can answer them based on priority, as well as skip the ones that are less relevant or repetitive.
🎊 Learn more: Best Q&A Apps to Engage With Your Audience | 5+ Platforms For Free in 2024
#6. Sing a Song | Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
Singing is a powerful tool for crowd engagement for several reasons
Creates a Shared Experience: Singing together fosters a sense of community and togetherness. It allows everyone to participate in a shared activity, regardless of musical ability. This creates a positive and energetic atmosphere.
Boosts Mood and Energy: Singing releases endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals. This can uplift the mood of the crowd and create a more positive and energetic environment.
Improves Focus and Memory: Singing requires focus and coordination, which can improve alertness and concentration in the crowd. Additionally, singing along to familiar songs can help people remember the event more vividly.
Breaks Down Barriers: Singing can be a disarming and social activity. It can help people loosen up, break down social barriers, and feel more comfortable interacting with each other.
Interactive and Fun: Singing allows for call-and-response, participation in choruses, or even group choreography. This interactive element keeps the crowd engaged and adds a layer of fun to the event.
🎉 Random Song Generator Wheel | 101+ Best Songs Ever | 2024 Reveals
#7. Host A Short Play | Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
Check out the top 7 benefits hosting a short play to improve engagement in classes!
- Boosts Creativity and Confidence: Students involved in the writing, acting, or directing of a play get to tap into their creative sides. They learn to express themselves through different mediums and gain confidence in public speaking and performance.
- Improves Collaboration and Communication: Putting on a play is a collaborative effort. Students learn to work together, communicate effectively, and solve problems as a team.
- Enhances Literary Analysis: By delving into a short play, students gain a deeper understanding of character development, plot structure, and dramatic elements. They practice critical thinking skills as they analyze the play's message and themes.
- Makes Learning Fun and Engaging: Short plays can be a refreshing break from traditional classroom activities. They can make learning more interactive and enjoyable for students of all learning styles.
- Develops Public Speaking Skills: Even small roles in a play require students to project their voices and speak clearly in front of an audience. This practice improves their public speaking skills, which can benefit them throughout their lives.
- Builds Empathy and Understanding: Stepping into the shoes of a character allows students to explore different perspectives and develop empathy for others. Short plays can touch on a variety of topics, promoting social-emotional learning.
- Memorable Learning Experience: The process of creating and performing a play can be a memorable learning experience. Students will likely retain the lessons learned and the play's themes long after the performance.
#8 - Debates and Discussions | Interactive Presentation Ideas for Students
Guided debates and discussions are an excellent way to get students engaged. They give students an organised way to explore and express thoughts on topics they might already have strong opinions about.
They are interactive by nature, boost your students' confidence and teach them how to accept constructive criticism and respect the viewpoints of others.
Discussion topics can be selected either based on your lesson plan or you can have general discussions that could be an additional activity in class.
📌 140 Conversation Topics That Work In Every Situation | 2024 Reveals
Government and Citizens
Getting your students excited about general knowledge can be a daunting task. 'Government and Citizens' is a multi-player game best suited for an offline classroom activity.
The game is pretty simple. The whole class is given a country to represent. You can ask the students to research the country and make relevant notes for the activity.
- Divide the class into different groups
- Each group is given a category to represent - citizens, office of the Mayor, Bank etc.
- Select a problem area - say, for example, "How can we make the country more sustainable?" and ask each group to raise their opinions.
- Each group can present their opinion on the same and have cross-discussions as well.
Debate Cards
Add a little spice to the classic debate game with customised index cards. These cards can be made out of regular paper, or you can buy plain index cards that can be customised later.
This game can help students think before an argument or rebuttal and use the resources they have to the maximum benefit.
- Make index cards (just a little more than the total number of students)
- On half of them, write "comment" and "question" on the other half
- Give one card to each student
- Choose a debate topic, and the students need to use their index cards if they want to comment on the topic or raise a question
- The students will use their cards only when they think it is necessary
- You can reward them with extra cards if they make a strong point or raise an excellent question that keeps the debate moving
Case study discussions
Suitable for college students
Case study discussions can be a great way to learn together as a class. Start by breaking the class into small groups and sharing a real example that relates to your subject - it could be about a business problem, a science question, or a community issue.
Using AhaSlides' features (such as Q&A, Word Cloud,...), you can ask your students questions about the case and let them work together to find answers. When everyone's ideas appear on the screen, the whole class can have a friendly discussion about different solutions. This helps students practice both thinking carefully and working as a team - skills they'll use in their future jobs.
For example, in a marketing class, students could look at why a product wasn't successful and suggest better ways to sell it. When students share and learn from each other's ideas, the lesson becomes more meaningful for everyone.
💡 For interactive presentation ideas for students, let's check out 13 online debate games you can play with students of all ages.
4 Tools to Generate Interactive Presentations
Here are the top 4 pieces of software you can use to make school presentation ideas interactive:
- Interactive Presentation Software: Make your classroom interactive with free live quizzes, polls, live Q&As, and brainstorming sessions. Get real-time results and feedback from your students who only need a phone to contribute.
- Interactive Whiteboards: Create, share, and make visually appealing frameworks with students. Idea boards let you do everything that you would normally do in a live classroom.
- Interactive Video Software: Seamlessly create lessons from existing videos on the internet or scratch. Some edtech video software also lets your students respond with their videos.
- Interactive Learning Management Systems: Organise, collaborate and store your teaching materials in one place with an interactive learning management system.
💡 Need more tools? Check out 20 digital classroom tools to help you craft engaging and exceptional lessons.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do you make a presentation interactive for students?
You can add activities that get students involved, like polls, quizzes, or group discussions. To get their attention and break up the monotony of traditional slides, use pictures and other forms of media. Make it comfortable for students to share their thoughts and ideas and ask them questions. This method will help students feel engaged and like they own the learning process.
How do you present in class creatively?
Don't just use a slide show when you speak in class. Instead, use props, costumes, or role-playing to make your topic come to life. To keep students interested, add quizzes, games, or hands-on tasks that they can interact with. Don't be afraid to try out different visual tools, ways of telling a story, or even a little humour to make your presentation memorable and impactful.
