Building presentation confidence through choice and flexibility within the first-year science curriculum

Abstract

Public speaking is a critical employability skill, yet for many first-year students, it is one of the most anxiety-inducing academic tasks. Recognising that lack of confidence, fear of judgement and unfamiliarity with academic expectations can be barriers to students engaging with oral assessments, this vignette describes an intervention designed to shift control to the students, with the aim of boosting presentation confidence.

This intervention aimed to reduce performance anxiety by handing students control over their first university presentation, enabling them to meet core learning outcomes while working within their comfort zones. This flexible, student-centered approach placed students in control over:
i) the presentation topic;
(ii) the delivery mode (live or pre-recorded) and
(iii) the timing of their presentation.

By choosing a topic of personal or discipline-specific interest, students demonstrated greater enthusiasm and ownership over their learning. The option to pre-record allowed those with presentation anxiety to rehearse and edit their work, while the flexibility around timing helped students to manage workloads, personal commitments as well as prepare at their own pace.

Early reflections and feedback indicate that this approach boosted students’ confidence and engagement with presentations. Embedding low-stakes choice and flexibility into assessment design can play a crucial role in easing the transition to higher education, particularly for students who may lack confidence or prior experience with presenting to an audience. We conclude by exploring how scalable, inclusive assessment practices can foster agency, belonging and confidence from the very start of the university experience.