Making Technical Presentations Safe for Novices One useful skill in CS is presentation of technical material to peers and/or superiors. Novices, however, often come to computing as introverts for whom public speaking is difficult and even frightening. I want my students to become better speakers, especially in presenting their own work since it is often the loudest speaker who is heard, not necessarily the one with the best ideas. 

How do we make a safe and comfortable environment for novices to learn to present their work to their classmates? 

One of the aspects of this, of course, is to learn to accept feedback from the listeners and to evaluate it properly. 

In a class of novices this may also require some training of the listeners so that they offer constructive advice and not just negative comments. It may also require finding ways to quiet those who offer inappropriate feedback, but to also teach them better behavior. 

The goal is to give the students practice so that they become more comfortable with doing this.
You need to start early
You can not expect them to just one day, stand up in front of the class. You need to prepare them for it.
Encourage mistakes
Encourage students to take risks. Give permission to make mistakes, but not just permission, make it a goal.
At the start of term, when I set out the class rules. I have a few don'ts. I also have some dos: collaborate, work hard, make mistakes …
I tell them that computer programming (and learning) is about making mistakes. In a one hour lesson, if you only make 100 mistakes, then you are not working hard enough.
Get them making mistakes, get  them celebrating mistakes.
One way to celebrate errors, is «test first»: Write test; run test, test fails, celebrate; write code; run test, test passes (maybe); repeat.
Austin's butterfly
So how Austin improved his drawing: He got feedback from the class after each drawing, and used this feedback to make a better drawing. It took six attempts before he drew the final image.

Mind set
Teach them about mind set — Carol Dweck “Whether you believe that you can do it, or believe that you can not, you are correct.”
People with a growth mindset

believe that mistakes are an indication that they are learning.
believe that they are in top set because they work hard.
like challenge.
learn more.

People with a fixed mindset

believe that mistakes are an indication that they are stupid.
believe that they are in bottom set because they are stupid.
like easy work, that they can get correct. Or very hard work that gives them an excuse.
learn less.

Get them helping out with the class.
Build a culture of helping / talking-to each other.

Peer help
help desk
answering class questions
explain to the class