A teacher's ability to present clear and appropriate movement tasks is strongly related to student learning. The purpose of this study was to describe the ability of preservice teachers to demonstrate task presentation skills following an introductory course in the basics of effective instruction. The task presentations of 15 preservice teachers across six elementary physical education lessons were analyzed using the Qualitative Measures of Teaching Performance Scale (Werner & Rink, 1989). The total QMTPS score was 55 or higher on 76% of the 90 lessons observed. A total score above 55 is an indicator of effective task presentations (Gusthart & Kelley, 1993). Preservice teachers with overall academic problems exhibited less effective task presentation skills. All preservice teachers demonstrated less effective task presentations when teaching dance. (Contains 3 tables.)