Delivering A Lecture Essay Research Paper Delivering

Delivering A Lecture Essay, Research Paper

Delivering a Lecture

Lecturing is not simply a matter of standing in front of a class and reciting what you know The classroom lecture is a special form of communication in which voice, gesture, movement, facial expression, and eye contact can either complement or detract from the content. No matter what your topic, your delivery and manner of speaking immeasurably influence your students’ attentiveness and learning. Use the following suggestions, based on teaching practices of faculty and on research studies in speech communication, to help you capture and hold students’ interest and increase their retention.

General Strategies

Watch yourself on videotape. Often we must actually see our good behaviors in order to exploit them and see our undesirable behaviors in order to correct them. If you want to improve your public speaking skills, viewing a videotape of yourself can be an invaluable way to do so. See “Watching Yourself on Videotape.”

Learn how not to read your lectures. At its best, lecturing resembles a natural, spontaneous conversation between instructor and student, with each student feeling as though the instructor is speaking to an audience of one. If you read your lectures, however, there will be no dialogue and the lecture will seem formal, stilted, and distant. Even if you are a dynamic reader, when you stick to a script you forfeit the expressiveness, animation, and give-and-take spontaneity of plain talking. Reading from notes also reduces your opportunities to engage your class in conversation and prevents you from maintaining eye contact. On this point all skilled speakers agree: don’t read your presentation. See “Preparing to Teach the Large Lecture Course” for advice on preparing lecture notes.

Prepare yourself emotionally for class. Some faculty play rousing music before lecturing. Others set aside fifteen or thirty minutes of solitude to review their notes. Still others walk through an empty classroom gathering their thoughts. Try to identify for yourself an activity that gives you the energy and focus you need to speak enthusiastically and confidently. (Source: Lowman, 1984)

Opening a Lecture

Avoid a “cold start.” Go to class a little early and talk informally with students. Or walk in the door with students and engage them in conversation. Using your voice informally before you begin to lecture helps keep your tone conversational.

Minimize nervousness. A certain amount of nervousness is normal, especially right before you begin to speak. To relax yourself, take deep breaths before you begin or tighten and then release the muscles of your body from your toes to your jaw Once you are under way your nervousness will lessen.

Grab students’ attention with your opening. Open with a provocative question, startling statement, unusual analogy, striking example, personal anecdote, dramatic contrast, powerful quote, short questionnaire, demonstration, or mention of a recent news event. Here are some sample openings:

. “How many people would you guess are sent to prison each week in the state of California. Raise your hand if you think 50 people or fewer. How about 51 to 100. 101 to 150. Over 150. (Pause) In fact, over 250 people are placed in custody every week.” (sociology lecture)

. “Freddie has been with the company for nearly four years and is considered a good worker. Recently, though, he.s been having problems. He’s late for work, acts brusque, and seems sullen. One morning he walks into the office, knocks over a pile of paper, and leaves it lying on the floor. His supervisor says, ‘Freddie, could you please pick up the material so that no one trips over it.’ Freddie says loudly, ‘Pick it up yourself.’ If you were the supervisor, what would you do next.” (business lecture)

. “The number-one fear of Americans – more terrifying than the fear of death – is public speaking.” (rhetoric lecture)

. An economist shows a slide of farmers dumping milk from trucks or burning cornfields and asks, “Why would people do this.” (economics lecture)

. “Watch what happens to this balloon when the air is released.” (physics lecture)

. “Take two minutes to complete the ten true-false items on the questionnaire that I’m distributing. We’ll use your answers as part of today’s lecture.” (psychology lecture)

. “How many of you believe that high-rise housing means high-density housing.” (architecture lecture)

. “Nearly three-quarters of all assaults, two-thirds of all suicide attempts, half of all suicides, and half of all rapes are committed by people under the influence of what drug. How many think crack. Heroin. Marijuana. None of the above. The correct answer is alcohol.” (social welfare lecture)

Vary your opening. Any dramatic technique loses impact upon repetition.

Announce the objectives for the class. Tell your students what you expect to accomplish during the class, or list your objectives on the board. Place the day’s lecture in context by linking it to material from earlier sessions.

Establish rapport with your students. Warmth and rapport have a positive effect on any audience. Students will feel more engaged in the class if the opening minutes are personal, direct, and conversational. (Source: Knapper, 1981)

Capturing Students’ In

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