Whether you
are a teacher, professor or part of an independent course, lecturing both small
and large groups often crops up, but if you are not prepared it can be a
daunting task. Every lecturer, whether it is their profession or not, hopes
that their lecture will engage and inspire their audience, yet this is not
always an easy thing to achieve. Scientific fact has it that students only
maintain 20-40 percent of a lecturer’s ideas in their notes (Kiewra, 2002,
p.72), and without review, only 10 percent can be remembered after three weeks
(Bligh, 2000, p.40).[i]
With these fairly negative statistics, the pressure is on to make every bit of
information count. Do not panic however, there are useful tips and tricks that
can help capture your audience’s attention and encourage them to restore the
information they learn for longer.
Make The Information Accessible
This may
sound obvious, but when you are the person organising the lecture, and the
information to be relayed in it, then this is not always clear. Simple things
such as having an agenda at the beginning of your lecture, or an introduction
summarising what you are about to discuss will help your audience understand
the direction you go in. Having this as a slide in your presentation is also a
good idea as it will help your student’s to structure their notes accordingly.
By understanding your audience and their interests, it allows you to relate
your ideas and information to them more effectively. Think of this when
choosing how you present your lecture to them: if they are young, chances are
they are on various social media platforms, follow certain news that you may
not and so on. By incorporating these aspects into your lecture you are more
likely to actively engage your students.
Another effective
method of helping your audience retain information is to keep it available after
the lecture. Providing your own presentation, lecture notes or research
bibliography to your students after the lecture has finished will give them
material to refresh their minds with and answer any questions they have thought
of upon leaving. Many institutions have intranet systems to do this, but
compiling it all in an email will not only get it directly to your students,
but also give them a contact point with which to reach you.
Involve Your Audience
This is often
overlooked when teaching large groups or lecture theatres of students. Yet,
there are still many ways to get them involved, and by doing this you are
encouraging them to actively learn and understand what you are trying to teach
them. Asking them questions throughout the lecture will keep them engaged in
what you are saying. It is important here, however, to make sure you are not
intimidating or patronising them with questions, but merely using them to see
what they think. This will also help you to get to know your audience and how
to target their interests in the future.
We are lucky to have technology on our side, even in education. Tools such as
a conference voting system can be very effective when used in teaching: in the same way as this system is used to gage an audience’s opinion in
business by showing what your student’s have grasped from the
lecture. By asking them questions on the lecture topic as you go, for instance,
you can see how many of them are understanding by seeing how many get the
answer right. Alternatively, you could use this to answer a poll or survey at
the end of the lecture to see how well the information was received.
Be Confident
There is
always a noticeable difference between someone who strides into a room, and
someone who slips into a room. Chances are, you will notice the first. The way
you hold yourself and deliver your lecture will make a great difference in the
reception of it with your audience. Being charismatic, funny or entertaining is
great, but if you are not comfortable with this you can still give a great
lecture by varying the volume, tone and pitch of your voice.
Simple techniques
such as taking a break will allow you time to relax and reflect upon how the
lecture is going, as well as giving your students time to rest. It is proven that
the attention of any human being begins to drift after around ten minutes
(Bligh, 2000, p.53).[ii]
So by giving them a break you give yourself more chance to get your ideas
through to them, which in turn will help you feel more confident in what you
are doing when your audience are fully engaged.
There are
many other ways to capture your audience’s attention and structuring a lecture
so as to keep it. The main key things however are to make the information
available to them, both in and outside the lecture. Involve them in what you
are talking about, not by purely picking on one person but by asking individuals
or using technology to incorporate their views into the lecture itself. The
most important however, is to be confident. By holding yourself well and
delivering your lecture with efficiency and enthusiasm your audience will want to listen to you, and that is the
main aim.
Thank you for
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