Strategies for Effective Lecturingor

The Twenty Minute Lecture Lecture

Carlyle H. Chan, M.D.Professor and Vice Chair for Education and Informatics

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

Medical College of Wisconsin

Proverb

Those that can, do.

Those that can’t, teach.

Those that can’t teach, teach about teaching.

-Anonymous

4 P’s of Lecturing

• Performance

• Preparation

• Presentation

• Paper Clips

Performance• Showtime!!! Medical lecturing as theater

• Sesame Street effect

• Dr. Fox effect

Dr. Fox Effect

• Dr. Fox I: Mathematical Game Theory as Applied to Physician Education

• Dr. Fox II: Biochemistry of Learning– High Seduction: enthusiasm, humor,

friendliness, expressiveness– Low Seduction: monotonous, boring

Six Separate Lectures

High content Medium content Low content

(26 facts) (14 facts) (4 facts)

High seduction High seduction High seduction

High content Medium content Low content

(26 facts) (14 facts) (4 facts)

Low seduction Low seduction Low seduction

Performance Cont’d

• I speak, you listen

• Where the notes of the lecturer become the notes of the student without passing through the minds of either

• Lecture versus Speech

Conditions for Speeches

• Political campaigns

• If you have a speechwriter

• Research presentations

• Disneyland

Preparation

Think!

• Objectives? Take home points?

• How can you organize your material to accomplish your objectives?

• How can you engage your audience?– Active versus Passive listening– Pre-test

Know your audience

• Match level of material with level of sophistication of audience

• Photographic vs. Phonographic memory

• Attention span peaks at 10-15 minutes

K.I.S.S.

• Most people recall only 2-3 points

• Don’t read facts, print them out

• Simplify or focus on highly technical points

Rule of thumb:

8 hours preparation for 1 hour lecture

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

• Practice, Practice, Practice

• e.g. athletes, musicians

• Rehearsal before friends - anticipate questions

• Audio or videotape

• Get there early

PresentationElements of Style

Voice

• Rate: 150 words/min; 1 slide/min

• Problems: too fast; too slow

• Modulation: jocks vs. evangelists vs. infomercials

• Volume: project; microphone stage presence

• Direction: address each person in the room, one thought per person

Voice cont’d: Verbal markers

• Tell them what you’re going to tell them; Tell them; Tell them what you told them.

• Transition: “My next point...”, “In conclusion...”

• Emphasis: “Let me highlight this point…”• Pauses: for emphasis, to let point sink in• Vocal pauses: distracting

Emotions

• Anxiety: stage fright, epinephrine, arousal– Use the extra energy– Breathing exercises

• Humor: don’t have to be a comic, but it helps

• Enthusiam: check your energy level

Style and Delivery

• Extemporize, don’t memorize

• Use your whole body

• Keep the lights on!

• Don’t read slides; use as cues; face front

• Orient to slides; walk through graphs and figures

Style and Delivery cont’d

• Be aware: Slide/text Dissociation

• Repeat questions: “The question was…”– Turns focus back to you– Gives you a moment to collect your thoughts

• Don’t apologize

• Finish on time

Lecture Notes

• Comprehensive vs. Partial vs. Skeletal

• The Three Bears

• Timing of Distribution

Paper Clips & other parts of a Speaker’s Kit

• Cough drops, hard candy, water

• Cardboard

• 80 slot slide tray

• Extra bulb

• Paper Clip

• Pointer

Laser Etiquette

In Conclusion...

• 4 P’s: Performance, Preparation, Presentation, Paper clips

• More P’s (Proverbs)– Less is more– Worth saying, bears repeating– A picture is worth a thousand words– Practice makes perfect

• Yields Final P: Professionalism