CHAPTER 3
Lecturing effectively

Learning outcomes

By the end of this chapter you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of

• the value of the lecture
• the importance of questions
• what and how you communicate

Introduction

The lecture is a relatively low-risk educational tool that enables a message to be reliably conveyed to an audience. At its best, the lecture is a means of transmitting knowledge in a standardised format. At its worst, it is based on a culture of silence - lectures traditionally can be seen and experienced as passive events. It has even been said that a lecture is a process by which the notes of the lecturer become the notes of the student without passing through the mind of either. There is some truth in that. There is, however, a considerable body of evidence that active learning is required if adult learners are going to benefit from an educational intervention. This chapter will explore ways in which a lecture can be interactive, and thereby a more powerful experience for both teacher and learners in order to reach its potential as a learning experience.

The benefits of lectures are usually summarised as follows:

• Disseminating information (possibly to large numbers)
• Reducing the risk of ambiguity
• Stimulating learner interest
• Introducing learners to content/tasks before other instructional processes

Disseminating information

The lecture enables specific messages to be conveyed to an audience. The advent of web-based presentations has meant that lectures can be simultaneously watched by millions of viewers, either live or pre-recorded. More commonly in continuing medical education, your audience is likely to be relatively small (12-30). Nevertheless, it is an opportunity to give the same message to a whole group of learners. This does not, of course, mean that the same message has been received by all the individuals in the room.

Reducing ambiguity

Lectures rarely break new ground, they are much more likely to provide the opportunity to clarify information that students have learned in other contexts - for example reading a text or watching a demonstration. Questions, in both directions, can contribute to this process.

Stimulating learner interest

When you ask people to recall the best lecture they have ever heard, they are more likely to comment on the personal style, charisma and entertainment value of the lecturer rather than its content. What lecturers are doing in these cases is encouraging, albeit subtly, their audience to go away and do some reading and thinking about their subject matter.

Introducing content

Lectures can, therefore, lay the foundations for more detailed study by signposting learners in particular directions.

Lectures do have a number of limitations, including the inability to teach skills. It is also difficult to present complex and/or particularly abstract ideas. However, the main disadvantage is one of learner attention span. This varies considerably among learners with reports ranging from 10 minutes upwards. It all depends on a variety of factors - particularly levels of engagement.

As shown in Chapter 2, a structure (environment, set, dialogue and closure) can be applied to any teaching session. Lectures are no exception.

Environment

It is important to check your environment before you are due to give your lecture. It is a good idea, therefore, to arrive in plenty of time before you are due to talk. You should then

• Check the layout: It is likely that a room will be set up for a lecture (i.e. rows of chairs facing a screen) but someone may have been running a workshop before you, and chairs may be in a circle or horseshoe.
• Test the projection facilities: In most cases, you will find a computer and data projector but make sure you are familiar with the computer, where to put your flash drive, or whether there is a remote control. For peace of mind, have a backup for your presentation. One way of doing this is to email your presentation to yourself and/or the local organiser or have it available on cloud-based storage.
• Adjust temperature and lighting: If the room has been occupied for some time, open windows or run the air conditioning; make sure that your slides are visible with lights on or dimmed.
• Check for a clock: If there is not one visible, remind yourself to use your watch. Contrary to opinion, it is not distracting for a lecturer to keep an eye on the time.

Set

Your slides should include learning outcomes or objectives. These serve a number of purposes, including giving your audience a sense of where your session is going. The set is the opportunity you have to claim credibility, by virtue of who you are and what you do. The audience will already have made an assessment of you based on your appearance, but they need to be reassured that you are qualified to be introducing the topic to them. It is not immodest to lay claim to your professional role and your expertise in a particular area. You do, of course, have to live up to the claims you make by being authoritative and knowledgeable. This might include owning up to not knowing something when asked a question. Your claim to credibility can be reinforced by checking with faculty colleagues in the audience or saying that you will find the answer to a question and letting people know. That is preferable to making something up, guessing or giving a partial answer.

During the set it is useful to let your audience know what roles they will be expected to fill: whether they can ask questions for instance or whether you will be asking them to engage in any activities. You might like to let them know if you are going to give them handouts or make your presentation available to them electronically. This will determine whether or not they wish to take notes.

Unlike in a wedding speech, you are not required to tell jokes. Unless you have good comic timing and your jokes are appropriate and funny, this can be a high-risk strategy.

Dialogue

Put quite simply, the dialogue is the content and the substance of the learning outcomes you introduced in the set. In some cases, you will be working from pre-prepared slide sets, which have an approved content. In other cases, you will be presenting your own slides. Whatever the situation, much of the experience for the audience will be in how you present your information, rather that the information itself. In fact, some experts argue that only 7% of communication is about the words you speak, as Figure 3.1 suggests. This raises some important issues when considering the components of what makes a successful presentation.

Figure 3.1 Communication skills

Vocal variety

Vocal variety or verbal style refers to

• Voice
• Emphasis
• Pace
• Enthusiasm

You might think that there is nothing you can do about your voice, but that is not entirely the case. Pitch and projection are two things that will ensure that your audience can hear you. Certain sections may need emphasis and you will develop a personal style as to how this can be achieved. Strategies range from slowing down, repetition and simply telling the audience what you are going to say. The pace at which you speak is important even when you are not expecting your audience to take notes. Slightly slower than normal conversation gives your audience time to reflect on what you are saying. Enthusiasm is very contagious as unfortunately is its opposite. Generally, you should communicate your interest in your subject by speaking about it with a degree of animation. Manic fervour may, however, distract the audience from the content.

Verbal tics can become a distraction to an audience, who focus on how many times you use a word or phrase rather than listening to the content. Common ones are 'OK', 'so .', 'you know' or 'umm'. Linguists call these 'hesitation phenomena', and they are a product of either lack of confidence or working memory capacity. More often than not, speakers are not aware of their tics so it is advisable to get feedback from colleagues.

Non-verbal communication

Those elements of communication that are not verbal cover a whole range of behaviours including

• Gesture
• Posture
• Position
• Proximity
• Movement
• Eye contact
• Facial expression

Consider the 'Dos and Don'ts' given in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Dos and Don'ts