Suggestions for Effective Lecture Preparation and Delivery
The term "lecturing" refers to both planning and
delivering a classroom presentation. While the lecture
has certain elements in common with a formal speech, a
classroom lecture places greater emphasis on the
importance of presenter-audience (instructor-student)
interaction.
Below is a brief listing of suggestions for effective
lecture preparation and delivery. The suggestions are
arranged under one of three phases of a lecture-the
introduction, the body, and the closing.
Beginning the Lecture
A. Plan an introduction to catch the listener's interest.
Suggestion: Raise a question to be answered by the end of
the lecture.
Example: "By the end of the hour, you should be able to
answer the question 'Are essay test questions better than
objective test questions?'"
Suggestion: State a historical or current problem related
to the lecture content.
Example: "It was conjectured by Gauss that the number of
primes up to any point X was less than a certain smooth,
easily calculated function of X. This conjecture was
supported by extensive numerical evidence. However, in
1914, Littlewood proved that, in fact, the relation
becomes false for an infinite sequence of large X's.
Let's take a look at Littlewood's reasoning."
Suggestion: Explain the relationship of lecture content
to laboratory exercises, homework problems, professional
career interests, etc.
Example: "Today, I'll lecture on cost-of-living indices,
a topic in macroeconomics which will help you understand
the recent discussions in Congress related to
inflation."
Suggestion: Relate lecture content to previous class
material.
Example: "For the past few weeks, Skinner, Osgood, and
others, who take a behaviorist view of language
acquisition, have occupied our attention. Today, I'll
introduce another, different perspective on language
acquisition and learning. We'll spend the rest of this
week and the next on understanding this view and
comparing it with the behaviorist position."
Alternative: Ask a student to summarize previous course
content.
B. Provide a brief general overview of the lecture's content.
Example: "In Victorian England the conflict between
religion and science was well reflected in the
literature. Today we'll look at two poems, 'In Memoriam'
and 'Dover Beach,' which illustrate this conflict."
C. Tell students how you expect them to use the lecture material.
Example: "Today I'll offer a specific model of evaluation
and illustrate its applicability in several kinds of
settings. When you meet in your discussion groups this
week, you'll be asked to apply the model as you discuss
the Brown v. Board of Education decision."
D. Define or explain unfamiliar terminology.
Example: "In physics, the term 'work' has a precise
technical meaning. The work done by a force F when the
object on which it acts moves a distance (puts a drawing
on the board) is defined by W-F . 'denotes' the work. It
is assumed that F does not change much during the motion
and can be positive, zero or negative. Now, let's look at
this diagram and see how well you understand the
definition of work."
The Body of the Lecture
A. Organization
Allow for some flexibility in the presentation in order
to respond to student questions and comments.
Determine which key points can be effectively developed
during the class session. It is necessary to strike a
balance between depth and breadth of coverage. When every
nuance, detail or instance of a topic is discussed
students often lose sight of the main ideas. Or, when too
many ideas are presented and not developed, students fail
to gain understanding.
B. Organize material in some logical order.
Suggested organizational schemes include:
Cause-Effect: Events are cited and explained by reference
to their origins. For example, one can demonstrate how
the continental revolutionary movements of the late 1700s
affected British politics at the turn of the
century.
Time Sequential: Lecture ideas are arranged
chronologically. For example, a lecturer explaining the
steps in a clinical supervision model talks about the
first step to be undertaken, the second step, and so
forth.
Topical: Parallel elements of different discussion topics
are focused on successively. For example, a professor
lecturing about the differential features of common
diseases in canines and felines may speak about their
etiologies, typical histories, and predisposing
factors.
Problem-Solution: The statement of a problem is followed
by alternate solutions. For example, a lecture on the
Cuban missile crisis could begin with a statement of the
foreign policy problem followed by a presentation of the
alternative solutions available to President
Kennedy.
Pro-Con: A two-sided discussion of a given topic is
presented. For example, the lecture is organized around
the advantages and disadvantages of using the lecture
method of instruction.
Ascending-Descending: Lecture topics are arranged
according to their importance, familiarity, or
complexity. For example, in a lecture introducing
students to animal diseases, the diseases of primary
importance could be discussed first, the tertiary ones
last.
C. Allow time within the lecture to summarize key ideas and prepare relevant examples to illustrate key ideas.
Provide transitions which show the relationships between
key ideas. Throughout the lecture check on student
understanding by:
Asking students to answer specific questions: e.g., "Who
can describe in his/her own words the theory of neuron
transmission?"
Asking for student questions: e.g., "Did you have any
questions about the application of Kirchoff's rules in
problem 6?"
Presenting a problem or situation which requires use of
lecture material in order to obtain a solution; "Over the
last few days we have been discussing regression
analysis. How can we use this information to predict your
final grade in this course given your midterm scores and
the correlation between midterm and final scores?"
Watching the class for nonverbal cues of confusion or
misunderstanding: e.g., look for such behaviors as loss
of eye contact, talking, or clock watching.
D. Ask for and answer student questions.
Closing the Lecture
A. Answer any questions raised at the beginning of the lecture and provide closure for the lecture.
Suggestion: Briefly summarize lecture material and
preview what lies ahead.
Example: "Today I have identified five phases of the
reflective thinking process. Tomorrow we will see how
these phases can be useful for our understanding of human
learning."
Suggestion: Relate lecture material to past or future
presentations.
Example: "During the next lesson, we'll break into
discussion groups and get some experience applying this
evaluation model to the first three case studies in your
file."
Suggestion: Ask a student to summarize the lecture's key
ideas.
Example: "Who will summarize the key issues developed
during today's lecture?"
B. Restate what you expect the students to gain from the lecture material.
Example: "As I stated in the introduction, given the
appropriate data you should be able to plot the
appropriate supply-and-demand curves."
Delivering the Lecture
The following questions relating to lecture delivery
should be considered throughout all three phases of
lecturing:
A. Vocal Delivery
Do you:
Cue important ideas by varying speech rate, volume, and
pitch?
Speak to students and not to the blackboard, walls,
notes, or floor?
Enunciate clearly?
Let your sense of humor show?
Avoid repetition of pet words or phrases (e.g., okay, you
know, uh)?
B. Physical Delivery
Do you:
Establish and maintain eye contact with your
students?
Use gestures and physical movements which complement your
verbal statements (e.g., looking at students while asking
for student questions)?
Practice in advance with audiovisuals?
Avoid using distracting gestures or physical movements
(e.g., grooming, pacing)?
©2006 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All
rights reserved. Suggestions for Effective Lecture
Preparation and Delivery was compiled by the University
of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning, and
reprinted with their permission. Click the link to view
the original site.