How to Lecture Well

Lecture Preparation

1. 
   Choose a few main points for your lecture. Your audience will learn more effectively if the information presented is organized around key themes, allowing them to relate smaller details to bigger ideas.

   1. These themes should represent the main educational content of the lecture: what you want the audience to learn in addition to whatever smaller details you provide.
2. 
   Generate examples that demonstrate these key points to facilitate the audience's retention.

   1. These might be passages from a text, historical examples, selected data from a report, etc. Choose examples which you can explain fully in a few minutes and which will help your audience to grasp the subject matter.
3. 
   Decide on a conclusion that you want your audience to draw from your lecture.

   1. In contrast to the 1 to 3 key points, this will be a question that you want your listeners to consider further, a problem for further analysis, or a thesis or proof that explains the information you have given earlier. Such a conclusion will help your audience retain the other details you include in your lecture.
4. 
   Prepare an introduction to the material that you have prepared. Consider something that will grab the audience's attention, such as an anecdote or surprising fact.
5. 
   Design an outline or lecture notes that cover your lecture material. These will allow you to organize your thoughts in a coherent manner that will be easier to listen to than a scattering of thoughts.

   1. Do not write out your lecture, as this will lead you to read from your notes and have poor delivery; instead, provide general topic headings and a few key details or sentences that you want to include.
   2. You should be able to speak freely off of this outline without pausing to review your notes. If there are specific facts you want your audience to retain, be sure to highlight these.
6. 
   Eliminate 10 to 20 percent of the material you have prepared thus far understanding that you will not be able to cover everything you want.
7. 
   Prepare any visual or audio aids that will help the audience grasp your lecture material.

   1. Examples might include a slideshow, props, a sample of music, or a few images displayed on a board or screen.
8. 
   Visit the space in which you will be lecturing well in advance of the lecture. Make note of whiteboards, lighting, and other tools so that you do not seem unprepared or flustered when your lecture begins.
9. 
   Rehearse your lecture. Speak more slowly than you think you need to and aim to finish at least a few minutes before the lecture is scheduled to end so that your lecture can survive delays and distractions.