How to give a talk: Advices for a lecturer

How to give a talk: Advices for a lecturer: "Advices for a lecturer The introduction is the most important part of you talk. This is when you capture your audience. This is when they ..."

Advice for a lecturer

Advice for a lecturer

The introduction is the most important part of you talk. This is when you capture your audience. This is when they decide that this is important to them. You can start with a statement, a little story or make an illustration with something you brought to the platform. Make the beginning stir up attention and use that when you begin your talk. In the very end of the talk, you tie together the whole lecture by again referring to the illustration you used in the beginning!

Be very well prepared. You have to know the material perfectly! When you write the speech, think about the audiences knowledge of the subject. Be aware of words that might be too difficult to understand. Change them into a synonym that is easier. Let´s say you have 5 different subheadings in your material. Why not write them down on five papers and try out in what order they come naturally for you. If you have limited time to deliver you talk, it is usually the best to “kill your darlings”, that is to skip some parts or details that you found so funny or catchy.

A strong suggestion is that you do not bring the whole talk written down word by word. Learn when you are practising that you CAN talk about the different head points from your heart. This will make your voice much more fluent and you will not be so stuck in the papers. Bring the head points on a list and just look at them. If you have practised before your talk, you will be able to do this. I remember a talk when I read it over and over again to my cats!

Make your talk in very clear head points and find a nice bridge between them. How to slide over into a new head point does not necessarily have to be too obvious the the audience. Now stick to the material and do not make too many side tracks. That is often easy when you know your material very well. But avoid that trap. Encourage your audience to take notes!

Do not fall into the manner of making sounds or use words like uuuh or aaaaand. Many speakers do this in order to search their memory for words. This is not acceptable when you deliver a good talk. If you have this bad habit, ask a friend to record you or take notes about when you do it so you can make improvements.

Speak slowly and remain calm without loosing the sting in your speech. Nobody there knows before hand what you are going to say, so just take it easy. Nobody knows what you actually skipped when you built your talk. Have a clear, warm and friendly voice but absolutely not dull. That is a common mistake many speakers do. Make pauses! Make your voice higher and lower as the material change.

When you talk about something extra important, make a pause, then lower your voice and speak a little more slowly! This trick makes the listeners to pay attention even more.

Look at your audience but do not stare at one or another. Let your eyes flow over all of them. Linger a little while over one person but continue to another after a while. If you feel uncertain or are very nervous, look at their noses – but do look!

You are helping the audience to remember the head points if you repeat them in the end. Make it clear to everybody what you wanted them to remember.! Use over heads pictures if you think it will help in this matter. But when you show over head pictures, you must still talk to the audience and not staring at the wall yourself.

You want them to go home and act on your speech! Leave them with a feeling of that what you had to say was important and good for them all. You can also tell your listener where you found a certain fact or event. Encourage them to take notes!

Have humour but do not allow that to take away the seriousness of what you are saying. A little joke or experience in the right place, can help your listeners to remember better. If you use illustrations, do them simple and easy to understand. If you have to explain an illustration it is not the best one to use!

What do you want your audience to think about the talk when they go home? What is the lesson or the facts you want them to remember? They will remember much of what you said if you made a little smile on their faces, if you made of of those silent psychological pauses before you say an important sentence.

If you see any body not paying attention during your delivery, make a pause and then say something really striking that is quite important. It can help both the sleeper and you. =)

Good luck!