I don't mean "pays attention" in the whiny, "I-need-a-bottle-or-I'm-going-to-scream" kind of way. As a baby, that's darling, but then one must grow up.
No, today's post is about when you are presenting - or teaching - and no one is paying attention to you . For those of you reading this who are not "teachers", you may think that this does not apply to you, and you could not be farther from the truth. Any given day, you might need to share information with a group (read: three or more) folks who seem less than interested in what you have to say. Perhaps you have already experienced this unfortunate phenomena: the folks at the other end of the board room are texting their friends underneath the table (the friends aren't under the table, the phone is); you hear whispers and giggles in the back of an auditorium; you just know they are playing solitaire on those computers.
I fell pray to the latter form of this most unfortunate anti-listening-itis earlier this week. They were rather brazen about it, actually: I attempted to make a joke about "if you are playing solitaire, you should stop for a second because this information is important", and a girl in the back of the room turned bright red, like I'd caught her leaving the scene of an accident. Of course, it was an accident - my very own 30-car pileup.
So what do you do? Nothing? You can't help their behavior, so you'll ignore it? And it doesn't matter anyway, because as long as you present the information, it's your audiences' responsibility to learn it, and if they choose not to listen, it's their tough luck.
Sorry, Charlie. That kind of attitude is a whopping waste of time. Why go to all the trouble of developing a presentation, only to waste it on Oblivions? Surely you didn't stay up for hours (ok, 1 hour) crafting the PowerPoint with the two-toned background and become nauseated by the smell of toner-copier for nada.
After the flub earlier in the week, I made a decision never to allow that garbage to happen again during a presentation. I am hereby adopting the following (long) mantra:
1. I will arrive for my presentations energetic and passionate about my topic and presentation goals; I know that my information is valuable to every person in the room.
2. I will prepare thought-provoking questions to ask from the gate, to engage my listeners in a two-way conversation that sparks interest in my topic.
3. I will break my listeners into pairs or groups to work on small projects related to my topic, in part to instill the value of my instruction and in part to gather my thoughts for the next stage of my presentation.
4. I will make every attempt to eliminate distractions during presentations: including, if need be, politely requesting that all computers and cell phones be turned off.
5. I will set up environmental controls in advance of the event, including adjusting window blinds to eliminate wandering eyes and temperature to avoid sleepers and complainers.
6. I will not provide handouts in advance, serving only to make noisy interjections and distract from my opening content. I will distribute them during the presentation at the appropriate sections, or after the presentation.
7. I will address especially difficult audience members politely but directly, and request changes in attitude or action, or removal from the room.
8. I will sequester the support of management (or, in this event, instructors) to help manage the room and assist with questions.
9. I will not downplay the information that I'm providing as "lame", "library-ish", "book-ish" or "what you might consider boring" to try to relate to my audience.
10.I will leave confident that I've given my best presentation, ever cautious of changes that I can make to improve for the next time.
2 comments:
I've had people fall asleep, instructors leave the classroom (sometimes it is better without them, sometimes worse), and of course talkers. I've tried ignoring it, talking over them (I can really project but it gets tiring), but found by ignoring them, I would have other students come to me with questions on the material because they couldn't hear me over the talkers.
I only lost it once, when two guys in a front row kept talking, talking, talking, and the instructor (who was sitting in the front) did nothing. The plan was to toss a marker down the aisle; well, my aim was off; it went down the aisle, went up and hit the ceiling, and bounced to the floor. The talking stopped, I had the undivided attention of the class and I walked up the aisle and picked up the marker,while still covering the material.
I apoligized to the instructor afterwards for losing my cool but he wasn't mad about it (He had the same problem with the two students in his class all the time). Would I do it again? No. I will make remarks to the class as a whole, much like you did, with the person on the computer turned red; that is why I remark it to the class as a whole, so I don't highlight one individual out of the class. If they are smart, they will get it and quit; alot don't realize it is directed towards them--I have had students make remarks that have made me wonder if they think I am deaf--with their stage whisper being very loud when no one else is talking in the room--then they are shocked when I make a general remark to the class about what they were 'whispering' about--go figure. Ah, enough of the rant, I don't want to hijack your blog:-)
Just to end with: I have had wonderful classes and wonderful instructors and the bad ones are getting fewer and fewer as I get more and more practice at doing presentations.
I don't get a lot of talkers, but I do get students who work on homework while I'm presenting. In those cases, when I distribute handouts I put them right on top of what they're working on. However, the persistant ones just keep on working. I like Emily's idea of assigning tasks to groups. Also, asking questions and calling on students by name may help.
Sara, when I taught middle schoo I had a spongy stress ball we'd use to play games. I once attempted to throw the ball at a student who was talking during a lesson, but my aim is so poor that I hit the kid behind the talker. After that, I got kids to pay attention by saying, "Don't make me throw something." We'd have a good laugh at my expense, and then we'd be able to go on with the lesson.
Post a Comment