What's on your mind today?

[xSilverPhinx]

Good luck, relax Fernanda, you are steering the ship at this point.

Damn, and how do you steer that thing? I never went to ship steering school!

[xSilverPhinx]

Wow you lucky woman! 50 people who will be hanging on your every word, totally in the palm of your hand! Think of the power! Did Flamboyance Nightingale ever have such an opportunity? I'm jealous 

That's the ideal scenario, but I think what's really going to happen is their eyes are going to be glued to their phones. Their loss, what I'm going to teach is going to be in their midterms.

[xSilverPhinx]

Congrats! I know this is obvious advice, but try to anticipate any possible questions you may get and prepare yourself for them. I found that I really started learning my subject properly when I began my lecturing career.
Also, encourage a seminar type of atmosphere and tell them to stop and ask questions immediately, instead of waiting until the end of the lecture. Don't be afraid if the lecture then takes a slightly different course to the one you had planned. Don't try to hide the fact that you don't know the answer to any questions, but just take it in your stride and calmly say that you will check and let them know next time.
Lastly, eye contact is very important, so keep scanning the room and look all of them in the eye. A smile now and then will make them and you feel much better, especially when it is a difficult topic.

Good tips! 

[xSilverPhinx]

And try to give yourself some "leeway",  enough room for the questions yet with a "adjustable"  bit at the end in case there are few questions. This could be in the form of a summary, which can be short and simple or long and comprehensive. Or even totally dumped!

I wonder if there is a sort of ratio? Say, if you have an hour to deliver you write a 45 minute lecture full of the essential stuff and the rest for questions or "filler"?

But, I am sure that you will survive the experience and look back at it with nostalgia!

I have no idea how I'm going to stucture my class. Some logical structure is good of course, but as Hermes said there's no point in over planning things. Things never turn out as planned, heh. As for "filler", I don't know how that would work, maybe based on the feedback I get I could spend some more time on questions that are raised and try to clear doubts.

[Dave]

And try to give yourself some "leeway",  enough room for the questions yet with a "adjustable"  bit at the end in case there are few questions. This could be in the form of a summary, which can be short and simple or long and comprehensive. Or even totally dumped!

I wonder if there is a sort of ratio? Say, if you have an hour to deliver you write a 45 minute lecture full of the essential stuff and the rest for questions or "filler"?

But, I am sure that you will survive the experience and look back at it with nostalgia!

I have no idea how I'm going to stucture my class. Some logical structure is good of course, but as Hermes said there's no point in over planning things. Things never turn out as planned, heh. As for "filler", I don't know how that would work, maybe based on the feedback I get I could spend some more time on questions that are raised and try to clear doubts.

Yes, I duppose I was thinking if a lecture rather than a lesson with questions as you go along.

But then, you might put your lesson over so well there are no questions to ask! Er, well . . .

[hermes2015]

I have no idea how I'm going to stucture my class. Some logical structure is good of course, but as Hermes said there's no point in over planning things. Things never turn out as planned, heh. As for "filler", I don't know how that would work, maybe based on the feedback I get I could spend some more time on questions that are raised and try to clear doubts.

In my field, and it may not work in yours, I sometimes start a lecture with a little problem and ask for ideas on possible solutions from the attendees. That's a good way to involve the quiet ones if you single them out and ask them for suggestions. That wakes up almost everyone and puts them in a receptive state of mind to absorb the contents of the lecture, which then presents a solution or two to the problem given at the beginning.

[Tank]

Wow you lucky woman! 50 people who will be hanging on your every word, totally in the palm of your hand! Think of the power! Did Flamboyance Nightingale ever have such an opportunity? I'm jealous 

That's the ideal scenario, but I think what's really going to happen is their eyes are going to be glued to their phones. Their loss, what I'm going to teach is going to be in their midterms.

If anybody looks at their phone STOP TALKING. As long as one phone is out DON'T SAY A BLOODY WORD!!!

Fuck them! It's your space, it's your time. If they think they have something better to do KICK THEM OUT!!! 

[Dave]

A retired RAF officer, brought back to lecture technicians on how to teach, would enter in his first lesson and say, "Good morning, gentlemen," as he looked at the class. Then he would draw a hat/coat hook on the blackboard and hang his hat and coat on it.*

"Now I have your attention.That is the first lesson over with, what shall we talk about?" Best lecturer I ever met. "I do not swear but you are talking a load of oblate spheroids!" was typical of him.

I have heard of lecturers doing magic tricks or using a boating foghorn to gain attention on their first day with the class.

* there were two nails, painted with blackboard paint, that we could not see. Difficult with whiteboards or electronic displays. Ymm, you could always, unannounced, flash up something appropriate but either really gruesome or vibrant or funny, if such exists, onto a digital display.

[Tank]

A retired RAF officer, brought back to lecture technicians on how to teach, would enter in his first lesson and say, "Good morning, gentlemen," as he looked at the class. Then he would draw a hat/coat hook on the blackboard and hang his hat and coat on it.*

"Now I have your attention.That is the first lesson over with, what shall we talk about?" Best lecturer I ever met. "I do not swear but you are talking a load of oblate spheroids!" was typical of him.

I have heard of lecturers doing magic tricks or using a boating foghorn to gain attention on their first day with the class.

* there were two nails, painted with blackboard paint, that we could not see. Difficult with whiteboards or electronic displays. Ymm, you could always, unannounced, flash up something appropriate but either really gruesome or vibrant or funny, if such exists, onto a digital display.

I used to put 'giveaway offers' on my presentations. One bullet point would be like 'The first person to do 'zyx' gets a free...'. And it was never the same bullet point so when I changed slides everybody in the room would read all the slide. These were sales people so they were competitive by nature so it worked really well. Even the directors couldn't resists it

Personal pet peeve with presenters. The presenter knows what is on the slide I DO NOT!!!! FFS give me a chance to look at the slide and absorb it BEFORE you start talking about it!!!! 

[Sandra Craft]

Start the class like this...
https://youtu.be/Dd7FixvoKBw

Your students will never forget you if you do.

I need to get myself a clipboard!

  My brother told me that the first time he had to speak to a large group, first one of his legs started jerking uncontrollably and then the other one did so that he ended up gyrating around like Elvis Presley.  Your students would probably remember that one too.

[Buddy]

The higher ups are visiting our branch today which means I can't read my book. I'm bored.

[Dark Lightning]

Wow you lucky woman! 50 people who will be hanging on your every word, totally in the palm of your hand! Think of the power! Did Flamboyance Nightingale ever have such an opportunity? I'm jealous 

That's the ideal scenario, but I think what's really going to happen is their eyes are going to be glued to their phones. Their loss, what I'm going to teach is going to be in their midterms.

If anybody looks at their phone STOP TALKING. As long as one phone is out DON'T SAY A BLOODY WORD!!!

Fuck them! It's your space, it's your time. If they think they have something better to do KICK THEM OUT!!! 

When I taught school (physics and math) back in the '90s for two years, I started out with a one-way discussion on how the class was going to be run. I explained that there was a lot of material to present, and I'm not going to take any time out of my lecture to give attention to any miscreants (depending on the severity, ofc) or people talking. The student will get their initials written on the board, and a tick mark next to those initials for repeat infractions. I wouldn't send them out of the room, as they would miss too much material. However, making it to three strikes was still considered equivalent to getting sent out, which carried a penalty of reduction by one third of a letter grade in that semester. I never made it to three strikes with any of the students. Of course, that was high school, but from what I've experienced with college freshmen, it won't be all that different.

The ones who waltzed in twenty minutes late and asked if they missed anything were told no, and to sit down and not interrupt my lecture.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

I give presentations to up to 200 people in my job. Know your subject, be flexible, go with the flow, and just be you.

[Tank]

The higher ups are visiting our branch today which means I can't read my book. I'm bored.

You need a fake cover like 'Banking for Millennials'.

[Bluenose]

I don't want to teach you suck eggs.  My experience with giving lectures/presentations is that they work best when you know your subject really well.  I use slides/PowerPoint/whiteboard etc but only put the topic headings on the slides.  I then discuss the subject "off the cuff" using the slides as a guide to keep me more or less on track.  This approach allows you to take questions as you go and avoids the dreaded "death by PowerPoint" where the presenter simply reads out what the attendees can read for themselves.  Not sure how relevant this is to what you're doing, but nothing helps you give a presentation better than giving one about something you are passionate about and know thoroughly.  I'm sure you'll do very well.