by Norman Eng
PRESENTING. Your Outline.
Once you've defined the presentation structure (e.g., instruction, process, research and development, or summary), the next step is to create an outline.
I recommend following a three-step outline called CIA: Connect, Instruct, and Apply.
Connect. You should always open by connecting with the audience. Start with the Why, as discussed at the beginning of this chapter. Here's where you determine your "opening hook" as well. It launches your presentation, and the strength of the hook will determine if it's launched into orbit . . . or the ground. Your hook can be any of the following:
Provocative question
Anecdote
Striking statistic or fact
Analogy
Scenario/Problem
Quotation or aphorism
While these hooks are fairly easy to understand, a few notes may help. First, I love opening presentations with a question. Audiences feel involved right off the bat. Imagine asking at the start of a sociology lecture, "With a show of hands, how many of you have ever felt the sting of racism?" Think about how this question takes a potentially abstract (and perhaps taboo) topic—racism—and immediately makes it relevant.
Also, stories are particularly effective at drawing audiences.21 People often forget facts, but they rarely forget a good story. (Like my anecdote about the defective refrigerator; better yet, do you even remember my alternate opening about the three factors that perpetuate global inequality?) Just remember to connect the story to your topic and to your audience.
A striking statistic or fact can also intrigue audiences. "Did you know that 90 percent of an iceberg's volume is below the surface?" Imagine that question leading into a discussion of ice floes in the Arctic—or even an analogy to something else, such as the amount of work that happens behind the scenes of a great film: "Think of the invisible part as the hard work nobody sees . . ."
Scenarios (that pose problems) are another great way to hook audiences. In the classroom, they can encourage problem-solving and critical thinking in the opening minutes. What better way to keep attention? Case studies serve as a perfect example.
PRO TIP!
If you pose a scenario (or anything longer than a sentence), don't post it on the slide and read it to the audience. They lose focus as their eyes and ears compete to read and listen at the same time. Do one or the other. Verbalize the scenario out loud (yes, memorize what you're going to say) or post the text on the slide and stay silent as the audience reads it to themselves.
Finally, you can use quotations as an opening hook. Imagine putting the following slide on the screen and asking students what this means:
In a classroom, I highly recommend asking a question or posing a scenario as your opening hook. Both require students to get involved immediately. (I'll add anecdotes for conference-type presentations.) They draw audiences in even if you're not comfortable with (or unaccustomed to) having audiences participate in the beginning.
Instruct. After you connect with the audience, the content comes next. Any new academic terms or concepts will be anchored to something familiar. For each point or piece of content you present, add examples and always relate back to the Why. Also, I strongly recommend involving audiences in your presentation throughout this portion (more on this in Chapter 4).
In a classroom, I highly recommend asking a question or posing a scenario as your opening hook. Both require students to get involved immediately.
Apply. The last step is to get audiences to apply the content. In a classroom, this typically means getting students to discuss or work together in some activity. At a research conference, getting audiences to apply what they have learned is similar to what you discuss in the implications or discussion sections of your presentation: What does all this mean for me [the audience]?
Notice how each part of the CIA outline connects back to the audience's perspective. You begin the presentation by connecting with them; as you instruct, you provide relevant examples; and finally, you apply the topic to their world.
That's how you engage.
Relate to the audience at the beginning.
Relate to them in the middle.
Relate to them at the end.
PRESENTING. An Example Outline.
What does a CIA (Connect, Instruct, Apply) outline look like for an actual class? Here's an example from my child-development education course.
The topic is scaffolding, a term inspired by sociocultural concepts related to Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Basically, scaffolding represents a way teachers can help children learn, by providing guidance—or "temporary supports" (much like a scaffolding props up a building)— until it is no longer needed.
Using an essay template is a scaffolding strategy. Children need it in the beginning, as reference, but eventually, templates won't be necessary. Another example of scaffolding is chunking. Breaking up a long text into shorter "chunks" helps students comprehend. How about getting students to use "word webs"? It's a great way to organize their thoughts before writing. Ultimately, I want children to be able to write an essay, comprehend a book, or organize their thoughts without these explicit "supports."
Here's my one-sentence takeaway for a presentation on the topic of scaffolding:
By the end of class, students will be able to apply "scaffolding" techniques to various classroom topics, so that they can teach more effectively and help children become independent learners.
Again, I've identified the What and the Why:
Ready for the presentation outline using CIA?
The Why informs my opening (Box #1: Connect). I want students to teach more effectively, right? What better way to do that than to ask them how to teach a child to ride a bike? This takes one slide at the most—or maybe you don't need a slide at all!
Through a think-pair-share exercise, students generate ideas, pair up to discuss, and then share their results with the class.
Now I can move into the content (Box #2: Instruct). Students will learn key points about Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) and how it relates to instructional scaffolding. Defining it and providing examples should only take a few slides at the most.
Finally, we can apply what students learn (Box #3: Apply). One slide—that's it!
(Also note the diamond-shaped boxes to the right, which represent opportunities for audience involvement. More on this in Chapter 4.)
All told, this presentation needs five slides at most. Maybe fewer.
Notice below how I use every opportunity to relate to students or make things more concrete:
Beginning: "How would you teach a child to ride a bicycle?"
Middle: "Have you ever seen scaffoldings on buildings? How is instructional scaffolding just like training wheels?"
End: "What scaffolding techniques would you use for the following . . . ?"
Here are my slides, side-by-side with the outline:
Granted, I simplified this presentation. For example, I could have added a slide about psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who developed the theory related to the zone of proximal development, or multiple slides breaking down ZPD. Regardless, heed to the "less-is-more" dictum.
Remember, you're fighting the clock. Students will mentally check out in twenty minutes (or sooner!) unless you liven things up. Get them involved.
You're also fighting nature. The audience's brains will shut down to save calories whenever possible. Like a drunk patron trying to get into a club, your content will be turned away. The only way to make it past students' "primitive" brains—and into their higher functioning neocortex—is to make your presentation novel, simple and focused, and relevant.
See how the previous slides have little to no text? Just the way audience's brains want messages to be. Simple.
If you're struggling to simplify your presentation, just remember: of the twenty things you want to cover today, students won't remember more than a few things, according to experts.22
Of the twenty thing
s you want to cover today, students won't remember more than a few things.
Also, you might have noticed the time limits in the example. My actual instruction—the lecture part—is no more than fifteen minutes. Why? Audience attention tends to drop dramatically beyond that.23 It's why TED Talk events last about eighteen minutes. It's one unit of optimal attention span. So, anytime you talk about technical content—the abstract concepts, terms, and famous figures—remember to keep it short.
If you have a lot to cover, then divide the lecture into fifteen-minute segments. Interact with audiences in between (again, more on interaction in Chapter 4).
Finally, notice the economy of words in each slide. They support your talk—just as visuals do in a documentary. This is a critical mindset discussed in Chapter 1.
PRESENTING. A CIA Outline for Research Presentations
Here, the outline is no different. Let's start with what not to do:
The above outline is for a research paper, not a presentation. Talking point by point about your research— the background, the framework, the research method, etc.—make little sense.
Why?
Because presentations aren't about transmitting information. Presentations are about convincing attendees that your research conclusion is valid and deserves
more attention. The goal is to persuade, convince, and influence—and get audiences to act.
Don't you want them to contact you, extend your study, implement your findings, and/or otherwise spread the word? Isn't that the point?
If so, then scrap the research paper format.24 Instead, focus on Connect, Instruct, Apply (CIA), as we did with the "scaffolding" topic.
Let's try it. The topic I brought up earlier was a study on the experiential approach to bilingual education. Here's how CIA is applied to the beginning and end (note the middle "content" part—the details—is beside the point, and therefore have been left blank):
(Note: ellipses in the boxes indicate areas to elaborate.)
By flipping the script—starting with the findings instead of the background/hypothesis—we pass the gatekeeper in the croc brain, the filter, that asks:
Is the message easy to understand?
Is it simple and clear?
Is it novel?
Is it relevant to me?
Presenting research findings and implications upfront— especially if they are surprising—immediately hooks the audience. Here, the major finding is that the experiential approach has shown some significant increases in language performance.
Same with the implications—the "Why should I care?" part. In this case, it answers the audience's question, What do the results of this study mean for me? Do not put this last, as most research presenters do.
To end, the presenter can talk about ways in which to apply this research: What does experiential learning look like in the classroom? Once again, we circle back to the audience.
PRESENTING. THE BOTTOM LINE
The Why—the purpose—is your new way to open presentations. When planning your outline, the first question you ask is: Why am I presenting [Topic XYZ]?
Your answer informs the opening. Find that hook! Once it is established, the content follows. This approach may radically depart from the way you used to present, but your audience will be immediately engaged. You want them to reach that moment of clarity—that Aha! moment, as presentation expert Jerry Weissman calls it.25
That won't happen when logic is employed at the start. The audience's primitive brains simply won't allow it. Get past that gatekeeper by being novel, simple, clear, and relevant. Connect, Instruct, then Apply. CIA.
Next, we build audience involvement.
17 Klaff (2011)
18 Krug (2005)
19 Once audiences have "bought into" your message, their brain will allow you to do more in depth to get to the more complex stuff. That's not to suggest you get lazy and just stuff content into the latter part of your presentation. We'll discuss how to present complicated material, such as data, in Chapter 5.
20 Is PowerPoint even the best way to provide an overview of the diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan? Maybe the better way is to summarize them in a handout. Have students read it before or during class. Wouldn't the subsequent discussion or activity be more fruitful? When I see a "summary" topic—which, again, must by definition cover a lot of information—I question whether it would be better dealt with in a format that allows students to study it more closely, as they would with a handout. Slides aren't always the best option, as I argue in Chapter 1 under the section: "When Should You Use (or Not Use) Slides?"
21 See Esther Choy's Let the Story Do the Work: The Art of Storytelling for Business Success (2017).
22 See Goodman (2006)
23 See Goodman (2006); Malmsfors, Garnsworthy, & Grossman (2004); Penner (1984); Stuart & Rutherford (1978)
24 Note that I'm not suggesting you remove important research information, such as the framework, hypothesis, and data analysis. I'm merely suggesting you "repackage" it in a way that resonates.
25 Weissman (2009).
04
YOUR INTERACTION
KEY INSIGHT:
INSERT AUDIENCE INTERACTION EVERY TEN MINUTES
If you're lecturing for forty-five minutes straight . . . you're doomed.
As described in Chapter 2, the audience's brains are finding any excuse to reject messages and conserve calories.
And even if you keep within the recommended twenty-minute limit, students will likely experience frequent lapses in attention, alternating between being engaged and not being engaged in ever-shortening cycles throughout the duration of your presentation. In one study, students actually reported lapses thirty seconds after class began, followed by more lapses four and a half minutes into the lecture.26
This means students aren't paying attention continuously even for fifteen minutes, nor even for five minutes—let alone for longer. Fewer lapses occur, however, when teachers use "non-lecture" instruction: demonstrations, group work, questioning, etc.
This chapter shows you how to build audience involvement into presenting.
Most importantly, you want to involve the audience in some way every ten minutes or less. That change-up "restarts the 'attention' clock."27 If you question students regularly— bravo! You're doing that in some way already.
The standard for effective classroom participation isn't to get some students to talk. It should be to get everyone actively involved.
Most instructors, however, even mess up the questioning. They'll lecture about, say, race and ethnicity, pause, and then ask, "OK, can anyone tell me the differences between the two?"
Instructors know what happens next. Only a few students will raise their hands and participate. The majority will stay silent and uninvolved, which is a perennial problem. Part of audience involvement is literally that—involving the entire audience. The standard for effective classroom participation, therefore, isn't to get some students to talk. It should be to get everyone actively involved.
Questions like the above—posed to the class in this traditional manner—won't force every single member to process what they learn. So, how can you ensure full involvement?
PRESENTING. 3 Ways to Involve Audiences:
Talking, Writing, and Tapping.
Talking. One popular technique is "turn-and-talk." In the K-12 world (especially in the younger grade levels), turn-and-talk is widely used.
Say you've just lectured on a particular topic for ten minutes. Instead of merely pausing to ask a question, tell students to turn to a fellow classmate and discuss what you just taught. They could: 1) discuss their responses to the question posed; 2) explore or brainstorm solutions; or 3) summarize what you lectured. Based on which type of turn-and-talk you use, your prompt might sound like one of the following:
In each of these cases, students are retrieving information (out of the brain), rather than passively absorbing content (into the brain) as they might during lectures. Out versus in.<
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During this retrieval process, information transfers from short-term working memory to long-term memory.28
That's where information sticks. Yet, given the way most instructors present, this transfer doesn't happen regularly enough. And part of the reason is because we don't push students to consistently retrieve information. Consistently, as in several times during the course of a presentation or lecture. One-sided lectures, where teachers do most of the talking, still prevail in the higher education classroom.29
PRO TIP!
Use turn-and-talk when students aren't raising their hands. Sometimes I'll ask a question, realize that no one wants to participate, and say, "You know what? Work out the answer with a partner." More hands will go up afterwards, as now students are better prepared.
Retrieval practice doesn't have to take much time. Turn-and-talks should last no more than two minutes. Your job is to walk around the classroom and listen in. That's the accountability mechanism. It ensures students stay on topic and reveals areas of confusion or misconception. In the end, turn-and-talks are about assessing students' knowledge and assessing your teaching. You'll know instantly if you haven't been clear.
After two minutes, we'll reconvene: "OK, let's share some of what you talked about." Here's an opportunity to cold-call students and clarify misconceptions.
Turn-and-talk is my go-to move.
Writing. Writing is another way to get everyone involved. It increases rigor by adding intentionality and formality. Furthermore, it pushes students to turn vague notions they might have had while thinking—or even talking—into complete thoughts.