Great instructors aren’t born — they’re made. Or (more precisely) they’re taught.

Following is Part 6 of our 7-part series on Becoming a Great Instructor. The purpose of this information is to teach you how to be a truly great instructor - a person who helps other people learn. Talented instructors have the power to capture an audience, sway opinions, and convert opponents to their cause. You will learn proven, time-tested ways to be the best, most prepared, and most professional instructor you can be.

*This information is designed for instructors but can be applied to anyone in a position of leadership*

We'd love get your feedback on these newsletters. If you have any suggestions or comments please 'Post a Comment'. We'd especially like to hear from instructors.

The content of this newsletter series is divided into seven parts. Click on a link below to catch up on a newsletter you might have missed:

• Part 1 – The Relationship
• Part 2 – The Student
• Part 3 – The Instructor
• Part 4 – Your Presentation Skills
• Part 5 – The Classroom Setting
• Part 6 – The Presentation
• Part 7 – PowerPoint

Part 6 - The Presentation

First Minutes. The first few minutes of a presentation are crucial. One of the first things you need to do is soften the strangeness of the moment, defuse the students’ defenses, and slice through the natural reluctance to expose feelings and emotions openly. Let your students know up-front that you’re delighted to have them there. Tell them, right off the bat, “I’ve been looking forward to this moment and I’m excited to be here,” and mean it!

Make Friends. Make friends with eye contact, move on to another face, lock in, and read the reaction and continue. Just keep making friends by speaking in a way that comes easy and natural for you. One easy way to get people involved is to ask them a simple question in regard to traffic, the meeting location, etc. Some participants are uneasy speaking or being in the spotlight, so be sensitive on asking for volunteers. Many may not be comfortable with public introductions at the beginning of a class, so consider the audience carefully before asking for any student participation early in the class.
Focus on the student who shows the most interest, and transmit real feeling to him or her with friendly eye contact. Let that student know that he or she is important and begin to build a relationship.
Once you’ve made one friend, move on to another face, lock in, and read the reaction and continue. Just keep making friends by speaking in a way that comes easily and naturally for you. You’ll be warmed up in no time, and your students won’t be far behind. One easy way to get everyone involved is to ask them what they hope to get out of this program.

6.2 Breaks
It’s always best to anticipate the signs that a break is needed rather than to respond to them once they’ve become urgent. Take control of the situation; don’t wait until someone shouts out, “Hey! How about a break?”

You can use a slide in your presentation inserted at a point where you think a break may be called for as a prompt to yourself. This can be a subtle clue using a slide advertising your Website or an upcoming class. You may find it to be an effective stress reduction technique to simply schedule breaks at appointed times and follow a consistent schedule, such as the following:

Break Schedule. When you call a break, let them know the specific time to return, and then start promptly at the designated time. For an 8 hour program I suggest the following:

Don’t continually look at your watch to schedule breaks, but take off your watch and lay it by your laptop or set a timer in your laptop.

Don’t become buddies with any of the students at the break and start to talk about golf or any other personal activity that other students might not share.

Start Back on Time. Be sure that after the break, you get started on time! A good tool to insure that you do so is a simple PowerPoint Count-down timer.

Questions at Break. What do you do if you get questions as you’re getting started after a break? Simply explain that you can’t answer their question at this time because the break is over, and you’ll get with them later. If you receive questions during break that are pertinent to the topic, write it down to share with the class. As the students are making their way back to their seats, you can share these questions to begin bringing them back on task.

Let students know you will be available after class to answer questions individually, and do not schedule anything that would infringe on this time.

6.3 Create Conflict
Show some information that you know some people in the group just won’t believe. This will make them sit up and take notice. There are many interesting sources of little-known facts that you can incorporate into your presentation. This can be a very touchy strategy, use it with caution so the conflict does not snowball into a confrontation.

6.4 Disruptive Students
What do you do if with no advance warning, a student becomes hostile and insulting? You meet rudeness with helpfulness. You diffuse the hostility — keep yourself under control — and concentrate on the issues. If you’re patient and helpful — and the student is abrasive— eventually, someone will say, “Let’s get on with it.”

Never lose your temper. When you feel your temper heating up, tell yourself you’re being tested. Instructors who lose their tempers are regarded as “out of control.” Anger casts a cloud over a presentation and you must be prepared to cool it before you get heated up, or stop before you get angry. Self-control is mandatory, and you must always maintain control.
Handling disruptive students effectively is an important skill for instructors. There are at least two kinds of disruptive students: crusaders and constant talkers.

Anticipate the crusaders among your students before you begin your presentation. Let him or her know that there may be others that share their point of view, but that this is not the time to discuss it.
If they persist, do not allow them to dominate the class. Be crisp, decisive and don’t let yourself be intimidated. Give the interrupter the feeling that something has been derived from the effort and explain that you need to finish your program.

• "Let me say that differently."
• "I want to rephrase my response to you."
• "Here's another way to talk about this issue."

6.7 Move On
Make your point clearly; nail down exactly what you want your student to learn. Use phases such as “let me make a point here . . .” or “let me nail this point down . . .” or “look at me . . . “, or listen to me…” or “write this down”, etc.

6.8 Note Taking
Some people like to be given lists of things. Tell people you have specific points for them, and they will instinctively pick up their pencils and start taking notes.

Some studies indicate that the very act of a student taking notes helps them to remember even if they never review them. When students take notes it forces them to think about what they are learning and it forces them to process it in different parts of their brain, and makes it easier for access later on. But be aware that some students feel that they can concentrate better by listening with all of their attention rather than taking notes, particularly if a detailed handout or text book is available for later review of the details.

6.9 Presentation Structure
Define the scope of what you plan to cover, so the student knows what to expect. Your presentation should have a beginning which includes the objectives for the session, or “what you plan to teach them,” a middle which is where you teach them and an ending which includes a summary telling them what you taught them followed by the evaluation or feed-back step where you ask them what they learned.

6.10 Questions
Be sure to understand the audience’s need and make it clear that you welcome comments and questions.

Acknowledge Questioner. Watch for the next question, and acknowledge that you saw them and will accept their question when done with the current question.

Clear Answer. Be sure you understand the questions and try to answer all questions with a short, crisp, and clear response that makes them feel happy that they asked the question. Don’t try to impress your students with useless information because most students prefer a “yes” or “no” than a reply that drones on forever.

Convoluted Questions. If you get a convoluted question, ask the student to repeat the question; this way you can be sure you understand it. As the question is repeated, you’ll find that it gets shorter and clearer. But it may also change in the emphasis if not in the meaning. Your mission is to help the student think his or her way through the troubling issue. Then you repeat the question as you understand it, and prompt the student to confirm your clarification. This will make sure you have an understanding of the question and you will have more time to consider your answer as well. This also ensures that the other students have heard the question correctly. After answering the question as you understand it, be sure to clarify by asking the student, “Did I answer your question?”

Dissenters. When you hear a dissenting voice, listen to it carefully. Listen to the dissenter with your eyes so that he/she feels that you’re giving them serious consideration. Don’t disagree negatively, just ease into it, such as “That’s a good point, but.” “Let me add something to that . . .” Or, “There’s another factor to consider here.”

Let students know that you can be wrong, and encourage them to present their point of view with substantiation. Let them know that if they can prove their point with the appropriate resource, such as a Code reference, you will accept it. Don’t allow them to just continue to argue a point due to an opinion or feeling that they cannot substantiate. Try to keep the discussion moving past their point of contention. If necessary, let them know that you need to move on but will discuss their question after class.

Don’t Fake it. If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so. If a student asks a question you can’t answer, you might reply, “I don’t know the answer to that, but if you would like to send me an E-mail after the class, I will try to find out.” When they do send you an E-mail question, keep your reply short and to the point. In some cases, just sending them a Code reference that contains the answer to their question is enough. Provide the link to the Code Forum at www.MikeHolt.com.

Don’t Intimidate. Be sure that you permit the students to ask questions. Never become defensive if a student asks a question and you don’t know the answer. Never intimidate the students so that they are afraid to ask questions.

Draw the Line. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into lengthy discussions that are outside the scope of the class. You must stay on the topic if you are to cover all of the material that is important to the class. If students ask questions that are too far off-topic, reinforce to them that you must remain within the scope of the class topic. Offer to answer off-topic questions after class or during breaks when time allows.

Never ask the class a question that you have not already explained. Never single out a particular student to answer a question and put him or her on the spot. There will be other students in the class confident enough to volunteer their answers.

When you have questions for the students to answer, never use a trick question. It takes enough effort to get the students to understand and feel good about themselves. Don’t make them feel badly because of difficult-to-understand questions.

No Questions? What does “no questions” really mean?

• You’ve talked too long. The students don’t want to hear any more about the subject - and they’ll strangle the first person that says anything that even sounds like a question.
• You stepped on their toes. You said something that alienated your students — and they’re turned off.
• You never reached them. Some students listened attentively but the instructor never connected with them. Is the subject of no interest to them? Was the message clear? Did you talk above their level of interest?
• They got confused. Bewildered students seldom ask questions. They don’t like to admit that they didn’t understand it, and they won’t struggle to make sense out of it. They just quietly sit there. This can happen when you teach very technical subjects and you speak at a rapid rate.
• Too much detail. Have you told so much that you obscured the main point? Did you saturate the students’ brains with information they really don’t need?

Students may sit in silence because they think it’s disrespectful to question the concepts and ideas of the presenter. Some students might be in class against their will, or have something else on their mind.

Pace Yourself. Don’t have so much material that you hurry through the information, giving the impression that you don’t have time for feedback and questions. Be sure to pace yourself and make sure you have time for a summary and a period when the students can ask questions.

Seeking Approval. Some students aren’t really seeking answers to their questions. They’re seeking approval. A sensitive instructor can detect the difference.

Students Answering Student Questions? What do you do if a student attempts to answer a question posed by another student? My response may surprise you, but I encourage students to become part of the process. If a student attempts to answer another student’s question, I permit it. This helps me better understand what the students understand and this allows me to help them more. Don’t get offended if a student answers another student's question. If he/she is correct confirm the answer; if the student is wrong, explain the subject again so that all students have a better opportunity to fully understand the subject. Encourage students to answer student questions to facilitate more discussion and interaction.

Verify You Answered the Question. After you have answered the question, return to the student and ask them if you answered their question. Sometimes a student will ask me a question, I respond and then I return to the student and find out that I didn’t understand the question and my response did not solve their problem. How would you know this if you didn’t ask them, “Did I answer your question?”

6.11 Survey/Evaluation of Presentation
You must always get an evaluation of your presentation so that you better understand how you communicated with your audience. You’ll learn what worked and the areas where improvement is required. Work so that you don’t get any of the following comments in your evaluation:

• “The instructor had no energy and read to us like we were idiots.”
• “The presentation had no relevance to my problems.”
• “The instructor talked endlessly about himself (herself).”
• “I couldn’t understand the graphics and the handouts were of poor quality.”
• “The instructor fumbled the questions, and contradicted himself.”
• “The instructor rambled on with a lot of empty words. Just bull, if you ask me.”
• “The instructor didn’t seem to enjoy himself (herself) and I never felt comfortable.”

Personal Value. Use the evaluation as a tool of self-improvement. Don’t allow yourself to become devastated by any negative feedback, but use it to better yourself. Look at the positive remarks and continue to grow in your ability. It will take years of presenting to feel really confident in what you are doing. The positive comments and the opportunities to see the “lights come on” as your students learn make all the work and effort worthwhile.

Be sure to use feedback and class interaction to update your presentation. Make notes of student comments received in class as well as the outcome of the written evaluation. It can be of great benefit to have an assistant in class to help make notes during the class so you don’t forget the comments. You may be able to use a student volunteer as an assistant, or offer a previous student the opportunity to come to class at no charge if they will work as your assistant. Continuous evaluation and updating of your presentation is essential to keep your material current and fresh.

Timing. The evaluation should not be left until the last minute when everyone is preparing to leave. A good time to have students fill out the evaluation is during the afternoon break. Sometimes people will come forward after a presentation and thank you for your effort. This is not easy for some people to do, so you want to let them know that their kind words mean a lot to you.

Name (optional):_______________________ Title: _________________________

Class Room
Rate the meeting room facilities overall       Poor  Fair  Good  Great
How comfortable was the seating?               Poor  Fair  Good  Great
Should this facility be used again and why? _______________________________

Other Comments or Suggestions: ___________________________________

We'd love get your feedback. If you have any suggestions or comments please 'Post a Comment'. We'd especially like to hear from instructors.

Stay tuned for Part 7 - PowerPoint