Keys to Effective Lecture
Eight Steps to Better Teaching
Developed by Terry Doyle
Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning
Ferris state University
Effective Lecturing
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Successful Teaching is
80% Planning
(Dr. Kitty Manley)
Definition of Effective Lecture
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Lecture should be used and is most
effective when it presents information
students can not easily learn on their
own.
Definition of Effective Lecture
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Information that is complex and difficult
to understand is a candidate for lecture.
Information that requires a professional
to organize it so it can be understood
by novices likely needs to be lectured.
Definition of Effective Lecture

The most effective spoken tools for
helping students to understand
lectured material are analogies,
metaphors, similes, and examples that
represent concrete images that connect
to the students’ backgrounds
Definition of Effective Lecture

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An effective lecture includes the use of
images that illustrate the concepts and
ideas being discussed.
Images are among the most powerful
teaching tools available. Vision is
central to any concrete experience we
have. In many ways, our brain is a
“seeing” brain ( James Zull p. 137)
Eight Steps to Effective
Lecture
1.Know your audience (students)
2.Have a map to follow (lecture outline)
3.Grab the students’ attention (have a beginning)
4.Recognize students’ attention span
5.Plan an activity for students (have a middle)
Eight Steps to Effective
Lecture
6.Use visual
aids/voice/movements/technology
7.Have a conclusion (an end)
8.Have students do something with the
lecture material (Accountability)
Step One—Know Your
Audience
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Know students names
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Know their learning styles—they probably do not learn the way
you do.
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Ask them what their strengths and weaknesses are as learners.
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Know their attention span limits-it’s not very long
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Know why they are taking the course-is it required?
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Know their background knowledge (content and/or skills)
Build Community in the Classroom
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Students need to feel safe, valued and challenged
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Let them know diverse perspective are encouraged
and valued
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Choices on what and how to learn should be given
to students when ever possible (Zimmerman 1994)
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Remembering that learning is a social/emotional
process as well as a cognitive process (How People Learn, 2000)
Step 2—Have a Map to Follow
1. Be guided by the underlying principles of the course,
the most important cognitive functions and the
most important content
2. Identify Significant Questions that the course will
answer (Project Zero, Harvard School of Education)
3. Provide a daily lecture outline that:
provides a visual outline of the lecture
provides a meaningful context for the lecture material
provides an organization to the lecture material
Giving
Homework/Assignments
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Give the homework or other important
out of class information at the
beginning of class
Step 3—Grab the Students’ Attention
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Every lecture needs a
beginning that does
some of the following:
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engages the audience
prepares the audience
builds curiosity
creates challenge
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states a question
offers a problem
outlines the audience’s
role
sets expectations
Attention Grabbers
The first five minutes of attention are the
best five minutes—use them wisely
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personal experience
story
joke/cartoon
challenge/problem/question
tests or quizzes
the unpredictable
dress/movement/voice
surprises
Using Humor to get Attention
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Wow! “If we learn
from our mistakes, I
ought be a genius by
now”
George Abbott cartoon
Humor gets Attention
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I was thinking of something more on paper
Imagine More
Ferris State
University
Step 4—Recognize the
Attention Span(s) of Students
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Reasons for short attention spans?
Studies with college students and adults show
that the brain doesn't work as well when it
focuses on more than one task. If the
challenge demands a lot of attention, mental
performance is particularly poor David Walsh of the National
Institute on Media and the Family,
Reasons for short attention spans?
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"Students have a very short attention span, " she
says, "in part because of the media that we as
teachers and parents have encouraged them to
spend their time with, and in part because we
haven't taught them to have longer attention spans."
Naomi Baron, the American University linguistics professor
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10-15 minutes is what to expect
Attention Span(s) of Students
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Secondly--Since the images our media uses change
rapidly-- so does the shift of the student’s attention.
( Vincent Ruggerio , A Guide to Critical Thinking)
www.java2s.com/Code/JavaImages/JFreeChartMult...
www.java2s.com/Code/JavaImages/JFreeChartMult...
Attention Spans
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The student, not a scriptwriter or
producer, determines how long he or
she will attend to individual tasks. (James
Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain)
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The current generations’ expectation is
to be entertained—saying they should
not be this way is not the answer.
Step 5—Plan an Activity for the Students in the
Middle of the Lecture
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Break up lectures by using small 2-3
person groups to write, discuss,
summarize, or solve a problem related
to the lecture
Have students rise up and stretch at the
mid-point of the lecture-breathing is
good for the brain
Step 5—Plan an Activity for the Students in the
Middle of the Lecture
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Lecture with an end of class quiz every
day—research has shown this to raise
long term retention of course material
(http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/ACCDitg/SSnote.htm)
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Have students prepare study questions
before lecture and then discuss them at
the mid point of the lecture for 10
minutes
Step 5—Plan an Activity for the Students in the
Middle of the Lecture
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Have a Question Box in the class with
discussion topics related to the lecture—pull
one or two out at the mid point and have a
10 minute discussion
Have students write a test question or a
study guide question based on the first part
of the lecture
The key is that the activity is meaningful and
relates to understanding the lecture material.
Step 6—Use Visual Aids/Voice/Movement and
Technology to Hold Attention and Enhance
Understanding
Visual aids:
 1.Should attract and hold the students’ attention.
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2. Should aid the organization, illustration and
clarification of the lecture.
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3. Should encourage active thought—but not be a
distraction.
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4. Should increase the effectiveness and efficiency of
the presentation.
If teaching about the brain
this image is helpful
www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/Library/brain.gif
When Using Visual Aids Don’t…
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Don’t talk to your slides—all the audience will
know about you is what the back of your
head looks like.
Let the slides speak for themselves. Don’t
read the slides word-for-word. It will bore the
students and is redundant.
Don’t put too much information on any one
slide.
When Using Visual Aids
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Pause after highlighting points on a slide. Give
students time to absorb the information
A lecture is not an exercise in note taking—students
should not spend time writing large amounts of
information from overheads or slides—when students
are writing they are not listening
Remember you are the central force behind your
lecture not your slides
Voice and Movements
Not many of us are motivational speakers—but we don’t have to
be boring
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In planning the lecture include thinking about where you can
use your voice for emphasis, demonstration, exaggeration,
surprise etc.
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Students sitting in the back should be able to hear you clearly
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Use your voice as an attention getting tool
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Don’t talk to the chalk/white board
Movements
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The average TV commercial changes the camera
angle (and therefore the focus of the viewer) 15-30
times in 30 seconds.
Students today are conditioned to expect changes in
their viewing focus.
The location of where we hear information (episodic
memory) is one of many memory aids students can
use.
Movements
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Your location in the classroom can force students to
pay closer attention—especially if you are standing
right next to them.
www.bath.ac.uk/.../summerschool/images/lab2.jpg
Step Seven—Have a Conclusion
to the Lecture
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Lectures should be planned to have an
ending—not just a last word for that day
The ending might include:
1.A summary of the days main points
2.A recap of the questions that were answered
that day
3.The solution to the problem for that day
Step Seven—Have a Conclusion
An activity for the students
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A one sentence summary
A written accounting of the most important
point/or most confusing point
A one question quiz
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Listing of test worthy information from that
days lecture
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A chance for students to ask questions
Step Eight—Have Students do something with
the Lecture Material
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Current memory research indicates that most
learning occurs OUTSIDE the classroom when
students read, reflect, write or experience the
information given in lecture. (Sprenger, 2005)
The sooner and more often students engage with the
material the more likely they will learn it.
Example—For most students a minimum of 3-5 uses
of semantic information is needed for that
information to form long-term memories
(Sprenger 1999)
What should students do to learn the lecture
material?
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Write summaries of the lecture material
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Make mind maps of the information
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Answer question about the information
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Prepare for a quiz on the information
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Make up test questions from the information
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Write in a journal/reflect on the information
Step Eight—Have Students do something
with the Lecture Material
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The key is the more the students use
the lecture information the better they
will retain it. The more they think about
how the lecture information connects to
what they already know the deeper
their understanding will become.
Final Tips
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As you lecture stop to check students’
comprehension—the one who does the talking does
the learning( T. Angelo)—hear from your students
Keep the presentation fresh—vary your classroom
routine—a certain degree of unpredictability is a
positive motivator
Use a multitude of tools to enhance your lectures—
role play, guest speakers, video, websites,
demonstrations
Final Tips
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Decide in advance when you will take questions and what you
will do with questions that require long explanations or are
questions not share by many in the class—some can be handled
by e-mail
Focus on “what concepts need to be taught not what concepts
do the students need to know”—lets the students learn on their
own those things that they can
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Limit lecture to 4-5 main points—too much information will
result in less understanding –not more
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Write your test questions the same day you give the lecture to
increase accuracy of test questions.
The Final Final Tip
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Fill your lectures with analogies, metaphors
and examples that are real world to better
connect to the students’ backgrounds
The brain is an analog processor, meaning
essentially, that it works by analogy and
metaphor. It relates whole concepts to one
another and looks for similarities, differences,
or relationships between them. It does not
assemble thoughts and feelings from bits of
data (Ratey, 2002, Users Guide to the Brain)
References for Effective Lecturing
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http://www-ctl.stanford.edu/teach/handbook/chklstefflec.html
http://www.uoregon.edu/~tep/library/articles/lecturing.html
http://www-ctd.ucsd.edu/hndbk/9lect.html
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/MinnCon/lecture1.html
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Andrews, P. H. ( 1985). Basic Public Speaking. New York: Harper and Row.
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Baird, J.E. (1974). The Effects of "Previews" and "Reviews" upon Audiences
Comprehension of Expository Speeches of Varying Quality and Complexity.
Central States Speech Journal. 25, 119127.
Beatty, M.J. (1988). Situational and Predispositional Correlates of Public
Speaking
Anxiety. Communication Education. 37, 28-39.
References for Effective Lecturing
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Frederick, P.J. (1986). The Lively Lecture-8 Variations. College Teaching. 34, 4350.
Knapp, M.L. (1976). Communicating with Students. Improving College and
University Teaching. 24, 167-168.
Lucas, S. E. ( 1983). The Art of Public Speaking. New York: Random House.
McKeachie, W.J. (1980). Improving Lectures by Understanding Students'
Information Processing. In New Directions for Teaching and Learning: Learning,
Cognition, and College Teaching, edited by Wilbert J. McKeachie. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, pp. 25-35.
Weaver, R.L. (1982). Effective Lecturing Techniques: Alternatives to Classroom
Boredom. New Directions in Teaching. 7, 31-39.
References for Effective Lecturing
Bjork, R. A. (1994) Memory and Metamemory consideration in the
training of human beings. In J. Metcalfe & A. Shimamura (Eds)
Metacognition: Knowing about Knowing pp. 185-205. Cambridge, MA
MIT Press.
Elizabeth Campbell Teaching Strategies to Foster "Deep" Versus
"Surface Learning, Centre for University Teaching( based on the work
of Christopher Knapper, Professor of Psychology and Director of the
Instructional Development Centre at Queen’s University in Kingston,
Ontario
References for Effective Lecturing
Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes' error: Emotion, reason, and the
human brain. New York, NY, Grosset/Putnam.
Diamond, Marion. (1988). Enriching Heredity: The Impact ofthe
Environment on the Brain. New York, NY: Free Press.
Damasio AR: Fundamental Feelings. Nature 413:781, 2001.
Damasio AR: The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the
Making of Consciousness, Harcourt Brace, New York, 1999, 2000.
References for Effective Lecturing
Sylwester, R. A Celebration of Neurons An Educator’s Guide to the
Human Brain, ASCD:1995
Sprenger, M. Learning and Memory The Brain in Action by, ASCD, 1999
How People Learn by National Research Council editor John Bransford,
National Research Council, 2000
Kolb, D. A. (1981) 'Learning styles and disciplinary differences'. in A. W.
Chickering (ed.) The Modern American College, San Francisco: JosseyBass.
References for Effective Lecturing
Ratey, J. MD :A User’s Guide to the Brain, Pantheon Books: New York, 2001
Zull, James. The Art of Changing the Brain.2002, Stylus: Virginia
Weimer, Maryellen. Learner-Centered Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 2002