How Not to Give a Crappy Lecture

“From all my years in the classroom, the lessons that stayed with me most vividly have been the digressions, asides, anecdotes told mostly to relieve the lecturer’s own boredom.” Kathleen Rooney

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In my lifetime of listening to lectures, most have been forgettable, leaving me bemoaning an hour of life wasted. Thankfully, in recent years, at least I can be productive — or distracted — thanks to my phone during the most painful lecture.

One or two lectures are memorable for how transcendently bad they were, true fiascos. The most memorable one, given by a plastic surgeon during medical school, was so misogynously offensive that handfuls of students walked out with each slide.

Then there are the few lectures that I remember years, or even decades, later. I have written about a talk by my chemistry professor in college. I remember a talk that Booker Bush, a mentor during my residency, gave on counseling behavioral change. There was also a talk that George Daley gave — to a nearly empty room — at a recent AAMC meeting about the ethics of gene therapy.

There are also lecturers who stand out as memorable, people who were clearly dedicated to the craft, whose every lecture was entertaining and informative.

After a busy season of lecturing, both at my home institution and at a few outside institutions brave enough — or ill-informed enough — to invite me, I thought I could give a few pointers on how to avoid giving a forgettable lecture.

The person who should write this article died over 10 years ago. I never had Herbert Friedmann as a professor but I did watch him lecture a few times. He must have been a joy to learn from. It might seem absurd to compare Friedmann — a Jewish biochemist, born in Germany, raised in India — to Muhammad Ali but they had the same twinkle in their eyes when they spoke. You could tell that Professor Friedmann was enjoying himself when he lectured. You could tell that he knew you were enjoying listening to him. And you could tell that he was enjoying entertaining you. I get the same sense when I watch old films of Ali.

I have met few people who took their teaching as seriously as Friedmann. In 1990 he published a masterpiece in the Journal of Chemical Education: Fifty-Six Laws of Good Teaching. Please read it now. If you don’t come back to me, you’ll have gotten 99% of the wisdom this piece has to offer.

Standing on Friedmann’s shoulders, I have 5 recommendations inspired by some not-so-great lectures. Following these won’t guarantee you’ll give a great lecture, but it will at least help you, in the words of Joe Madden try not to suck.

1. Exude excitement about your subject; if you’re not excited about the subject, decline the invitation to talk. Nobody enjoys a talk if the speaker is not enjoying the talk. Friedmann suggested that you, “Always re-experience your subject; this way it will remain forever fresh, lively and spontaneous.” I think this means review the slides of lectures you’ve given before, re-research them. If something seems like it is now unimportant, cut it.

2. Don’t cower behind the podium, don’t read your talk, don’t read your slides. You don’t have to be Phil Donahue, mixing it up with the audience, but don’t stand mummy-like behind the podium. You are giving a lecture, not recording an audiobook. Use your slides as an anchor as you make your points orally.

3. Appreciate questions; try to answer them well; after you have, ask if you succeeded. If the questioner remains confused (and the audience is not) offer to meet afterward. It is difficult to get people to participate during a lecture but when they do, the experience is better for everyone. Invite people to ask questions. Invite people to object, to challenge, to argue. If people do, welcome the comments. After you respond, ask them if they are satisfied. Remember though, the audience came for a lecture, not to listen to a conversation between you and one attendee. If this begins to happen, suggest meeting for coffee after the lecture.

4. Three things you should NEVER have to say: I know you can’t read this slide; I wasn’t sure who the audience would be; I am sorry but these are not my slides. If you know the audience will not be able to read a slide, it is a slide that should not be shown. Usually, lecturers hold on to these slides to demonstrate that they know a whole lot more than the audience. To paraphrase two of Friemann’s dictates: You should never give a lecture unless your knowledge far exceeds the content of your lecture. You should not be proud of knowing more than your students: they did not choose to be born after you.

   A lecturer who cares will have asked about the audience and tailored the talk to the expected audience.

   You might be asked to pinch hit and a give a talk for a colleague. If you do this, it should be because you have more to offer than a voice to read a slide deck. If you don’t, send the students a pdf of the slides. If you do, own it. “These are not my slides, but they are great, and I will do my best to explain them and expand upon them.”

5. Finish on time! Yes, there are all sorts of nuances about giving good lectures and being an inspiring teacher but the easiest way to mess up is to run over your allotted time. This demonstrates poor planning and laziness. It also is disrespectful of your audience’s time. I promise you; your talk is not the most important part of their day.

   Photo Credit: Dom Fou