Designing and presenting a dynamic lecture

Abstract

Lectures are here to stay in medicine and medical education; the goal is to improve them so that the audience engages with and retains the information. Successful presenters are generally overprepared, designing the lecture with the learning objectives in mind and clearly stating them. They consider incorporating activities, audiovisuals, anecdotes, questions, and the "cultivation of confusion" to elicit critical thinking. Beyond creating slides with minimal text but clear conceptual designs and including notes for themselves, effective presenters utilize body language and voice inflection and tone. It is reported that when presenters demonstrate interest and energy, they can engage audience members who bring a variety of learning styles.

Keywords: Education; PowerPoint; learning objectives; lecture; presentation.

Figure 1.

Original slides on the left and redesigned slides on the right for the topics of (a) treatment of hypovolemic shock, (b) inadequate tissue perfusion, and (c) obstructive shock.