Energy Career Academy Guest Speaker Presentation Guide The purpose - PDF document

Energy Career Academy Guest Speaker Presentation Guide The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for energy company employees who will be guest speakers at the Energy Career Academy. While the guest speaker may have extensive knowledge of the subject matter at hand, he or she most likely does not have a teaching background. Guest Speaker Tips will help employees to prepare, deliver, and evaluate the effectiveness of the presentation. Preparation Step 1: Write learning objectives Learning objectives answer the questions “Why am I here?” and “What knowledge do I want the students to gain or what do I want them to be able to do?” Learning objectives should be written as measurable statements. For example, if you are teaching students about the resources that are used to generate electricity, an objective might be: Students will describe the resources that are used to generate power including coal, natural gas, nuclear, and alternative energy sources. Notice the verb “describe” is used rather than “learn” or “understand,” which are not measurable. The basic structure for a learning objective is: Who? Will be to know (knowledge) or do what (skill)? Some recommended verbs for writing learning objectives are included at the end of this guide. For a one­hour presentation, there should be two to four learning objectives identified. Step 2: Create a presentation outline Thinking through your presentation in advance is essential. Creating a presentation outline will help you to do this. The three parts of the presentation are the Opening, Body, and Closing. Opening: Consists of introducing yourself, building credibility, and stating the learning objectives. Jot down some notes about how you want to

introduce yourself and build credibility and document the learning objectives in this section. Body: Where the bulk of your content resides. It is important to think through your content from the perspective of the student who knows nothing about the topic. For building knowledge, start with the broad, and then proceed to the details. For developing skills, break each skill into steps, writing them in your outline. Closing: The part of the presentation where you pull everything together and summarize. You may want to write out your summary in this section. Step 3: Think about how to make the presentation interactive Talking “at” a room full of high school students may be an invitation for drooping eyelids. Think about ways to engage students so they are not passive recipients of information. Several practical ideas are included in the article “How to Engage Our Audience: The Top 10 Techniques” at the end of this guide. Step 4: Develop handouts It is important to have some type of handout for the students. This can be as simple as a word document with your main points and lines for taking notes, a print out of your PowerPoint presentation (if you are preparing one), or an article. If you are preparing a PowerPoint presentation, keep your text to phrases, not sentences. Remember, the purpose of the PowerPoint is to help your presentation to flow and to give students something to follow along, not for the students to read lengthy text. You should limit each slide to six lines with no more than six words per line. If you are using phrases, this should not pose a problem. Step 5: Practice your presentation Practicing your presentation in advance with one of your colleagues may ease your jitters when you get up to teach the class. It will also help you to identify anything you may have left out, sections that need to be clarified, or pieces that can be left off, then modify your presentation. Offer to take your colleague to lunch after you finish your rehearsal! Delivery You’ve done all of the prep work and it’s time to do your presentation. Here are some pointers to maximize the effectiveness: Start with a strong opening First, introduce yourself and build credibility. Tell the students about your tenure at your company, what you do, and why you are an expert on the topic. Next, sell

your audience on the need to listen. Build the students curiosity. Why are they learning about this? Is there an interesting story you can tell related to the topic? Then, finally, go over the learning objectives. Use effective questioning strategies Not only should you take questions from the students, but asking questions of them as well will keep them on the ball and engaged. Here are some tips from the book Cues for Effective Questioning by C.J. Cook and C.M. Rasmussen: • Ask open­ended questions (no questions should be able to be answered with a “yes” or “no” or other one­word answers) • Ask one question at a time • Pause 3­5 seconds after you ask a question before calling on someone to respond • Call on participants randomly • Acknowledge all responses to show that each is valued • Withhold criticism or praise of responses and acknowledge all input • Rephrase rather than repeat questions that are not understood • Encourage interaction by having participants answer questions in small groups first then report back to the full class End with a powerful closing • Review, highlight and emphasize ­ key points, benefits, recommendations • Draw conclusions ­ Where are we? What does all of this mean? What's the next step? • Thank students for their attention Evaluation While a formal evaluation form is not necessary after your presentation, it is helpful to ask for verbal feedback from students. You can pose questions such as: • What did you like best about the presentation? • What are the two to three things you will remember most? • What topics were confusing? • Any recommendations for improvement? Since you are not their teacher and can’t give them a grade, they are more likely to provide the candid feedback you are looking for. It is also important how you ask the questions. Do your best to come across as open and wanting their feedback.

Action Verbs for Learning Objectives Abstract Demonstrate Maintain Activate Describe Manage Acquire Detect Modify Adjust Develop Analyze Differentiate Name Appraise Direct Arrange Discuss Observe Articulate Discover Operate Assemble Discriminate between Order Assess Distinguish Organize Assist Draw Associate Dramatize Perform Plan Breakdown Employ Point Build Establish Predict Estimate Prepare Calculate Evaluate Prescribe Carry out Examine Produce Catalog Explain Propose Categorize Explore Change Express Question Check Extrapolate Cite Rank Classify Formulate Rate Collect Read Combine Generalize Recall Compare Recommend Compute Identify Recognize Contrast Illustrate Reconstruct Complete Implement Record Compose Improve Recruit Compute Increase Reduce Conduct Infer Reflect Construct Integrate Relate Convert Interpret Reorganize Coordinate Introduce Repair Count Investigate Repeat Criticize Replace Critique Judge Report Reproduce Debate Limit Research Decrease List Restate Define Locate Restructure

Revise Skim Tabulate Rewrite Solve Test Specify Theorize Schedule State Trace Score Structure Track Select Summarize Train Separate Supervise Transfer Sequence Survey Translate Sing Systemize Sketch Update Simplify Use Utilize Verbalize Verify Visualize Write