How to know when your lecture is boring

Have you ever wondered how "effective" the lecture you just gave was? Did you ever want to improve the quality of your students' learning experience? Have you ever wondered why that kid in the corner has his head lolled to the side, has his eyes closed, and is drooling? Many people, mainly teachers, have asked these questions, yet few have ever answered.

The Students

Students don't like boring lectures. Or, rather, normal students don't like boring lectures. It's a fact of life. And what happens when they are subject to them? Among other numerous symptoms, sagging head or neck, drooling mouth, talking with friends or neighbors, and the overall appearance of not paying attention can all occur when a student is "bored." But what is this "bored" thing, you ask? Well, "boredom," the root word boredom of "bored", is a state of mind in which the brain looks for something to do due to lack boredom of amusement, entertainment, or simple occupation. "Boredom" can happen to just about anyone, and there is, at the moment, no surefire cure for it. It has a mortality rate of approximately 0.001 percent, though most deaths are not directly caused by boredom, but rather indirectly linked to it. Boredom is a horrible thing, and students subject to it deserve a cure.

The Lecturer

You may have found yourself frantically asking, "How in the world can I prevent and/or stop this 'boredom' disease?" It's actually quite simple. When you are lecturing, make your lecture interesting. That's the simple part. Now you just need to find out how to do that. Well, I'd have to say that there is no surefire way of making one's lecture 100 percent interesting, but, through extensive research and first-hand accounts and observations of "boredom," I have come up with a short list of what you can do to alleviate any that you may encounter.

  1. Don't harp- Don't drag on on the same topic for an extensive amount of time if it isn't necessary. Usually, that includes just about all things that appear in the standard lecture.

  2. Don't repeat yourself- I believe someone once said that repetition is a good way of educating/memorizing something. That is not true and whoever said that deserves to be flogged.

  3. "Um" is not a word- Though many of you may not believe it, "um" and "uh" (and all of their variations, including, but not limited to, "duh," "errr," and "erm,") are not words. They are simply sounds resulting from the brain sending incomplete or incoherent messages to the mouth while looking for time to think over what to say next. Do not use them in your lecture. I'm sure one or two "um"'s won't kill the whole learning experience, but too many will, and quite efficiently.

  4. Make your content mildly interesting- I know this one may be hard for some to do simply because what you are teaching isn't interesting, but it still helps to try. There are many ways of doing this, but I'm not here to tell you them. Well, technically I am, but I have become too cynical and disgruntled to do so.

Home--> <--emoH