We all have been there! I am referring to those large group presentation workshops that are all presenter talk to a passive audience. There are very few presenters who are so highly engaging that we enjoy listening to them for a long period of time. Our mind drifts; we think about other things and suffer through the presentation. Another weaknesses of large-scale workshops is that it assumes that everyone in the audience has exactly the same needs for information. When confronted with these situations, today we have the convenience of smart phones that we can browse the Internet, text our colleagues and friends, or even play games.
But large-scale workshops persist, not because they're effective but because they are efficient as a form of professional learning. We can serve large numbers of people and everyone gets the same message. This is important for establishing a common language around an initiative or communicating to an entire group personally in building a common vision. When confronted by a large-scale workshop, whether as a participant or more importantly as a presenter, here are some tips for making the most out of this “sit and git” session.
- Create a Back Channel Conversation. Instead of having everyone use their smart phones for personal use, create a Twitter list or threaded discussion where participants can actively engage in feedback and share comments right during a presentation.
- Smart Phone Polling. If you want to see how the audience is reacting or learning, set up a online poll that participants can respond to via smart phone with “real time” display of results.
- Provide Frequent Movement. We all need to move. Our mind begins to drift when our body fails to move. If the session is long, be sure to put in movement breaks every 20 to 30 min., giving participants an opportunity to stand, move their hands stretch and stimulate their brains.
- Turning to a Shoulder Partner. Avoid overloading people with too much information. After a concept or important piece of information is presented, ask participants to turn to a person next to them and restate in their own words what they've learned or the reactions to that new piece of information. When turning an audience loose to talk, be sure to have a specific chime or mechanism to bring people back together and end their conversations.
- Share Materials. There are always more expensive materials around a particular workshop topic; share these materials in advance. But, don't expect everyone to read them in advance. Also share the materials afterwards so people can follow up and read more information. This may allow having a shorter presentation in providing information in written form.
- Use Card Reflections. When people write, it reinforces their ideas. Give people cards on which to write their reflections. Actually collect these cards as an “exit ticket” to ensure that everyone has written down some information. Cards can also be used for participants to write down questions for the presenter and these can be collected, screened and answered as part of the presentation. Writing and reflecting are important learning tools that can be done within a large-scale workshop.
- Follow-up Discussions. Whenever possible try to create an opportunity for audience members to move from a large-scale presentation to small-scale discussions. Train facilitators around the topic, so that they may lead small groups to discuss and reflect on a topic from the large-scale presentation.
- Reflect and Write via Technology. It's important for individuals to have the opportunity to reflect. We often do this by writing on the handout and taking notes. However this can be extended into other forms of writing by using the technology. Create a wiki or threaded discussion that everyone has access to and continue to share thoughts around a particular topic.
Following some of these suggestions can enable us to have a better quality learning experiences both as a presenter and participant in “sit and git” sessions. Sometimes we can’t avoid a large-scale workshop is professional development activity. However, we can make it effective by having less sitting and more getting.
