Medical lectures tend to be long. Very long. Sometimes hours and hours long. One of the skills that allowed us to succeed in ophthalmology is the ability to process volumous amounts of information …
… but it doesn’t mean we like it!
It’s your responsibility as “the guy talking” to digest and summarize your topic succinctly and logically. Break your lecture down to little bite-size morsels and don’t cram too much brain-food into one sitting.
A long lecture is a disservice to your audience. You’re presenting to a bright group of people. They can go online or hit journals for more details on any subject imaginable. Those doctors are listening to you for one thing: for an organized and condensed delivery of your ‘personal’ medical knowledge. They want it brief, organized, and they want you to impart a sense of “what’s really important.”
Don’t present every little detail … that’s the equivalent of reading a journal article out loud to a captive audience. That is not a high-yield way to learn!
But what can you do to keep it brief?
One method that works for me is to set goals. For example, try to make your lecture less than thirty minutes long. As your topics come together, you will likely find that 30 minutes is not enough time. Instead of talking faster, rewrite your outline, reconsider your purpose, or break down your presentation into separate lectures.
People have a hard time concentrating for more than 25 minutes, so if your “mega lecture” is big, plan on creating stretch or snack breaks at these intervals. You will find that when standing in front of a large crowd your adrenalin kicks in and your sense of timing goes to whack. To help your timing, have someone in the audience (with a watch) inform you when you’ve got five minutes left, or use an egg-timer.
Whatever it takes to keep it short!
The best presentation I’ve ever seen was only 18 minutes long. Keep things brief and your audience will appreciate it.
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Comments and Feedback
1 Comment
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Splendid.But if you are interrupted for intricate details several times during the presentation , what do you do?
Comment by suhanyah — December 24, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
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