In higher education, we sometimes hear tales of the professor pulling out worn, yellowed notes and reading from them to the students. We also occasionally hear about a professor reading directly from a textbook. Although thankfully this doesn't happen often, it does still happen occasionally, which we can say with some certainty because we have witnessed it directly. And from this experience, we can say categorically that you should not read the textbook to students. Short of this, reading from a script is one of the best ways we can think of to do a bad job of lecturing. So much can go wrong: lack of inflection, eye contact, body language, connecting with one's audience. For this reason, we generally do not recommend reading from a script. However, we do suggest that you may find it quite useful to initially write a script or at least to make some scripted notes. Writing out your notes in advance will help you to ensure that you have thought through the presentation from start to finish. It will help you to fine-tune ideas, arguments, examples, and language. It produces a more polished product.

If you do fully script the lecture, however, we suggest that you then toss out the script. The result will be a well-planned lecture, but one that is simultaneously spontaneous and flexible. It enables you to create a refined talk that flows and is polished. If you have written notes, you may choose to keep those. Many presentation packages enable you to display your notes in presenter view along with the slide. The caveat here, however, is that you should likely only view them in outline form; otherwise, you might be tempted to read from them.

That said, we recognize that there are times when it may be desirable to use a script during the lecture presentation itself. If you have new research that you want to share but you have not yet had time to develop a formal presentation on, you might want to read from a script. If you have extreme anxiety about speaking in public, you might want to use a script to help support you through it. If your native language is different than the one you will be lecturing in and you feel the need to be sure that every word is accurate and deliberate, using a script could be a benefit. And although we don't recommend reading from a script unless unusual circumstances call you to do so, if you do choose to read, you should plan to read with style. This means plenty of practice so that it feels like you are talking directly to the students.

The best approach is to script or develop extensive notes on your presentation and then toss the notes and do the talk from memory. This approach becomes easier with experience and practice, however, and we recognize that many teachers will feel more comfortable using notes or alternately a full script.

Lecture Notes

Although the idea of the yellowed pages of full-size tablet paper comes to mind when one thinks of a professor's notes, using this is not the best approach. Presentation slide notes are the most effective if you are using a slide deck because they will display without being seen by students. Do not use your slides as notes because you will end up reading them, and students will be bored. If you are not using presentation software, then index cards can be a good approach. Following are some suggestions for lecture notes to use during the presentation:

• Avoid writing in full sentences. Instead, jot down key ideas or phrases in a bulleted list. The idea is to simply jog your memory.
• Make sure your notes are easy to read. That will mean writing legibly or using sufficiently large font and leaving white space.
• Practice with the notes so that you use them with style. Avoid shuffling, switching from hand to hand, or gesturing with them. Practice glancing at them long enough to see the point and then continue the talk.

A Lecture Script

Again, you should only use a lecture script if there are special circumstances that call you to do so. Here are a few suggestions for writing a lecture script:

• Think back through your purpose, goals, and objectives that we discussed in Chapter 3.
• Consider the guidance in Chapters 4 to 6 to make any decisions regarding structure and content.
• Create a basic outline.
• Using your outline, write a rough draft.
• Revise, revise, revise.
• Check what you've written; try reading it out loud.

So how do you make it feel like you are speaking without a script when reading directly from one? We have a few suggestions as well as a couple of examples for you to consider.

• Watch your pacing. Plan to read at a pace of about 120, with formal speeches between 150–160 words per minute. Speed up to show excitement, and slow down for emphasis and to address particularly complicated ideas.
• Resist making excessive physical gestures.
• Vary your vocal inflection, raising your voice to add emphasis as needed.
• Build in some pauses. When we speak without notes, we have natural pauses. When we read, such pauses are often lacking. It is beneficial to be intentional about including pauses.
• Consider using slides along with your reading because they can give you something else to focus on. Make notes to yourself about when to change slides.
• Practice until you could almost recite the script from memory.

If your issue is anxiety, consider using scripted and outline notes. Make a two-column table, have your presentation fully scripted in the left column, and include briefer notes on the right side.

Sample Scripted and Outlined Notes

Using this approach, you can feel confident speaking from the notes, knowing that if you panic, you have the written text to fall back on.

Example

Key References and Resources