Conflict #2: How do I keep this audience engaged?
The part that often drags the most is the middle of any lesson or piece of writing. It is where all the technical information has to be conveyed to the audience. This is where, even if you have a solid opening, you risk losing people.
When delivering content, it is important to: keep it short, make it clear, and get the audience involved.
Keep it short.
Students and readers lose interest quickly. The difference is when a reader loses interest, they can move on. Students aren’t afforded that freedom, so you are left with a possible disruption. Keeping instruction and exposition short is important, but not nearly as much as clarity and audience involvement.
Structure and planning are the solution to any problems a teacher or writer may have with the middle of their product. It is always best to have your objective or your ending in mind before you begin. This way, you can be sure that all of your efforts are aimed to that end.
Continued in Engaging Your Audience – Part Four – The Closing
Further Resources
For teachers: Yen Yen Woo posted “How Experienced Teachers Incorporate Kinesthetic Learning into Academic Lessons” on the NYTeachers Blog.
For writers: Glen C. Strathy wrote a great post title, "Sagging Middle Syndrome: How to Rescue Your Novel from Its Fatal Effect." The Script Lab posted "Writing Exposition: 5 Helpful Techniques."
Students and readers lose interest quickly. The difference is when a reader loses interest, they can move on. Students aren’t afforded that freedom, so you are left with a possible disruption. Keeping instruction and exposition short is important, but not nearly as much as clarity and audience involvement.
Make it clear.
Few things disengage an audience faster than being confused. It halts the flow of the narrative and forces the teacher or writer to spend more time explaining. This doesn’t mean that a mystery writer has to give away all of the information up front. Nor does it mean that a teacher can’t place unexpected surprises in her lesson along the way. Clarity only refers to the audience’s ease of understanding the given situation at the time. Without it, even the most ingenious twists and turns won’t make any sense.
Get the audience involved.
This is your ticket to get away with not making it short. As long as the audience is physically or emotionally active, they will tolerate a much larger dose of explanation. When writing, have your characters involved in something physical while talking. When teaching, keep instruction-to-engagement ratios low. Use techniques such as call-backs and break-out sessions.
In Practice.
Few things disengage an audience faster than being confused. It halts the flow of the narrative and forces the teacher or writer to spend more time explaining. This doesn’t mean that a mystery writer has to give away all of the information up front. Nor does it mean that a teacher can’t place unexpected surprises in her lesson along the way. Clarity only refers to the audience’s ease of understanding the given situation at the time. Without it, even the most ingenious twists and turns won’t make any sense.
Get the audience involved.
This is your ticket to get away with not making it short. As long as the audience is physically or emotionally active, they will tolerate a much larger dose of explanation. When writing, have your characters involved in something physical while talking. When teaching, keep instruction-to-engagement ratios low. Use techniques such as call-backs and break-out sessions.
In Practice.
My favorite example of the use of all three of these techniques in film is in the original Terminator movie, in which the entire back-story is given during a car chase. The characters and audience are emotionally tense. It takes the writers about five minutes to explain nearly forty years of history before resuming the intense action. (Explicit Language/Gun Violence)
Structure and planning are the solution to any problems a teacher or writer may have with the middle of their product. It is always best to have your objective or your ending in mind before you begin. This way, you can be sure that all of your efforts are aimed to that end.
Continued in Engaging Your Audience – Part Four – The Closing
Further Resources
For teachers: Yen Yen Woo posted “How Experienced Teachers Incorporate Kinesthetic Learning into Academic Lessons” on the NYTeachers Blog.
For writers: Glen C. Strathy wrote a great post title, "Sagging Middle Syndrome: How to Rescue Your Novel from Its Fatal Effect." The Script Lab posted "Writing Exposition: 5 Helpful Techniques."
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