Teaching Tip #41

Teacherscribe’s Teaching Tip #41

Another book that really impacted my teaching last year was Carmine Gallo’s Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the Worlds’ Top Minds.

Tip #7 - Stick to the 18-minute rule

I know under a block schedule this is tough.  But it’s a crime to make students sit through an 85 minute lecture.  Even if you have to break your lecture up into two or three 18 minutes sections, it will be far more effective.

TED is notorious for having a countdown clock visible to all during a presentation.  Everyone knows what to expect.  It might end before the clock is done, but it won’t go over.

How many times have you been in a class where you wished you knew your professor was limited to just 18 minutes?  Don’t lie.

I could talk about “The Lottery” or To Kill a Mockingbird for hours upon hours.

But limited myself to just 18 minutes makes me far more conscious of including just the most vital information, just the most important information, and just the stuff that will engage my students the most.