of passive listening (Wolvin, 1983). To extend students' attention spans, do the following: Ask questions at strategic points or ask for comments or opinions about the subject. Play devil's advocate or invite students to challenge your point of view Have students solve a problem individually, or have them break into pairs or small four-person groups to answer a question or discuss a topic. Introduce visual aids: slides, charts, graphs, videotapes, and films. Make the organization of your lecture explicit. Put an outline on the board before you begin, outline the development of ideas as they occur, or give students a handout of your major points or topics. Outlines help students focus on the progression of the material and also help them take better notes. If their attention does wander, students can more readily catch up with the lecture if they have an outline in front of them.Convey your own enthusiasm for the material. Think back to what inspired you as an undergraduate or to the reasons you entered the field you are in. Even if you have little interest in a particular topic, try to come up with a new way of looking at it and do what you can to stimulate students' enthusiasm. If you appear bored with the topic, students will quickly lose interest.Be conversational. Use conversational inflections and tones, varying your pitch just as you do in ordinary conversation. If you focus on the meaning of what you are saying, you'll instinctively become more expressive. Choose informal language, and try to be natural and direct.Use concrete, simple, colorful language. Use first-person and second-person pronouns (I, we, you). Choose dramatic adjectives, for example, "vital point" rather than "main point" or "provocative issue" rather than "next issue." Eliminate jargon, empty words, and unnecessary qualifiers ("little bit," "sort of," "kind of"). (Source: Bernhardt, 1989)Incorporate anecdotes and stories into your lecture. When you are in a sto...
