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NEWS
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Tips
For Workshop Presentations
Zimmerman
Lehman regularly presents workshops on a variety of topics, as do many
of you in the nonprofit world. We were asked to train a group of fundraisers
in how best to prepare for workshop presentations and in this article
we share these tips with ZimNotes readers.
ADULT LEARNING
Whether you are presenting information about your nonprofit, doing a presentation
to donors, or conducting a workshop on how to ask for money, it helps
to plan the presentation in advance. Usually we are making presentations
to adults (who have different learning styles than children); here are
a few important principles of adult learning:
-
Adults
are goal and relevancy oriented.
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Adults
tend to be practical and have a problem-centered orientation to learning.
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Adults
relate new knowledge and information to previously learned information
and experiences.
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Adults
are people whose style and pace of learning has probably changed.
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Adults,
as do all learners, need to be shown respect.
-
Adults
have practical needs for comfort.
INTERACTIVE LEARNING
"What I hear, I forget; What I see, I remember; What I do, I understand."
-
Confucius, 451 B.C.
Even great speakers know that "talking heads" lectures do not alone make
participants learn. Some folks say that participants retain 20% of what
they hear and 90% of what they do; while this may be high - doing is the
best way to learn and short of doing - seeing, writing or speaking are
all effective learning tools. The suggestions below offer forms of active
learning.
1.
Seeing - use overheads or power point in your presentation or,
if technical presentations make you nervous, use a flip chart
2. Showing - use an example or case study to demonstrate a point
but keep it short; too many war stories are never appreciated
3. Writing - have participants write their answers to a question
you pose, and then ask them to read their answers, summarize if helpful
on a flip chart
4. Discussing - have participants work with a partner or small
group to answer a question or solve a problem
5. Brainstorming - have participants brainstorm ideas about a problem
or issue; write up answers on a flip chart
6. Demonstrating - role play or give a demonstration of the problem/issue
7. Doing - have participants do a role play of a major donor ask,
write a needs section of grant, outline tasks for a special event, or
write a p.s. for a direct mail letter
8. Simulating with critique/feedback - set up a mock situation
for small group, e.g. a follow up call on direct mail letter and have
participants give each other feedback (insist that it be specific and
no more than one or two points)
PLANNING AND MATERIALS
The plan/roadmap, while helpful to all instructors, is especially needed
for those with less experience. Here are some elements of a good lesson
plan:
1. Goal - what you are trying to accomplish with your presentation
or workshop (i.e., how to obtain grants)
2. Objective - description of a measurable outcome (i.e., a written
needs section)
3. Content - what is to be taught (i.e., researching and writing
grants)
4. Instructional procedures
- Focusing
event: something to get the students' attention - (i.e., stats on how
many foundations)
- Teaching
procedures: methods you will use - (i.e., lecture, PowerPoint, small
group discussion, critique and feedback)
- Participation:
how you will get the students to participate - (i.e., writing exercise)
- Closure:
how you will end the lesson - (i.e., success story of former participant)
5.
Evaluation - reinforces learning and give you feedback on what
worked -(i.e., what worked? what needed improvement?)
6. Materials - what to hand out - what you will need in order to
teach this lesson- (i.e., grant writing outline, research resources list,
sample grant)
For
the presentation - if you are going to lecture, an outline with
space to take notes is very helpful, but then you must follow it or
risk confusing participants. Others prefer to give out copies of their
overhead/Power Point presentations and some prefer just an agenda with
a few key points you want to emphasize. In any case these should be
short and easy to read.
For take home materials - most helpful are list of resources
and samples (direct mail letter, grant, task list for a campaign, case
statement etc.). Do not overwhelm folks with too much material; if in
doubt less is best!
Follow
these tips in your next workshop and you will be sure to make a more powerful
presentation!
We
have assembled these tips from Zimmerman Lehman's own experiences, and
with information from George Clark, LightHouse for the Blind and Visually
Impaired, San Francisco.
Copyright
2007 Zimmerman Lehman.
This information
is the property of Zimmerman
Lehman. If you would like to reprint this information,
please see our reprint
and copyright policy.
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