What do people do in a seminar? The audience- If the topic does not interest them, they yawn, chat with each other over the phone(I mean WhatsApp), drink water to avoid sleep from getting to them, talk to one another, check their facebook account – everything would be inversely proportional to their interest in the subject. The teacher – on the other hand would try to engage the attention of the audience by trying to find a talking point (in case she feels that the subject matter is happily traversing overhead), or ask questions in between, or try to finish the lackadaisical parts soon enough and dwell more on the interesting topics.
I have been part of numerous seminars – initially as an eager student and more recently as a lecturer (much to my happiness). So, I do know a thing or two about what a makes a seminar interesting and what makes it drawn and pedantic.
Firstly, the subject matter should of interest to the lecturer. If the lecturer is a master in his chosen field of subject, he would know when to quote interesting examples from his interesting stock of examples, when to change tack based on the pulse of the audience. He would go to great heights to make topic interesting, palatable and accessible to even a distant and hostile audience. On the other hand, the opposite would happen if the lecturer does not evince interest, but takes it as a chore, a compulsion.
Secondly, the interest, orientation, experience, aptitude, attitude of the audience also matters. I had the opportunity to teach different sections of the society about two topics. And the response for the same class i.e with more or less the same content, from each section of the audience has been remarkably different based on their inherent capabilities/interest.
At the end of the day, what matters is that the trainer should try to master her subject and give each opportunity her best not only to enrich her knowledge of the subject, get her facts right as far as possible, but also make an sense endeavour to make the session as with and as engaging as possible.
And for the audience, to try and listen as far as possible with really attention, for after all the trainer has put in a lot of effort to be a master of the subject, and to get the same amount of knowledge through self effort, one might have to work doubly hard.
A keen interest and the attitude of sincere commitment to make the best use of time from both sides would result in a win-win situation for all stakeholders concerned. What say?
PS: If you want to master a subject, teach it!
I have been part of numerous seminars – initially as an eager student and more recently as a lecturer (much to my happiness). So, I do know a thing or two about what a makes a seminar interesting and what makes it drawn and pedantic.
Firstly, the subject matter should of interest to the lecturer. If the lecturer is a master in his chosen field of subject, he would know when to quote interesting examples from his interesting stock of examples, when to change tack based on the pulse of the audience. He would go to great heights to make topic interesting, palatable and accessible to even a distant and hostile audience. On the other hand, the opposite would happen if the lecturer does not evince interest, but takes it as a chore, a compulsion.
Secondly, the interest, orientation, experience, aptitude, attitude of the audience also matters. I had the opportunity to teach different sections of the society about two topics. And the response for the same class i.e with more or less the same content, from each section of the audience has been remarkably different based on their inherent capabilities/interest.
At the end of the day, what matters is that the trainer should try to master her subject and give each opportunity her best not only to enrich her knowledge of the subject, get her facts right as far as possible, but also make an sense endeavour to make the session as with and as engaging as possible.
And for the audience, to try and listen as far as possible with really attention, for after all the trainer has put in a lot of effort to be a master of the subject, and to get the same amount of knowledge through self effort, one might have to work doubly hard.
A keen interest and the attitude of sincere commitment to make the best use of time from both sides would result in a win-win situation for all stakeholders concerned. What say?
PS: If you want to master a subject, teach it!
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