For my part, when I was lecturing, I found powerpoint to be a necessary evil. It easily doubled my time, but my students were so terrified of not having the powerpoint slides that I gave in. I figured that if I became a more experienced lecturer, I could then move towards abandoning the bloody things.

I refused to publish them before class, because I felt that I was telling a narrative that needed following and building step by step. This pissed a lot of students off (I also was usually finishing them right up until class began).

I also added baby photos and video clips, but only during the break. I found that the best thing to do is keep the slides relatively boring, and your explanations and discussions lively. It seems to draw attention back to you.

Here’s a tip: use your slides to “signpost” rather than explain. Students feel much more comfortable with a kind of lecture geography - which topic are we on, which sub-topic and which point? And questions are good, rather than answers.

Here’s another tip: the good students will do well no matter what you do, and the bad students won’t. You could stand on your head for an entire lecture, and the good students will continue to come and ask interesting questions. The ones in the middle might be inspired, but many won’t. Much of this depends on how your personality matches theirs. Most people are simply not instant lecturers - it is a skill that is hard-learned.

Powerpoint is useful for young lecturers, simply because it allows students to feel more secure - just don’t end up madly typing content into slides for days on end - stick to signposts and important points.

Hope this helps.

1. listen; or

2. sleep.

I think 1. is preferable to 2. but 2. is still preferable to blindly taking notes (because then they’re still not listening and they’re tiring themselves out at the same time!).