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1) Hi all, I am responding to Darlene's query. Thanks for the interesting post. I'm teaching an intro to Public History class -- mostly seniors and many history majors. I conducted an informal survey with students over the summer and saw from their responses that virtually every single one of them thought they could be better at speaking in public. I developed a course requirement that asks each of them to give a 5-7 minute, rehearsed talk on a subject of their choice that reflects or represents the presence of the past in contemporary cultural, political, artistic or social life. (One student per class, more or less, with exceptions for people who have compelling reasons why this task is impossible for them...) They can only use cue cards, nothing else. I cut them off if they go over time, which encourages them to rehearse. Using tools I scavenged from public speaking and rhetoric courses, I developed an evaluation form (which I am happy to share if anyone wants it.) They are evaluated on content, organization and effectiveness in terms of conveying the significance of the subject and encouraging interest. Students evaluate one another on these presentations and have the chance to describe which aspects worked well and how the presenter might improve his/her public speaking skills. The students who convinced me they could not do the public speaking assignment take responsibility for aggregating all the evaluations and summarizing the feedback. The assignment is worth 15% of the course grade. I think it is a good use of time, generally speaking. The presentations keep getting better, as people learn what works and what emphatically does not work. The evaluations have been constructive and I like that they are getting some practice in the skills of critique. There's been virtually no overlap -- we've had talks on baroque music, the reserve clause in baseball, the history of the TV show Dr. Who, how Disney contorts the historical past, the reenactment of the Battle of Lexington and a bunch of others. I like that they choose the content completely -- it is not a group presentation or something I tell them to write or talk about. For 7 minutes (plus time for questions), they are the authority in the room. I guess the only other thing I would add is that it is interesting to me how antsy I get if the questions and discussion go too long. I want the task to adhere to my timeline and when it doesn't, I get the opportunity to witness what happens to me when I share authority with students...the same thing happens when I have no interest at all in the topic but the class seems transfixed (i.e. the history of gaming...) Sometimes I think the old models of sharing information endure precisely because they ARE predictable. When you open up to other ways of sharing information, other things flood in as well and it can be unsettling. I hate to admit that I want my students to share and be engaging and engaged, but on my terms. So this exercise has been really useful for me, as a wake up call, as well. Thanks again for making me think about this. Margo Shea Margo Shea Ph.D.candidate, History History Department, Herter Hall University of Massachusetts 161 Presidents Drive Amherst, MA 01003-9312 413-834-7129 (mobile) mmshea@history.umass.edu ----------Original Message----------- >I am curious about what professors of public history do to train their >students to develop good presentation skills, an essential ingredient >of success in public history. > <snip> > >Darlene Roth, Ph.D. >1620 Longbranch Avenue >Grover Beach, CA 93433 >darlene@darleneroth.com ------------ 2) I think it is the discussion of audience that is key in teaching/training public history students. At the University of Houston, where I finished my degree this past year, I remember we were frequently told to take our audience into account. In our different courses, we also had to consider what the purpose of the presentation was (from proposals to finishing projects). I always felt more comfortable entering into presentations with written remarks to read - much like I would if presenting a conference paper - however, I always tried to tailor the "paper" for the audience and the purpose. I also used visuals as much as possible. I see no problem in a presenter reading from a "script" or "paper" in any setting - WHAT they are reading (and what they pair it with visually) make their presentation academic or more general. Vicki Myers Architectural Historian MS Dept of Archives and History myersvj@HOTMAIL.COM -- H-Public To post to the list: H-PUBLIC@h-net.msu.edu Home page: www.h-net.org/~public sponsored by the National Council on Public History (www.ncph.org)
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