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Terri's Tutorial Tips
Note: this set of guidelines was developed specifically for students giving PowerPoint tutorials, but the principles articulated are useful for lots of different tutorials.
1. Always begin by saying what you are going to teach the class, recapping
and foreshadowing throughout as necessary. For instance, you might
begin by saying, “Today I am going to talk about what you see when you
first click on the PowerPoint program, and then I am going to show you how
to navigate the basic screens in the system.” After you finish the first
part of your talk, you say, “So far, I’ve shown you what you see
when you first click on PowerPoint. Next, I want to explain how to navigate
around the screens.”
2. Indicate at the beginning of your talk whether you welcome questions
in the middle of your presentation, or if you’d like them at the end.
If someone asks a question that is beyond the scope of your presentation (i.e.
too advanced), let them know that this material will probably be covered later
on, and if not, we’ll explore their question at the end of class.
3. Chronology is a natural narrative style for tutorials (i.e.
“The first thing you want to do is x…) Numbering steps is also
a standard convention; in fact, you may want to write the steps you go over
on the whiteboard so that people can look up at them for easy reference.
4. People learn faster when they are given a task to master. Develop
a task that fits with your lesson. For instance, if you are teaching the section
on changing the screen color, you might want to say, “Now I want everyone
to change their screen color to blue.” (Note: If you want the group
to change the screen back from blue, don’t forget to tell them to do
so!)
5. Always end your presentation with a quick summary of the task you’ve
been covering, and the steps necessary to complete the task. Then
be sure to ask if there are any further questions.
6. You aren’t finished with your presentation until you introduce
the next speaker. Don’t forget!