COMMUNICATION, PUBLIC SPEAKING

How to deliver an engaging lecture

Reflections from my experiences in delivering guest lectures at university

Delivering a guest lecture at University Town, the National University of Singapore, in September 2022. Photograph courtesy of my team.

Backstory: my love of lectures

I loved delivering junior college lectures when I was an economics lecturer. My fondest memories were rushing to the lecture theatre, setting up my laptop, and then clicking on Tra Veglia E Sonno on YouTube.

(The song is literally translated as “between wakefulness and sleep”, or more elegantly, “in a trance”, which you have to admit is an accurate reflection of the state of most students. But I chose this song not for its title but because it was deeply personally meaningful to me.)

YouTube would give students a few minutes to stream in while I would look around to see if my tutorial classes made it to the lecture theatre on time. I would wave to my favourite classes and look out for my favourite students.

And when the lecture theatre finally fell silent, I would begin my lecture, typically with a “hook” or “mystery” that we would solve by the end of the lecture. Whenever the students finally understood something, their eyes would light up. Sometimes, they would gasp audibly. I was drawn to that.