Explaining an exercise
Exercises are great during workshops. Participants get to apply theory to practice. They experience what it’s like to wield the power of the framework that they’ve been presented with.
To enable learners to get the most from an exercise, the instructor needs to build a solid explanation. This is the tricky bit.
If the explanation is too:
long, they forget what to do
short, you’ll need to think on your feet
scattered, they’ll have you flipping your slides back and forth until they understand
wordy, they won’t know where to start
Not too long, not too short, not too scattered and not too wordy
Here’s what helps me tune my explanations when I make presentation slides:
Start an exercise slide series with the word “exercise” or an equivalently unmistakeable prompt (which is secretly a note to self that we’re getting into a tricky bit)
Unfold the explanation with no more than 2 points at a time, and each step as a natural progression to the next.
Talk about what people see on each slide. Don’t rely on written information
The assignment description slide only repeats the steps but now summarises them in a single file.
When the exercise starts, leave that slide on. If people look up to think for a bit, it’s the first thing they want to see.
After each exercise is done, make sure to repeat the sticking point written on a new slide, so you’re sure to have the whole group (including yourself) riding the learning curve.
You won’t get it right in one go. Try it and tune it with this list. And if the exercise is too complex, see how you can chop it up into different sections. Let the participants lay some groundwork first and stack your exercises on that.
Play with these variables. It will pay off.
Great exercise is made by great explanation.