Friday, March 27, 2020

How to organize a workshop presentation

Teaching to Learn

ARWA workshop, March 26, 2020 video  presentation


The very first attempt at a video workshop or presentation.
We are finally digital.

Basically, re workshop content, I listed multiple parts of a "book" (see list at end of article) and talked about learning the pieces and then combining them to write a book. That breaking it down, learning parts, and then combining into a whole is one of the most recommended ways to learn a complex subject.

Additionally, we looked at how ARWA members have done just that, and used teaching to learn over 30+ years.

In order to teach to learn, we looked at the following: 

The suggested process:

1) Pick a topic (specific and narrow)
2) Research the topic and collect points etc you find appropriate.
3) Write down how you would explain what you have learned.

 The format:

 Shape your material into a presentation covering these parameters.

Why is it important?
Who uses it?
What does it look like on the page?
When is it especially important?
Where do you use it? (narration, dialogue, description?)
What does it do for your writing? 
How can you use it on your current MS?
 


    OR in other words:
     

    T.I.S - TOPIC, IMPORTANCE, STRUCTURE

    •        What is it? state the topic
            e.g. show not tell ( as Pam put it - tell them what you are going to tell them.) Explain
    •       Why is it important?
           e.g. showing draws your reader into the story, engages the reader)
    •    Who Says so? (ie validity) 
    e.g. Multipublished authors, editros, readers
    •        What does it look like on the page?
     e.g. give an example of a telling sentence and turn it into a showing sentence * ( you tell them what you want to tell them) 
    •         Suggest exercises for practice - this might be:
    •          questions on a Power Point slide for the group to do orally 
    •          a hand-out with examples to work on followed by discussion
    •          a task to do at home - taking pages of their work in progress and testing the lesson
    •          all of the above
       Tell them what you have told them.

    FINAL WORDS

    •      There are times when reinventing the wheel is counter productive. There are hundreds of articles and videos with advide and instructions and tips for preparing, organizing and giving presentations in person or on video. 
    •        ARWA has had a workshop on Research and Teaching to Learn. If you combine the topics, you have the way to find out how to give a presentation. See links below to get you started..

    (Note some of the videos open with an advert - skip the ad - to get the real topic)

    Videos / Articles

    How to give a presentation:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7TcQPHW-Bw

    Learn to teach what you know.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxPoJhbJ2DM


    Templates for designing workshops
    https://tinyurl.com/t6h9ucn

    How to organize a presentation:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bwDr7WVBwo

     5 Quick ways to organize your presentation
    https://tinyurl.com/yx39z2wt

     Presentation Skills
    https://www.skillsyouneed.com/present/organise-material.html

    Possible topics - whatever you want to learn about writing and the book industry can probably be turned into a workshop because the rest of writers want to know as well.

    • - titles
    • - three acts (Content)
    • Introduction – 25%
    • Middle – 50%
    • Climax and resolution – 25%
    • Whose story?
    • What is it about?
    • First drafts
    •  Common words
    • Overused words
    • Verb structures
    • Qualifiers
    • Prepositions and their misuse
    • Specific nouns
    • Colloquial sayings
    • Dialect in dialogue
    • Participles etc
    • Narration
      Dialogue
      Description
      Length
      Openings and closings