This outline covers the material necessary to present a two hour class to experienced Ignite speakers, enabling them to effectively run an Ignite Training Workshop.
Students need to be familiar with the Ignite format, and should have prepared and given at least one Ignite talk previously.
Students should be familiar with the slide deck generating software that will be used to teach the workshop.
Students should be comfortable with public speaking.
Introduce the class and give an overview of how the class is structured. Specifically call out the following:
- Everyone in the class will practice giving an Ignite Talk as part of the class;
- The goal of the class is to thoroughly understand the philosophy, goals and materials in the Ignite Workshop;
- Due to the tight scheduling of the class, students are asked to respect start and stop times;
Present the Ignite Workshop Introduction Ignite Talk.
The Ignite Training Workshop was designed following four specific philosophies. These philosophies are explained in detail below. Explain each of these philosophies to the class, leaving room for discussion.
No great talk is written perfectly the first time. It takes time, practice, and revision in order to create a good talk. The Workshop is structured to force students through the process of iterating over their talks several times. There are several reasons for this.
- The iterations are designed to walk the students through the process of taking one big topic and gradually decomposing it into smaller components - first 4-5 talking points, then from 4-5 talking points to 20 slides. This helps the students learn how to decompose a big idea into smaller, easier to articulate chunks.
- Every iteration gives the student an opportunity to become more familiar with the story they are trying to tell. Familiarity with the story will yield comfort with presenting the story for others;
- Every iteration the student performs for another student will help them become more familiar with presenting their talk for the class as a whole. By the time the student performs their talk, three other people in the room have already heard the talk. That could be 20-50% of your entire class.
- Iterative performances enforce the safety of the space. Students will not perform their talk perfectly the first few times they give it. By allowing an opportunity for students to perform an imperfect talk for their partners, and providing instruction to the class on how to give good feedback within the safe space of the class, students will become more comfortable taking risks and experimenting outside their comfort zone.
Just as the Ignite format is an exercise in working creatively within constraints, the Ignite Training Workshop is an exercise in accessing creativity within constraints. The class schedule is intentionally aggressive. Few students new to speaking in the Ignite format will feel like they have had enough time to complete their talk. This is by design.
Think of each iteration as a sprint with a fixed time limit. The students need to complete the best work they can within the allotted time. The aggressive time limits will force students to learn how to make quick decisions about content, image selection, and phrasing. This will also focus students on telling their story, versus trying to memorize a script.
Finally, the time constraints virtually assure that the students will not have a perfect version of their talk at any point in the class. This will encourage students to both embrace the iteration, and embrace completion over perfection.
This philosophy is best exemplified during the slide decoration portion of the class. It is incredibly easy for speakers, even very experienced speakers, to lose an unexpected amount of time trying to find the Perfect Image for a given slide. Image selection is something that gets easier with experience, but speakers will always be in danger of losing preparation time in the quest for unattainable perfection.
Therefore, the goal is for students to complete multiple iterations of their talks, to the best of their abilities. Students can complete and present an Ignite talk with a few slides that could be better. Students cannot complete a present an Ignite talk with 15 perfect slides and 5 slides that never got finished at all.
Of the philosophies, this one is arguably the most important. If every student holds to perfection instead of completion, they will still learn skills they can use. If every student pushes back against the constraints, they will still grow from trying to work within them. If every student abandons the iterations, they will still learn about decomposing a big topic into small chunks.
But if any one student creates an unsafe learning environment, the learning of every other student will be negatively affected.
Therefore, it is important to reinforce that the safety of the classroom. This means several things:
- Making fun of other students is not tolerated;
- Nervousness is expected and accepted;
- If a student encounters difficulty during their presentation(slide malfunction, getting lost, anxiousness, stammering, etc) the classroom should be encouraging, not discouraging;
- Feedback guidance is designed to create constructive feedback;
- Workshop facilitators are personally responsible for dealing with any violation of the safety of the classroom space;
Review the prerequisites for the Workshop. Be sure that trainers have standardized on the slide deck software to be used, and that they have created a template for the class.
One Week Before The Class: Send out an email reminder to the students, reminding them to have their computers with them, and the slide deck software installed.
One Day Before The Class: Add the students to the shared folder containing the Ignite template.
Review the class introduction and talking points for How And Why To Give An Ignite Talk
Review topic selection guidance. Call out the following:
- Trainers should pay attention to the classroom energy, as students may be ready to discuss topics before the time limit has expired;
- The class should pick the topics wherever possible, rather than the trainer picking the topic. This ensures students will be more engaged in the talks when they are given;
- If the trainer can tell from experience that a particular topic would make an excellent Ignite talk, they should encourage the topic;
- Nothing is a mandate;
Review the make notes talking points, reminding trainers that they are responsible for enforcing the time limits.
Review the first iteration talking points. Call out the following:
- If students do not follow the timeline, the class will run long;
- The Good Feedback section is in service to the Safe Space philosophy;
The first five minutes of Hour 2 is intentionally self-work, to allow for students who return late from iteration one.
Review the phrases to avoid and storytelling talking points.
Demo a slide deck template as you would demo it in the class. Call out the following:
- Show the students how to do the transitions, even if you have already set them in the template. Adding and removing slides from the template is something that can break transitions, and students should know how to fix it for themselves;
- Tightly timebox the slide deck demo. Give the students the gist of the idea and let them play with it on their own;
Review the talking points for slide decoration and iteration two, reinforcing previous comments about time management and good feedback;
Review the talking points on Body Language, calling out the following:
- All students will have verbal and physical tics when they speak in class - "um", shuffling, pacing, etc. Make sure the students understand this gets better with time and practice, encouraging them to record themselves when speaking.
- Focus on the story and comfort with telling it;
Review the talking points for connecting, timing, transitions and tricks.
Review the talking points for final slide decoration, iteration three, and solo runs. Call out the following:
- Time management remains critical;
- Reinforce Good Feedback;
- Students will normally not take a solo run;
Reinforce the points about laptops being closed during presentations.
Classes should not run over mealtimes unless students are fed. In-class meals can be disruptive to the class, but are less disruptive if food arrives at presentation time.
Ask the trainers to standardize on a method of deciding who presents first.
Discuss collecting reviews via survey. Explain how trainers cannot improve their own skills without feedback and data.
Right After The Class - send out the survey, fill out the class report. Be sensitive about committing class reports that are viewable by others. Invite students to join a further conversation. Make yourself available.
The Day After The Class - Reset shared folder permissions and state.
One Week After The Class - Update class report with final survey results, communicate results up.