A great set of suggestions!!

Thought this may be of interest.

Excerpt: There are five main components to pulling together a good presentation: 1. Choose a goal; 2. Find a storyline that will help the group reach that goal; 3. Develop a series of activities or a method of presentation that allows you to develop your storyline. Don't let your media determine your storyline! 4. Remember that your role is to facilitate the group reaching its shared goal. This is your primary responsibility! 5. Remember that it's not about you. All that matters is the experience of the other people in the room.

Also related to our discussion on "Failure"

Relevant to topic inT is for Training #40

Mentioned in Feb 26 show.

"2) In the united States, there is some disagreement about what constitutes "fair use" of copyrighted materials. Comes up most frequently when people are considering use of cartoons or video clips (or playing a movie). Some copyright owners (e.g., Hollywood studios) take the position that even if you are in a nonprofit, educational environment you can't use anything without permission. Other folks (lawyers representing libraries, for example) take a different view. The best advice is to get permission. The costs vary from reasonable (e.g., Scott Adams) to unreasonable (anything from a TV network or major studio). If you choose to live dangerously, the risk varies with the size of the audience, the size of the sponsoring organiation, whether it is a nonprofit or for-profit organization, and whether the presentation (or some reference to it) will be on line. Because of this risk, many organizations are requiring presenters to remove all possibly copyrighted images from presentations, or prove that permission was given."

I shy away from using cartoons, copyrighted pictures and video clips (although I will include a video clip now and then--especially if it's an unpaid gig.) How do others approach the copyright issues of using clips and cartoons?

"# Play uplifting music. No one wants to walk into a quiet room. Keep the atmosphere energized. # Greet students as they come in the door. Make students feel like they are welcome. This is a great opportunity to also get to know them a little. Sometimes the information you learn can be tied into classroom examples, too. # Let the students do the work. Let them write on the boards, brainstorm together, come up with ideas/solutions, etc. # Have toys available. Keep the busy-bodies busy. Give them things to keep their hands active and their minds on the topic. # Keep note taking to a minimum. Some of us just love to take notes. Try to minimize or eliminate it by promising to give a handout with all the information at the end of the session. Keeping everyone engaged during class tends enhance learning and comprehension. # Use a bright, colorful room. Have you ever taken a class in a gray, drab room and had the energy taken right out of you? A bright, colorful room does make a big difference. # Wear bright colors. Wearing bright colors energizes your students just like the brightness of the room. # Feed them. Food or candy is always a great energizer. It really helps with the tired time in the afternoon. # Get a summary of the class from the students. Let each student have a say in what they are taking away from the experience. It's a reinforcement of what they learned today"