This document discusses the key differences between presentations and lectures. Presentations are meant to convey information to an audience, while lectures aim to help students learn material. Lectures require considering students' backgrounds and structuring content to fit within a course. Interaction is more important in lectures through questions, activities, and building rapport with students. Visual aids and handouts also differ in purpose and content between presentations and lectures.

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From Presenting to Lecturing: Adapting
Material for Classroom Delivery
Presentations are a common tool for which
graduate students and faculty often receive
training during their undergraduate and
graduate course work. Lectures seem to be a
natural offshoot from presentations, but there
are significant differences between the two.
We have identified contextual, structural,
interaction and delivery components that are
commonly different in lectures than in
presentations. Keep in mind, however, that
lectures and presentations are not two totally different entities, and that it would be more accurate to view
them as two ends of a continuum.
An event such as a guest lecture shares elements of both a lecture and a presentation. As such, though
presentations and lectures are presented separately here, you might very well find yourself combining
elements of a lecture and elements of a presentation.
Context
Presentation Lecture
General
Context Stands alone Fits within the context of a series
Might be within the context of a of lectures, a whole course, and
series of lectures, but those are even a whole program
generally unrelated
Focus of
Event “Telling” to convey a few points Helping students learn the
and/or findings material
Audience
Colleagues Students
Relevance
Information is important within What do I want my students to
the context of your research, learn and why?
and for its connections to
related fields
Objectives
What impression should my What do I want my students to
audience leave with? learn and why?
Structure
Presentation Lecture
Opener
Often receive an introduction You start the lecture (e.g., “May
from organizer – silence already I have your attention please?”
achieved or “Let’s get started”) • Wait for
Use interesting statistics, silence before beginning
puzzling questions, etc. to keep lecture
attention Remind students of what was
covered in the last class, then
preview new material
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Amount of
Content Because you are just “telling” Limit yourself to about 3 main
your audience about the concepts/50-minute lecture
material, you can deal with
many points in a short amount
of time
Organization of
Content Generally divided according to Structure varies depending on
research headings (e.g., material and course structure
introduction, purpose, methods, (e.g., topic by topic,
findings, conclusions) chronological, problem–
centered, etc.)
Explanation of
Relevance of Generally only given in Is critical in motivating students
Content introduction and conclusion to listen
Helps students retain
information
May need to be restated
throughout lecture
Define/Explain
Unfamiliar Needed to follow material Needed to follow and learn
Terminology Audience’s knowledge of your material
topic may be quite varied Know the amount of
background information your
students possess
Use of
Connections Harder to do since Critical in helping students
presentations are often “stand understand and cognitively
alone” (vs. series of lectures) organize new information in
Might want to outline their minds
implications for other related Use to link new material to
fields previously learned material
Use to explain relationships
between key topics
Use of
Repetition Repeat or redefine the main Use to emphasize main
concepts when you discuss concepts and highlight what
them – your audience cannot go students need to learn/retain
back to what you said 20 Repeat and rephrase the main
minutes ago points throughout your lecture
Use a preview and review of the Try to summarize each
main points at the beginning subsection
and end
Closing
Need a definite ending to signal Wrap up class with a review of
closing (“In conclusion,” or the day’s material AND a
“Today I’ve told you…”) preview for next day
Recap your main findings / main
points
Interaction
Presentation Lecture
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Note-taking
Generally not expected of Expected of students, so
presentation participants consider what you want your
students' notes to look like when
designing a lecture and your AV
materials
Interactive
Activities Generally are none, but they can Use them when possible to
be incorporated if desired or if break
audience expects them the flow of the lecture,
emphasize
key material, or provide
‘handson’
experience
Question
Strategies Few, if any, questions from Use to verify students’
presenter (generally just rhetorical understanding of concepts,
or call for show of hands) consolidate their knowledge,
and break up the flow of the
lecture
Prepare questions to ask
students during the lecture
Receiving
Questions Generally are accepted from the Accept questions throughout the
audience at end of a presentation lecture
Building
Rapport Is still an important part of Set a positive environment from
presenting the first day of class
Showing a lack of professionalism Showing a lack of
or a lack of aptitude can have professionalism or a lack of
negative consequences on how aptitude can have negative
your peers perceive your consequences on the classroom
credibility environment for the whole term
Scheduled
Breaks No scheduled break during short Need to have scheduled breaks
presentations (< 1 hour) for long lectures (e.g., 3 hours)
Delivery and Materials
Presentation Lecture
Delivery Skills
The delivery skills involved in a lecture and a presentation are the same
Visual Aids
Audience is unlikely to take Use to support your lecture, not
notes, so avoid overloading replace it, and to provide
them with information important information
Presenters generally use Remember that students will write
overheads or PowerPoint for down everything you put on visual
a more “professional” look aids
Generally pre-prepared, so Include only main points, critical
not as flexible as visuals for a information and definitions
lecture Use headings and subheadings to
help your students organize the
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material
May use the blackboard,
overheads, PowerPoint, or a
combination
Often created in real-time during
class to reflect outcomes of
interactive exercises or to help
pace lecture
Other AV
Materials Not commonly used, often Can use videos or demonstrations
due to time constraints and to illustrate key points
audience expectations
Handouts or
Course Notes Provide an outline as well as Use as a teaching tool, so use
relevant diagrams/pictures headings and subheadings, and
etc. include only main ideas so
Can include the full details of students can annotate with
what was presented, due to material from lecture
limited audience note-taking Use also to engage students and
(e.g., print out compressed provide incentive to attend
version of slides) lectures
Always include a copy of visual
information, as it is often copied
with errors
Flow of Talk
Design discrete points to flow Keep in mind that the average
without interruption from attention span does not exceed
beginning to end 15- 20 minutes
Divide lecture material into 10-15
minute segments
Use activities, summaries, and
questions to break up the flow and
to help maintain the learner’s
attention span
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