6. REFERENCE THE PLAN *
Usually you have a SEMINAR PLAN, but this plan is not obvious to the participants. The participants ask themselves
What does the teacher want to tell us?
What is the goal?
How does this topic relate to the overall goal?
If the participants do not know where you will lead them, they cannot easily follow you through the content. The seminar might seem unstructured although you have a plan. Real motivation cannot build up.
Therefore, tell the participants about the plan. Show it to them before you start a session. Briefly tell the participants what will be covered in the current session and show them where the current session is located in the overall context. Also reference the plan during the sessions and when you reach a goal or milestone. The participants will never be surpassed and they will be able to put the current topic into a larger context.
As always, there are different possibilities. You can show the table of contents, and show where the course currently is. You can just tell what's comimg. Another alternative is to put the table of contents on the wall and always have a pointer to the current topic. If there is not too much content in a seminar, you could add a simplified version of the TOC on each transparency, highlighting the current section. Be sure to use short names for each section, so that they can easily be referenced. REVIEW AFTER BREAKS is also a good way to REFERENCE THE PLAN.