Lectures give any user the opportunity to talk about topics that interest them with the rest of the room. Lecturers discuss detailed and interesting information, and other users may chime in with their own questions for you to answer and interact! For research or inspiration, past lecture pastebins can be found here.
Here’s a brief rundown of some FAQs about lectures:
What can I talk about? Whatever you’re interested in! Well, to an extent - topics must adhere to PS global and A&C room rules (i.e. no mature or inappropriate content). Also, try and think of how other users will react to your topic, and how to keep them engaged. Roomstaff can help you with the latter, so don’t worry too much.
How long should my lecture be? While there’s no set time limit on lectures, they should typically range from 30 to 45 minutes. We’re pretty flexible - so long as you get your points across well, and in a detailed and engaging manner, please feel free to choose how long to set your lecture.
Who are “roomstaff”, and how can they help me with my lecture? Roomstaff are users with the driver (%), moderator (@), or room owner (#) rank in A&C. An up-to-date list of these users can be pulled up by typing “/roomstaff” in the A&C chat. Roomstaff can help you out with any questions not covered by these FAQs, help pick a time and date for your lecture, help you make sure it’s interesting and detailed, and also to help you link pictures or gifs in chat to give your lecture that little something extra!
Do I need to submit a draft before I host a lecture? Yep - these are called “lecture notes”, and they help roomstaff understand the direction in which you want to take your lecture. These should contain the general structure of your lecture, including the key talking points you plan to bring up as well as any pictures/gifs you wish to use. Then, they can give you all the help you need to make it a success! If your request is approved, then roomstaff will add it to the official room events schedule. Deadlines for lecture notes submission are on a case-by-case basis, but be prepared to submit them to roomstaff in decent advance of your proposed lecture date.
Lecture Structure
This is a general skeleton for any successful lecture and can be used if you are unsure as to where to begin. You don’t have to follow it to a T, but it’s a good outline for what roomstaff will be expecting
Intro
Give a brief overview as to what you plan on discussing for this lecture. Not every user listening will come in with previous knowledge on the topic, so make it as easy for them to understand as possible
E.g. if you want to do a lecture on country X, think about: Where is the country? What language(s) are spoken there? What does the flag look like? These are things that will allow listeners to get a general idea of the country in question before you dive into the meaty stuff, whether it be wars, history, or religion.
Points
Points form the “body” of any good lecture - they are snapshots of the topic you wish to discuss. They carry the vast majority of the information you’re gonna give to those listening, so be prepared for discussion/Q+A during!
Try to decide on the points beforehand, so you know what you’re gonna be discussing come lecture time
Points usually have “sub-points”, or other bits and pieces of information related to the broader point in question e.g. if you’re doing a lecture on the FIFA World Cup, and one of your main points is about the most recent World Cup, then your sub-points could be about: Who won? What interesting or noteworthy things happened? Which soccer player was top goalscorer, or best player?
Conclusion
Like writing a paper, your conclusion should be concise and reflective of what you’ve already discussed. Now’s not the time to introduce new topics, but to summarize what you’ve brought up, and how it may tie into any overarching themes.
The majority of questions by other users listening to your lecture will come here, after you’ve said all your points.
If you want, you can hold ALL questions until the end, and deal with them then. While this can be just as successful, try to make sure you keep your audience engaged in other ways during your lecture!