Last week, we spoke about the best way to end a lecture, and this week we’ll be discussing the best way to start one.

The wrong way to start a lecture

We’re going to risk the ire of more than a few educators here, but here it goes — it is NOT a good idea to begin with a lecture summary, outline or agenda.

Yes. Summaries are meant to zoom in and convey the crux of the matter, and so they do the exact opposite of what we’re about to suggest.

Zoom out and show students the larger picture

Before your students start learning something, it helps them to understand a couple of things:

Why is it worth learning?

How is it an extension of what they know?

In other words, students need to see the larger picture to be invested in the learning.

This is where Essential Questions come in

Essential questions (also called Guiding Questions) are questions that you pose to the class before or at the start of a lecture, to help students understand what they’re about to learn, why they need to learn it, and how it is an extension of what they already know.