I watched the impromtus during our final class last night, and it appears they were well-received. I changed the format of how I handle these, as well as making the questions more open-ended and general than traditional business-related issues, and then used a
Critical Incident Questionnaire to better understand the experience. There are a few things that stick out in my mind about this end-of-course activity:
- Speaking on your feet is not scary with practice.
- Seeing how things work well and then trying them out can be effective (such as asking the audience a question and getting their responses at the beginning to capture their attention).
- Humor goes a long way to engaging and maintaining audience involvement.
- Using a general communications model can be applicable to all communications situations.
- Using a personal story on a topic with which the audience can directly relate is engaging.
I am pleased with the results, and like the way it seemed to end the course on a positive note by taking what we learned and applying it to a larger context (life). I hope my students found it as useful as well.