3 1 Pedagogical Training That Works! INTRODUCTION According to Tompkins (1990, 655), “teaching (i.e., presenting) was exactly like sex for me—something you weren’t supposed to talk about or focus on in any way, but you were supposed to be able to do it properly when the time came.” Although we willingly talk a lot about what we are supposed to present, we seem embarrassed or afraid to ask how we are to present it (Charles 2015). Yet, we still just expect the untrained to go in there and present dynamically. Surely you have heard someone exclaim, “So and so is a born presenter.” It is true some lucky presenters have had a head start with higher intelli- gence, verbal fluency, patience, good looks (yep, it helps), a pleasant-speaking voice capable of great variation, charm, a mind for detail, and a good mem- ory. Luckily, for the rest of us, dynamic presenting depends upon master- ing a set of skills that can be learned. The world of theater has known this forever. THE IMPORTANCE OF PEDAGOGY As a professional, just when you thought your learning and training were over, the powers-to-be remind you that your job also entails teaching and presenting. A class must be taught. A conference presentation must be
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