Hook Your Audience
The remit of Hook Your Audience by Paul McCrory is clear from the outset: it is a book for interactive informal educators in any field, although the author is a scientist, and thus his anecdotes and examples are scientific. The text aims to collate “techniques [that] aren’t written down anywhere, in detail, for educators to follow” and introduce a shared language.
Teaching fellows and outreach workshop/stall providers could equally benefit from many of the tips, such as his section on the “lure of live experiences” that discusses how to draw your audience into dialogue and co-create a discovery-based learning experience. The guide is not a rulebook, rather it provides examples, suggestions, and invites the readers to reflect upon the success or failure of extreme practices.
The Presenter
Although the book is called Hook Your Audience, substantial page space is given to you, the presenter. Managing yourself is easier than managing an audience, and it is through you that the content is accessed.
McCrory includes tips on stage presence that vary from creating vulnerability (and thus likeability) to heightening and exaggerating your personality (“If you don’t feel like a cartoon character hamming it up, you’re not amplifying your emotions enough”), and analysing how others see you.
Elements that could be afforded more coverage include use of space and psychological devices such as a “funny spot” or “storytelling spotlight”, as well as voice manoeuvres, and manipulation of volume. The advice to video yourself is sound, but novice presenters will require more guidance on what to look for when they do.
New and refreshing content included the various reasons you may not be able to answer a question (e.g., “nobody knows!”), or the truth that style and substance do not have to be mutually exclusive. Most satisfying is McCrory’s undaunted definition of that indefinable quality – charisma. Charisma “relate[s] to how expressive, confident, powerful and present you are”, he says, doing exactly what the book sets out to do: sweep the mystique under the carpet and replace it with down-to-earth advice.
The Audience
McCrory powerfully advocates for listening to one’s audience. He evokes strong imagery such as “audience barometers” – those expressive members of the group that a presenter may want to watch. Even silent audiences constantly communicate via nonverbal cues. This provides the presenter with power: power to select volunteers who are keen, but not too keen; power to bully them into too many calls-and-responses; power to manipulate their questions and answers to move forwards, or be brave and see where they go. The challenge of the performer is striking the balance between what the audience want (interaction) and what you know they need (structure, narrative arc). McCrory offers one key strategy for doing this through the use of internal hooks (the pure ‘interestingness’ of your content) and external hooks (tricks and stunts to keep the audience engaged).
I do not agree with all the points the author makes. He advocates the use of rhetorical questions to get the audience thinking, but unanswered questions can be a Chekhov's gun on stage, distracting an audience and providing an unsatisfactory conclusion when they’re never answered. Equally, critical advice could save novice performers from making a disastrous faux pas when selecting volunteers: if you’re using an adult, obtain their permission (first, if you can). Picking the wrong teacher to tease on stage, for example, can weaken their authority in the eyes of the children and cause problems later.
Evaluation
Perhaps my favourite part of this book is McCrory’s head-on dissection of misconceptions about the value of one-off educational experiences and the supposition that anything performed on stage is insincere. Many educational experiences, especially in schools, assume that all important outcomes are measurable, and thus neglect effective outcomes such as attitude changes and motivation. “Most schools have become victims of the tyranny of the measurable”, McCrory betrays: “if you can't put a number on it, you can't improve it”. This can also lead to presenter disillusionment – but it should not. Informal education, McCrory explains, can be successful precisely because it diverges from negative formal educational experiences, encouraging engagement and question asking rather than question answering. Nevertheless, he warns of bias: it’s tempting to judge your successes by the forms filled and audience members who interact – but what about the silent ones?
Summary
I reviewed an early draft of this text, and some of the writing needs tightening up, but other sections were excellently written, peppered with personal anecdotes that brought it to life and imaginative, active chapter headers. I look forward to the final edition that is due for publication later in 2019.
Teaching fellows and outreach workshop/stall providers could equally benefit from many of the tips, such as his section on the “lure of live experiences” that discusses how to draw your audience into dialogue and co-create a discovery-based learning experience. The guide is not a rulebook, rather it provides examples, suggestions, and invites the readers to reflect upon the success or failure of extreme practices.
The Presenter
Although the book is called Hook Your Audience, substantial page space is given to you, the presenter. Managing yourself is easier than managing an audience, and it is through you that the content is accessed.
McCrory includes tips on stage presence that vary from creating vulnerability (and thus likeability) to heightening and exaggerating your personality (“If you don’t feel like a cartoon character hamming it up, you’re not amplifying your emotions enough”), and analysing how others see you.
Elements that could be afforded more coverage include use of space and psychological devices such as a “funny spot” or “storytelling spotlight”, as well as voice manoeuvres, and manipulation of volume. The advice to video yourself is sound, but novice presenters will require more guidance on what to look for when they do.
New and refreshing content included the various reasons you may not be able to answer a question (e.g., “nobody knows!”), or the truth that style and substance do not have to be mutually exclusive. Most satisfying is McCrory’s undaunted definition of that indefinable quality – charisma. Charisma “relate[s] to how expressive, confident, powerful and present you are”, he says, doing exactly what the book sets out to do: sweep the mystique under the carpet and replace it with down-to-earth advice.
The Audience
McCrory powerfully advocates for listening to one’s audience. He evokes strong imagery such as “audience barometers” – those expressive members of the group that a presenter may want to watch. Even silent audiences constantly communicate via nonverbal cues. This provides the presenter with power: power to select volunteers who are keen, but not too keen; power to bully them into too many calls-and-responses; power to manipulate their questions and answers to move forwards, or be brave and see where they go. The challenge of the performer is striking the balance between what the audience want (interaction) and what you know they need (structure, narrative arc). McCrory offers one key strategy for doing this through the use of internal hooks (the pure ‘interestingness’ of your content) and external hooks (tricks and stunts to keep the audience engaged).
I do not agree with all the points the author makes. He advocates the use of rhetorical questions to get the audience thinking, but unanswered questions can be a Chekhov's gun on stage, distracting an audience and providing an unsatisfactory conclusion when they’re never answered. Equally, critical advice could save novice performers from making a disastrous faux pas when selecting volunteers: if you’re using an adult, obtain their permission (first, if you can). Picking the wrong teacher to tease on stage, for example, can weaken their authority in the eyes of the children and cause problems later.
Evaluation
Perhaps my favourite part of this book is McCrory’s head-on dissection of misconceptions about the value of one-off educational experiences and the supposition that anything performed on stage is insincere. Many educational experiences, especially in schools, assume that all important outcomes are measurable, and thus neglect effective outcomes such as attitude changes and motivation. “Most schools have become victims of the tyranny of the measurable”, McCrory betrays: “if you can't put a number on it, you can't improve it”. This can also lead to presenter disillusionment – but it should not. Informal education, McCrory explains, can be successful precisely because it diverges from negative formal educational experiences, encouraging engagement and question asking rather than question answering. Nevertheless, he warns of bias: it’s tempting to judge your successes by the forms filled and audience members who interact – but what about the silent ones?
Summary
I reviewed an early draft of this text, and some of the writing needs tightening up, but other sections were excellently written, peppered with personal anecdotes that brought it to life and imaginative, active chapter headers. I look forward to the final edition that is due for publication later in 2019.
