By Becky Kesner

When you’re stuck in a bad session, the phrase “lifelong learning” is the last thing you want to hear. Boring presenters, impractical ideas and mind-numbing information can make you wish you never had to “learn” anything again.

But there is hope. As you have probably told your students, learning is fun. If you’re bored, you’re probably not learning. Deciding that you’re going to learn something from the session, whether or not the speaker cooperates, can make a dramatic difference in your experience of the seminar. But how does that happen?

At a conference or convention, of course, you’re fairly free to go in and out of sessions. But for the next time you’re in mandatory training—or just stuck in the middle of a row of people—here are some techniques to challenge your thinking about what you can get out of a “worthless” seminar.

Tune out minor irritations

It may just be the speaker’s nasal voice or plodding way of speaking that is getting on your nerves. Consciously focus on what the speaker is saying by taking notes.

Start questioning the concepts or try to apply them to your own school. By actively focusing on the content, you will push the speaker’s mannerisms to the background.

Remove obstacles to your concentration. Being unable to concentrate on the speaker makes any presentation seem endless. Though conventional wisdom says to sit in the back of a session—so you can slip out if it’s awful—the best way to concentrate is to sit in the first few rows. You will have that many fewer people to distract you.

Make sure the people around you don’t spoil your experience either. If you are sitting next to people who spend the whole time whispering to one another...move. If they are complaining...move. Don’t add extra obstacles to your own efforts to concentrate.

Consider your environment

Frigid air conditioning, a growling stomach or a defective microphone can make you upset with the session when it’s really just the room that’s wrong. If there is something you can do to make yourself more comfortable, do it. Go out and get a sweater, visit the restroom or snack machine, or ask the speaker to speak more loudly.

In the same way, consider the physical layout. If people are sparsely scattered throughout the room, clustered in the back or sitting in rigid rows, it’s going to kill discussion or non-verbal interaction. If it’s a smaller session, consider asking the speaker to rearrange the chairs from rows into a circle.

Ask for changes—politely

 No one says you have to be a passive sufferer in an awful session. It takes thinking and tactfulness on your part, but you can often guide a speaker into a better presentation. To start, figure out what is bothering you about the speaker. Is he too vague? Too detailed? Do you disagree with a main assumption she’s making?

You can do this by writing down your unedited thoughts about the session. You’ll probably be able to figure out pretty quickly why you’re frustrated.

Once you’ve figured that out, do something about it. If she’s being too vague, ask, “Can you give us a concrete example?”

If he is longwinded, politely summarize his point by asking, “Are you saying...?”

If you disagree, introduce your own experience as “an interesting example.” Most speakers will be glad for during-session feedback. But even if the speaker ignores your question, you’ll have done something to relieve your frustration.

Solve your own problems

If the speaker doesn’t pick up on your polite hints, it’s really tough not to just blow the whole thing off and spend the rest of your time playing Tetris on your PDA. But you’ve got one more chance to get something good out of the session by trying to solve your own problems.

Use your brain and notepad to conduct your own private session the way you’d like it to run. For instance, if the speaker is too detailed, see how quickly you can guess his main concept and use the extra time to start working on the implementation of the idea. Or, in the midst of a pie-in-the-sky presentation, exchange (discreet) notes with your colleague on the practical obstacles to and strategies for applying the concepts.

Accept that it sometimes doesn’t work

Sometimes there is nothing you can do. You may disagree violently with a basic assumption that the speaker is making. You may have an obnoxious seatmate who dominates the discussion. Or the content may simply not be what you need.

In that case, look for what else you can get out of the session. Use the breaks to make contacts. Go ahead and plan for your next session. Or just sit there and think about lunch.

In any case, you should congratulate yourself on working so hard to learn something. I was sitting in a seminar recently and had to take my own advice. Was it hard? Sure. It is frustrating to sit in an unrewarding session and think of all the other things I could be doing. But I asked a few questions, made two contacts, figured out why I was frustrated, and let the organizers know what I’d really like to see.

And—looking back over my notes—the speaker did provide some good tips after all. 

Becky Kesner is manager of publications at the National Association of Elementary School Principals. She can be reached at bkesner@naesp.org. Article reprinted with permission from NAESP’s Convention News Online 2003.