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an outline in hand, my experience has been the presentation is most likely to be closerto the topic we discussed in advance and with more substance.If a speaker strays or begins telling endless war stories, I then employ anotherstrategy, using questions to try to guide the speaker back on track. These questions,sometimes called task-oriented questions, are designed to bring a person or group backto a primary task, or in this case, the topic for the class period.Play to Their StrengthsOver the years I’ve found that some courses lend themselves to guest speakers morethan others. For instance, in large lecture classes, guest speakers can be a very effectivetool for helping break the pattern of hearing one person lecture over and over again.But in smaller, skills courses I’ve found guest speakers less effective. These are oftenclasses where lectures are not the primary method of teaching. Thus it may be mostappropriate to utilize guest speakers in different and creative ways. What follows arethree suggestions.BrainstormingIn skills classes where a news product in produced, it is not uncommon to have aweekly or daily news meeting as part of the course. This is the where the students,with guidance and help from the instructor, discuss story ideas. I’ve found this to bean ideal place to ask a professional to come and participate. In news organizationsthese meetings take place every day, so it’s a setting where most professionalsimmediately feel comfortable. In this setting they can help students as they thinkabout what it is that constitutes a news story, where they can find sources, what videomight help illustrate the story and so on. No matter what you teach, gettingprofessionals involved in brainstorming with students can be effective.ProductionProfessionals also have quite a bit to offer in labs where news product is produced. Ihave invited visiting professionals into these labs to sit side-by side with students asthey write and edit stories, as they put together news program rundowns, and generallybe present, offering advice during the bedlam of putting product together to air.It may seem students could get this kind of instruction from professionals duringinternships, but I have found that’s not always the case. Having a pro visit your labtakes on a much different tenor than that of a student being in a local professionalsetting during the same process. First, the professional is on the student’s turf, so thereis a fundamental power difference. The students are in charge, the professional is theadvisor, rather than in a newsroom or business where the student is an intern who mayor not be brought into the key decision-making moments. But during the student labthe professional, rather than being under deadline pressure and often not able toexplain the process they are in the middle of, are now available and open to questions.Professionals who might not be gifted in speaking before a group may be excellentwhen teaching one-on-one during the production process.CritiquingThe final way I’ve employed professionals in classroom settings is to invite a group ofBEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 73