Lecture Notes (Patreon)

I don't read off scripts when I'm teaching classes or making videos. This isn't a boast so much as a statement of method; with a script I might remember more of the details that I end up adding later with text on the screen or pinned comments. But it springs from my experience as a student, when I remember appreciating the professors who made eye contact more, and also respecting that they knew what they were talking about and weren't relying on notes for something they expected us to remember by heart on the exams.

I do often use written notes, but they're more likely to contain just some examples that I want to remember to use, or facts or ideas that I want to make sure I don't forget to bring up. In the case of relating a saga or other story, they might contain the family tree of major characters plus a few little hints that help me remember key details, sometimes in tiny pictures or symbols. I thought some of you might like to see what I'm usually looking at, and so this is a kind of fun example: my lecture notes from a recent 50-minute recap and presentation of Hrólfs saga kraka (which of course is one of the two sagas in my next upcoming book with Hackett).