For many students, a course requirement such as this one is the first time they have attended an evening lecture that is open to the public. This list of guidelines is intended to help you negotiate that experience.

1) Check to see if you have to make reservations. For certain events, especially those where a meal is served or printed materials provided, the organizers wish to have a head count in advance. For others, a ticket or admission fee may be needed. Find this out ahead of time, and come prepared with anything you may need.

2) Dress nicely. It is expected that college students will attend evening events on campus dressed more casually than other adults, but you should make some effort to appear professional and clean. Pants are preferable to shorts, for example, a clean T-shirt better than a ragged one, and workout clothes or pajamas are definitely not appropriate. You should make an extra effort to dress nicely for off campus events.

3) Turn off your cell phone and put it away altogether during the lecture. Sending text messages from a lecture hall is the height of rudeness to the invited speaker, and is distracting to the others around you.

4) Plan to stay for the entire event. The question-and-answer session is part of the lecture. You are expected to remain in the room until the event is completely over, and that includes the Q&A. At every event, there is a group of students (who presumably do not know better) who get up and troop out as soon as the lecturer has concluded her/his formal remarks, before the Q&A begins. It is a behavior that reflects very badly on JCU students. If I am in attendance and see you doing this, or one of my colleagues notices you leaving before the end of the event, be aware that I will not give you credit for attending the event at all.

5) Communicate to the speaker, through your body language, that you are listening. You may think that you are invisible in the midst of the large crowd, but be sure that the speaker is watching you carefully. Be an active listener. Nod, smile, laugh at her/his jokes, make eye contact. You should never be caught in a lecture snacking, propping feet on the seat in front of you, chatting with friends sitting nearby, lounging, texting, chewing tobacco, or napping.

6) Do your research. Learn as much as you can about the speaker, her/his ideas, books s/he has published, etc. Do some background research into the subject of the lecture. You will be a more active and engaged listener if you understand what the speaker is talking about.

7) Take notes. Be sure you are paying attention by trying to come up with a question for the Q&A session, whether or not you actually ask it. Which leads us to:

8) Ask questions! Invited speakers love it when students speak up in the Q&A session. Keep your question brief and to the point. In your question, reference something from the lecture and ask for illumination. For example: "Doctor Knowitall, you mentioned in your lecture that you've found that 3+4=8, but I have read elsewhere that 3+4=7. Have you noticed the same discrepancy in your research?"

9) Arrive on time. You're likely to miss important information (and disrupt others) if you fail to arrive during the introductory remarks.

10) Sign in, if sheets are provided, or get some printed material that shows that you were there. I might ask you for it.

11) Enjoy yourself! Take the opportunity to learn something new!