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I prefer participation based presentations. Minds tend to get numb when being "spoken to."
When we have the opportunity of having a proschool instructor or any other MiLB umpires appear at early association meetings we ask them to start similarily as they do at school, at the beginning.
They discuss and demonstrate proper wearing of uniform and equipment, the importance of playing the "role" of the umpire, followed by demonstrating and practicing with class participation, plate stances, removing masks, the mechanics of calling calls and strikes and safes and outs.
While an outdoor facility would be nice, all of this can be done in a class room, if necessary. It gets people off their chairs and improves the chances of true learning by doing.
In the second session I would practice the base umpire stance, safes and outs again, proper mechanics of calling a balk and perhaps a talk on game management, along the lines of when to keep a manager in the game as opposed to when to facilitate his departure.
These are all things that pro umpires, due to their training and evaluations traditionally do better than amateurs and since most of our member get limited time with pro umpires, this is what we cover most.
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