Becoming a Better Teacher Will Change Your Life
I once had a student complain about how no one understood him.
He claimed to have ideas about life-changing research, but no one seemed to care when he discussed them.
So, I asked him to explain the research. Here was his response;
"Employing the advanced CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing mechanism, we could aim to integrate artificially synthesized nucleotide sequences into targeted exon regions of genomic DNA, thereby facilitating the potential amelioration or complete eradication of pathogenic genetic anomalies responsible for multifarious hereditary conditions."
I didn't understand a single word he said. I really tried, but it's been a few years since I've studied biology.
I could see in this student that his ideas were genuinely life-changing. He wouldn't stop insisting otherwise.
I gave him another chance to elaborate.
After a bit of prompting and coaching, this was his new response;
"Okay..well..imagine if we could edit our DNA like correcting typos in a document. My research idea is about using a special tool to fix genetic errors that cause inherited disorders, potentially stopping them before they even start. Disorders like thalassemia and cystic fibrosis."
This made way more sense. It was much clearer and more straightforward about how his research is ground-breaking and why others should care about it.
But returning to this notion of "no one understanding him," He isn't the only person who struggles with this issue. I see this problem all of the time in:
Business
Academia
Personal gatherings
Professional settings
Many people have 10/10 ideas, ideas that would genuinely change the world. However, their ability to present the concept is 2/10.
The idea loses its impact as soon as it is presented.
Not because the idea is wrong; instead, it's the presentation and ability to teach others about the idea holding them back.
In short, our inability to teach others causes many of us to have brilliant ideas stuck in our heads.
Skills that we don't talk about enough.
Here are a few processes we do every day:
Learn
Teach
Present
Network
Communicate
However, we are rarely taught how to do any of these processes.
When were you last taught how to learn, network, communicate, or teach?
We're expected to trudge through our studies, presentations, and conversations. As a result, we're forced to execute based on what feels intuitive. However, 95% of the time, what feels intuitive only allows us to perform at a level far from our goals.
As a student, professional, CEO, founder, or human, you're ALWAYS teaching.
Here's my simple definition:
Teaching = Information coming out.
You're constantly talking about what you do for work or what you study, the project you're working on, or your passion and goals. You're always teaching other people more about yourself.
The consequence of poor teaching results in:
An inability to impact or influence
Miscommunication or misunderstandings
Missed job or academia-related opportunities
Poor teaching made me uninteresting. I discussed this in the newsletter post two weeks ago. In short, I needed to be able to communicate and teach properly to make friends and have a social life.
That's why I value this topic of teaching so much. I know what opportunities can be unlocked once you develop stronger teaching skills.
You owe it to yourself to teach better.
Becoming a better teacher.
I didn't realize how bad of a teacher I was until I started doing more public speaking at 16.
I made many fundamental mistakes, which made it hard for audiences to truly understand what I was about.
Shift your mindset.
Establish the big picture.
Teach a ten-year-old.
Develop your analogy bank.
Rehearse backstage.
1.) Shift your mindset.
Before any change, there has to be some shift in your mindset.
The purpose of any teaching you should do is to provide value.
Most people confuse providing value with sounding smart and incorporating many terminology and acronyms people wouldn't understand.
If you're:
Too hard to understand
Do not relate what you are saying to the listener
Avoid giving the listener any chance to ask questions
You are doing the opposite of providing value.
I know when we learn anything cool or new, it's easy to get sucked into the details and realize that the person we are speaking to doesn't really know much about the topic.
This is known as the curse of knowledge, a term coined by C.S Lewis.
" When we know something, we don't realize that there are some people out there who don't know the thing."
If you can be clear, concise, and relatable when teaching, not only will everyone comprehend what you are saying, but they will also know what to do with the information you have taught. This has many positive effects, such as landing jobs or client work and allowing your students, staff, or mentees to perform at a higher level.
2.) Establish the big picture.
Fetch a book in your room. If you don't have a book in your room, this is your sign to start reading more.
If you look at the book's first few pages, you will see an index page.
This index page includes all of the significant chapters in the book. It is critical because it establishes the big picture for the book, so readers are not surprised as they progress through the book.
Imagine you were in a class, and your lecturer started teaching a topic without briefing you about the topic or the learning objectives.
Imagine how confused you'd be.
But the funny thing is that most of us do this in conversations without realizing it. We go on tangents, thinking that we're making sense, only for the other person to go "mhm" and pretend they know what you're talking about. P.S. asking, "Does that make sense?" will not fix any deficiencies in teaching skills.
Before you teach anyone or give a presentation, take the time to include a quick index page for yourself. Establish the big picture.
"I want to explain gene mutations to you, so firstly, there's the definition. In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA…"
Instead, this becomes:
I want to explain gene mutations to you. First, I'll go over the definition, then I'll go over the types of gene mutations, and finally, I'll explain why learning about gene mutations is important.
Establishing the foundation gives your listeners a foundation to work with. They can anticipate what you'll say and connect all the dots for themselves.
The approach recommended here in learning science and pedagogy is derived from techniques such as chunking, scaffolded Instruction, whole-part-whole teaching, and layered learning.
3.) Teach imaginary 10-year-olds.
Here's a rule;
If you're ever teaching or presenting, imagine your listeners as 10-year-olds.
This will force you to dumb down and simplify your content. It will make you ditch the terminology and teach in a way that anyone in the room can understand, regardless of their context and prior knowledge.
Now, you might be thinking…
"But what if I need to teach a group of experts? Like professionals, lecturers, or an academic group."
You should always start with the basics and get into the terminology and complicated topics. In fact, if you start as if you were teaching a ten-year-old, you'd be able to prepare a real ten-year-old for the content you're about to teach.
" But what if teaching an imaginary ten-year-old reduces the detail of my explanations?"
That is precisely the point.
If you still need to include details, establish the basics first. When you boil it down, listeners will better understand the details.
I do this for all of my consults, presentations, and workshops. If I realize that my listeners have more knowledge about the topic than I had initially thought, I expand my vocabulary and willingness to discuss more nuanced topics.
4.) Develop your analogy bank.
Most information takes time to learn.
There are many procedures, conditions, terminology, graphs, and data to grasp.
For example, you might need help communicating what solution your business solves.
As a result, you'll lose potential clients, opportunities, and lots of money.
If this is the case, it calls for you to amp up your teaching ability. However, you also would benefit from using analogies.
Analogies are the perfect way to simplify anything that you are teaching.
For example:
Complex definition: We're a SaaS enterprise that architects a multifaceted, cloud-hosted interface that amalgamates disparate customer relationship management tools into a cohesive, dynamic service system, optimizing operational responsiveness and data-driven business decision-making.
Using an analogy here will be far more straightforward:
Analogy: We're a SaaS company. We built a remote control that manages all your entertainment devices from one place. Just as the remote simplifies controlling your T.V., sound system, and devices, we simplify customer support by putting all the tools into one easy-to-use platform.
It's way easier to digest an analogy.
You tie your explanation to something intuitive. This way, your listener needs to invest much less energy to understand what you're teaching them.
Analogies are critical in the context of sales, education, and marketing.
5.) Rehearse backstage.
Teaching on the spot with little prep is a precious skill.
It's also one of the most difficult skills to develop.
Before presenting or teaching in public, practice your content and explanation behind the scenes. Record yourself, practice with your friends, and get better at teaching.
As a coach, I had to do 100 hours of practice speaking before I could speak to a real student, and even then, despite getting world-class training and calibration, I found it hard to teach on the spot.
Even at my first workshop, after 2.5 years of prep, I struggled to stay in the flow.
This doesn't mean you should never teach; instead, never underestimate the level of mastery required to become even a good enough teacher.
What's next?
I've said it before, and I'll repeat it.
Becoming a better presenter, teacher, and communicator has been my best investment.
Teaching and impact are among the most valuable skill sets you can have. These five methods I've shared are only the tip of the iceberg. I have lots more to learn and lots more to reflect on.
If you can teach in a way that changes one person's life, it has rippling effects.
Their family benefits, which ripples down to more families, businesses, companies, cities, states, nations, and the world.
Do it for yourself. Teach better. Change the world while you're at it.
Have you got a presentation, workshop or event you’re teaching at and need support delivering it? Find out more here.
See you all next week.
- Tanzeer
