You may not want to speak professionally for a living.
You may not be a senior pastor, a keynote speaker, or a high school physics professor, but at one point or another you will have to teach somebody something.
It’s part of what it means to be human – to pass along what we know to others.
Wouldn’t you like to be the best you can be? Read on.
We Teach Every Day
Think about it. You probably taught somebody something today, right? You taught your son or daughter an important life lesson. You showed a colleague at work how to do something simple.
If you’re a worship leader, you will need to teach your band songs. You will need to teach new believers how to worship.
I realize you may consider yourself just a singer or simply a band leader or merely a participant. And while you may not have the spiritual gift of teaching, that doesn’t mean you’re exempt from sharing your gift with others.
It’s a part of life to pass along what we know.
Are you convinced yet? You should be. Because I want to help you become a rockstar, kick butt teacher through this simple blog post. “Rockstar” in the sense that what you teach is taught with clarity – what you speak leads people to change.
While it may not guarantee you’ll be on the main stage of a major conference next year, I’m convinced these principles will make you better. If, that is, you apply them.
A Simple Exercise In Killing Excuses
I’ve recently had more opportunities to teach than ever. To be honest, I’ve never considered myself a very good teacher. Here’s why:
- I don’t know how to prepare very good messages, though Andy Stanley has helped me a ton
- My mind goes blank when I see the blank stares of an audience
- I say ‘um’ too much and speak too fast
- I don’t think I know enough
- I look at my notes too much
- My jokes are stupid, my humor dry
- I envision the negative thoughts people might be thinking
Now that I’ve got my excuses out of the way, it’s your turn.
Seriously.
Take a break from this post and write out your excuses for why you suck at teaching. I want you to get all that crap out of your system before we move on.
Go ahead. The bloggity blog can wait.
Done?
Awesome. Thanks for doing that. Interacting with this post will help you gain the maximum benefit.
5 Ways To Improve Your Teaching
Now that our excuses are out in the open, let’s talk about how we can become better.
1. Be present in the moment
“OK, David. Isn’t that sort of a blanket sweep statement? Live in the moment? How do I do that?”
Well, all I can say is that I became a better teacher when I learned to be present with the people in the room – to be “fully there” for this person, this small group, this congregation, this workshop.
Rather than stressing about the task list tomorrow brings, be with your people and help them here and now. I assure you, it’s more life changing than you may think. Slow down. Enjoy being with people.
2. Realize the audience are your fans
One of your greatest downfalls as a public speaker and teacher is envisioning the negative thoughts people might be thinking. You don’t know what they’re thinking. But I can assure you, more people are eating up your content than you think.
Sure, there will be the bored, distracted sleepers. But don’t worry about them. Visualize everyone as your biggest fan. It will give you confidence and enable you to deliver your best.
3. Write Every Day
You know I couldn’t leave this post without mentioning writing. I’ve already talked about how writing makes you a better speaker. It’s true. Do it.
4. Practice A Lot
Tim Sanders taught me the value of practicing my speeches. I’ve found that when I’m nervous about my delivery, I don’t deliver clear thoughts. My teaching is poor.
But when I rehearse my delivery I gain clarity in my content. My mind can rest, knowing I am ready and have a powerful message prepared. Along the lines of practice, push yourself to teach a lot. The more you do it, the more confidence you’ll develop.
5. Lead People To Action
When you teach, make sure you give your audience action steps. Whether it’s one person or a stadium, leave people with a clear path of what they should do with what you’ve said.
For example, when I taught our ministry school about worship, I had each one of them lead the class in worship without music. It was a step of action – a chance to take what they’ve learned and apply it.
Action is the incubator of life-change. People grow when they apply, not just think. Make sure your teaching is always marked by action.
I believe in the power of teaching, apprenticing, and passing along what you know to someone else. I challenge you to take a step today to teach somebody. That’s how we change the world, my friends. Go and do it.
Question: In what contexts do you find yourself teaching others? How have you improved? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
I have recently been learning the value of number 1, being present in the moment, and it is my son who is teaching me this.
No matter what I am doing, no matter how important I think it is, not much is as important is spending time with my son. Not much trumps teaching my son the values of love and of right and wrong. He is a young sponge, learning anything and everything and as a parent God has placed him in my care to love and cherish.
For me that means putting aside what I am doing to care for him, to read to him, to build blocks with him, to sing to him and countless other things.
God has shown me that when I am fully engaged, not only can he tell he has mommy’s full attention, but I get greater pleasure out of it as well. My To-Do List can wait, my son is only little once!
I love this. When your son grows up, he probably won’t remember how productive you were with your task list. But he will remember this simple things you did to be present with him. Awesome.
Great list david…
I pretty much use all those…
and I also invision the people in their underware if i’m nervous….KIDDING!…lol…
God Bless You Sr!
That just freaked me out 🙂
Wow! What a great post!
Once again you hit the nail in just the right place! Good Work David!
May I add No 6? Believe in what you are doing/teaching. There is nothing more annoying than a teacher that is just going through the motions! You should also try to stick to what you know than trying to teach something that you have never done before – This is not always possible, but you’ll need to build a solid foundation on what you know best, then start getting into the other stuff gradually. Rather get someone else to do the part where you struggle (if possible). That also helps if you are talking a lot about theoretical stuff that may become a little boring to your audience.
Being enthusiastic would also sum up ‘be present in the moment,” and find ways to make boring stuff interesting. Think, pray and work through your presentation/teaching as much as possible.
Great point, Gert. I should have included that for sure! There’s nothing worse than a teacher who is bored with his material.
I agree that one should stick to what they know, but oftentimes we can disqualify ourselves from teaching because we don’t think we know enough or we’re not as good as someone else. I’d rather people just take a risk and teach someone, you know?
Yo my brother this is a kick butt rockstar blogity blog post!
A suggestion I have is to make “yes” your default answer when invited to teach. Having to teach something really helps you become an expert at the subject.
Also, #2 is true, people really are for you, so expect the best.
Good suggestion, Rob. The more I teach, the more I understand my subject. I’m convinced everyone should try it!
Haven’t thought about it, but that is true for me too. When I teach something I understand it more.
Oh this is great! I have some upcoming women’s events I will be speaking at and I have got to tell you…I WOULD RATHER BE SINGING.
Jerry Seinfeld said, “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
I’m actually going to be doing a little bloggy blog on this topic – singing and speaking. Behind my fear is the desire to be liked: to appear intelligent and charming and not bore the audience. I have this false notion that if everybody in the audience approves of me, I’ll be truly happy.
It’s like a freaking hamster wheel!
Another point I would like to add to your already excellent list is determine what it is that you are trying to achieve while teaching.
Not looking nervous?
That is what I am thinking. And then there is a small monitor in my head that asks over and over again, ‘are you nervous? are you nervous? are you nervous?’
Then I become anxious about being nervous. ARGH.
The only thing I’ve found that helps with this is just to embrace the nervous feeling. Simply be nervous. When I stop shielding myself and start being willing to be nervous, the negative ‘are you feeling nervous?’ questions stop. Then I can truly focus on what my true objective should be:
Helping and teaching. 🙂
Blessings!
I think if Jesus was a blogger, he would blog just like you David.
Aww, you’re way too kind! Thank you 🙂