The Situation: Practice makes perfect
Last month Emily broke down her subject matter with examples and stories. How do we get her to open and close her class each time with a “wow” so they want to come back to the next class and filled with excitement about learning?
The Solution:
Emily is shy, introverted and does not like practicing. We video-taped her doing an easy interview that ran about 20 minutes. Emily found that she liked herself. The tape erased all fear that she would be horrible in front of an audience. We then began taping her open and close for each of her classes. We moved on to quick ten-minute clips of her classes. We shot some on the Go to Meeting platform or Emily sent the clips to me. We reviewed them with an eye to see what worked and what needed strengthening. Emily began to gain more confidence and began to work through class bumps in timing and questions.
The Outcome:
Last year, her evaluations ranged 2.5 to 3.5 (with 5 the highest and 1 the lowest score). The evaluations measured teaching style, time management, clarity of deliverables and class engagement. This year, at midterm, her scores ranged from 3.5 to 4.5! Emily will work on the 3.5 marks which mainly reflect timing issues. The Dean is quite pleased and Emily herself is thrilled. Most importantly, she and her students are finally engaged.
There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye. Lord Acton