Who was your worst teacher at school?
Mine was a maths teacher – let’s call him Dr Drone*. He made the teacher from Ferris Bueller look like a late-night talk show host.
A gnarly, bitter old man, he was clearly counting the seconds until retirement when he could finally be rid of us pesky kids.
He was wedded to the dryest of textbooks, instructing us to wade through soul-sucking sum after sum in total silence.
Our only kicks were got flicking ink on the back of his neatly-pressed trousers while he patrolled our desks. (Girls can be so creative with revenge…)
But I remember the AMAZING teachers too, don’t you?
The ones that worked so hard to make learning fun. The ones that brought passion, quirk, colour and life to their lessons. They used humour, props, stories and games to engage and, boy, we looked forward to their lessons.
Your Favourite Teacher, The Communication Genius
Our favourite teachers were normally the best communicators. The ones that understood that they had to engage first before they delivered the information.
And it’s exactly the same in business.
Just because you’re talking or writing to adults instead of children, it doesn’t mean that we have to get all Dr. Drone on them.
Big or small, no-one likes boring.
Our inner child needs to be satisfied, engaged and motivated if we are going to retain or act on information. So the next time you have to communicate anything, try channelling your amazing teacher. Think about using:
- humour where you can (even the dryest of subjects has a funny side)
- stories to bring your information to life (you know it works because you’re reading this!)
- energy in your presentations (because enthusiasm really is infectious)
- images as well as words wherever possible (make it memorable)
Because if you use these techniques to engage before you inform, I promise that people will remember your name for all the right reasons.
* Not his real name. His real name was so funny you seriously won’t believe it. Email me and I’ll tell you.
