BECOMING A BETTER TEACHER

We would all agree that Bill Walsh was a great teacher. In this post I am going to share his 11 tips on becoming a great teacher. Here they are:

1. Use straightforward language. No need to get fancy.
2. Be consise. For many leaders it's harder to be brief than to be long winded. We love to hear ourselves talk.
3. Account for a wide range of difference in knowledge, experience, and comprehension among members of your organization. For me it could be seen in the way I communicated one on one with an experienced superstar such as Jerry Rice or a first year offensive guard who was learning the ropes of our system. This difference in content depending on whom I was talking to and in what circumstance was always factored in to my teaching.
4. Account for some members of the group being more receptive and ready to learn than others (for reasons out of your control).
5. Be observant during your comments. Know if you're connecting.
6. Strongly encourage note taking
   
7. Employ a somewhat unpredictable presentation style. "Droning on" is the most common style, and you may have to work on stepping it up so that you don't fall into the "drone trap."
8. Organize with logical, sequential building blocks in your communication.
9. Encourage appropriate audience participation.
10. Use visual aids.
11. Remember Sun-tzu: "With more sophistication comes more control." The more you work at refining your teaching-increasing its sophistication-the greater your control of the teaching (and learning) process.