Category: Public Speaking

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4 Ways To Be A More Interesting Gospel Teacher

Just because you are smart, it doesn’t mean you are interesting. You might know a lot of facts, figures, dates and scripture references. You might have memorized hundreds of scripture passages. While these can help you teach a lesson, they don’t guarantee anyone will pay attention to you. My Mission President would often say, “light yourself on fire with enthusiasm, and when people come to watch you burn… teach them!”

Here are 4 ways to be a more interesting gospel teacher:

Change Up The Tempo And Teaching Methods

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: …A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; (Eccl 3:1,4). Changing the tempo throughout the lesson will keep more students engaged more of the time. A lesson that is only somber, quiet, and low energy will eventually lose the attention of the class as their minds start to wander. On the other hand, a lesson that tries to be fast paced and high energy eventually will tire out the class. By mixing up the tempo, with natural ebbs and flows in the energy, the lesson will be more interesting to the class.

Changing up the teaching methods is also a valuable way to keep the interest of the class. Different methods activate different parts of the brain, which is intellectually stimulating. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, make a list of teaching methods, print it out, laminate it if you really want to go crazy, and keep it close at hand while preparing lessons. As you conscientiously prepare different teaching methods throughout the lesson, you will be a more interesting teacher.

Speak To Individuals, And Not The Group

Eye contact is important in communication, which I’m assuming you already know. Less commonly known is the importance of eye contact when in front of a group of people. Your default gaze may be at either whatever you are reading, the floor in front of you, the back wall, or looking “through” the group, avoiding eye contact with any individuals. This is a big mistake. You should make eye contact with individuals, and hold it for some time. A good rule of thumb is to initiate eye contact at the start of a sentence, and hold it throughout the sentence. As you start a new sentence, lock eyes with someone else. This way, you will engage several different students, but not creep any of them out. This excellent article gives 10 reasons why eye contact should be a major part of your presentation. I’ll give you one now, and I encourage you to read the rest. “When you don’t look people in the eye, they are less likely to look at you. And when they stop looking at you, they start thinking about something other than what you’re saying, and when that happens, they stop listening.” I absolutely agree with that statement. Try it out next time you teach, and see what results you get.

Have Your Body Language Match Your Speech

It’s confusing to your class if your body language doesn’t mirror the words coming out of your mouth. Picture Paul Revere, trotting along on his horse, mumbling about how the British are coming. It probably wouldn’t have inspired very many. It’s still true, and critically important. But, those listening probably would have been confused by the delivery.

It’s not difficult to improve your body language. But it does take work. The first step is to be comfortable. There are a few ways to get more comfortable and confident with your teaching. One way is to practice teaching. This can be done through video recording, talking to the mirror, or just finding some quiet place and talking out loud. Another way to become more comfortable is through visualization. As you envision yourself giving the lesson, which can be done almost anywhere, you will feel more confident when you are actually in the situation. Lastly, sometimes it comes down to “fake it until you make it.” Pretend you are comfortable in front of a class.

Once you are comfortable, your body language will come more naturally. So, moving on, let’s look at some tips for improved body language. One thing to always keep in mind is, “what is the emotional undertone associated with the point I am trying to make?” Then, simply match that emotion with your face and body. When you are talking about how much death occurred during Old Testament wars, a cheesy smile is likely not the appropriate delivery. Likewise, teaching about the joy of the resurrection probably shouldn’t be delivered in a   bored, tired manner.

Another tip is that being open is always better than being closed. Your class wants to know how you feel about the topic. Authenticity and vulnerability are much more important than a “perfect performance.” As you let your personality and testimony come through, you will be more effective, and more interesting. Open gestures, palms out, and not hiding behind a table, are all ways to convey openness.

Facilitate Discussion

When I am feeling the Spirit in a class, I am usually learning things I never knew before. Maybe that’s not even the best way to word it. I’ll let President Harold B. Lee say it, “When the time comes that your heart tells you things your mind doesn’t know, that is the Spirit of the Lord dictating to you.” Usually, I am excited enough about what I am learning that I want to share it with those in the class. A good teacher will recognize this fact, and let the class teach each other. Regardless of what teaching methods you use, there should usually be opportunities for the class to share spiritual insights with each other. The best teachers are able to walk the fine line between pure lecture, where participation is discouraged, and opening it up for people to talk about whatever they want, which can result in unedifying chaos. The operative word here is facilitate. As you guide the lesson along, facilitating good discussion, and keep things on a spiritual plane, you will have interesting lessons.

 

To put things into perspective, an interesting lesson does not mean it is a spiritual one, or that it isn’t priestcraft (another topic). Think of it like a good spice; it can help enhance the food (the gospel), but on it’s own it isn’t fulfilling or nutritious. The people in your class have some serious issues: sin, insecurity, hopelessness, sorrow, guilt, grief, and all kinds of spiritual maladies. These afflictions can be healed through the grace of Jesus Christ, which is administered through the Holy Ghost. Making a lesson more interesting should have in mind the goal to create a space where the Spirit can do it’s work.

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My Aha! Moment

If, by the title of the post, you are hoping I will tell you about the first time I heard Take On Me, you are going to be disappointed.

If you are hoping to hear about the most pivotal moment in my gospel teaching journey, then please read on.

Allow me to set the stage. I’m a nineteen year old missionary, around  9 months into it, knocking doors. I’m with my zone leader, basically an experienced missionary responsible for the training and coaching of a dozen or so other missionaries. We knocked on a door in an apartment complex, and were greeted by a woman- probably in her mid thirties. She let us in and allowed us to share a message with her. At the time, we had a guideline to not spend more than 30 minutes teaching a single female. So, we shared a few things, had a prayer, and unsuccessfully attempted to schedule a return appointment. Pretty typical for a missionary afternoon.

For some reason, I was thinking back on the lesson when- AHA! It dawned on me. During that lesson, I was fully engaged and constantly trying to see things from this lady’s perspective. When my zone leader was teaching, I was prayerfully searching her face to see how she was responding to the lesson. I was trying to understand where she was at in life, and what I could possibly say that would help her. I was filled with compassion for her, and a pure desire to say and do what was in her best interest. I was not at all thinking about my presentation of the lesson, but upon the reception of the message. Like a flash, I realized that I had actually been doing this for quite some time, I just hadn’t noticed it happening. I had shifted my focus away from myself, and to those I was trying to serve.

I have reflected often upon this moment, and have concluded that this is the most important aspect of teaching. And by far the most powerful lesson that I have learned. At some point, you must change your focus. It’s not about you. It’s not about your delivery, your tone, your body language. Yes, I believe these things are important. But, they are nowhere near as important as the person or people you are teaching. It is all about how the message is received. The great news is that as you focus on the listener, your delivery, tone, and body language become much more natural.

In his epistle to the Philippians, Paul counseled, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

I figure that this matter of empathic teaching, like so many other gospel topics, is a lesser law-higher law kind of thing. We probably need to start out by focusing on our delivery of the message before we can “graduate” to focusing on the receiving of the message. The trick is to be able to make this transition relatively quickly. As I have pondered this, I think there are a few practices that, if done consistently, will speed up this process.

First, praying for charity. This well-proven method, as advised by Moroni, really works. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.” As our love for others increases, we naturally become less self-centered and more other-centered. This applies to everything, including teaching.

Second, thinking about those you teach while you prepare. Make it a common practice to consider the needs of those in your class. If you regularly are teaching the same group, try to really understand where they are at in life. Praying for class members by name is a great practice to implement if you want to be a more empathic teacher.

Third, get constructive feedback from someone that you trust. Have them attend a class that you teach, and let you know how they experienced it as a learner.  You may be surprised that your experience as a teacher and their experience as a learner didn’t quite match up. This will help you realize what works and what doesn’t.

Lastly, master some basic public speaking skills, and practice them until they are instinctive. Skills such as hand gestures, voice inflection, pacing, and eye contact can become stored as a muscle memory. As this occurs, you no longer need to focus on these things, and your attention can be spent on those you are teaching.

My teaching ability, and the satisfaction I receive from teaching, increased in proportion to the degree that I looked outside of myself, and towards others. I implore you to have this Aha! moment yourself, to your benefit and, most important, to the benefit of those whom you serve.