Many people I have met over the years have commented
that during their school days they can recall at least one teacher who
inspired them greatly and at least one who (although probably well intentioned),
presented lessons in a less memorable fashion…
Here are some key factors which assist in the creation
of memorable lessons
Start by getting attention
Creating Interest and curiosity by storytelling and using sensory
rich language
Voice, Tonality and rhythm
Structuring the lesson
Start by getting Attention…
The first few moments of any public presentation sets
the scene for what is to follow. As someone once said “You never
get a second chance to make a first impression” and each lesson
should be considered in its own right as an opportunity to create a
useful environment for learning.
In NLP we learn about the importance of state and how
the state of the teacher is one of the key influences in the communication
to the class. Here is a simple exercise that has proved really useful
for any teacher or presenter to get into an optimised state for teaching
before entering the classroom.
Remember a previous teaching experience when the lesson went really
well and the students responded well and enjoyed the lesson
See what you saw, hear what you heard and feel how you felt. When
you picture this time in mind notice if you see a colour picture and
the position of where you see the picture. Notice what you say or
think to yourself and how you say it. Notice how good you feel.
Now make the picture brighter and more colourful (if it was black
and white, make it colour), more in focus and double the size of the
picture, paying attention to how that feels
Now say to yourself what will motivate you to give this lesson,
paying particular attention to ensuring you use a tone of voice that
makes you feel more motivated.
Now before you step into the classroom run through seeing yourself
giving the lesson in your imagination. See yourself confidently engaging
the class and paying attention to each and every student in the room.
Now enter the room and give the lesson
Creating Interest and curiosity by storytelling and
using sensory rich language
Two of the very best ways to create and maintain interest
in a classroom situation are to use sensory rich language and to tell
stories to communicate information. Sensory language works using words
and phrases that directly engage the senses. Consider these two descriptions
and notice how the second which uses sensory rich language engages the
listener in an entirely different way to create a far stronger representation.
Example one
“I remember walking along a beach and noticing
the sea, sand and the breeze blowing in from the waves”
Example two:Now using
sensory language
“I remember walking on the beach, noticing the
deep blue sea, the golden sound and the sounds of the waves as I felt
the cool breeze against my face”
Sensory rich language uses those words or phrases
that directly engage the 5 senses.
Senses include-:
Visual – I see, looking at, clearly, let’s focus
Auditory – Hear, sounds like
Kinaesthetic – Feels like
Olfactory – smell
Gustatory – taste
In the UK the teaching profession have recognised
the importance of using VAK (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) representations
in the classroom, but my experience is that this has yet to extend into
a more intricate awareness and use of language. The more ways in which
we represent an experience the more likely we are to more fully remember
what occurred.
Storytelling
Telling stories is a great way of getting and maintaining
a listener’s attention. Many of us were brought up with being
told stories and of course each culture around the world has its own
tradition of storytelling from Grimm’s Fairy Tales to Lord of
the Rings to many other examples. Stories engage the imagination and
this is the primary reason why we remember them. When someone tells
a story the listener is drawn into the subject matter and there is a
natural anticipation and curiosity in wanting to know what is going
to happen next! In a classroom situation this technique can be use to
make lesson material far more memorable and when this is combined with
sensory rich language, the effect is quite profound. One of the primary
influences on the creation of NLP was Milton Erickson who extensively
used stories in his therapeutic work with clients. Even the old stereotypical
opening phrase “Once upon a time…” prompts an expectation
of what is going to occur next.
Voice - Tonality and Rhythm
In a classroom or any other communicating situation,
the use of voice is as important as the actual content. How we say things
is as important as what we say. Actors and actresses spend time with
voice coaches to develop greater dynamic ranges. When we listen to another
person’s voice we are literally bathed in sound from the speaker.
When the “sound of the word” is more congruent with the
meaning of the word, we are more likely to remember what is said. For
example the word “stretch” should sound like “streeeeetch”
so the sound sounds stretched rather than communicated in a clipped
manner. In voice there are three main kinds of tonality and inflection
which are as follows –
Questions – inflections is upwards
Conversations – inflections are an even tone, with a level
inflection
Commands – inflections are downwards
Varying the rhythm and tonality in communicating the
lesson maintains interest with students. Similar processes are used
in sales and marketing where the purpose is in the first instance to
capture attention and then to create interest. If you think about the
voices of memorable and influential speakers throughout history you
will notice that they all have a greater tonal and dynamic range when
using their voice.
Structuring the lesson
Just as every story has a beginning, middle and end,
so each lesson, in order to be memorable, needs to have a clear structure.
In this way the students again are more likely to remember the full
content of what was communicated. It’s a good idea to recap at
the end of the lesson the key points to reinforce the communication
of the content and of course set up an expectation of curiosity as to
what is going to be presented in the next lesson!
Conclusion
In order for students to easily remember a lesson,
the secret is to make the material memorable by engaging the imagination
of each person. These simple approaches and techniques are used the
world over in public speaking and presenting contexts as well as in
advertising. My advice is experiment with these approaches, have fun
and above all notice the improved results from what you do!
Nick Kemp is an NLP trainer and Provocative Change
Works Specialist who works in education, one to one training and corporate
training. You can find out more about his approaches and other articles
he has written at www.nickkemp.com
To give you more of a learning experience we have also
included some nlp and hypnosis games and exercises for you to play with.
Visit the resources section above and navigate to 'Free Exercises' or
you can click the titles as follows: IMPROVING
VISUAL ACUITY, PIVOT
GRAMMAR, MAGNETIC
HYPNOSIS OR SELF
HYPNOSIS. We are constantly updating our resources so always check
back.
