How to teach just about anything

No matter what you are trying to teach another person to do, the process of passing along information is the same. If you know how to do what you are trying teach and are enthusiastic about the subject matter, you are well on your way to being able to teach another person how to do something. Here is how to teach just about anything.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Analytical ability
• <br>Enthusiasm
• <br>Knowledge about the subject matter

1. Become knowledgeable about the subject matter you want to teach. Before you can teach a skill to another person, you must first understand it yourself.
2. Break down what you need to teach into manageable steps. People learn best when they are taught one chunk of information at a time.
3. Organize the steps. After you break down the information into chunks, put them in a logical order. Even if some steps can be completed in a variety of ways, choose one way for teaching purposes. Start broad (the big picture view) and become more detailed (the "how to" information).
4. Analyze your audience. Are they children or adults? What are their interests? What prior knowledge do they already have upon which you can build?
5. Be enthusiastic when you teach. The audience is more likely to learn what you are teaching when you are animated. Your enthusiasm for the subject matter encourages the audience to make the effort to learn the new skill.
6. Introduce a framework for the lesson. Begin the lesson by telling your audience the big picture view of what they are going to learn. Explain what they will know when they complete the class.
7. Incorporate sight, sound and touch into the lesson. Different people learn in different ways. To reach everyone, lessons need to include visual aids, verbal discussion and physically doing the task.
8. Encourage practical application. Suggest a follow-up activity to reinforce what your audience has learned. Encourage the audience to apply what they have learned to everyday life, or teach the skill to someone else.

Tips & Warnings

• Be energetic and engaging when you teach. If you are bored with your subject matter, then your audience will be, too.
• <br>Be sure to have participants get up and move around when you teach. While visual and auditory learners might learn the lesson by staying seated, kinesthetic learners are much more likely to learn new things when they physically do them. Build fun activities into your lesson plan that help your audience learn the skill you are teaching.