When you want folks to internalize information, allowing them to teach it to someone else is a good way to go. Telling them about it, making them read scripts, or asking them to watch videos may not be enough. Presenters’ knees may knock, and their voices may quiver, but they’ll be better for it—most of ‘em, anyway. My students usually are.
1. Teaching Reinforces What’s Supposed To Be Learned
Teaching, especially if done well, becomes a multi-sensory experience that helps presenters retain what they teach. Per the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve, people forget 50% of what they learn in the first hour of learning it unless they put it into practice or are continuously supported and provided with access to knowledge. This loss of information can go on to be halved over the course of days or weeks unless conscious efforts are made to retain it.
A good way to stave off that forgetfulness is to repeat information, and teaching gives the presenters a chance to do just that. Not only does sharing information with other folks give them the chance to retain information by repetition, it helps the presenter learn by increasing motivation to retain information (nobody wants to share bad information, so it’s in his or her best interest to do well), and increased motivation increases informational retention.
Additionally, they’re engaging in what’s called spaced learning, or intaking information intervals so that the brain has time to receive the new information, process it, accept it, then rest. Each time the presenter engages the information — looks up information, consults an authority or other external source for clarification, discusses the information with other group members or stakeholders, practices presentating, officialyl presents, gets debriefed by authority (you are providing helpful feedback, arent you?) — they’re provided ample and alternating informational introduction and resting periods. This’ll help the information to stick.
2. Teaching May Encourage Colleagues To Invest More Effort in Their Presentations
As much as people like learning from peers more than they do an authority figure, they like meeting or exceeding peers’ standards, just as much, if not more. Their chief desire may not be to beat the brakes off a colleague’s performance, but they most certainly don’t want to do worse than their colleagues, or just flat out bomb. In the interest of not being perceived as weak or incompetent, other group members may make substantial efforts to produce great presentations, which will require them to engage in the processes mentioned in Point 1. You know: the ones related to staving off memory loss by increasing informational engagement.
A little healthy competition can help.
If there are no other peers with whom to compete, which is often the case with my students (cue Tone Toni Tony’s “Just Me and You”), I am the default team member, and—yes—I am encouraged to do better, unless a student pulls out a bunch of bells and whistles that I (because of limited time) just cannot.
Still, students’ performances encourage me to do well when I present to them. Who wants to be the tutor with a weaker understanding of a topic than his or her students? Not I.
3. Teaching Can Boost Presenters’ Confidence
In learning about a topic and preparing to help someone else learn it, the presenter is readying him- or herself. That readiness—that knowing that he or she has made efforts to prepare themselves—demonstrates to presenters that they are capable of effecting an outcome. To some degree, the outcome of the presentation is dependent upon how much effort they invest in it. This power, regardless of amount, can be transferred and help them complete other tasks or master other topics.
Want to improve presenters’ confidence even more? Make excuses to present the material in other contexts or arenas, then site information presenters shared during their presentations. Be sure to reference presenters by name. Even the decidedly shy ones will get a kick out of it.
Let’s get busy getting you over your academic, professional, or personal hurdles.
4. Other benefits of encouraging students to teach are:
- helping gauge their strengths and weaknesses, which will help you determine how suited they are to take on more responsibility or if they need additional training.
- demonstrating your trust in them. Nobody can say you didn’t give the person a chance to shine or that you didn’t open pathways for growth.
- helping you gauge your own strengths and weaknesses as a teacher or leader.
There are other benefits to allowing learners to teach, such as guaging the efficacy of your own leadership or teaching and improving peer bonds. Regardless of the benefits that speak most fervently to you, and even if there are only one or two, start thinking about how to integrate learning-by-teaching a regular part of your arsenal. Your team will be better for it.
Is peer teaching already in your bag of tricks? How often do you use it? Comment, below.