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Dr. Hank Smith has taught seminary, institute, and now teaches at Brigham Young University. He is a regular speaker at religious programs, corporate training events, school assemblies, and educational conferences. He is a master teacher and in this episode, he shares with us some of his secrets and tactics that we can all apply to improve our teaching. This interview was originally part of the Leading Saints Teaching Saints Virtual Summit.
Transcription Available Below
Highlights
4:45 Start with remembering why you are teaching: Genesis 44:34 How can we go back to Heavenly Father without these students?
7:00 Teaching is like art: There are fundamentals but otherwise everyone’s art is different. Get the fundamentals and then play to your strengths.
10:45 What to do when a discussion is not happening
- Write out your questions beforehand
- Add “Why do you think…?” when asking a question
- Build-in the silence so it isn’t awkward
- Let people know you’re going to ask them
- Avoid the easy questions
- Be authentic about wanting a discussion
18:30 Look at examples of the Savior teaching: John 4
- Set them up to get their attention
- Know your students and make it relevant to them
- Bring up testimony at the right moment
25:30 More effective when teaching by a one-by-one ministry
29:20 Watch for moments to get to, rather than getting through material
30:30 Using gratitude and praise
33:45 Collect and use stories
38:25 Prepare until you’re excited
39:50 Mark 2: four people working together to carry a man to Jesus
42:45 How to share scriptures
- Power in translating it into modern language, in word-for-word reading, and in summarizing
- Ask: did you understand?
- Read with enthusiasm and personality
47:45 There’s an ideal, but be okay with the real
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LOVED THIS! I follow Brother Smith on Twitter and often see his students praising things they learned in class and now I “get it.” Thank you for sharing ways to better teach the gospel. Side note…I attended a class by Randal Wright at BYU Education Week entitled: “Life is a series of lessons that should be learned, recorded, and acted upon.” He also uses Evernote to keep track of his personal stories. Brother Wright comes up with a three word prompt for each story as he scans his memory. He then spends some time each day writing up the story for each prompt. If we all did this, by the end of the year, we would have 365 stories in our own databases. I truly appreciate your mission in helping us be great leaders and am grateful you interviewed Hank Smith!
Thanks for this interview, I really needed to hear this.