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In our increasingly technological world, the ability to transmit and acquire skills efficiently and effectively is critical. As an educator, I see a great need for principles and best practices to develop around the transmission of skills of all kinds ranging from communication, people and relationship management to problem solving and technical facility with software and devices.

Lecture or seminar formats are often used to convey skills-directed concepts. They are efficient in the sense that many people can be ‘taught’ at the same time and they also ensure that participants receive the same information. But is it effective?

As an example, I teach our students in a seminar format on how to approach various forms of scientific communication. I outline strategies to formulate and craft presentations for specific events and audiences. I discuss the power of storytelling, using media appropriately and leveraging the power of emotional connection to engage audiences. And while all of that has some usefulness, on its own, I have found that it is insufficient. Instead, these messages only seem to resonate when students go through the process of preparing a presentation and then having a one-on-one session where we discuss the overall structure of the talk and go through all of the things that work and don’t work. The very act of preparing a piece of work AND having an experienced person walk through it with them seems to be the most effective way of truly teaching how to do it.

Another example is in the use of scientific instrumentation. They all come with manuals. And most users will thumb through them. Videos and other forms of visual documentation may be helpful. But real world training is often critical in order to get even sophisticated users up to speed. And the best way to reinforce such training seems to be to have an experienced individual sit with the user and help them navigate the equipment through actual measurements.

I would like to ask my network and beyond to contribute to a discussion about teaching skills. What works for you? How do you approach teaching essential and technical skills to trainees or new users? Do you have any unique techniques or tricks that are effective? Have you abandoned approaches that haven’t worked?

Please respond, repost or like so that we can expand this discussion. Looking forward to your contributions!