“Talk Less, Teach More” or why shouting never works

Hi,

If you didn’t know, I’ve been a long-time adjunct professor at the George Mason University (GMU) School of Business Marketing Departement.   I am the guy who teaches digital marketing to undergraduate and MBA students.

Over the years I’ve learned more and more about the “flipped classroom” movement and a few weeks ago attended an amazing lecture from the 2013 Teacher of the Year at GMU. 

The title of his seminar was:

Talk Less, Teach More

His thesis?   The less you lecture (talk), the more you teach (where students learn).   

In practice, this means letting the students do the work of learning from the textbook or materials before the class lecture time and then using the actual lecture time for  hands-on practical work, debate, and discussion.

So I’ve started to do this with my class time, and the results have been excellent.  Not only are the students more engaged, I’m less tired, and I’m getting to know the students better (I walk around the classroom and have discussions with the groups as they work through problems).

Also, I use a tool to receive anonymous feedback after each class, and the feedback has been incredible.

So what?  I’m not a Professor; I’m a marketer in the REAL world of corporate or non-profit marketing.   How does this impact me?

• Stop yelling at your customers = While you may think your customers are paying attention to your press releases, white papers, and TV ads the reality is that unless you are Apple, they are not.
• Start listening (more) to your customers = what do they want from you?  What do they want you to stop doing?
• Start engaging with your customers = co-creation of products, services or ideas.

Talk less, Gain more 

What do you think?

Thank you,

Shaun Dakin – Dakin Associates

PS:   I am officially “with her” this Presidential election.    Hillary Clinton is the kind of President that we need to lead our great nation.     If you also believe that she must win, and Trump must be defeated, please consider donating to her campaign and doing all you can to ensure she wins.