TEACHING TIPS

There should be no excuse for a boring gospel lesson. To help your lessons be more interesting and effective, consider the following ideas:

1. Teach with the Spirit.

• What does this mean? God provides a kind of security check that accompanies His information (scriptures, etc) so that A: we'll know it's true B: we'll get it right, we'll get understanding straight from the source and not tainted by the limited understanding of others C: we'll be motivated to act on the information. The Spirit makes good things feel good and develops our appetite for more.
• How can you tell if you're teaching with the Spirit? A: By how you feel. If you feel what you recognize as divine attributes (love, peace, desire to do good, clarity of thinking, insight, joy, and if those same feelings match what you feel when you think of other truths), then you can be reasonably sure that you're teaching by the Spirit. B: If the hearers are also edified and the message is communicated more effectively than could happen through mere words.
• How can you teach with the Spirit? A: Use the scriptures. God backs up His own words. B: Share your own testimony and conviction of the gospel message. Do this especially when moved by the Spirit. C: Prepare. Prepare your lesson and prepare yourself. Prepare in advance. Give the message time to really sink in. If you're excited about the doctrine, you're ready. If not, prepare more.
• How can you prepare yourself? A: Be humble. The Spirit doesn't attend your lesson because you're a wonderful teacher, it comes because you're worthy--humble, grateful, and obedient. B: Seek to understand what you'll be teaching and gain a spiritual understanding of it (faith, testimony). Put it in practice. Come to really believe it yourself. C: Get your life in order. If you're not keeping (or at least striving to keep) God's commandments, He's not likely to honor you with His Spirit.

    2. Teach Gospel Principles.

• Gospel principles include those things that edify, that build faith, that help people live more in harmony with their neighbors, and above all, that bring them closer to God.
• Many good principles are not gospel principles, such as self esteem. Self esteem is a biproduct of living the gospel and may be included appropriately in a lesson, but should not be the main focus (unless couched in a gospel principle such as "keeping the commandments creates faith, confidence, and self esteem").

    3. Have a purpose to your lesson.

• Lessons are far more effective when they include a purose: something that listeners can take action on. While it's true that simply reviewing the facts of the gospel (i.e. "forgiving others brings peace and helps God to forgive us") is beneficial, teaching with the specific purpose of persuading listeners to act on this knowledge and forgiving anyone against whom they hold a grudge in any way would help them to live the gospel better and bring them more blessings. It also makes the lesson more interesting.
• To develop a purpose, ask yourself "What do I want class members to do about this lesson? What action can they take?
• The most effective purposes are not mentioned only at the end of the lesson, but built up to throughout.
• Avoid trying to cram too many purposes into one lesson as well, as this will divide and weaken your focus.

    4. Personalize your lesson.

• If you can get to know the class members and use their names, they will feel more welcome and be more open to the message.
• Treat class members' comments with care when appropriate. Be aware of sensitive feelings when responding. At the very least, pay attention to what they say. If appropriate, comment on their comments. If you want more comments from the class, this kind of recognition (and demonstration that you value and respect their input) will help win loyal, helpful, and comfortable contributors.
• If you don't want class input, you may say phrases like "If you'll hold on for a minute, I'll get to your comments" or "I'm sorry we're running out of time for comments and I'd like to get on to another point before class ends." Consider, however, that most people learn best when they participate and you might be most effective if you allow them to do so in some way. Having everyone prepare a response on paper or in their mind and calling on someone afterward may keep one individual from dominating the class.
• If one or a few people tend to dominate class with more comments than you think appropriate, you might mention that you'd like to hear comments from a greater number of people. You might also speak to them outside of class. You're not obligated to call on every hand that goes up--your responsibility is to teach an effective lesson that will help everyone grow.

    5. Ask good questions.

• Few people enjoy answering easy questions. Most people would rather contribute something valuable than simply fill-in-the-blanks like homework.
• To make your questions more interesting, you could ask about people's feelings ("How would you feel if you had been blind all your life and Jesus healed you?") rather than too-easy questions ("How long had this man been blind?"). Such questions help people examine their own beliefs and thus learn more effectively as well.
• You might develop good questions by considering the lesson's purpose or by likening the scriptures to your own lives ("The woman in verse three sounds a little discouraged. Have you ever felt discouraged? What did you do to get past it?").

    6. Got more ideas for this? Please send them to me.