2/5/2003 -- While the technical industry seems to be making some progress compared to where it was at this time last year, layoffs are still occurring. When someone realizes they won't be getting a job again as quickly as they thought, they usually start thinking of ways they can leverage their current knowledge into a slightly different industry. This explains why so many people are interested in teaching.

All of us have taught in informal sessions at one time or another. Showing a user how to look up their IP address and explaining the information they see is teaching. Most people differentiate informal from formal teaching in two areas. First, informal teaching generally is done and over with quickly. A task is completed and you're off doing something else -- with formal teaching, you do it for at least an hour and possibly a full day. The other area involves expectations. Informal teaching has much lower expectations than formal teaching because friends and most coworkers are generally a bit more forgiving than strangers. When you walk into a room full of strangers and say "I'll be your instructor for this week," expectations are raised.

To be a successful instructor, two things are required. The first is technical ability. It's easy to distinguish an instructor who doesn't understand the material because vague terms start creeping into the presentation. The instructor may be lecturing and pointing at slides, spending quite a bit of time on each one, then suddenly start flying through a few that represents a new concept.

Technical ability is normally judged in two distinct time frames. In a week-long class, the honeymoon period lasts through the morning of the first day. You don't need to amaze anyone but you do need to illustrate solid credentials. The final evaluation happens at the end of the course. It is possible to recover from a lousy first day to point of having students that refer friends and colleagues, it's just harder to do than if you had a good first day.

The other side of teaching is presentation ability. Unfortunately, a majority of technical instructors are sub-par in this regard. Presentation ability involves keeping the class interested in what you are saying. There are subtle and obvious things that can be done to keep people going at two in the afternoon: varying your tone of voice, telling jokes, sudden emphasis varying the pace of information, etc. You must keep the students mind operating.

The key to presentation ability is understanding your audience. Classes can be divided into groups based on what they want to get out of a class. Your job is to hit as many of these desires as possible. In addition, many classes are set up for people with learning disabilities, people who don't speak English as their first language and career changers. It takes practice to go from teaching a class to English speaking career changers to teaching a highly technical topic the next week to non-native English speakers.

Practicing your presentation is the best thing you can do to prepare because it accomplishes two things. First, it forces you to understand the topic you are trying to teach. Looking at a page in a book or slide on a screen and talking about it makes you realize if you understand the topic before you hit the right arrow on the keyboard, PowerPoint advances and you go "Uhhh...." Second, it makes you figure out exactly how to explain the topic. You may understand IP subnetting but how do you explain it to someone in a way that keeps their interest?

People are generally more favorable when their existence has been recognized. Acknowledging someone's presence, smiling and referring to them by name overcomes a great deal of the initial reservation people have when they first attend a class. Other body language tips include making eye contact, not crossing your arms and avoiding looming over anyone while they're sitting.

But there's only so much you can do. Having taught in the U.S, and abroad, I have to say that people are people when it comes to taking a technical class. It's a lot easier to have a successful class when the students are friendly as opposed to hostile.

When that evaluation comes, there's no greater insult than "He read from the book the whole time." The best reward is when a former student appears in another class you're teaching and says, "I specifically requested your class."