Effective trainers use a teaching style that fits the needs of their learners. When people have little or no knowledge, skills or experience in doing a particular task, they need – and want – direction. As people gain experience, they want to discuss questions and issues related to execution.

Using the right mix of teaching styles, trainers can help employees learn, grow and become more independent. When trainers use an inappropriate teaching style, it can cause learners to lose interest and become bored.

Directing Style

Tell them; be precise!

The trainer tells, and often shows, trainees what to do and how to do it and explains why it needs to be done. Communication is predominantly one-way, from trainer to trainee. The trainees gain information primarily by listening, taking notes, doing role-plays and practicing what they are told to do. People are rewarded and recognized for following directions.

Suggestions for using the directing style:

• Start with the big picture. Provide the context before launching into specifics.
• Model the desired behavior.
• When showing videos or demonstrating a concept, tell the trainees what to focus on.
• Provide the right amount of detail. Too much detail can be as bad as too little.
• Define the criteria that you will use to evaluate their performance.
• Don’t sugarcoat the message. There are times when you need to be very direct and candid to get through to people.

Discussing Style

Ask great questions!

This teaching style promotes learning through interaction. The trainer asks challenging questions and listens carefully to learners’ comments. Follow-up questions help uncover underlying assumptions, reasoning and feelings. People learn to have opinions and to be able to back them up with facts and data. The trainer often acts as a facilitator, guiding the discussion to a logical conclusion. People are rewarded and praised for thoughtful observations, providing creative ideas, building on the ideas of others, asking insightful questions and helping the group reach a logical conclusion.

Suggestions for using the discussing style:

• Prepare questions in advance.
• Ask one question at a time.
• Ask “why” to force people to defend their position.
• Don’t allow one or two people to dominate the discussion.
• When coaching, ask questions that require trainees to evaluate their own performance: “How do you think you did?” “What steps can you take to improve?”
• Have participants create their own questions to ask the group.
• Bring closure to the discussion by reviewing the key points people make.

Delegating Style

Empower them!

The delegating teaching style promotes learning by doing. The trainer empowers learners to work alone or in groups to establish goals, develop plans, make decisions, etc. People are recognized and praised for working independently, meeting deadlines and producing quality work.

Suggestions for using the delegating style:

• Express confidence in people’s ability and motivation.
• Have trainees develop their own performance measures to evaluate their work.
• Have teams select a team leader, define roles and responsibilities, and establish operating rules.
• Have people teach each other.

Evaluate Your Effectiveness

At the end of each session, assess your own performance by reflecting on questions such as these:

• Was I clear and precise when giving directions?
• Was there too much discussion or too little discussion on some topics?
• Did my questions move the discussion in the right direction?
• Did I probe the right issues?
• Could I have empowered certain people to teach mini-lessons during the seminar?

There is no one best teaching style. Effective trainers use a variety of styles that fit the needs of the situation. In essence, the three teaching styles boil down to this summary:

• Direct: Tell people or demonstrate what to do and how to do it.
• Discuss: Ask questions and listen. Probe and ask follow-up questions as needed.
• Delegate: Empower people to take initiative.