Unclasses

It is not a pleasant and relaxed reading, but it reveals some of the secrets that the human brain hides and gives some clues on how to influence it to improve learning (especially that of children).

In one of the chapters, Mora makes an entry on the functioning of memory. That is, how we should approach new information to be able to retain it forever. And in that chapter he introduces us to one of the secret ingredients: repetition.

“For an event to be truly remembered well, whatever it may be, it must be repeated many times. Not, of course, with the physical repetition of what happened, but mentally.”

Think of something that has happened to you and that you remember perfectly.

Most likely it only happened once, but… how many times have you told your friends about it? According to Mora, that repetition is what makes it solidly recorded.

“The brain needs repetition of everything that has to be learned and remembered in an important way.”

This idea of ​​the mental repetition of an event leads us fully to highlight, once again, the enormous power of storytelling. Because one way to repeat something is to tell it, and the best way to tell it is through a story. Because the format of a story makes it easy for it to be told over and over again.

But it also justifies another key (and often forgotten) factor: the essay.

To learn a presentation well, it is necessary to repeat it over and over again. I mean, rehearse.

First person replay

One can be tempted to think that his mission as a teacher or as a speaker is going to be to repeat those basic concepts over and over again so that the students or the audience can learn them better.

It is not a bad idea. In fact, Mora proposes that teachers reiterate the basic concepts of a class from different perspectives and with different examples to offer students the necessary repetition without the class becoming something indigestible.

But Mora goes further and opts for a repetition in the first person.

“It is only with the repetition made by the child himself and the rectification of the mistakes made that an emotional reaction is experienced, that of reward and pleasure, and with it, what has been learned is solidified in memory..”

Taken to the case that concerns us in the blog (teaching to speak in public), it seems evident that it is not enough that you repeat the tricks and secrets of oratory to your students over and over again, but that they are the ones who must perform that repetition.

Present as who drives a car

In other words, your students need to be able to speak in public in order to learn how to do it.

They need to repeat the process (not only the speech but also the preparation of the speech) over and over again. It is in this way that they will take the necessary practice and consolidate what they have learned.

How did you learn to drive? Did a teacher come to explain to you time after time how you should do it? Or did you sit behind the wheel many times until each of the movements was fixed in your subconscious to the point that you could drive without thinking about what you are doing?

I would be very surprised if you told me that it was a teacher who repeated over and over again.

Well then. To learn to speak in public correctly, your students must present over and over again until all the mechanics are integrated, just like driving.

Opportunities are sought

Having seen how important it is for your students or children to make a lot of presentations, the next step is clear: we need to provide them with opportunities to do so.

One of the lines that I am going to follow in the blog is going to be exactly that. Look for occasions that you can take advantage of in the classroom or at home to make your child or your students speak in public.

I have some ideas that I’m going to share with you shortly, but I’m sure you have some too. And I would love that you share them to enrich this blog with examples.

If you can think of an idea that you have applied in class or at home or that you would like to apply, I invite you to share it with me. To do this you can leave a comment on this article or if you prefer to do it privately, you can write to me through the contact form.

The more ideas we get together, the more complete we will leave this blog.