Summary: Dr. Hank Smith has taught seminary, institute, and now teaches at Brigham Young University. He is a regular speaker at religious programs, corporate training events, school assemblies, and educational conferences. He is a master teacher and in this episode, he shares with us some of his secrets and tactics that we can all apply to improve our teaching. This interview was originally part of the Leading Saints Teaching Saints Virtual Summit.<br> <br> Transcription Available Below<br> Highlights<br> 4:45 Start with remembering why you are teaching: Genesis 44:34 How can we go back to Heavenly Father without these students?<br> 7:00 Teaching is like art: There are fundamentals but otherwise everyone's art is different. Get the fundamentals and then play to your strengths.<br> 10:45 What to do when a discussion is not happening<br> <br> <br> * Write out your questions beforehand<br> * Add "Why do you think...?" when asking a question<br> * Build-in the silence so it isn't awkward<br> * Let people know you're going to ask them<br> * Avoid the easy questions<br> * Be authentic about wanting a discussion<br> <br> 18:30 Look at examples of the Savior teaching: John 4<br> <br> <br> * Set them up to get their attention<br> * Know your students and make it relevant to them<br> * Bring up testimony at the right moment<br> <br> 25:30 More effective when teaching by a one-by-one ministry<br> 29:20 Watch for moments to get to, rather than getting through material<br> 30:30 Using gratitude and praise<br> 33:45 Collect and use stories<br> 38:25 Prepare until you're excited<br> 39:50 Mark 2: four people working together to carry a man to Jesus<br> 42:45 How to share scriptures<br> <br> <br> * Power in translating it into modern language, in word-for-word reading, and in summarizing<br> * Ask: did you understand?<br> * Read with enthusiasm and personality<br> <br> 47:45 There's an ideal, but be okay with the real<br> <br> Interview Transcript<br> Leading Saints (LS): Welcome back to another session of the Teaching Saints Virtual Summit. This is one of the later recordings that we're doing, and it's been fun to see everything unfold, and people from around the world, thousands of individuals tuning in and hopefully gaining some insight on how to be better teachers in the church. Today I'm back on the campus of BYU, talking with Dr. Hank Smith. How are you?<br> <br> Hank Smith: Hello. Good to be with you, Kurt.<br> <br> LS: Now, tell the 10 people out there listening that have never heard of you, give them some background.<br> <br> Hank: Yes, the 10 out of the 11 who are listening. I've taught in [seminaries institutes? 00:00:52] for...it's been since 2000, so 18 years. I moved over to BYU in 2010, and I've taught here since then. [00:01:03] I work for Deseret Book a little bit, BYU Education Week, EFY, try to spread some goodness.<br> <br> LS: Nice, awesome. As I usually start out with, I want to imagine that we're in front of a room full of new gospel doctrine teachers, maybe seminary teachers, youth teachers, let's go through some points on improving teaching. But where do we start? What's a good jumping off point?<br> <br> Hank: I think for me, personally, I have to remember why we do what we do because it can get tiresome. And sometimes things don't go as well as planned, and you think, "Why do I even try," because it's not working. So you have to remember why. You come back to why.<br> <br> I have to go through my reasons why I do what I do, and in Genesis 44, Joseph is testing his brothers to see if they've changed. This is when he's in Egypt and they've come to Egypt for food, and he wants to see if they've changed, [00:02:03] and so he frames Benjamin. Most people have seen the play, haven't read the book, but most people know the play.<br> <br>
