The Importance of Inviting ...
Inviting students to be allowed and encouraged to make mistakes, ask questions and stepping outside their comfort zones is crucial to them learning the job skills and also learning something new about themselves and what they can bring to the field they are being trained in.
I have invited my student to share triumphs as they relate to the class topic. I find this really helpful with research topics.
As a teacher of Public Speaking, fear of looking foolish is a common occurance. I invite them to be laughed at by their peers by giving them a WORST public speaking experience ever -- they must recite a nursury rhyme with a lolipop in their mouth, working on eye contact and voice inflection. I further invite them to "not do well" at their presentation, buy having them read from a book, but do it to the beat of a drum (one of the other students will set the pace - fast and slow - and it is impossible to be perfect. This builds confidence, commraderie, and makes every speech from here on out SO MUCH BETTER than that first one.
