Dynamic long briefings

[ClintonBaptiste]

Just reviewing some previous FI notes and looking into ways how to make the long briefings a little more dynamic and interesting.

I know you need to get all the important information into the student's head, but often the quirkiest method actually helps the student remember. I certainly remember an ex ground instructor's peculiar methods. He used to tell us what I thought to be pointless and irrelevant ramblings, yet it made me remember the vital information.

Obviously things like stories are personal and cannot be passed on, but I was hoping someone may have innovative ways of teaching certain subjects.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. If you want to keep your secret safe - feel free to PM me.

Thank you.

[The Flying Chicken]

Make it rude, and non-PC. My instructor was like that years ago, and I still remember...

[Oktas8]

Talk about accidents (published ones that is, not necessarily your own). This livened up my law lectures no end.

Cheers,
O8

[Centaurus]

Any info would be greatly appreciated

Keep the "long" briefing short - preferably inside 40 minutes. Avoid emulating Fidel Castro or Gaddaffi length speeches. That way, providing you know the subject and present it well, there should be no need to think of something to stir their interest. A pre-flight briefing should be less than 15 minutes.

Stick to the subject matter and avoid anecdotes or war stories of your personal experiences. Students will usually listen politely to your rambling on - but just remember they are a captive audience and have no choice.

What may interest you, does not necessarily mean your students will show interest. In fact they may wish you would stop boring them and stick to the direct subject matter. For example accident reports can certainly prove an interesting subject to some; but in my experience, these are interesting mainly to the instructor himself, but rarely to students. Especially where the accidents occurred before they were even born.

For most instructors, the scheduled briefing time goes all too quickly. Suddenly they glance at their watch and think "Christ - an hour has gone already and I haven't even got half the subject covered."

Spare a thought for the hapless students when their instructor loves the sound of his own voice so much and simply drones on and on and the students glance furtively at their own watches and think when is this twit going to stop talking..

Of course by then the instructor is well into his stride and thinks "I'll give them one more story and that's the one about the emergency descent I once pulled off successfully in the DC3 - after all, the briefing is about emergency descents...;)