When the expert teaches

Some of the worst demos I’ve sat through were run by the person who knew the material best. The subject matter expert skips the basics because the basics stopped being visible to them years ago. They jump straight to the advanced steps, wave off the critical setup with oh, that part’s easy, and leave a room full of people stuck at step zero.

Teaching pole and aerial showed me this from the other side. A beginner doesn’t need my hardest trick. She needs to know which arm to lift and where her weight should be. Details so second nature to me that I have to consciously remember they were ever learned. The same goes for software demos and onboarding. Open the app here. This is the URL you bookmark.

Deep knowledge and the ability to transfer it are separate skills, and organizations keep treating them as one. The best trainer is often the person who remembers what confusion felt like, or at least respects it. Knowing something gets you in the door. Teaching it well is a different job.