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Using Analogies to Teach People – Tips from a Professional Educator!
CATCH Team Manager Kelly shares this wisdom about coaching people:
Good analogies create aha moments for your learner and will keep them wanting to learn more from you. Let’s look at an example: ????
Has a client ever asked what their dog’s ears being back mean? Many body language signals can mean more than one thing. You need to get them to understand that it depends on the dog’s overall body language. Much like how if I speak the word, “to,” out loud, you don’t know if the word I’m saying is “to”, “too,” or “two” without hearing it in a sentence. The same is true of a dog with her ears back – that can mean many things, and you need context in order to work that out.
To help a client understand, you might use this analogy: If you received a text with the words, “Can you believe that guy?” with a laughing emoji, or that same exact sentence with a fuming mad emoji, the emoji in and of itself completely changes the entire meaning and tone of that sentence.
Now, bring the anology home by bringing the concepts together: If you see a dog play bowing and hopping around, while lunging and barking, that play bow acts as the laughing emoji and lets us (and the other dog) know that they aren’t making a serious threat with the barking and the lunging, but instead to take it as a play signal.
❓What are some useful analogies that you use to explain dog behavior and training concepts?
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5 Replies
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A broad analogy I use is that different parts of a dog’s body language are like words in a sentence – you need to read them together to make any sense of what is going on.
And about how different signals (parts of body language) can mean completely different things depending on context, try discussing the word “Dude”. Just thinking about all the different things “Dude” might mean in a conversation (especially the ones that kids come up with) literally makes me laugh out loud!
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This is too funny, @jenwalker – it’s so true!
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya The Princess Bride
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“There’s something I ought to tell you. I’m not left-handed either.”
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“Have fun stormin’ the castle!” ????
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