I love introducing people to my hobbies. Whether I was tutoring Creative Writing or just teaching my wife and friends to play D&D, I love showing people why something I love is something they can love as well. After years of trial and error, I've discovered a few important things that are crucial when teaching someone about my hobbies. As I'm painting up some Warmachine battle boxes for demo purposes, this seems like a good time to share my thoughts on teaching, and maybe get some ideas from you guys in return!
- Passion is key. It's rare that someone will outdo the excitement of their teacher. If the bar is set at the excitement level of Ben Stein, their brain won't leave them feeling buzzed when the experience is over.
When I'm teaching someone I'm animated with my hands, my shoulders are back, and I'm letting them know that it's okay to love what they're hearing. It's key to be genuine here - I've been taught games by people who were channeling a used car salesman, and I just wanted it to end because I felt like they were talking at me, rather than engaging me in a hobby they care about. - Chill. Let's be honest, we geeks are a terrifying lot. We have some of the greatest hobbies, but people are afraid that if they talk to us they'll wake up in the middle of ComicCon dressed as an Ewok. When some of us get excited, we tend to lose all self control and social grace, babbling incessantly about trivial matters and making it impossible for people to know what we're talking about. My passion tends to make me tangential, and what started as a friendly inquiry in to my interests can turn in to a monologue that leaves the listener completely confused.
This was my first day in group tutoring for Creative Writing. I was so pumped to talk to people about writing, but I went too far and lost the interest of anyone who wasn't already a die-hard writer. We all know someone who vomits their hobby on anyone who will listen, but instead of being engaged that person will become terrified because this is the first geek they've seen outside of Big Bang Theory, and every stereotype is being proven right before their eyes. Being chill and passionate is tough, but it does wonders to lure people in to our hobbies! - Practice. The first time someone asked me about Warmachine, I sounded like an idiot. I had no logical flow to my information, and in the end all that was really said was "blah blah robots blah blah steampunk." After that I realized I couldn't take my raw knowledge and excitement and just throw it at someone. It's like cutting each individual word out of Lord of the Rings, throwing the pile in the air and yelling "Experience the greatest book ever!"
Giving information systematically is huge. There's really no hard-and-fast way of doing it, but I've found the mental exercise of doing an introduction in my head is incredibly helpful. Pretending to give someone a 2 minute introduction helps me figure out what is key for drawing in someone's attention versus the minutia that only confuses them. I've also started going over ways to easily teach someone to play the game.
I've only taught 2 people who had almost 0 knowledge of the game, and both times I felt like I was flailing around with my explanations. Making my explanations clear and concise are huge, and giving information in the right order can be the difference in someone understanding things quickly, or feeling jumbled the whole time because I talked about Power Attacks before I even told them what MAT/RAT means. Again, systematizing information is a #1 priority when trying to get someone interested in any geeky hobby, especially since almost everything in our world is already thick with information that's hard to wade through. - Praise success. New players have no idea if they're doing well. Let them know when they are. Even if they stumble in to it, being told that they used a good strategy will light up almost anyone's face. Even if they never play the game again, someone who walk away from a demo game feeling like they did well will rarely have something negative to say about the experience.
- Make sure they have fun. The goal of any teacher is to trick their students in to loving the subject. When I did group tutoring I had many parents, teachers, and students tell me that people thought I was the best teacher in our tutoring network. And all I did was make writing fun for teenagers who started the class thinking they hated it.
It's all about making it easy to enjoy the game. I've read many stories about people who had a miserable introduction to Warmachine because their teacher sucked. They wouldn't explain things well, they'd take advantage of the new player's ignorance of special rules, or just use them as an ego boost by demolishing them. If someone's first experiences aren't enjoyable, they have 0 obligation to continue in the hobby. Even if they've already bought a starter set, $30-50 isn't going to make someone sit through game-after-game of abuse.
That leads me to the point that is possibly the most important... - Get on their level. When I am teaching someone the game, I want them to have a fair game. At that point the biggest thing that divides us is rules knowledge. Before a game I'll make sure they have a basic grasp of the rules, and I might throw in a few advanced rules that might be relevant to them. When the game is under way, I will point out rules as they come up, but I will never spring something on a player that gives me an advantage, or say "Oh well" if they forget something important.
For example, I will remind players that they can charge, use spells that may benefit them, or talk to them about planning out their turn before they start moving models all around. On my turn I will only do things that they would be aware of. That means that I won't slam their heavy beast in to their warcaster if I haven't given them an opportunity to try it first.
A demo game is all about the other player. While I won't refuse to win a game, I like to give my opponent every opportunity to kill my warcaster and win the game. People know that a demo game isn't a full representation of what to expect, and no one is surprised when they win. It's my goal to make them fight for it the entire time, but in the end if the game is for them then they'll usually be able to pull out a win. On game #2 I'll try a bit harder, and I'll usually get outfoxed because they are picking up the game and making informed choices without me having to babysit them.
My personal preference is to be as hands-off as possible. I will point out rules and potential strategies, but I will never dictate a player's choices. They don't need to see how the game plays with minimal personal input - they need to experience the game for themselves and walk away feeling like it could be a good fit for them. I think the only way that happens is to give them knowledge, throw them in the deep end, and be nearby to help them whenever they need it. - Keep on pushing. So someone is interested in a game. They've played a couple demos, they purchase a starter, and they're ready to get better. This is the part that's difficult, especially with Warmachine. Players can't be coddled forever, and they need to start learning the game in full. I will let players know that I'm going to start pushing them harder - rather than being on their level, I'll start to pull ahead little-by-little so that they can push themselves to be better.
This is when players will start leaving the game. Some people don't like losing, and getting over the hump between "new" and "intermediate" player is rough. For some people it can take a year of hard work, and up to 100 straight losses, before they fully grasp the rules and start making good choices during the game. [And that's assuming they don't have someone always trying to crush them just because they can!] Having someone knowledgeable to lean on can speed this up significantly, but only if the person is ready to learn.
One of the most heartbreaking things about Warmachine is to see players get frustrated and quit. It usually happens because they rarely win, and with no one to help them improve and learn they circle the drain of mediocrity forever. Sometimes people just can't handle losing more than half their games, and they give up because they can't dominate a game after only a few months of play.
That's why all these other points are so important to me - if someone has a good beginning experience, they are less likely to quit because the game is "too hard" or doesn't make sense. Sometimes a game just isn't right for someone, and that's fine. But I don't think anyone should quit just because they didn't have someone there to help them learn properly, and if necessary act as a mentor.
That's why being a good teacher is my passion, no matter what area we're talking about. A friend once said that everyone has a bit of geekiness in them, and I think it's important for all of us to try our best to give people a good intro to any of our hobbies. In that same vein, it's equally important to avoid giving a bad experience that might dissuade someone from a hobby they may have really enjoyed.
What do you guys think? Did I miss something important? Let me know!
See you tomorrow!
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