In both teaching and GMing, it’s not about me, it’s about everyone else there. I can bring what ever I like to the students/players but if I don’t respond to their needs/wants it simply doesn’t work. I also need to make whatever I bring engaging for them as well as letting them discover things for themselves and trying to surprise me. I also can’t assume anything, instead test the waters with something new and see how they react.

I need to be hyperaware of my players/students and be ready to load Schrondiger’s Gun at a moment’s notice. Be receptive to questions I had no idea that I would get and at moments where I am explaining something rather complicated and it throws me off my train of thought.

Negative actions need to have consequences and if the students/players can find a way to exploit or manipulate something I put in front of them…they will.

However, the most important thing to bring to the game table/classroom is one’s sense of humour. Students/players love to laugh, especially at my expense.

There’s also the management side, contacting people/getting permission slips. Honestly, sometimes I feel like someone’s mother and that’s how the kids in class treat you anyway!
.-= Katana Geldar´s last blog ..Gaming and the Expanded Universe (Part 2): Picking up the pieces =-.

I think making the players feel like driving forces in the story, actual agents, is more important than the plot you follow. They could follow a plot by reading a book or by (heaven forbid!) playing a video game RPG. Every player has a creative side they want to explore (GN or S), and I think a good DM tickles that with every hook and twist.

As for lessons plan template, I encourage you to look at Writing Outlines or extracting one from a text. I know that it makes all my prep so much easier to build when I go from Idea, to possibility-tree to fully fleshed adventure.

@Wyatt: Oh man, keeping the Twitter obsessed involved in training/oral presentations and game table is a challenge of all times. I often fight the urge to grab all those fancy schmancy smartphones and chuck them at the nearest concrete wall.

@John: You’re right that DMing doesn’t fit on a non-gamer CV… but the skills discussed in this post should be in the “skills” section of your CV.

@Scott: Oh man, thanks. You are the first person to quote this… We should make t-shirts (kidding!).

As much as i want to add something of more relevance i can’t fathom a comment or question in response to that post. Very informative and helpful.

Hopefully without coming across as a fanboy i think there are GM’s out there who follow the creed of WWCD! (what would chatty do!)

Scott

When I DM a session, I try to make it look like the players are directing the course of play and I’m just reacting to what they’re doing, even though I’ve got it all planned out. Likewise, when I’m teaching a class, I try to design lessons that allow students to feel like they are discovering this information on their own. The good DM shouldn’t be the hardest-working person at the table; the players should be. The teacher shouldn’t be the hardest-working person in the classroom; the students should be. Both lessons and gaming sessions have clear beginnings, middles, and ends; the beginnings review and build off of earlier sessions, and the ends close some threads but open up many more.

Kind of a rambling post, but yeah…gaming has actually prepared me to be a better teacher. Too bad I can’t put that on a resume!

In such occasions I found that GMing has taught me a showmanship and an acknowledge of people’s limited attention spans (or at least the lowest common denominator of what constitutes “people”) and given me psychological advantage in presenting for them. They probably still don’t listen to me, but my voice and mannerisms do great harm to their unstoppable twitter addictions, drawing them momentarily away from those 140 characters. And I think that’s good enough.

Anti-spam word: Bacon.
.-= Wyatt´s last blog ..Win A Wave Invite In The Spirits of Eden Contest! =-.

Too many of us lose sight of what it is we are supposed to do at work.. and let me tell you, unless you are an administrative assistant or a helpdesk, you aren’t paid to answer emails and attend meetings all day.

Somewhere in the jobs we hate are little pieces of significance we can re-build our new jobs around. And if not… finding a new job is always an option (not always easy, but always out there).

And Ravyn’s comment about psychology is right on (that being my field of study in the university days). I remember reading a few books on emotional intelligence that dealt heavily with Self and Social awareness, and realizing that leadership (both explicit and socially awarded) skills are hard to quanitfy and are often very subtle.

Very thought provoking and cross disciplinary. You’re so darn cutting edge it hurts.
.-= LordVreeg´s last blog ..edited Cult of the Telekonese Prophesies-Amerer =-.

In fact if you add Charisma, Vision and Integrity (Character traits more than skills) you would have a good definition of what good leadership is.

So yes, the best teachers, managers and GMs are also excellent leaders.

I’m still at the ‘The trouble with Genius Part 2′ chapter… Outliers is my nightstand book

As an aside, did you happen to read the other exerpts from the book? The one about the “Culture of Honor” was particularly interesting.

Neuromarketing? You have to write that post and let me know about it! That sounds really interesting!

@Norman: Thanks I’m going to have a look just now!

Gaming in general and anything that involves problem solving or improvisation. When you find yourself having to deal with players who can foil your plans using a hamster, this morning’s breakfast and one seemingly useless magic item, you get used to thinking about things from the standpoint of “What is this and what could they do with it?” Conversely, being a player can be absurdly good for training “What do I want, and what do I have that can help me get it?”

GMing and psychology. Full stop. I’ve only taken one class of psych, but it doesn’t keep me from spending almost as much time studying and extrapolating from the PCs as coming up with big shiny things for them to do next. Then there’s the characterization of the NPCs–and did I mention using tricks like priming to try to get the characters thinking a certain way before I put them near a thing to be reacted to or a decision point? (Somewhere in my notes I have an entire post on ways neuromarketing can be applied to running RPGs. It’s an interesting concept.)

Then again, I live for skill synergy, so I’ve even found ways to use biology in my gaming. And have explained to a friend why a class on ancient architecture was not, in fact, a waste of time as far as improving his GMing was concerned. It’s all in how you look at it.
.-= Ravyn´s last blog ..The Generic Villain on Being a Deal-Maker =-.