The other day, my daughter asked me what the word ambience means.
Easy enough, right? But I often find myself stumbling in these situations. I mean, I know in my head what the word means! Typically, I find myself defining the word with another word that needs a definition for a five-year-old.
Trying to explain a concept to a kid can be a humbling experience. It makes you realize that knowing something and being able to teach it are two very different things.
Take something as simple as a zipper. I know how to zip up my jacket – I’ve been doing it since preschool. But if someone asked me to explain step-by-step exactly how a zipper works? With the little teeth and the locking mechanism thing? I’d have to stop and think it out.
And that’s exactly what we see in our training programs all the time.
One of our secret ingredients is this: we don’t just teach people about communication, leadership, and feedback. We put them in the driver’s seat. In programs like Presenting with Power and Persuasion, our feedback suite, and many of our management courses, participants don’t just absorb content – they coach each other. They offer feedback and essentially end up teaching it back. When they step into the role of guide or peer coach, that’s when the real magic happens.
Because here’s the truth: when you have to teach someone else, you dig deeper. You ask better questions. You internalize what matters. You stop relying on buzzwords and start thinking in stories and analogies (even ones about ambiance and zippers). And in the process, you become more confident in your own skills.
We’ve designed our programs intentionally to create those exact moments. Whether it’s giving a peer feedback on their delivery in a presentation or walking someone through how to handle a tough conversation, being the “teacher” pushes you to grow in a whole new way.
So next time you’re designing a learning experience, building a leadership pipeline, or just trying to explain a tricky concept, ask yourself: how can you turn your learners into teachers?
Because when learners become teachers, growth isn’t just encouraged – it’s inevitable. And that’s an ambience worth creating.