Atomic Teaching Habit #7: Talk Less, Teach More:How to Build a Student-Centered Classroom

“The person doing the talking is the person doing the learning.”

I love to present. I really enjoy the opportunity to speak to a group of people. I also love stand-up comedians and the engagement that comes from listening to a live speaker at a conference or a TED talk. But the thing is, presentations like this are just that. They are presentations that have great value at the right time and place. And the right time and place for hour-long presentations is not the classroom.

The TED Talk Rule

The goal length of those TED talks that I enjoy is 18 minutes. Those smart people at TED have figured out that 18 minutes is the sweet spot for humans, especially really smart and naturally engaged ones, to pay attention either in person or when watching a YouTube video.

Now, take that 18-minute goal and think about classes that you’ve been in and the ones that you teach. I can’t tell you how many bad classes I’ve sat through. I’ll spare you most of the details because they’re painful. But just last summer, I sat through a four-hour, 187-slide presentation that was nothing but talk from the presenter. I haven’t yet recovered from that. But my mission is to save students and teachers from the pain that can be inflicted on others from this method of teaching.

Teachers Talk Too Much

Atomic Habit #7 is to talk less. However much you talk, it’s probably too much. The average teacher talks for between 70-80% of class time. The average teacher should talk for no more than 25% of class time, according to research, and according to practicality and what students need, I’m going to recommend less than that.

The general rule of thumb here is: The less you talk, the more your students will learn. Now, this doesn’t mean to talk less and pass out more worksheets. This is what can happen if you go that route:

“If students are to learn, they must talk. And if they are to learn deeply, they must talk about their thinking.”

Shift to Student Voice

We know the modern model of teaching presents the teacher as the guide on the side. But we also know that school is school, and the Model of School is so very hard to break away from. I wrote about that in Atomic Habit #5, Do the Opposite. But we must break from the traditional model, and the way to do that is to simply be quiet and allow the students to do the talking and the learning.

Set a goal for yourself of talking for no more than 20% of the class period. How will you know? Look at your plan. I really recommend not talking for more than 5 minutes at the beginning of a class. You should be able to:

1. Grab their attention
2. Present what the focus is
3. Explain why

…in 5 minutes or less. Then let go and allow the students to do the things that you’re facilitating for the day.

Common Objections & Counterpoints

If you’re reading this and you talk more, I’m assuming you’re having a few thoughts right now, such as:

• “I have to talk more, or the students won’t get the information.”
• “If I don’t talk, I don’t know what the students will do.”
• “This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Let me counter each quickly:

• You may have to do some direct instruction to get students what they need. Remember, TED Talks are great. But your classroom TED Talks shouldn’t go over 10 minutes, and they better be on point before you go in for one, or nobody is going to be listening anyway.
• When you don’t talk, you create purposeful opportunities for your students to talk themselves, create, share, and do. They will learn through these experiences if you build the opportunities for them to do so.
• I might not know everything, but I do know that talking less is important. If you don’t believe me, 75% of high school students report being bored in school on a daily basis. We should all care about this and work to make classroom experiences engaging and meaningful.

Try This: The Talk Less Teaching Tracker

So this Atomic Habit, of talking less, is a challenge. It’s a personal challenge to talk less and listen more, allowing for a truly student-centered classroom. Try taking a stopwatch into your room. Start the watch anytime you start to talk and stop it when you finish. How much of that time is spent with you talking?

💬 Final Thought

The less we talk, the better teachers we will all be.

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If you’re enjoying these habits and considering adopting them into your own teaching practice, I’d love to know what you think. Please leave a comment, like, and subscribe. Let’s keep improving, one habit at a time.