Lab Feedback: Deciding What to Share
When giving feedback in a lab, it's important that your coaching:
affirm the student’s strengths
is measurable
is more than a personal preference
and gives them clear pathways for growth.
As you grow in coaching, you’ll find you have a lot of feedback to give that fits that criteria. But you can’t share all of it at once! First, there’s just not enough time. The lab moment is too short to share everything we’d want to say. Second, a student can only take in so much after they’ve just taught. Honestly, they’ll only remember 1 or 2 things you say. Lastly, students can only work on a few areas of growth at a time. For all these reasons, we recommend the following framework to help you prioritize the feedback you give.
Think of this like a house you’re about to sell that still needs some work. You need to fix the worst and most glaring issues first - it doesn’t matter that the paint on your walls is fresh if there’s broken windows or outlets that don’t work. Aim to “fix” the more serious issues first and work your way to smaller, fine-tuned details.
First Tier Issues
These are the most important issues to work on. Any time you see these issues, you should mention them. We often see them in new teachers, but everyone struggles with these occasionally. Even if the student is an experienced teacher and is phenomenal at delivery, if their message has one of these issues, you should mention it.
No clear thesis - The message doesn’t appear to have 1 main idea that is stated, repeated and explained. The message feels disjointed and full of many smaller truths instead of one big truth.
No structure - The message didn’t appear to have any structure or outline, making it hard to follow. There were no clear categories or buckets of information and it was hard to tell where you were in the message as you listened.
Hermeneutic Problem - The scripture wasn’t handled rightly. Either it was misinterpreted or the main point of the passage was never addressed. Or the passage was used as a springboard to teach about something else.
Second Tier Issues
These are important issues and should be addressed while students are in the Teach Equip program. They can be mentioned with the first tier issues but ideally are addressed after seeing growth in the issues mentioned above.
Not enough variation - Did the message lack a variety of content? Each message should have a good balance of examination, explanation, illustration and application. This is a really easy way to identify strengths and find paths for growth. Usually students have a natural strength in 1 or 2 of these areas. Affirm that! But that means most students struggle with 1-2 of these. Identify these as a path for growth.
A sloppy structure: Sometimes a message has a structure, but it’s sloppy. A good structure needs to be clear, memorable, and easy to follow. The points should be tied together by the thesis. If the points feel disjointed or unrelated, that’s also a problem.
For example, if the 3 points in a student’s message are 1. God sent Jesus to pay for your sin so you could be reconciled to Him and what He did on the cross qualifies you to share in His mission. 2. God gives His mission to His people even though He doesn’t need them, He wants them 3. Because of Jesus, God’s people have been given every spiritual blessing and the Spirit to make them His witnesses. That is too much to remember! The structure needs to be easy to remember. Here’s a better alternative: 1. Jesus paid for your place 2. Jesus loves to include you 3. Jesus gives all you need.
Spotty or weak application: Application should be spread out throughout the message. It’s an important way to keep the audience engaged throughout the message. We tend to see teachers concentrate all their application at the end of the message. Or they don’t feel confident and apply apologetically. A great message will connect the truth to the lives of the listeners throughout. It helps listeners engage with the content and wrestle with what is being shared.
Clunky transitions or no transitions: Transitions happen when leaving one main point and heading toward another. Or while moving through the different types of content–examination, explanation, illustration or application. They happen when moving to and from introductions and conclusions. It’s usually obvious when a student has given their transitions no thought. This is important to address because it can be really distracting to listeners.
Third Tier Issues
These are the fine tuning issues. After a student has shown consistent growth in the first two tiers, it’s time to move on to these areas.
Sticky phrases – Are there short, memorable phrases that listeners will remember? Are they repeated?
Repetition – are things repeated for emphasis and clarity?
Addressing “chairs in the room” – does a student consider a variety of audience members in their message?
Addressing unbelievers – do they address nonbelievers in their message? Is there a clear gospel invitation?
Engaging introduction
Smooth conclusion
Delivery issues – nervous or distracting movement, not enough variation in voice, too quiet or loud the whole time, lacking a conversational tone, not enough energy