Soft Skills for the Win - Online Classroom

6:00-7:00pm PST via Zoom Meeting
Meeting link will be sent to registered attendees on the day of the session.

The soft skills when instructing and teaching are just as valuable as the hard skills in building a trusting and lasting relationship between Instructor and student. If the student feels safe, happy, warm, and are fed, they are going to learn, engage and develop. The ability to read people, adapt and facilitate to their personal and learning needs in any environment is what makes a great instructor stand apart. Hard skills such as climbing, gear, tying a knot, reading white water, or performing a rescue can all be taught, soft skills are learned from years in the field and time spent with students and other instructors. "Soft Skills" is a pretty vague, yet encompassing term in the outdoor industry.

"Soft Skills for the Win" will dive into the meaning behind "soft skills" teaching techniques, and being human in the outdoors. We will talk about and explore together what makes a great instructor and where improvements can be made. We will explore the idea of being intuitive and compassionate and aware of yourself and your students, no matter the environment. This presentation is designed to help take another look at ourselves as instructors and the tips, tricks, and learning curves of being a great outdoor educator. Everyone is different, and everyone has something valuable to add, we will explore and expand these topics together.

PRESENTER

Ken Shaffer is a professional mountain guide and instructor at Seneca Rocks Climbing School - the oldest continuously operated climbing school in the Mid-Atlantic. He has worked in the outdoor industry for five years including hundreds of days in the field instructing adults and kids of all ages. He has coached youth climbers in Australia, instructed climbing and backpacking in New Zealand, and instructed for Experience Learning Outdoor Education Center in West Virginia. Ken also has worked 12 years in the film industry. After attending the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, he has worked for companies such as Sony Music and has managed production studios in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Ken is now an adventure photographer, combining his passion for the arts with climbing, exploration and mountaineering. He is also a published outdoors writer. Ken lives in Franklin and enjoys climbing, backpacking, whitewater kayaking, caving and exploring the many forests of West Virginia.

Check out his work at kashaffer.com