Conducting a raise points that you think should best be treated fully on another
 Demonstration occasion, then tell them so and explain your reasoning.
Demonstration

 DEMONSTRATING
 If you yourself have ever gone to an office and been shown how to
 fill in a form, gone home with a blank one and then found you
 couldn't remember what you had been told-then you can have
 some sympathy for farmers who seem to forget so quickly what you
 tell or show them. Sometimes a very quick or slick demonstration
 by a skilled performer can be self-defeating. The action occurs so
 quickly that the processes are not absorbed by the watchers. And
 there is a danger that the very slickness of the demonstration can
 be off-putting, can dent the confidence of the farmers that they
 themselves could ever do likewise.
 A demonstration is an act of teaching. So what you do should
 conform to the principles outlined in Chapter Four concerning
 efficiency of learning. Perhaps it would be particularly useful at
 this point to remind ourselves of the six crucial conditions for
 learning outlined in that chapter:
 that the farmers should be motivated to learn;
 they should be open to admitting certain deficiencies
 in their current practices;
 they should be given a clear demonstration of what
 they are expected to learn;
 they should have opportunities to practise the new
 knowledge and skills;
 they should receive reinforcement that what they
 are doing is correct;
 they should have available the appropriate learning
 materials.
 This list is particularly relevant to those occasions when your main
 educational objective is to develop skills. So, without repeating the
 general points made earlier with regard to these conditions, let us
 review them specifically in relation to demonstrations.
 The first two conditions have been fully discussed earlier. They are
 concerned with the positive and negative feelings the farmers will
 bring with them into any learning situation. But your own ap-
 proach in conducting a demonstration will have its effect on them:
 if your performance is confident, your manner enthusiastic and


Chapter 8