TC249: The Art of Communication with Ben Kapilow

As a piano teacher or podcast host, it is so important for you to be able to connect and communicate with your students and audience effectively. But this doesn’t come naturally for all of us.  This broadcast originally aired on the Ben Kapilow All Keyed Up podcast, shared with permission. Ben and Tim discuss tips learned on the art of communicating effectively as teachers and podcast hosts. We also discuss the importance of being student-centred, how you can prepare and stay present in lessons, and why silence can be crucial in effective communication, too.

• [01:14] Overlap and connection between podcasting and interviewing and lesson delivery.
• [04:39] How to make lessons student-led for shy students.
• [08:16] Approaching podcast interviews in a neutral way.
• [12:22] His experience in rethinking teaching approaches to students.
• [14:11] The importance of being student-centered.
• [17:11] Balance of being prepared and being present in podcasting and teaching.
• [22:03] How Tim has learned to communicate with laser sharp clarity.
• [28:25] Tim shares more about TopCast and TopMusic.

Transcript of the show

If you'd like to download a PDF transcript of this episode, please click below. [thrive_leads id='141021']

Links Mentioned

• All Keyed Up Podcast by Ben Kapilow
• Ben Kapilow Website

Today's Guest

Ben Kapilow is a music director, teacher,  composer, and podcast host. The All Keyed Up podcast is an interview podcast where he speaks with a wide range of professionals about topics that are pertinent to the field of piano teaching. Ben has served as the Resident Music Director for the Media Theatre for the Performing Arts since Summer 2017. As a composer, his works have been performed by various groups. But one of his biggest interests is writing music for children. His pieces have been performed by about 40 elementary and middle school vocal and instrumental groups. Ben currently teaches private piano, songwriting, and voice lessons through the Media Theatre. His studio currently includes approximately 55 students and he is intricately involved in the theater’s education program. He currently holds PreK-12 Music Teacher Certification for the state of Maryland.

He graduated Pi Kappa Lambda from the Peabody Conservatory with an M.M. in Music Composition in 2017. In 2013, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Music and Psychology.

Today's Sponsor

Newzik is a unique digital score platform that lets you work in real-time with other musicians. With over 100,000+ users, Newzik lets you organize your scores in a digital library accessible at all times, enrich your scores with multimedia files including YouTube videos, and most importantly share your scores and markings in real-time with your band, your students, or your entire orchestra. Newzik offers a free-forever option as well as affordable subscriptions with unlimited storage and extra features such as Maestria, the first Optical Music Recognition technology based on artificial intelligence, which lets you turn paper into interactive digital scores.

Thank you for tuning in!

Consider implementing the ideas from this podcast by writing several actionable steps for your teaching practice if it’s inspired you.

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