When I asked a masters student/TA why TAs don’t practice their labs on each other she said, “There’s no time.”
At my local university of Calgary it has finally been officially recognized that Professors aren’t trained in teaching or test giving or theoies of learning, and so a little training is now being given.

I attended one morning of such training and my prof saw me as we exited. She blushed and said, “You aren’t in any more of my classes, are you?” We had just covered the topic of what to do when you don’t know the answer. Because it happens so frequently there is no use in saying, “I don’t know, I will get back to you” and so instead we were taught tricks. I reassured my prof that I was graduating.

The most interesting part was that they videotaped us delivering a sample “lecture” to our fellow trainees, at the end of the training. As a practice session, it was immensely helpful. The other thing that I still remember about the training was that they taught us about the specific challenges that international students, like me, would face teaching (mostly) US undergrads.

So, for me training is a part of the solution. Feedback is another key tool but like the commenters have mentioned, for some reason they’re not used properly.

We don’t get taught that communicating well, especially for teachers, is something that is fundamental, not just a useful accessory. It’s a pity for, as you and others have pointed out, it’s a skill that can be learnt.

That’s why people keep going. The price of sitting through most OK lectures is not high enough to erase the memory of the last great one, and to hope tonight’s might be one like that, too.

Here’s an essay I wrote on how to give and receive criticism.

People are way too polite. I think it’s because they have no idea how to criticize without being offensive. Everyone should learn how to give feedback. There needs to be a lecture on that! ;)

I think part of the problem is feedback. it’s very hard to get honest feedback on giving a talk and without feedback there is 0% chance of people doing something different next time around.

People are extremely polite, even organizers, when it comes to telling someone who did a lousy job what they think. Rarely is anything substantive said.

Feedback to professors on their lecture abilities is something I suspect is often ignored – especially the feedback that comes from student surveys. If there are any profs/academics out there, I’d love to know any stories on this.

I’m sure most speakers recognize and appreciate when their peers break from the pack and deliver information in a more compelling way, but it doesn’t occur to them that they could do it themselves. When someone says “wow, he’s a great speaker/teacher” they seem to be assume that its due to some innate ability rather than learned skill.