There are two things you need as a chocolate educator: subject matter expertise and relatability.
If you’re drawn to chocolate, learning about the topic is easy. You taste a lot of chocolate and sign up for classes. You talk to chocolate-makers and attend chocolate festivals. One day, you’ll wake up and realize how much you know. Congratulations, you’re now a chocolate expert!
But if you want to pass that knowledge to a wider audience, building subject matter expertise isn’t enough — you also need to be relatable.
Relatability isn’t always recognized as a skill. But when your job is to get people excited about your work, you have to package your knowledge into relevant content. You need to edit your talks and make them more interesting than the phone in an attendee’s pocket. After all, the goal of a one-hour talk or 90-minute tasting is to spark curiosity, not turn the audience into scholars. So, how do you stretch that relatability muscle?
In Week 1 of the Chocolate Educator Workshop, I encourage attendees to sign up for a class on a topic they’re curious about, but not passionate about, such as a wine education or coffee cupping class. Tip: You can browse for events on the Eventbrite platform.
Next, pay attention to your experience. Did the speaker grab their attention? If so, how? Were there cool stories, videos, or props to keep you engaged? Be mindful of your experience and take notes. Ideally, you’ll repeat this quarterly throughout your career. This is important because as your knowledge grows, so will the gap between you and your audience.
Leading a chocolate tasting shouldn’t involve a lengthy monologue about “our passion”. Rather, it’s an opportunity to connect with our audience and get people excited about a surprisingly mysterious food. And that requires us to be relatable.
Yes, you should continue learning about your field. But as your knowledge grows, remember to stretch that relatability muscle too.
