Saying it Without Saying It
Swen Nater

When the 2004 Olympic basketball team, far more talented than any other, came up with only a bronze medal, a reporter asked Coach Wooden why the United States lost. Coach replied, “We send great players; they send great teams.”

When you read that quote, did it make you stop and think? What Coach really said was, a group of good players who play together as a team, can beat a group of very talented players that don’t. But he didn’t say it, right? He used the power of suggestion by “saying it without saying it.”

By saying it without saying it, Coach Wooden used one of the most effective teaching tools available. Instead of “pushing” the student to the answer directly, the learner is “pulled” to it by his or her own curiosity to know. When the answer is hidden inside and the listener is primed to find it, better learning happens for two reasons.
1. The learner senses a kind of “partnership” with the teacher and, therefore, some degree of ownership of the answer.
2. The answer is clearer because it was not stated and the learner had to put it in his or her own words.

Here are some more examples of Coach Wooden “Saying it without saying it.”

“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
The Message: Be concerned with what you have control over; it will save time.

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
The Message: Never stop learning.

“Never mistake activity for achievement.”
The Message: When you do something, progress is the most important thing.

“The main ingredient to stardom is the rest of the team.”
The Message: If you try to be a star by yourself, you will be greatly disappointed.

“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.”
The Message: Don’t overlook lessons you can learn from history; there is much wisdom to be learned.

Coach Wooden made it very clear; he did not want to be called “The Wizard of Westwood” because he saw himself not as a magician, but as a teacher. But he was a wizard of a different sort. Coach was a Wizard of Words. How did he do it? He studied the Wizards of the past. Abraham Lincoln, his favorite American, was one. Then, he practiced.  It helped him become a great teacher.