Month: March 2011

When I asked friends for ideas on training for this article, here’s what I received:

• How to train your dog to use the toilet.
• How to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
• How to make an American quilt.
• How to extract your own wisdom teeth.
• How best to express road rage-flipping the bird or screaming obscenities.
• How to fit the maximum amount of beer in a fridge.
• How to escape a burning building using only # two pencils and dental floss.
• How best to ____ off telemarketers.

Creative, yes, but not at all what I had in mind. But it does tell us what people think about training. It gave me an idea about how we could most effectively be using the learning tools we are given.

Say the word, “training” and it elicits an immediate frown from the trainees-to-be–unless these same employees are anxious to get out of work at their job, which isn’t a good thing either. Most training is boring. It’s always the same thing–prescriptive. Trainers who can take that curriculum and turn it into something more relevant, interesting by adding experiences and examples, some not in the book, and therefore, fun, are the opposite of boring. Yes?

Believe it or not, some trainers are more afraid of the public speaking aspect of training than conducting the training itself. Those trainers do what they have to, but they haven’t necessarily succeeded in making it a memorable experience for the trainees. Not all the necessary communication is written down in the training curriculum or trainer guide. The trainer’s guide doesn’t say be yourself, be self-assured and try to make the trainees want to be a part of this exciting endeavor.

Let’s face it: training guides are meant to help a trainer accomplish the basic delivery of pertinent knowledge and doesn’t cover too much on how to make it relevant on a personal basis. The very business and staid nature of the guide makes some trainers try to make a seemingly “mission impossible” into “an affair to remember” without any help.

We know from research that people learn better when certain techniques are used. We apply those learning techniques in our training modules because they reportedly are the best ways to have our trainees remember what we want them to remember.

But what if they are more focused on nonsense questions like the above, and view this training as having little value?

We’re doing all the right things. We are using the prescribed curriculum; we are using the trainer notes. We have icebreakers, experiential activities, quizzes, and evaluations. But is anyone listening?

Making your training “an affair to remember” will certainly solve that concern.

So, how do you get there?

There are probably some born communicators or those who have learned their craft over the years, but for those who are aren’t, here are some ideas to help you present a more dynamic lesson.

Training, teaching, public speaking, conducting successful meetings, presenting depositions in court or talking to a jury, and, of course, acting are all activities based on a performance, requiring credibility, passion, and the ability to draw from your own personal bag of tricks to make it real. I’ve talked about several of these activities in other blogs, but hopefully, this one can tie them all together.

My biggest concern for trainers is that, for the most part, they are more focused on the process of training according to the trainer’s guide, than on communicating with the trainees or audience. It’s a little like “which came first?” The basics of public speaking apply, taking into account the audience, the subject and the trainer/presenter/speaker, etc. I’m not saying make a speech or lecture instead. Do lecture, if that’s appropriate. Should you follow the “plan,” know that even the introduction of the training itself, the transitions and instructions to carry out the activities, and the overall purpose and motivation for the training must be communicated effectively.

Why do some students love their teachers? Because they’re young and don’t know any better? No, because the teachers are charismatic. They’re fun. They’re themselves and the students know that. The teachers care about the students and ensure they get the a lesson–not just going through the motions. It should be no different with training. And trainers, too.

Know your audience, know your subject and know yourself.

Sounds simplistic and maybe that is the beauty of it. Knowing the audience is primary to any training needs assessment, environment, implementation, and plans. The same goes for the subject–tailored, of course, to your audience. Then, the biggest factor, often ignored by managers and training staff: the assignment of a trainer who can hold and engage the audience with the subject matter.

To some trainers, even though they know training and all the requisite tools, public speaking is still their biggest fear, their “mission impossible” as it is for most people. That is the reason some trainers fall back to the etched-in-stone training process.

Sure, the program takes into account how people learn and what techniques do that best, but bottom-line for trainees is that they have to care. The only way to make them care is to have someone who can grab their attention, make the training meaningful and communicate the message (the subject effectively). That is the job of the trainer or facilitators of training. Either way, we’re going to make that “mission impossible” “an affair to remember.”

For those trainers or facilitators who need help in owning the stage and being more confident, I won’t just say, “practice, practice, practice.” Practice is important, but there are other techniques as well. Actors know how to be comfortable in their own skins as well as others. The trick is to get the right help to identify who you are, and to use that knowledge effectively.

Once you know who you are and why you belong on the stage the rest is conversation–the training module, made easy.

Use the all the personality tools you own, the information you feel critical to communicate and connect with the audience. “Owning” the moment and the stage is key to alleviating public speaking/training fears. This is where the knowing yourself comes in. Everyone has a unique personality and I encourage them to use it. Not everyone is a dance a minute on the stage or a joke teller or a witty soul. But I wouldn’t tell a cowboy about to make a speech he had to take his hat off–especially if that is not who he is. In essence, be yourself and use what is unique about you as you would in talking with friends. Be a person. That will help the moment feel more natural–more like conversation, which isn’t fearful.

Communication considerations for trainers.

• How do you get your audience’s attention and maintain it?
• Recognize different training groups, different approaches, different sizes of training–one size may not fit all.
• How do you make the trainees remember what you said? In public speaking, we use storytelling and humor among other things.
• How do you influence your audience?
• Knowing the charisma you need to become a dynamic and respected communicator or facilitator of training? A hint. It’s already in there. In you!

Effective communication couldn’t be more important in training.

No one should deny our purpose is for our trainees to absorb our subject matter and commit to using it. Even if you have a product that sells itself you still have to have get someone to pay attention to it to know they even want it. Basic communication means we have information to convey and we need our audience to “act” on that information (even if it is just to remember it) or we wouldn’t be there in the first place.

Communication is about sending and receiving information. Actors are taught acting and reacting–virtually the same give and take in a speaking or training environment. Acting is about audience perception and our ability to influence that perception. To get others to listen, to remember, to change their minds or attitudes is communication.

Actors aren’t the only ones who need to know their audience, their subjects, and themselves, trainers should, too, if they want their training sessions to be “affairs to remember.” Those results are the best kind, after all.

The most efficient training is the best communicated training.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

I am not a regular fan of reality television; however, I do really enjoy watching the show where the contestants are fighting to lose weight. You all know the show, right? Well, I love seeing how the contestants are able to lose weight and reduce risks to their health. I also really like that the show provides healthy tips on eating during the sometimes drawn out two hour episodes. But my favorite part of the show may just be the trainers. They are tough, but you really get the sense that they care about helping the contestants achieve their weight loss goals. They push the contestants, they call them out on their bull**** and excuses, and they don’t give up on them.

During the season, the contestants regularly participate in challenges. Sometimes the winners get prizes such as immunity from being sent home for the week and sometimes the losing team or individual suffers disadvantages in the game. In last night’s episode the losing team of one of those challenges was taken away from the campus on which the contestants stay to a house by themselves. They were given a budget and had to decide how to allocate their funds for the week. Their menu of choices included time with their trainer for a cost, spa treatments, gym memberships, food, dinners out and phone calls (a luxury not normally allowed). The team of two chose to have the spa treatments and dinner out, but did not choose any time with their trainer. The reason, they felt that they had learned enough and were ready to make it on their own.

So how do you think they did? Well the team lost the weekly “weigh-in.” As the team who lost the least amount of weight at the end of the week, one of team members had to go home. Their decision to not have a single day with their trainer cost the team greatly.

Another thing happened during last night’s episode that was significant to me. One of the contestants on the other team had recently had to switch trainers. His original trainer focused his training on boxing, something he enjoyed very much. Having workouts that he enjoyed had helped him achieve great success during the first several weeks in competition. The new trainer’s style was a little different and he was a little unhappy. You know what he did, he let the trainer know how he felt and she let him box. She didn’t take it easy on him, but she let him get there in the way that he enjoyed most.

How often do we make the same mistake as the losing team in our work life? More importantly, are the managers and leaders in your organization, good trainers? Are they pushing their teams to succeed? Are they listening to them as individuals to know what they need? Are they building an environment where your employees feel comfortable approaching them and letting them know what they need? If the answer is no, what are doing about it? What can you do right now to take the first step in that direction? No more excuses.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.