Tips To Improve Your Skills

Motivating Learners

Attendance

If people are not in the room, it is impossible for them to learn. Ideally, we want participants that have signed up for the training and that are eager to learn. Sometimes organizations need to mandate training. Mandatory attendance sometimes has a dampening effect on people's motivation and creates a unique problem for the trainers.

Some ways to ease this tension include:

Acknowledge the various motivations of participants somewhere at the beginning of the training. This may help those who feel "they are prisoners" to engage in the material.
Make the training interesting and relevant so participants will want to engage in the training.
Challenge participants to take away something that they can use personally. It might be appropriate to share evaluation information from other groups and the number of people that stated that they took away something of use from the training.
Share your own story of a training session. If you have ever been a reluctant participant in a training before, share your story with how you were able to get value out of the training.
Get everyone talking early on, especially the reluctant participants. Going around the room on an easy question is a great way to start any discussion. Objective information about experience helps create an atmosphere of respect.
Get everyone up and moving – even just a stretch or moving into breakout groups can help break the "bunker mentality" of some participants.
Stay on agenda. Don't allow a participant that does not want to participate in the training to take you off the agenda you have for the whole group.

! Hot tip: Talk with an individual participant off line who resists the training to acknowledge their concerns and ask for their participation.

Returning from Breaks and Lunch

Bring a clock with you if the room does not have one.
Set a clear time frame for breaks and state that to the group. For example, we are taking a 17 minute break and we will start at 3:10 by this clock.
Be realistic. If people have to travel for lunch off site, allow for travel time. Providing coffee, refreshments and even lunch can be a way for you to minimize delays in the classroom.
Use an egg timer to remind you to begin the group.

Hot tip!: Offer rewards to those who return on time, such as a "thank you" or raffle tickets for a drawing.

Provide supplemental information until everyone returns. If not everyone is back, start the session and provide some additional material during that time to the participants. For example, you can review additional resources such as books by providing a synopsis of what each book contains. You can also use this time to check in with the participants on the pace and usability of the material.
Honor those who are prompt. Don't wait to start the session without first checking with those participants who are on time. A good way to check is to state, "I want to honor those of you who are here on time. I know several people are still expected – could I have your permission to start at 10 after?" If you do this, make sure to start at the designated time.

Late Comers

Do not allow late comers to disturb others. A co-trainer at the door can help direct the new participant to a vacant seat, point out the page of the activity, provide instructions, etc. Fold the new participant into the discussion if appropriate. For example, "Welcome Jane. We were just introducing ourselves by giving our name and department. Will you please introduce yourself?"
Introduce participant after current discussion is completed. If the group is in the middle of a discussion when a new participant arrives, finish the discussion and then invite the new participant to introduce themselves. If it is at the beginning of a discussion and you want this person to get up to speed quickly, you can summarize the key points and then invite them to join the discussion as you continue.
Occasionally, a new participant will miss major portions of a program. Encourage the participant to read the flipchart information to become familiar with the discussion points. The trainer can also use this as an opportunity to reflect on the work to date. For example, "Let's go around the room and share one thing that we discussed this morning with Mary."

Make Your Information Lively

Motivate learners by making your materials interesting and engaging.

Here are some tips:

Use a variety of learning methods and exercises. For example, breakout groups provide interest and a more comfortable way for participants to work but if they are over-used they become boring and repetitive. Only using case studies can have the same effect.
Use lectures sparingly. Some learning points can only be made through presentations so use ways to create interest by using power point, visual aids, stories and anecdotes that illustrate key points. Vary the pace and tone of your voice. Use humor as it relates to the material and is appropriate. Most people will appreciate an informal presentation style with the chance to ask questions to clarify points as you go along.
Use creativity when designing training and build in experiential exercises. Adult learners appreciate the opportunity to learn the material through experience so build in exercises that get people up and moving while still illustrating key points in the material. Experiential exercises are powerful teaching tools that participants will remember long after the training has concluded.

Remember the three different ways people take in information: visually, verbally and kinesthetically. Use as many different modes during the training as possible. For example, if you are giving instructions, it is better to have it posted (for the visual learners), shared verbally (for the audio learners) and perhaps demonstrated (for the kinesthetic learners). Vary the exercises for extroverts (who get energy from people) and introverts (who need time alone to recharge). Extroverts will appreciate large and small group activities while introverts will appreciate individual exercises, such as self assessments or journals, which give time for learning and reflection.

! Hot Tip: Remember that people come from different perspectives on what they need to engage in the materials.

Remember the "4–P's" in designing training.

Purpose – Share "why" this training is important.
Picture – Share an "image" of what you want the training to create in the organization.
Plan – Share the agenda and how the training will be conducted.
People – Share how people will be impacted and how human connections will be cared for.

Carefully prepare discussion questions in advance so that the group will "journey" through the material together and inform each other. Make sure to include a variety of questions. Start with "objective" questions that ask about participants experience with the subject. The general rule of discussion questions is to move from general to specific questions and from simple to answer questions to complex questions. It is always good to end a discussion with a question related to what the participants plan to use or apply from the training.

Engaging participants early on in the training in a discussion is a key way to ensure participation later in the training. The introductory question is key to creating a comfortable, participatory environment. Ideally you will want to ask participants the name they would like to be called, their organization and something that relates to the topic that is being discussed. For example, if the topic is jobs, you may want to ask participants about their first job. Often an introductory discussion can springboard you into the material.

Asking participants to do tasks is another way to get people more involved in training. For example, a participant could act as a timekeeper or recorder for a portion of the training. When asking for volunteers, ask "Who would be willing to _____" rather than "Who would like to _____?"

Manuals and training materials that have images and spaces for participant notes help to maintain participant interest. Take away items such as coffee mugs, tote bags, mouse pads, etc. that have key points are always popular with participants and provide an "on the job" reminder to reinforce the training.

At the end of each training session, hold a reflective discussion and ask for written feedback on how the training can be improved. Participants can identify when energy is low or when an exercise needs improvement. This will provide the training team with ways to continual refresh and improve the training.

"Welcome" – Setting up the Room

Be intentional about space set up. Many trainers want to set the room for maximum participation so it is good to set the tables in such a way so participants can see each other. Diamond, square and U-shapes work well for this. It is good to visit the room in advance or come early to ensure the tables are set up in a manner that will reinforce the training.

A focal point creates space and interest. Room décor such as posters and quotes on the walls help reinforce the material are part of creating a space for the course.

Provide participants with supplies. A basket with pencils, pens, markers and highlighters help participants interact with the material. Sticky notes and tabs help them to mark key pages for reference. Markers help participants be ready for creating images and flipcharts.

! Hot tip: Set up a flipchart with a "Welcome" message and the agenda before the session. Participants will feel more comfortable when they enter the room.

Set up the space in advance so you are available to greet participants and help them in locating refreshments, a seat, their training manual, the restroom, etc.

Setting out toys on the table help kinetics participants be engaged during the training.

Alternate set up for a second day. If your training is more than one day in length, consider an alternate set up for the second day to create a different room dynamic. Encourage people to sit by someone that they did not sit by in day one to foster interaction with other participants.