7 Responses

1. making training inspirational and fun
   Hi Neil

   I think I would include how to make training inspirational, memorable and fun; for both the delegates and the trainer. How to keep your motivation and enthusiasm and not get stale as a trainer when you have just run the same event for the umpteenth time (can you tell I’ve just done that!)

   Regards

   Sue

2. Wish List
   Hi Neil

   What a great idea! I am coming at this in two ways – 1 is what I would envisage for existing but not necessarily greatly experienced trainers and the other is my kind of personal wish list for the more experienced trainer!

   So here are a few Fantasy Island ramblings:

   Less experienced:
   managing those pesky delegates! TTT’s tend to be a fairly artificial environment and it is difficult to give them the exposure they need to how to handle different types of people and different inputs – so I would wish for a highly participative exercise that would give them a “real life” feel for training.

   This probably sounds strange but some work around what it is like to be a trainer, what the demands are in terms of time, preparation, personal input, resilience, creativity, personal skills and all that. I have found that some newer trainers (and anyone outside training trying to “encourage” someone into a training role) tend to think that training is the “easy” option. That trainers work less hours, do less work as the delegates do it all and they only have to stand up and say stuff! New trainers that have worked for me have had a bit of a shock when they realise that you don’t get the same breaks/lunches as your delegates as you tend to be preparing for the next part of the session, you start earlier than your delegates as you are there first and you finish after them! So something around what it’s like to be a trainer.

   More experienced:
   What’s the difference between good productive debate and being dragged off topic!? Where do you draw the line and how do you bring that back without damaging the interaction/enthusiasm?

   Reading the signals from the group – what are the signs around the group dynamics, concentration levels, confidence, learning etc?

   Hopefully this is what you were looking for – as you say I could go on for ever but have tried to pick my biggest wishes!

   Julie

3. Hope this is of use
   Hi Neil,

   I think if attended a masterclass then I’d want to see:

   Some time spent on improving delivery – not presentations – but actual delivery which is a 2 way interaction.

   Some time spent on evaluation particularly levels 4 & 5 rather than happy sheets and tests.

   Innovative ways to improve a TNA.

   And the like.

4. Train the What?
   Hi Neil

   It is my experience that many organisations send people on a Train the Trainer but then expect them to act as internal consultants. This sounds OK but it tends to result in “trainers” whose understandable reaction to all issues is a training event.
   I ran a “TTT” series recently where the avowed intent was to turn Trainers into internal performance improvement consultants. They had a case study to do at the end of the event…it was great to see how they covered the level 4&5 stuff and came up with realistic alternatives to classroom training.

   If the objectives of your TTT exclude this approach then please forgive my ramblings!

   Rus

5. Difficult Delegates & BFL
   I had the pleasure of attending an “advanced facilitators course” through the P&O Ports Institute in Sydney at the end of last year.

   It was 5 days, most of which was practice – in front of an audience briefed to be as awkward as possible, and representing several cultures (UK, AUS, India). This was a great learning experience for me and really hit home the few key messages and techniques the programme was trying to get over.

   Perhaps something similar?!

   Almost every TTT course I have seen has missed out aspects of question technique – so-called reasoning questions that help people work things out for themselves, guided by the trainer, instead of being told (A staple of military TTT courses but almost universally missing from civvy ones)

   As a new addition to the Kaizen Training team run by Kim Hare, a recognised expert in accelerated and brain friendly learning it’s natural that I’d recommend accelerated learning stuff too – the 5 principles being:

   1 – State is everything
   2 – Create, not consume, learning
   3 – Rich, multi-sensory
   4 – Honour uniqueness
   5 – Keep it real

   The reasoning questions I mentioned earlier do begin to take you down the AL route.

   Happy to expand on any of this off-line.

   Cheers

   Martin

6. Some Theory?
   What a great topic…

   One area many TTT courses dip out on is a little around the theories of learning. For example taking five minutes out to explain how the Ebbinghaus experiments, Zeigarnik & Von Restorff theories contribute to our understanding of the importance of beginnings & endings & energisers always raises a few eyebrows for those who are new the discipline. (My apologies if I have misspelt any of those names).

   You could take that on to an advanced level by exploring how those theories come together to form the basis of much of Accelerated Learning theory.

   Colin Rose – Accelerated Learning & Eric Jensen – The Learning Brain are two valuable resources here.

   Gosh, there is soooo much you could include!

   Regards

   Paul

7. Fantasy Train the Trainer Masterclass
   Hi Neil,

   I often find that train the trainer courses are lacking 3 areas:

   Priming – or reaching out to students via a questionnaire, word search, or competition prior to the course helps the learner to connect to the content.

   Designing materials, many trainers can deliver training but have little idea how to sequence a workbook, or create materials are useful in the learners situation.

   Post course support, this could be on line coaching, to encourage confidence, and overcome barriers that may inhibit transfer.