13 Responses

1. The best and worst thing …….

   Hi Kat

   How about starting off with a really short and punchy post-it note exercise or brainstorming session with the questions "What is the best thing about email?" and "What is the worst thing about email?" – allowing just a minute or two to gather their thoughts and then move into your session proper. Maybe have a couple of ideas yourself to get them started.

   Good Luck

   Jenny

2. 10?

   Hi Kat

   I would want to know "why 10 top tips?" (struggling to think of 5 meaningfull ones?)

   Your session could be that there really isn’t 10 tips so you will certainly stand out from other candidates who will be just compiling a list of 10.

   Ask them each to write down the number of e mails in their inbox on a post it… and hold up for you to see

   Guidded discussion (sit down) around the differences and why some are more than others. What tips do they have?

   Collect their ideas on flipchart

   Show some research in to new methods and collect underneath their tips on flip chart

   Doesnt matter what the final number is but they could vote 1 by 1 and tell you which tips are best…or you could cut flipchart in strips and ask them to put in order of "best tips"

   Stick strips back on flipchart and you have your difinitiive list of top tips…

   PPT not needed and they came up with 60% of answers which is what they expect as they are looking for your training skills…

   you are there to fill in their knowledge gaps and by doing above will show them you can…good luck

   Steve

    

    

3. The best and worst thing

   Many thanks Jenny.

   This sounds like a good idea. I do believe that interaction is always a good way to get people involved. I was concerned about the time allowance but if I keep it within the 2 minutes, I am pretty confident I could slot this in.

   Cheers : )

   Kat

    

4. 10 ?

    Hi Steve,

   You are absolutely right. Top 10 tips sounds quite extreme for a training title!  I like your idea of guided discussion and filling the gaps. However, there will only be 2 people in the interview panel and I think that for the purpose of the interview, it might complicate my scenario.

   However, I have been thinking that it is quite likely that they will ask me some questions in relation to my presentation and I will certainly mention that a flip chart exercise would promote attendees interaction and encourage them to think and take part to the training.

    

   Many thanks,

   Kat

5. Presentation

   Hi Kat

   Be careful…if you are  going for a Training role the last thing they will want or expect is a Presentation.

   I would still use the heirarchy exercise. To be really clever use a Diamond 9…I have a template if you e mail me.

   1) Start with opening statement "did you know there are 1 billion e mails sent every second in the Uk"  (check facts first!)

   2) How many in your inbox…(compare why 1 has more than the other…what is their secret?)

   3) Brainstorm their ideas to complile a list of tips (make sure you have some already on post its to add to theirs)

   4) When you have 9 tips put on diamond 9 template and ask them to prioritise

   5) Discuss why they put them there? Why is that one at the bottom> top? Is that really better than that etc etc etc?

   6) Agree on difinitive top tips

   7) Closing statement…"there might be one billion per second but you are now in control!

   8) Ask them when you can start 🙂

    

    

    

   Good luck

    

   Steve

6. I’m with Steve

   Hi Kat, I agree with Steve, do a training session and not a presentation . That, for me involves the audience howver small getting interactive and if possible carrying out some short exercise themselves like the one suggested where you are gathering ideas from the interviewers.

   I have had good results training managers when I have lead and facilitated a discussion between them around the issue, problem or opportunity, occassionally introducing a model, technique, example template or analogy to help them if they are getting bogged down or losing focus.

   Cheers and good luck with the interview.

   Nick

7. Further to Steve and Nick’s comments…

   …some years ago I went for a training and development job interview where I was asked to design and deliver a 15 minute training session very similar to Kat’s circumstance……being a professional trainer I did as a good trainer would do and planned to deliver a facilitated and interactive session.  My audience was my prospective boss and a member of his admin team…..after a couple of attempts to get some interaction going the prospective boss bluntly asked me if I "had any ideas of my own" or did I expect the trainees to do my job for me….presuming this was a legitimate role play challenge to test my resilience I started to manage the "delegate comment" only to be told that this was a waste of his time, I obviously couldn’t be a trainer…..The prospective boss just picked up his notebook and mobile and left…….end of interview!

    

   Thank heavens I didn’t just deliver a presentation and get the job!

   Rus

   PS perhaps on a more positive note there is a free download  on my website of the DREAM mnemonic that you may find useful; http://www.coach-and-courses.com

    

    

8. Interview session

   Kat

   Firstly, congratualtions on getting the interview and welcome to weird and wonderful world of TZ.

   I agree that a straight presentation of top tips is not likely to be what they will be looking for (or shouldn’t be if they are after a management development trainer). That said, I might start by saying that it was tempting to take the easy route and simply do a spoon feeding presentation, but that you think it would be more useful for them to see your wider training skills. With that in mind, you might want to pick from the job ad, and from your own best skills, which aspects to showcase in the 15 mins. A bit of brainstorming, some cheerful but challenging questioning, some really practical content that you can offer (ideally based on research) about managers managing their inbox (eg http://www.christinacavanagh.com/book.htm and http://gigaom.com/collaboration/10-tips-my-personal-journey-toward-maintaining-inbox-zero/), etc. But make sure they go away with a list, either one they came up with and you wrote on flipchart or a pre-prepared handout you can give them at the end.

   In the context of management development, you could mention in passing that helping managers to manage their inbox would need to be considered as part of a bigger picture, such as helping them with effective knowledge management and addressing ongoing issues such as time management.

   Just a final thought, how techy is the company? If not, also consider the paper intray. If they are, then mention blackberrys, mail via social networks, etc.

   Best of luck

   Graham

9. Good Point

   Russ

   You make an excellent point…if they are recruiting someone with Training skills I would at least hope they have some themselves?

   Maybe a bit of research in to how this particular company trains?

   If they are expecting a presentation then reading out 10 bullet points isn’t going to take 15 minutes!

   But would you want to work for a company like that anyway?

   Steve

10. Pass the envelope

    Perhaps as a way of starting the session, hand out a number of sealed envelopes, some marked as ‘high important’, some as ‘jokes’, some as ‘junk’ and some as ‘CC’.    Don’t tell the delegates why you are doing it but simply say “this is for you and this one’s for you, and another one for you” until they are all handed out.  This then starts to create an interest as they will be thinking about what is going on and where you are going with this topic.

    You can link this by asking them how they felt about receiving all these emails and then go on to explore how you can you can deal with these emails effectively therefore creating your “top tips”.

    Good luck with the interview!

    Regards

    Scott

11. Thank you

     I juts would like to thank you for your precious and insightful advice. I carefully read all your comments and I will try to process them with the view of coming up with something that hopefully will meet my interview requirements. 

    Once again, many thanks as I do appreciate that you have taken the time to support me. 

    I will keep you posted : )

     

    Kat

12. 10 seems like a lot – go with the diamond

    Was reading this post and thought that 10 top points was a little to much – hardly going to be top points towards the end more like scrapping the barrel – I think Steve is spot on with his Diamond 9 – great idea.

    …………………………………………………………………………….

    Accountants for Contractors

13. Feedback

     Hello everyone,

     

    Once again many thanks for your helpful tips. In the end I used a combination of different techniques based on your advise:

    I had my ppt presentation to back up my training session but I started with distributing cards and asked the attendees to write their best tip. This encouraged discussion on the topic and created a good and interacting environment. I then collected the notes and as I was going through the presentation, I referred to the notes written by the attendees. To finish, I use the diamond 9 and it worked very well.  

    Unfortunately I did not get the job but I received excellent feedback for my interview. The person who got the job (and that I met at the first stage of the recruitment process) was a very experienced trainer that in all honesty was much better suited to fill this role. I certainly would have given him the job! 

    I am off to prepare for a new interview as Quality and Development Manager and I will bring with me what I have learnt throughout this experience. I am sure you will see me again as there is still so much I need to learn.

    Once again, a massive thank you!

    Kat