About 3 years ago I was involved in some training with the military at Ft. Dix, NJ. I was walking down the sidewalking and saw a huge puddle at the bottom of the hill. Next to this puddle I saw an older soldier walking quite gingerly around the puddle. He was doing his very best to ensure that he did not get wet. About 20 feet behind him a saw a younger soldier start running. Unsure of what exactly why he was running, my curiosity was piqued. I started to see the young person's plan unfold as he got closer to the puddle. Sure enough, as he approached the older person, trying not to get wet, the young runner leaped into the air in the middle fo the puddle. Now this puddle was easily a good six inches deep were he landed. The reulting splash covered the older genteleman. The younger man started laughing quite hardily while the older did his best to retaliate. His retaliation was less than effective as he had already lost the battle. Smiling I kept walking, doing my best to avoid the puddle, and casting a glance behind me on occasion so that I could avoid the same fate.
In this story we have three distinct players, the older genteleman, the younger one, the puddle, and the observer. I have seen stories with these charactors play out in the training room on more than one occasion. You have the people close to the water that want to avoid actually getting wet. The ones that are there but do not want to learn or be involved. The ones that take a flying leap into the water eager to soak up the knowledge and tools that are being provided. You have the observers that learn, but do not necessarily get overly involved, they are just kind of there. Each of these peole will play a part in the learning proess of those that are invovled. In this story the eager person helped to engange the one that did not really want to learn. The observers, seeing the interchange, learned from both of them. In your classes and seminars, use those that are eager to help you get all participants involved. There are many different techniques to use that helps this. I will be getting into those techniques over the next few posts.
The main takeaway from this story is realizing that the participant is the key to our success as a trainer and a speaker. When we identify the types of our participants we can approach them with what we need. We will improve our training courses and ensure that all people will get something out of the class. It reminds of the saying “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.” Our job as a training facilitator is to lead the horses to the water, and if you leave that horse there long enough it will get thirsty and take a drink. It is all about time, when the other horses are drinking and learning, eventually the stubborn horse will as well.About 3 years ago I was involved in some training with the military at Ft. Dix, NJ. I was walking down the sidewalking and saw a huge puddle at the bottom of the hill. Next to this puddle I saw an older soldier walking quite gingerly around the puddle. He was doing his very best to ensure that he did not get wet. About 20 feet behind him a saw a younger soldier start running. Unsure of what exactly why he was running, my curiosity was piqued. I started to see the young person's plan unfold as he got closer to the puddle. Sure enough, as he approached the older person, trying not to get wet, the young runner leaped into the air in the middle fo the puddle. Now this puddle was easily a good six inches deep were he landed. The reulting splash covered the older genteleman. The younger man started laughing quite hardily while the older did his best to retaliate. His retaliation was less than effective as he had already lost the battle. Smiling I kept walking, doing my best to avoid the puddle, and casting a glance behind me on occasion so that I could avoid the same fate.
