Hello my friend, I'm excited to be sharing with you a new series I have created for you all about careers, the first few episodes starting at the beginning. Okay, maybe not that far back for some of us. However, I wanted to start at the beginning of getting you to think about your future career and ultimately where you see yourself heading. I will be covering a number of episodes, getting you to think about mapping out your career.
The second part to the career series is where the fun really begins. We will be exploring various topics central to you navigating your career. There will be times when you may think you have royally screwed up any chance of promotion or advancement. However, don't worry, I will be your guide right there beside you holding your hand along the way.
I got you back. I really do believe true growth in advancement in anyone's life and career comes by embracing the difficulties that crop up by understanding the lesson that has presented itself in front of you. Do you ever feel like you're in a vicious cycle or a virtual loop that you just can't get out of? And you think, why am I always attracting this type of person or this type of difficulty?
I'll label it that way. It's more of the difficulty. Not the people because the people will change over the years. It's the situation that you find yourself in that you just cannot break free from.
That is a true signal and sign giving you another opportunity to learn that lesson that you need to learn or improve or develop. Ultimately we are then going to wrap up the series by looking at your next steps to get you closer to that vision you have for your life and career. And that's it. Easy?
Well, I'll let you be the judge over the next several weeks. So if you are ready, let's begin the journey to your career success. My friend, I'm curious. So what makes a good training session for you?
Where have you been in a training environment where you thought that was a really good session? I would love to know. Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, bye for now.
Hello, my friend, and welcome to today's show where I'm going to be covering effective training sessions to help you succeed in that all-important delivery of a presentation. Hello, my friend, and welcome to today's show where I'm going to be covering effective training sessions to help you succeed in that all-important delivery of a presentation. Okay, first things first, preparing your training session. Number one, you need to clarify your purpose.
Ensure your plans match up with the company objectives. Be specific about what you want to achieve in the amount of time that you have been allotted. Number two, strengthen your communications. Skillful marketing creates enthusiasm.
Give your course a catchy title, for example. Let employees know how the training will benefit them. Think about how it will make their jobs easier, enhance their skills, or lead to job advancement. Everyone will be definitely signing up.
Okay, first things first, preparing your training session. Number one, you need to clarify your purpose. Ensure your plans match up with the company objectives. Be specific about what you want to achieve in the amount of time that you have been allotted.
Number two, strengthen your communications. Skillful marketing creates enthusiasm. Give your course a catchy title, for example. Let employees know how the training will benefit them.
Talk about how it will make their jobs easier, enhance their skills, or lead to job advancement. Everyone will be definitely signing up. Work on your materials. Specifically the handouts and slides that you'll provide, which are additional information and help guide participants through the agenda.
Plus slides help you focus on what you want to communicate to your audience on a timely basis. Now you do want to balance the visuals and text. Don't go overboard because too much information on slides might distract or get the audience to tune out. But other things to remember, maybe color code papers for easy reference, just to lead and walk through your training students through the program.
Make your program ongoing. If at all possible, people learn better when they have a chance to review. Consider scheduling a refresher course in the future. Touch base with them to find out how they are implementing your training program in their current work situation.
Work on your materials. Specifically the handouts and slides that you'll provide, which are additional information and help guide participants through the agenda. Plus slides help you focus on what you want to communicate to your audience on a timely basis. Now you do want to balance the visuals and text.
Don't go overboard because too much information on slides might distract or get the audience to tune out. But other things to remember, maybe color code papers for easy reference, just to lead and walk through your training students through the program. Make your program ongoing. If at all possible, people learn better when they have a chance to review.
Consider scheduling a refresher course in the future. Touch base with them to find out how they are implementing your training program in their current work situation. Okay, you will want to encourage interaction. Instead of just talking at the people, get them to get involved.
Give the participants plenty of time to talk. Welcome questions and comments. Also interactions. Break them out into small groups.
However, you see fit just to get your audience engaged. We perhaps give them a test. Testing is one of the best study aids. It lets them know that they have taken in the material you just told them about.
But also it gives you a good indication that they understand what I have been telling them. Let people know in advance that you will be giving a quiz. They will likely more than likely focus and pay attention better and absorb more. So do let them know instead of just saying, hey, pop quiz.
Again, it's up to you and your style. But giving them a heads up that there will be a quiz will enable people to focus and pay attention more right from the get go. So you will be able to really schedule break times. Incorporate break times into your agenda.
It gives people time to deal with phone calls and other tasks so they will be less distracted during the rest of the presentation. Also you do want to let them know about the do's and don'ts during your training session. I mentioned about phone calls. Maybe you want to have a no phones policy.
Have them all turn them off and put them at the back of the room so they are not distracted. Because phone calls, especially the actual phone, doesn't have to be a call but just the phone pinging or flashing awake and things like that can be a distraction in itself. Do you want to prevent or eliminate as much as possible in that front? And beforehand, check your AV.
Double check that all the electronic equipment that you're going to be using on the day and check it the day beforehand if possible. If not at least bare minimum an hour beforehand. But if you find that something is not working or going wrong, if you've only tested it an hour before you're giving the training, that might elevate your stress levels. So ideally, try and check it the day before if possible.
Keep contact information of the AV staff handy in case there are emergencies. Although you may have tested it the day before and it's working perfectly until say the first break and then all of a sudden it just crashes, then you definitely want to have the AV staff on speed dial to help you through those particular challenges. You want to close with a summary, end of the day with a recap. Repetition makes the lesson more memorable and gives you a chance to fill in the gaps if there are any still unclear questions in anyone's mind.
And ask for feedback or if they have any questions. Find multiple options throughout the day for filling out an evaluation form. Well, maybe you want the evaluation form right at the very end. But you certainly want throughout the day multiple opportunities to have people ask questions or provide some feedback.
Hand out a hard copy and post it online with regards to the feedback itself. It's also a good indication of how well the training went and if there's any other ideas or suggestions or questions that they have that you can follow up with. You will want to encourage interaction instead of just talking at the people. Give them to get involved.
Give the participants plenty of time to talk. Welcome questions and comments. Also interactions. Break them out into small groups.
However, you see fit just to get your audience engaged. Maybe perhaps give them a test. Testing is one of the best study aids. It lets them know that they have taken in the material you just told them about.
But also it gives you a good indication. Did they understand what I have been telling them? Let people know in advance that you'll be giving a quiz. They'll likely, more than likely, focus and pay attention better and absorb more.
So do let them know instead of just saying, hey, pop quiz. Again, it's up to you and your style, but giving them a heads up that there will be a quiz will enable people to focus and pay attention more right from the get-go. Definitely schedule break times. Incorporate break times into your agenda.
It gives people time to deal with phone calls and other tasks so they'll be less distracted during the rest of the presentation. Also, you do want to let them know about the do's and don'ts during your training session. I mentioned about phone calls. Maybe you want to have a no-phones policy.
Have them all turn them off and put them at the back of the room so they are not distracted. Because phone calls, especially the actual phone, doesn't have to be a call, but just the phone pinging or flashing awake and things like that can be a distraction in itself. So you want to prevent or eliminate as much as possible in that front. And beforehand, check your AV.
Double check that all the electronic equipment that you're going to be using on the day and check it the day beforehand if possible. If not, at least bare minimum an hour beforehand. But if you find that something is not working or going wrong, if you've only tested it an hour before you're giving the training, that might elevate your stress levels. So ideally, try and check it the day before if possible.
Keep contact information of the AV staff handy in case there are emergencies. So although you may have tested it the day before and it's working perfectly until, say, the first break and then all of a sudden it just crashes, then you definitely want to have the AV staff on speed dial to help you through those particular challenges. You want to close with a summary, end of the day with a recap. Repetition makes the lesson more memorable and gives you a chance to fill in the gaps if there are any still unclear questions in anyone's mind.
And ask for feedback or if they have any questions. Provide multiple options throughout the day for filling out an evaluation form. Well, maybe you want the evaluation form right at the very end. But you certainly want throughout the day multiple opportunities to have people ask questions or provide some feedback.
Hand out a hard copy and post it online with regards to the feedback itself. It's also a good indication of how well the training went and if there's any other ideas or suggestions or questions that they have that you can follow up with. I'm a little bonus for you. Adding special touches to your training.
Offer incentives. Employees may feel stressed if they're trying to squeeze in attending a training course while covering their usual workload, especially if their workload is time sensitive and they don't really want to be there. Show your appreciation with an appropriate payment or small present like a gift certificate for a popular deli or coffee shop. That will really go a long way for thanking them for being there in attendance.
But take a picture. Any gathering can be a photo opportunity. Rally everyone together for a group photo. It builds a sense of camaraderie and gives everyone something to share.
And then finally, if you can, try and get out of the office, leaving the building if at all possible. A change in location reduces distractions and makes people more alert. Even on a tight budget, you may be able to book a private room at a local restaurant or swap conference rooms with another organization in your community. Or if you have a campus that is spread out far and wide, maybe you can have some kind of a negotiation with another department that works in another location of the city to have a room swap and get each other to book those rooms on your behalf.
Alright, my friend, I want to leave you with this. Training really is becoming a part of everyone's job description these days in some shape or form, whether it be one-on-one training or a group type training environment. Get ready to shine by mastering the basics that I've mentioned here today and adding your own distinctive style and flair. You'll sharpen your skills, contribute to your organization, and help your trainees accomplish more.
Alright, my friend, here's to your future career success. Until next time, bye for now.