To an observer, training may seem like a flashy profession, but just like any other profession, trainers are faced with challenges. In order to become successful in this field, one needs to have the right skills as well as strong emotional and mental composure, given that it is a very demanding job. Constant energy output is required as becoming tired quickly, getting frustrated when things go uncontrolled, or discouraged easily are indicators that such a profession is not a fit for you. Your students will see you as an incompetent trainer.
If you want to improve and become an effective trainer, here are some tips for you.
Establish objectives
One of the most important factors you should consider as a trainer is to know your training objectives. Identify the outcome you are trying to achieve with your students. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get the result you want. Just like driving to an unfamiliar city, without having a GPS or road map on hand, it would be difficult for you to reach your destination.
Your aim should be to summarise what you want your students to achieve at the end of your training, in one paragraph, as this will serve as your guide.
Make an impression
On average, a student takes just a few seconds to make a judgement about their trainer. According to Albert Mehrabian (Professor UCLA), first impressions are made up of 3 things:
Visual (55%) – your appearance and body language
Vocal (38%) – your tone or way your words are delivered
Verbal (7%) – the way you structure your sentences
Make sure your clothes send the right message, project confidence with your body language, and make sure your opening line is fluent, easy to understand, and confident without being arrogant. Another great tip is to start with an attention grabber such as a joke, a startling statistic, or a personal story.
Be knowledgeable
Being a trainer doesn’t necessarily mean that you know everything about what you are training – but you will know more about the topic than your students. If there are students who have the appropriate knowledge, leverage them by asking some input.
If you are asked questions but don’t know what to answer, make use of these suggested answers.
Answer 1. “That is an interesting question. Let’s form separate groups to discuss this matter for three minutes and have each of the groups discuss what they would do.”
Answer 2. “That is an interesting question. That’s not covered in my area of expertise. However, I will find it out for you and then let you know…” It is best to have a technical expert that you can easily reach out such a training company or a peer. This shows that you care about your students. They will appreciate your honesty.
Have a strong opening and closing
When you are organising training, you need to have a solid opening and closing as part of the training course.
Opening. To grab the attention of students, you need to give them a strong opening and set the stage for the rest of the training course. Let them know what you’re going to be teaching them.
Closing. After having delivered your topic, summarise what you have covered. It should leave students excited in taking action for more study opportunities.
Keep your students informed
Let your students know about the assessment process, eg how they will be assessed or what they have to achieve.
It is necessary to give them a heads up on the finishing time. This includes adding on time to let them know when they finish. Such time can be used against a disruptive class. Also, letting your students know what they can expect provides you with a baseline where you can go back to so you can set your training standards.
You are in charge of the training class
If you are losing control over your training class, it will become uncomfortable for you to deal with your students. Don’t let intimidation hit you as you will lose the respect your students have for you. Remember that they came to your class to listen, and that leaves you in charge of them.
You have the right to make direct questioning or any changes as you feel necessary. You can separate training students, ask them to be more cooperative by ending distracting side conversations. It’s also a good idea to ask for phones to be on silent or switched off right from the start.
While there are many ways to manage a class, creating terror and fear for your students is not a good option.
Engage with your students
Show leadership in your class to keep your students assembled and focused. Displaying such an act in the beginning will serve as a brief of the behaviour they expect from you.
Remember that you are not teaching yourself but your students. Once you pay attention to your class, they will pay attention to you in return. Try to learn their ways of learning as some of them observe practising the skill and doing it in repetition, which will give them the confidence in what they do.
If a student asks you a question, always give them appropriate responses like “That’s a great question…” or “I’m glad you asked that…” as these types of answers encourage other students to ask questions, too.
Don’t rely too much on tools
While it is great to make use of a powerful tool such as PowerPoint to create an impressive presentation, know that students can’t always do what’s on your slides.
In creating a presentation, there must be one point per slide and it must not have more than 12 words. Another idea is to utilise images instead of words – this will ensure that you aren’t just reading from your slides, rather giving an explanation. Presentations must be based on your training key points. As much as possible, have a maximum of three key points or messages, and then work on your supporting data to support each point.
Getting feedback
As a trainer, you want your students to enjoy and like you, but know that you can’t please everyone in your class no matter how prepared or a good you are as a trainer. However, you can try conducting surveys from your students to figure out what you need to improve in your skills and to excel in your field. This is often overlooked by many trainers as they see it as unnecessary.
Asking for feedback is an important activity that serves as a means to get validation from your students. You will be able to find out how you got your message across to your students. If you are a good trainer, you will listen and evaluate their feedback and act on dealing with them.
Avoid undermining your credibility
You must avoid making excuses such as “I’m sorry, I only got sent the manuals…” and many other cliche reasons why your training might go poorly. The best thing you can do is to take responsibility and perform well.
Furthermore, start with asking your students to give a brief introduction about themselves and their expectations in the training class.
These are just some things you can consider as good training tips. If you are a qualified trainer or assessor with a TAE40110 certificate, don’t forget you must hold the TAE40116 qualification (or the new core units as a minimum), in order to continue training past the 1st of April 2019. Contact us at successtrainingacademy.com.au and enrol today!