Summarise

as a trainer, being able to summarize large pieces of information into much smaller, easily understood summaries is an essential skill.  summarizing is used all the time; at the beginning of a training session, during the introduction [see here], in the middle, when explaining activities, and at the end, when reviewing the training event [see here]

being able to summarize means using simple words and keeping sentences short.  simplify the concepts and find, 'the kernel of truth'.  if someone can't make a subject simple enough to understand immediately i.e. summarize, it's said they don't understand the subject well enough.


Practice
write a description of what you did last weekend.  count the number of words used
now write a description of what you did last weekend, but half the number of words used.
now write a description of what you did last weekend, but half the number of words used.
you should now have a summary that is simple to understand

image found here

Which Page?

when the trainer describes something which can be found in the handout materials, students will want to know where it's located.  prepare beforehand and write the relevant page number on the teaching notes. this ensures you won't be flicking madly back and forth through 50 pages of handout materials, trying to find a small detail, in front of 20 or more people.

tell the students the page number, turn to the page yourself, hold the materials up high enough for all the students to see (with the page facing the students) and then point to the location on the page.

stop talking, wait for all students to find the page and then start again with the discussion.

image found here

Trainer Talking Time (TTT)

talk less, listen more

1.     listen to what comes out of your mouth 
don't just speak, listen to yourself and assess:  does it make sense?  do I need to re-phrase?  repeat?  am I speaking too quickly?  boring myself?  waffling?  talking about something which has no relevance to the training?  which words do I use too often?

2.      face your students
how else can a trainer know if they are making sense to the student's?  watch their faces and body language, then question yourself, are the students confused?  bored?  ready for a break?  interested and want more information?  

3.       use short and simple words
never use a long word when a short one will work just as well (see here for more details).  this is something native English speakers find difficult to begin with, long complicated words seem to indicate intellectual ability. remember this: training aims to give students skills to use in the work place. using long and complicated words mean non-native speakers are wondering about what the words mean, rather than learning the skill

4.       use work-place examples and anecdotes [ann-ech-dotes]
relevant examples from the workplace explain quickly and easily what should be done, or what shouldn't be done and makes the training feel more relevant and realistic.  don't forget to summarise these when planning the training, they can go on for far too long if not.  

5.   stop talking
every so often ask the students questions, ask them to describe their experiences or do an activity.  it's tiring to listen to someone else talk and talk and then they talk some more.  and more. 

Practice

 1.

listen to what you say for 10 minutes for the next six days.  then replace all words with four or more syllables (and this means every single one) with words of three or less syllables.  

2.

go through the handout materials and do the same thing.  remove all words with four or more syllables and replace them with words of three or less syllables.

3.

time the amount of time spent talking in a training session.  track every single minute, then work out how to remove 10% of this talking time.  then do it again in the next session.  

image taken from here

Arrive an Hour B4hand

this post is about a general rule of training:  always plan to arrive in/at the training room an hour before the training starts - something will alway go wrong in the set up.

this hour will allow you to sit in unexpected heavy traffic, sort out any issues in the room before the students arrive, have a cup of coffee and collect your thoughts.  and still be on time for the start of the training event.  mostly those 60 minutes are a buffer to stop any potential panic attacks and help to keep your image professional. 

loosing your trainer credibility is incredibly easy; just arrive at 08:56 for a class that starts at 09:00 and find it impossible to switch on the PowerPoint presentation and then start blaming the technician for the entire fiasco [see here for some ideas on what can go wrong].  students will rightly snigger, enjoy the show and wonder if the trainer actually knows what they are doing.

the extra hour will give you time to sit in traffic, find a technician, sort out any issues which plague plugging in and switching on computers, as well as allow you to sort out your PowerPoint presentation and look rested and ready to train when the students arrive at 08:55.

image taken from here

Take These Things with You

on the night before the training takes place, make sure to have the following items ready to go:

1. white board pens & eraser
2. camera 
3. attendance sheet [see here for more details]
4. handout materials [see here for more details]
5. stationary for the students tables [see here for more details]
6. note pad 
7. realia [re-arr-lee-ah] actual items
8. computer & powerpoint presentations [see here for more details]

image taken from here

Introduce an Activity

this needs to be done correctly, or a great big horrible mess will take place and the trainer will be slap bang in the middle of it.  

the students will be annoyed, you'll feel frustrated and some serious self-flagellation is likely to take place later that evening.  the main thing to remember is this; when introducing a topic prepare before hand.

at the very minimum it is suggested you think about the following points, it is also suggested your thoughts are written down at least 24 hours before the training session:

1. the reason for including the activity; how relevant is it to the aims of the training session?
2. now re-think; does the activity really suit the aims of the overall training event?  is it included simply because it was the first thing that came to mind?
3. what are the three key learning points which will be gained by the students by taking part in this activity?
4. can the activity be improved?  the answer is usually a, "YES!" now think; how can it be improved?  what can be added or taken away?
5. what will the students gain by doing this activity?  what is the WIIFM?  can this be explained clearly to the students? [click here for more info on WIIFM]
6. what steps need to be included in the introduction?  is it better to separate the instructions into two or three distinct parts?
7. what will happen if the students don't understand the instructions?
8. what questions can be asked to help the students understand the task?
9. do the students have all the skills needed for this activity to take place?  does anything need to be pre-trained/ taught before this activity is introduced?
10. is the activity organised so the easy/ easier parts happen before the more difficult/ difficult parts? 
11. what do I need to prepare for this activity?  do I have those items available?  can the students do it instead of me and as part of the overall learning experience?
12. will the students need to be moved into smaller groups before the activity starts?  what size is best for this particular activity?  for this particular group?  for this particular room?
13. how will the students move from one chair to a different chair in the training room you're using?  what difficulties could happen?
14. anything else you can think of and which is not listed here

when you start as a trainer always prepare notes on how you're going to introduce the topic.  run it through in your mind before carrying it out in the training room and review.  think about what could go wrong, what might be better and review, review, review.

it goes without saying the students need to understand each part of the above.

when the activity starts watch the students.  ensure the task which you wanted the students to carry out is actually been done by the students.  if not, stop the class and re-explain.  it's easier to re-explain to the entire class than one by one. 

Benefits

1. trainer appears professional
2. students will actually do the activity you want them to do
3. no wasted time in the classroom trying to explain a task, then explain it again, and then yet again
4. no need to repeat instructions and re-state to each group

Practice

try introducing an activity something like this:

1. the name of the topic
2. the reason it's included - how it fits in with the overall training session that is being run
3. the reason the students need to understand and/ or do this
4. the activity - what is to be done
5. who is to do what, where and with whom
6. approximate timing & what is to be achieved in that time
7. ask, "does any one have any questions?" or "what else do you need to know?" wait 5 seconds [click here for more info on waiting 5 seconds]
8. pick a student who looks most confused and ask them to describe what is to be done
9. check again, "does anyone have any other questions?"  wait for 5 seconds and then 
10. start the activity

image taken from here

10 Key Points

1.       Respect all participants

2.       The trainer is the person who controls the training room

3.       Slow is more effective than fast

4.       Less is more effective than more

5.       Use open questions whenever possible  [see here for more details]

6.       Wait 5 seconds before answering your own question

7.       ‘Listen’ contains exactly the same letters as ‘silent’

8.       Always reuse an activity whenever you can

9.       Students prefer to leave training with a skill or knowledge (something/ anything) they can use in the workplace immediately

10.   Prepare and/ or print the handout materials the night before the class takes place

image taken from here

Close an Activity

when designing a training course activities will often be given a proposed amount of time.  remember, it's not set in stone and can be changed.  think about your students, what has gone on earlier in the day, the group as a whole and what you aim to achieve by the end of the session.  would it make sense to expand it, time wise?  will the students gain if it is expanded?

as a general rule of  allow all activities to finish naturally.  wait until most participants have completed the task, (even if it means allowing it to run for an additional half hour) and then wrap it up and carry out the review.  

if you do stop an activity before the students have finished, you’ll find you hear cries of, “just five more minutes”, "we haven't finished yet", "ohhh no" and will receive some dirty looks.  in general, students never want to stop an activity if they haven't finished it, even if they weren't too committed to it when they started.

if you want students to speed up, give them time warnings so they can move faster at their own pace, e.g. "you have five minutes left", "you have one minute left", "you have half a minute left" etc., etc.

Practice

1. in your lesson plan write additional relevant activities into your lesson plan, then if an activity finishes quicker than you expect, you'll have extra tasks for the students to carry out
2. before the training starts, work out which activities in your lesson plan might take longer than you expect and then work out which tasks can be shortened

image taken from here

Start with the End

Set Learning Objectives

ensure you know what you hope to achieve in your training session before you go anywhere near a classroom.  ask yourself:

1. what are the key learnings for this training, for these students, today?  
2. can this be achieved in the time we have available?
3. what will the students be able to do at the end of the session that they couldn't do at the beginning? or,
4. which specific skills will you have developed?

don't worry too much if these questions can't be answered when you start writing your lesson plan, the answers do/will emerge as you contemplate the training.  However, never go into the classroom without the answers to the above sitting at the front of your mind.

It is strongly suggested a maximum of three learning objectives are written for each lesson plan.  this is to ensure the objectives take place during the lesson itself and the trainer is able to explain what will happen, and then action it.

Example:  students will learn how to bake a cake

having set the general task (or goal) of baking a cake, take each word and pull it apart.  What does it mean?  Will I be able to train this, or do I need to think about what needs to happen before this can be introduced.  This will allow you to create an objective: 

1. what sort of cake will the students make and then bake?
2. will the students actually make the cake, will they talk about making a cake, or will they be expected to just listen to you talk about making a cake?
3. do the students need to understand the ingredients and the background to baking? and will this need to be explained before the baking begins or in a previous class (also known as pre-teaching)
4. will the students need to buy & bring the ingredients to class?
5. will the cake need to be edible after it's been cooked?  what happens if it isn't?
6. will the cake need to be decorated?  if so how?
7. what about serving the cake?  will the students need to decorate a table for afternoon tea? and does this need to be pre-taught?

at the beginning this can all seem like too much thinking.  all these questions!  and even worse, deciding upon the answers.  however, this thinking and preparation allows us to now write the following: 

students will learn how to:
     a. make an edible, 7", victoria sponge cake 
     b. bake this cake
     c. apply raspberry jam as a filling

Benefits:

1. the other answers to the questions stated above will help in writing the lesson plan
2. by being specific, learning objectives can be set for the lesson

3. lesson planning is easier when you have specific objectives
4. when students go off on a tangent during class, the trainer is aware the lesson is off-track and then can be more responsive in bringing it back towards the objectives

5. students respond positively to an organised class and relevant learning - their time is not being wasted, there is a reason to be in the training
6. students know what will be assessed
7. the trainer knows what should be assessed and can carry out relevant assessments of the students

Practice:

1. write 3 objectives for a task you have planned to do tomorrow, or later in the week
2. start each objective with the a verb (or doing word)
3. is the verbs the correct one to use?  think about this carefully, can a more relevant verb be used?
4. can the objectives be more specific? and once they are more specific, ask again, can the objective be even more specific? 
5. write another 3 objectives for the follow on lesson