Tag: Adult Education

3 Ways to Involve Participants from the “Get-Go”!

What’s the best way to assure your training participants to “turn off” the first second you open your mouth? Just follow conventional wisdom and open your session by introducing yourself and providing your credentials.

Instead, generate curiosity, interest and motivation from the outset. Use a “Hook” before introducing yourself.

Three Ideas for Engaging Hooks

Quickie Quiz: Using either a half-sheet of paper or a slide, create a 3-question quiz that relates to your topic. The best questions are slightly provocative, controversial, or amusing. Ask participants to take the quiz the minute they sit down. Throughout the class, answer and clarify the issues.

Option: For more up-front engagement, ask participants to share their responses with a partner before you formally begin. Be sure you have a way to bring their attention back to you. (Use a bell, chime, etc.)

Questions: Carefully constructed questions work great. Questions can begin with the words “How many here have…?” or “Did you know that…?” Your question should demand a physical response from the participants, such as raising hands or standing up.

Guidelines: Be sure to ask two questions or more. Instruct people to respond physically, and wait for them to do so. The best questions include a bit of emotion (laughter is great, but so is a smattering of anxiety or intrigue).

Visualization: This technique gives even “dry” subjects the emotional content you need to hook participants’ interest.

Here’s a real-life example of a visualization “Hook” from a supervisory class on wage and hour laws:

“Close your eyes and imagine that you are a 10 year old child in the 1930’s working in a factory 12 hours a day, 60 hours a week for 10 cents an hour. You’ve never seen the inside of a school…your feet are cold and you get just one meal break a day. How do you feel?”

Ask the participants to open their eyes. Debrief thoughts and feelings; connect to the course topic, introduce yourself, and state the learning outcomes.

Remember: To increase interest and motivation from the get-go, hook your participants immediately!

October 2, 2019
Great Presenting: Enthusiasm or Entertainment?

Should trainers and presenters strive to be more entertaining? It depends on what drives you.

Enthusiasm or Entertainment?

Enthusiasm is about expressing your passion for the subject. You ignite participants through showing your own zest. You may even experiment by doing things outside of your comfort zone in order to pass on your excitement.

Entertainment is all about you. Do you want the participants to like you? Can you make them laugh? Do you treasure the feeling that you are “wowing” them with your personality and/or skills? Do you want to be remembered as a great performer?

Three Tips to Spark Your Own Enthusiasm

Many, but not all, trainers and presenters show a preference for modeling authentic enthusiasm over simply providing entertainment. With that in mind, here’s how to pump your enthusiasm when you train or present.

Be Authentic, But Be “Bigger”
Tie in pieces of your personality while pumping up your personal energy. Don’t just use your head, use your entire body when you present. (Read “Speaker Energy: Make it Work For You” for tips.)

Re-Discover Your Own Compelling Reasons
Why are you teaching or presenting? Create your own definition of success for what you do.

Forget Baseball, Play Frisbee Instead
Don’t just pitch your content to students. Instead, create a reciprocal energy flow. Toss out “Frisbees” of content, and then encourage participants to do so as well–not only back to you, but also to each other.

Concentrate on the Intrigue of Your Subject Matter

As a trainer, presenter or facilitator, your enthusiasm motivates participants. Their energy rises to meet yours. Your session is memorable…authentically.

May 10, 2019
When YOU are the Bored Trainer (or Presenter!)

We’ve all had bored trainers and presenters. They lack passion, energy and spark.

But what happens when YOU deliver the same material over and over and over again? How do you keep it fresh?

5 Tips That Refresh

1. Remember the “Turf” That Comes With Being a Professional

Whether you are an athlete, an actor, a tour guide, or a trainer, the ability to perform at the same expert level time after time comes with the territory of being a professional. Professionals “give it their all” each time they perform.

2. Re-Arrange the Order of Things

Re-arranging content may feel risky when things are working just fine as they are. However, you’ll be amazed at how refreshing it feels to present a content block either earlier or later than usual.

3. Initiate and Enjoy Interaction

Each group’s energy is different. Have fun with that! Meet and “hob-nob” with individuals during the breaks. Listen for any unique words or concerns. Be sure to ask plenty of questions.

4. Increase Your Self Awareness in New Areas

Knowing your content as intimately as you do is a luxury. It enables you to tune into how you are presenting it. Are you using online tools? Are you making eye contact? How is your lighting and voice projection?

5. Feel Fortunate!

How many of us get to do jobs that involve such a high level of physical, emotional, and mental exercise all at once? From a purely selfish standpoint, what a great way to keep your brain young! Additionally, you are transmitting information that helps your participants. You are “doing good” in the world. How many people can really say that?

I hope these five tips help you keep your presentations fresh—not only for your participants, but for YOU, too.

March 1, 2018
Enthusiasm in Training

As a trainer or presenter, enthusiasm goes a long way in making you the best you can be. As your joy excites your participants, their energy rises to meet yours. People feel good. Work gets done.

But what if your enthusiasm has taken a hit? How can you regain a sense of joy while giving a presentation or training a group?

These five practical steps will help.

1. Create a list of 10 positive aspects about the subject. Your brain may balk at doing this, but you’ll be forced to see the subject in a new way. Its “newness” will stimulate you in unexpected ways.

2. Do something physical. When your blood pumps aerobically, it helps wash away your “blaahs.” Don’t wait — you can take a walk right now.

3. Visualize yourself being enthusiastic. Take a moment to close your eyes. See yourself as you would from the outside, feeling fantastic and emanating positive energy. Seeing yourself this way can kick-start your acting this way.

4. Smile. Research has shown that when you smile, even if that smile doesn’t come easily, your brain chemistry changes. Try smiling and feeling joyful, even if it is difficult. You’ll be surprised how it “ups” your mood.

5. Get excited about the success of those around you. When you express authentic enthusiasm about what others are doing, your own mood improves. You start feeling excited about what you’re doing, too.

Keep the vitality and magic of life as you train, facilitate or present. It will be your gift not only to others, but to yourself.

July 4, 2017
The Myth of the Facilitator
Here’s a pet peeve of mine: Adult educators who call themselves “Facilitators”…and then go on to give a traditional, one-sided, PowerPoint-heavy training session. I estimate that 87.5% of trainers who call themselves “facilitators” are lying. Why? Because they model few skills of facilitation.

Well Then, What is a Facilitator?

A facilitator is content-neutral. Because of this, the most appropriate role for a facilitator is that of meeting leader. In this role, he or she can extract insights and enable collaboration.

The trainer is a content expert. The trainer’s role is to elicit behavior change in participants. This behavior change is called learning. A trainer’s role is to ensure that learning of specific content takes place. (That’s why so many trainers just tell, tell, and tell!)

So What About “Facilitator of Learning”?

This term is less popular than plain old “facilitator”, but to me, it is the gold standard for which all trainers should strive. A trainer can be considered a “facilitator of learning” only when he or she:
- shuts up (a lot),
- asks meaningful, provocative, open-ended questions, remaining aware of group dynamics at all times, and
- provides many opportunities for participants to figure things out for themselves.
Put most simply, a facilitator of learning ASKS. Asking creates disequilibrium and curiosity in participants. Disequilibrium requires participants to adapt, to question themselves, and ultimately to change. Learning IS change!

How to Be a Facilitator of Learning, not Just an Authority Who Spews Content?

If you strive to see behavior change in your participants and are willing to drop the more comfortable role of constantly “telling”, and these guidelines will help.
1. Ask questions.
Plan and integrate questions that will spur not-so-easy thinking and feeling.
1. Be provocative.
Be willing to name dynamics, factions, or hidden assumptions in the group…with the positive intention of causing disequilibrium and curiosity.
1. Encourage experimentation.
Balance your “Telling” role with opportunities for participants to explore, create, and make mistakes.

When trainers facilitate learning instead of staying on the safer shore of “telling”, we often feel more vulnerable and closer in status to our participants. This unpredictability may not feel comfortable. Each of us must decide for ourselves what type of adult educators we want to be…and be honest in what we call ourselves.

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February 3, 2017
Not Just Your Grandmother’s Pun!

My grandma was “word-clever” almost until the day she died. I especially remember her corny puns and plays on words, which made me both laugh and groan. Researchers Alan Seidman, of Johnson and Wales University, and Stephen C. Brown, of the University of Alaska, say “Puns are a humorous way to get adult learners to think more critically about any subject.”

Puns Can Help Adults Learn

Believe it our not, research has found that we can use puns to help adult learners in the classroom. Puns represent a true form of critical thinking as the brain stretches itself to find dual meaning for certain words (Lems, 2013). Puns can also improve memory, because the internal incongruity they create helps students recall information (Summerfelt et al., 2010).

Try using puns you grew up with, or others you find on websites. You can used them as Hooks, to reinforce a point about a particular topic, or as pun-filled riddles. Here’s an example of the latter, used in an adult geography class:

Q: What is the capital of Antartica?

A: The letter “A.”

A couple I’ve enjoyed:

Sleep? There’s a nap for that.

If you take an exam in a freezing cold room, you might become a testicle.

So have fun as you use puns to bring your classroom alive!

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you from a boring expert to a great trainer: www.guilamuir.com

© Guila Muir

January 28, 2016
When a Trainer is a Presenter: Five Top Platform Skills
Great trainers must be great presenters as well. I believe that participants learn most from highly active classes that imbed great design and content. However, I also know that the trainer’s presentation skills can help or hinder learning.

What are Platform Skills?

Platform skills are presentation behaviors that a trainer uses to transmit content effectively. Not to be confused with skills that guarantee participation (which, in general, only trainers use), both presenters and trainers must demonstrate excellent platform skills to get their messages across. Platform skills is one exciting arena where training and presentation cross paths.

Five Top Platform Skills for Trainers

Prepare for your next training session by making a commitment to the behaviors below. Then, ask a peer to observe you and let you know how you did.

I compiled these criteria by researching some of the best resources in the training field, and have listed them in no particular order.

The trainer:
- Clearly communicates the session’s topic, goal, and relevance to the participants at the beginning of the session.
- Effectively manages nervousness so that it does not distract the participants.
- Uses humor, analogies, examples, metaphors, stories, and delivery methods other than lecture or PowerPoint.
- Faces the participants most of the time in a “full-frontal” body position.
- Summarizes and closes the class with energy.
Want more tips to improve your trainings? Learn how Guila Muir’s Instructional Design Workshop can help you to create powerful, effective training sessions.

Learn how to present with pizzazz using the Kite Method with Guila’s Instructional Design book.

Guila Muir, a premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters, has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you into a great trainer.
May 9, 2015
How To Build “Home-Grown” Trainers
Have you ever wished you could reduce your organization’s dependence on outside trainers? How about developing your own workshops? Join the ranks of organizations that have benefited from developing their internal resources, saved money, and improved the relevance and quality of their training!

What’s Not Working

Over the last few years, I’ve worked with dozens of agencies to develop their own “home grown” trainers and tailor-made curricula. Why? Agencies tell me it begins with dissatisfaction with current options:

1. Sending employees out to workshops advertised by national companies. Though some of the information is valuable, the workshops are generic. Typically participating are a hundred people or more, from all industries. One or two from your organization that attend may benefit, but the value to the agency may end there.

2. Bringing in training experts. Though sometimes necessary and very appropriate, bringing in experts can be expensive. These specialists may provide a “one-size-fits-all” training – after all, they just gave this same presentation in Cleveland a week ago. And what happens if you can’t find an expert in your very specific subject area?

Exploring Options

The term “training of trainers” (TOT) can mean different things. To some, it means training people the “ins and outs” of a specific program, the ultimate goal being their ability to teach that program. For example, a local health promotion organization trains elementary school teachers to use its packaged curriculum. They assume that teachers will use their already-established training skills with the product. This type of TOT’s focus is on content.

A more flexible type of TOT focuses on process. It usually includes how to design a lesson based on adult learning principles, how to integrate a variety of participatory exercises, how to enhance presentation skills, develop learning aids and evaluate the learning. The best TOTs include strategies to ensure learning occurs and to identify and analyze training needs from the outset. Using these new strategies, participants often develop and present a lesson based on their area of expertise that they can use immediately.

Steps To Develop “Home Grown” Trainers

Once an organization decides to “grow” its own trainers, there are two major investments: a one-time investment in training and an ongoing investment of time.
- When possible, garner enthusiastic, visible support from the top.
  When leaders overtly support trainer development, all employees get the message that learning is a valued and important element of work.
- Select people to become “trainers in training.”
  These can be people with training expertise or just a strong interest, as well as subject matter experts who traditionally have “bored the pants off” people while transmitting information. Clarify expectations, time commitments and potential rewards for participating.
- Provide an expert Training of Trainers.
- Provide regular Trainer Development Meetings. These meetings usually take place once a month. Trainers meet to discuss what is working well and to debrief issues and challenges. Often a different trainer will model a “chunk” of curriculum or an activity each month.
Wouldn’t it be great to use the resources you have right at your fingertips to develop or expand your agency’s training potential? “Home gown” trainers benefit personally from enhancing their skills, the agency benefits from increasing its training ability and other employees benefit from increased training opportunities. “Home-grown” trainers play an important role in creating an organizational culture of learning, innovation and self-reliance.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you from a boring expert to a great presenter: www.guilamuir.com

© Guila Muir.
August 9, 2014
Electronic Devices in the Classroom

by Guila Muir
info@guilamuir.com

I stood over the two participants, saying loudly, “No! No! No!” At first, they were so immersed in their screens that they didn’t even know I was there. As they returned to the present world, their faces changed from screen-fascination to shock. What was I doing, looming above them, looking so stern? They hadn’t heard a thing since they’d pulled out their devices.

I wondered the same thing. What was I doing there? Why was I so irritated? As a trainer, had I lost emotional composure (a major element of credibility, according to McCroskey, Holdrige & Toomb’s 1999 research)? Had I blown it completely as a trainer?

The class had just returned from a break, which I’d prefaced with “The break would be a great time to use your electronic devices.” That statement has been successful with dozens of groups. During breaks, participants check messages, and then totally participate during class. I made a decision some time ago that I wouldn’t state overt behavioral guidelines in my training sessions. Now I was beginning to think my subtlety had been a big mistake.

What’s the Big Deal?

I don’t take much personally after twenty-five years as a professional trainer, but lack of participation in a highly interactive session is the one thing that “gets my goat.” When a student uses his electronic device during class, I don’t understand why he is taking up space in the room. Recent research also shows that student performance goes down when cell phone use is allowed during training, (Duncan, Hoekstra, and Wilcox, 2012). When students text in class, other students are distracted as well (Tindell and Bohlander, 2012).

“It’s Just the Way It Is”

Most universities have created behavioral guidelines addressing electronic devices, with consequences attached:

“A student may not use an electronic device during class time without the express permission of the instructor. Use of cell/smartphones during class time is always prohibited, as is leaving the room to answer or make a call.” (Texas State University).

“Using electronic or wireless devices in the classroom is a privilege, not a right. Instructors may reduce points awarded for participation in class or other graded activities for the inappropriate use of electronic or wireless devices.” (University of Wisconsin).

Most trainers in business situations make a verbal statement about this issue as well. My not stating aloud my clear expectations in this instance was, well, my bad.

Strategies to Govern Use of Electronic Devices in the Classroom

Trainers, this classroom management issue falls squarely in your lap. Your participants may be modeling behavior that supervisors demonstrate or tacitly condone. In fact, it may well be an organizational norm. I have noted the lack of personal presence due to screen addiction in almost all the organizations I have worked with over the last five years.

So it’s up to you, and me, to challenge this in our classrooms.

Your statement about the accepted use of electronic devices needs to come before you get into any content—right up front, after describing what your participants will be able to do as a result of the class. You can state your specific expectations aloud as well as provide them in written form. These might sound like:

“Please use your electronic devices during the break. Turn them totally off,” (my preference), “or put them in vibrate mode during class.”

“You may use your electronic devices to research specific points during our training. I will tell you when these opportunities occur.”

You must provide frequent breaks anyway—not so much to allow participants to check their devices, but to ensure physical movement and an opportunity for students to relax and reflect. I like to give breaks every 60 to 75 minutes.

Moral of the Story

Although electronic devices are endemic in society, they should only play small and highly specific roles in the classroom. So, trainers, it’s up to us to ensure that behavioral expectations are crystal-clear. As I learned, subtlety around this issue doesn’t go very far in this screen-world we live in today.

Let me know your experiences with this topic!

Research cited: Duncan, D., Hoekstra, A., & Wilcox, B. (2012). Digital devices, distraction, and student Performance: does in-class cell phone use reduce learning? Astronomy Education Review, 11, 010108-1, 10.3847/AER2012011.

Tindell, D. & Bohlander, R. (2011). The use and abuse of cell phones and text messaging in the classroom: A survey of college students. College Teaching. 60. Pgs. 1-9.

Want more tips to improve your speaking self? Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshop.

Guila Muir is a premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you from a boring expert to a great presenter: www.guilamuir.com

October 16, 2013
How a Hook Can Save Your Presentation
by Guila Muir
info@guilamuir.com

I have discovered that my clients all love a good hook, and are always looking for new ones. Let’s review what a Hook is and isn’t. Then I’ll provide two dynamic Hooks for you to use in your next presentation or training session.

What a Hook ISN’T:

Fluff. Never make the mistake of thinking that a hook is unimportant and can be left out. It is an essential part of the learning experience.
Lengthy. A hook is typically not a full-blown exercise, energizer or icebreaker.
A pre-test. Don’t use a hook to identify the “smartest guys in the room.”
A way to fill those nervous first moments of a training session when you feel least confident. A hook has a definite role. Don’t waste the precious first moments of a training session with comments about the weather or unrelated issues.

What a Hook IS:
- A way to immediately engage your listeners.
- Relatively short. Although there is no actual rule about length, the hook should serve its purpose concisely.
- Connected to the session’s topic or purpose. Although anything can serve as a hook, it should have a relationship to your session’s purpose. Don’t lob out a meaningless joke just to get laughs.
- Connected to who your participants are. You must know your audience’s concerns. The best hooks relate to their past experiences.
- Emotional, even if only mildly so. Adults become engaged through their emotions. Good hooks incite almost any kind of emotion, including laughter, groans of recognition, anxiety, or excitement.
- Inclusive. Use a hook that all the participants can relate to. Again, the best hooks elicit the past knowledge, emotions, and/or experiences of most people in your audience.
Developing a hook takes careful preparation. However, your participants’ immediate interest and involvement is on the line, so a little preparation on your part is worth the effort.

Two Dynamite Hooks

You can use literally anything as a hook. Trainers have used visual aids such as short videos or toys from the local Dollar store. They have used riddles, music, anecdotes, yoga stretches, and many more ways to immediately engage their participants.

The two Hooks I’ve outlined here have proven to work with a bang every time:

1. Real-life Questions

These may be the easiest type of hook to create. As for all hooks, make sure you know enough about your audience to use topics that resonate. Also, as in all hooks, ensure that your questions elicit an emotional response.

See if you can guess the topics for these Hooks:

“How many of you get so frustrated with your computer sometimes that you’d like to put your fist right through that screen?”

“Raise your hands if you’ve ever participated in a nightmare meeting.”

“Raise your hands if you’ve ever hit your boiling point around kids—even if you don’t have any!”

Guidelines:
- Always ask a minimum of two questions. You need this many to get your participants’ brains moving in the direction of your training session.
- Create your questions so that nearly everyone will respond in the same way (for example, 99% of hands in the room go up or down.)
- Insist on a physical response (hands up, stand up, thumbs up, etc.)
Option:
Start your questions with the following:

“How many of you would NOT be willing to…(Remember, your goal is to get everyone’s hands up. Asking in the negative may be more provocative and participatory than asking in the positive.)

2. “Did You Know?”

(Provocative Fact or Statistic)

The world is full of provocative statistics you can use to hook your participants. Just keep your eyes out as you read blogs, newspapers and articles. You can usually make the most unrelated statistic relevant to your participants.

See how one trainer brought together issues as diverse as strawberries and personal choices:

“Did you know… that Delta Airlines recently saved $210,000 a year simply by removing one strawberry from salads served in First Class? One little strawberry was removed and passengers didn’t even notice it. Big results can be achieved by little changes. Today, we’ll talk about how little changes in your thoughts and attitudes can have big results in your own life.”

Here are two other examples, used in actual classes:

1. “Did you know that in one second…
- A telephone signal can travel 100,000 miles?
- A hummingbird beats its wings 70 times?
- And guess what, in one second, eight million of your blood cells die.
A lot can happen in one second. This session will give you tools to decrease your response time in household emergencies.”

2. “Did you know that ‘Generation X’rs’ have watched 23,000 hours of television by the time they are 20 years old? They also believe they have a better chance of seeing a UFO in their lifetime than a Social Security check. In this workshop, we’ll see how generational differences in the workplace affect all of us.”

3. “Before the rule, more than 50 people here were dying in trenches every year. When you get killed in a cave-in, it’s not an easy way to go. You’re literally crushed to death under the weight of the soil. Soil weighs approximately 3,000 pounds per cubic yard. Nobody deserves to go to work and die that way.”

Guidelines:
- Turn a provocative fact into a hook simply by prefacing it with the words “did you know?”
- Make sure your data is correct.
- Make sure to integrate emotion.
- Consider combining your fact or statistic with another hook, such as a Real-life question.
Always use a Hook if you are serious about immediate engagement and interest!

Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is a premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you from a boring expert to a great presenter: www.guilamuir.com
June 17, 2012