Tag: Adult Education

  • 5 Ways to Energize Your Presentations

    What’s the difference between presenting and training?

    Presentations are typically delivered one way, from speaker to audience. Great training sessions, on the other hand, are interactive.

    To spruce up your presentations, try injecting these five techniques borrowed from active training:

    5 Ways to Enliven Your Presentations

    1. Preface your presentation by briefly stating a relevant problem. Ask participants to be ready to solve the problem by the session’s end based on what they’ve learned.
    2. Distribute a list of questions for participants to answer as you present. (By directing participants to listen and search for information covered, you actively engage their attention.)
    3. Ask a relevant question and make it clear you expect the participants to think about it; then have them share their responses with one other person. (Optional: then elicit few of those responses.)
    4. Interrupt yourself periodically and challenge participants to give examples of the concepts presented thus far or to answer “spot-quiz” questions.
    5. Provide a “quickie” self-test either before, during or after the session.

    These techniques shift several responsibilities onto the audience, where they belong:

    • the responsibility to learn
    • the responsibility to engage, and
    • the responsibility to remember

    However, your responsibilities as a speaker shift a bit, too. You must move from spraying audience members down with an “information hose” to having more of a dialogue.

    Be sure to let your audience know what you expect of them before introducing each technique. And don’t let them slide back down into passivity—keep them awake and involved!

    Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

  • Are You a Super-Trainer?

    Assess Yourself and See!

    What attributes do all super trainers share, no matter how different their styles?

    Rate yourself from 1 (I’m not so great at this) to 3 (I do this every time!) on the guidelines below. Then read the strategies, which will transform YOU into a Super Trainer.

    Three Essen­tial Attrib­utes of Super Train­ers

    1.  Content Knowledge

    Of course, this comes first. If you don’t know your subject, you shouldn’t be training it. However, you DON’T have to know every last detail before you’re ready to train.
    My self-rating on Content Knowledge:

    1                                                        2                                                       3

    low                                                                                                                        high

    2.  Willingness To Have Fun

    This one’s a potential danger zone. Some trainers have so much fun themselves that they remain oblivious to the participants’ needs, insights, and potential contributions.

    Having fun doesn’t mean you are able to toss out jokes. Willingness to have fun means relaxing WHILE you exude dynamism and energy. It means connecting with the participants WHILE you focus on content and time management. It means enjoying the participants WHILE retaining your unique role as trainer.

    My self-rating on Willingness to Have Fun:

    1                                                        2                                                      3

    low                                                                                                                        high

    3.  Use of a Well-Structured Training Design

    Have you ever wondered about the source of the following issues?

    • Bad marks on your training evaluations (excluding comments about cold coffee or overly warm training rooms)
    • Participant hostility, side conversations or passive-aggressiveness
    • Lack of participation
    • People sleeping

    The invisible culprit is often how the session is designed, not the presentation skills of the trainer. Design affects everything related to the training.

    Training design is training architecture. A badly–designed course will sag, fracture, and even crush the best trainer.

    My self-rating on Use of a Well-Structured Training Design:

    1                                                        2                                                      3

    low                                                                                                                        high

    Strategies to Pump Up Your Training Skills

    Even if you rated yourself high on the preceding attributes, these strategies will enhance your training:

    1.  Content Knowledge

    Ensure that you have included only the absolute “MUST-KNOW” material into your training session. When you develop the session, test each part of the training by asking, “is this a ‘must-know’ piece of information, or is it merely ‘nice to know?’ Toss the ‘nice to know’ pieces. Remember-less is more.

    If a participant asks you something you cannot answer, remember that it is OK to say “I don’t know. Let me find out and get back to you,” but only if you really will follow up. Meanwhile, acknowledge that a participant in your group may well have the information you lack. Don’t be afraid to ask. Doing so helps you build community with your participants.

    2. Willingness To Have Fun

    The more prepared you feel with your content and training structure, (attributes #1 and #3,) the more fun you’ll have.

    But you must also examine your beliefs about people. Do you feel they are mainly a drag, or do you find them interesting and quirky? Do you like yourself? Are you accepting or judgmental? Your underlying beliefs about yourself and others either boost or impede your level of relaxation and ability to have fun in the training role.

    It’s worth your time to examine your philosophy of teaching. Do you buy into a “boot camp” mentality? Alternatively, do you feel oversensitive to students’ needs? Heighten your awareness of your philosophy and actions, and then make changes if needed. Fun will follow!

    3. Use of a Well-Structured Training Design

    Here are three guidelines to ensure your training architecture is sound:

    • Never organize your training session using PowerPoint.
    • Carefully and thoughtfully develop learning outcomes. Organize all your content to achieve them.
    • No matter how experienced a trainer you are, take a basic class in course design. It may challenge the way you think about training!

    It’s always good to re-visit the essentials; all Super Trainers do. Integrate these Top Three into your training, and you’ll find yourself among the greats!

    Want more tips to improve your trainings? Learn how Guila Muir’s Instructional Design Workshop can help you to create powerful, effective training sessions.

    See free newsletters full of tips and techniques for improved training: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs071/1101469784148/archive/1101880413533.html

  • Sharpen Your Training Brain

    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    As a trainer, do you struggle mentally as you develop a new course? Are you ever “stuck” when you try to think of ways to improve your class?

    There is a scientifically sound way to boost your brain power, pick up your energy, and improve your focus as a trainer. Although it’s very complicated and takes years of schooling and practice (Ha!), anyone can do it. The scientific cure to your fuzzy brain is to go outside.

    In a world where many people suffer from Nature Deficit Disorder (go ahead, look it up) the science is clear. Merely seeing nature makes you healthier, even it you view it through a window.1 Getting out into the natural world is even better. Many studies confirm that simply by going outside, you positively impact your blood pressure, cholesterol, stress, and outlook on life.2

    What do these findings have to do with training?

    • Sluggish brains make sluggish training. Wake yourself up by taking a quick walk.
    • You bring an “incomplete self” into training when you feel separate from the natural world. Call it integrity, holism, spirituality or synthesis, you owe it to yourself and to your participants to be your “whole self” when educating others.
    • Walking in nature makes you smarter. An experimental study showed that people who walk in nature perform cognitive tasks 20% better than those who walk in an urban setting.3 Don’t you want to maintain that mental edge in front of your class?

    Get out, walk, and enjoy…your training will improve as a result. You can count on it!

    1. Kaplan, 1992a; Lewis, 1996; Leather et al., 1998

    2. Moore, 1981; Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989; Hartig et al., 1991; Ulrich et al., 1991a; Rohde and Kendle, 1994; Lewis, 1996; Leather et al., 1998

    3. Berman, Jonides, Kaplan, 2008

    Learn about Training Development. Read more articles about training.

    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.

  • Presentation Skills: How to Prevent “Drowning”

    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    These skills will keep you afloat.

    There are many parallels between swimming in open water (the English call it “wild swimming”) and giving a great presentation. These skills will keep you afloat, no matter how choppy the water.

    1. Be totally present.
    When I swim, my focus is completely on what I’m doing. I’m not thinking about anything except moving forward. I am aware of each stroke, and often “course-correct” when I feel my form getting lazy.

    Great presenters have this same focus. They inhabit their bodies. They don’t wish they were somewhere else, doing something else. They totally commit to the activity of presenting.

    2. Ignore the environment at your own risk.
    The minute I enter the open water, I begin a wilderness adventure. Unlike a pool, open water offers seaweed, sea animals, hidden objects, floating logs, jellyfish, currents, waves, swells, and…well, you get the difference.

    If I swim blindly, I may run into something. This happened recently to a co-swimmer who was so focused on winning our race that he ran into a submerged piling and broke his nose.

    Presenters, too, can “break their noses” by barreling along with little sensitivity to the environment. Environmental input takes many forms, including disinterested or enthusiastic participants, room acoustics, hecklers, heat or cold, and ambient noise. Presenters who shut themselves off from this input risk failure. Great presenters retain their sensitivity to the environment, without letting it overwhelm them.

    3. Discovery is key.
    While swimming, I have discovered iridescent seaweed, a Weber grill, and curious seals with puppy faces. I have also discovered my own physical limits. Every time I swim, I discover something new, even if it is just the way the sun shines through the water (or not).

    Great presenters do this too. No matter how many times they’ve given a presentation, they discover new ways of saying things. They may develop new handouts or slides, or develop new questions to ask the audience. Boring presenters are those who never risk discovering new ways to present.

    Take these lessons to heart. When you invest yourself totally in the act of presenting, it all becomes easy. You’ll glide through your presentation like a fish.

    Read more articles about Presentation Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

    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

  • 3 Tips to Deal With Audiences from Hell

    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    Resis­tant dynam­ics can be found in any audi­ence. Here are three essen­tial tech­niques to stay sane as a presenter.

    1. Check Your­self.
    Ask your­self: What am I feel­ing about this audi­ence? Why? What’s the worst that could hap­pen?

    Pre­pare your­self emo­tion­ally and phys­i­cally. Make sure you’ve had enough to eat, and drink plenty of water. If you find your­self going “on stage” expect­ing the worst, or not being pre­pared for  many ques­tions and chal­lenges, you set yourself up for failure.

    2. Don’t Let the Hostile Faces Hook You.
    Your goal is to present to the best of your abil­ity, to everyone in the room. Don’t get emotionally connected to the few unhappy audience members.

    Acknowl­edge and respect the dynam­ics in the room. Detach from them. Most likely, these have nothing to do with you.

    3. Present as if Every­one Were Uncom­mit­ted.
    I bor­row from Don Pfarrer’s book, Guerilla Per­sua­sion, for this incred­i­bly help­ful final tip. I’ve used it often, to great success.

    Assume that every audi­ence is comprised of four different groups. Each group is either friendly to your mes­sage, hostile, indif­fer­ent, or sim­ply uncom­mit­ted.

    Here’s the strategy: Focus on the uncom­mit­ted. In this way, you will successfully address everyone in the audience. By focusing on the uncommitted, you will con­struct and present your mes­sage more thoroughly and per­sua­sively.

    All 4 Audi­ence Seg­ments Ben­e­fit When You Focus on the Uncommitted.

    Audi­ence Segment What Do They Want From Listening to You?
    		 Dan­gers of Focus­ing Only on This Segment
    		 How This Seg­ment Ben­e­fits When You Focus on the Uncommitted
    “Friend­lies” Sat­is­fac­tion, affin­ity. Too easy — you may assume too much. Their knowl­edge and com­mit­ment is deepened.
    “Hos­tiles” To see you fail. Increases your own defen­sive­ness. You may come off abra­sively and unlikable. They expe­ri­ence human respect, open­ness and rea­son from you (and are likely to mir­ror the behavior).
    “Indif­fer­ents” To be left alone and unchanged. You may tie your­self up into knots try­ing get a response. They may get the mes­sage, while not being ham­mered by you.
    “Uncom­mit­teds” To expe­ri­ence a rea­soned, well-thought-out, good-natured expo­sure to the issues. NONE! They get the best of YOU: affin­ity and reason. You won’t cut cor­ners by assum­ing sup­port where it might not exist.

    The bot­tom line is: KNOW YOUR STUFF. Be ready for ques­tions and chal­lenges. By check­ing your­self, not getting “hooked” by hostility, and focus­ing on the Uncom­mit­ted, you take great strides towards more resiliency and professionalism as a presenter.

    Read more articles about Presentation Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

    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.

  • Avoid Audience Overload: Less is More

    Pic­ture it: You’re a stu­dent in a class­room. The instruc­tor is throw­ing out fact after fact. At first, you lis­ten intently, try­ing to grasp every­thing that’s going on. After about 15 min­utes, your atten­tion drifts.  After try­ing to focus a few more times, you feel so over­whelmed (and pos­si­bly irri­tated and bored) that you just give up.

    Hey-how did you like being on the receiv­ing end?

    Trainers, have some sym­pa­thy. The instruc­tor was just try­ing to “cover the mate­r­ial.” (How many times have YOU used this line?)

    The fact is, more content does not produce more competencies. Information overload can produce confusion, anxiety, and indecision. It does NOT help students transfer learning into the real world.

    Training Rule: “Less is More”

    Identify the most important pieces of content. Spend training time to ensure that participants can process the information and apply it to real-world situations.

    Here is a short list of instruc­tional strate­gies you can use to bring your lesson’s con­tent alive:

    • Dis­cus­sions
    • Sur­veys
    • Con­tests
    • Case stud­ies
    • Drills
    • Reflec­tive writing
    • Mind maps
    • Jig­saws
    • Brain­storm­ing
    • Role-plays
    • Sim­u­la­tions

    The moral is: By trying to “cover all the material,” you do just that—cover up what’s really important.

  • What Separates Great Trainers From the Merely “OK?”

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    Many training participants would respond, “Great trainers make the learning easy and fun.” If probed further, they might mention the use of engaging training activities, or the trainer’s personal style.

    But most won’t be able to identify an important action that differentiates expert trainers. This action is subtle and powerful. It helps lubricate the session and increases learner retention. Though mostly invisible to the untrained eye, it truly separates the “Greats” from the “OK’s.”

    What is this seemingly magic characteristic of great training? It’s (more…)

  • A “Train the Trainer” Tip: Start Your Sessions With a Bang

    istock_000009305487xsmall3by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    What’s the best way to assure your training participants groan inwardly and “turn off” when you first open your mouth? Simply by doing what you’ve always been told: By introducing yourself and providing your credentials.

    Why not generate your audience’s curiosity, interest, and investment from the outset? Use a “Hook” before introducing yourself or your professional credentials. If your hook is well-crafted, you will have already gained credibility when you do introduce yourself. The participants will be much more open to hearing your message.

    What is a Hook?
    First, what a hook is NOT:

    • An extended exercise or activity
    • An irrelevant joke
    • An apology of any kind
    • A meandering, “off-the-cuff” mumble meant to make YOU more comfortable in front of the class.

    A Hook is a short, carefully crafted statement that indicates you know who your audience is and what they care about. It should elicit some sort of emotion in your listeners, whether that is quiet reflection, hilarious recognition of a feeling or situation, or sorrow. The emotion doesn’t have to be “positive.” But it must resonate with your audience and its memories or experiences, while being relevant to your subject.

    Three Ideas for Powerful Hooks

    Quickie Quiz:
    Create a 3-5-question quiz and ask participants to take it the minute they sit down. It’s best if the questions are slightly provocative or controversial. Throughout the class, answer and clarify the issues.

    Here’s a “real-life” example currently being used in a Risk Management class for supervisors:
    •    What percentage of claims and incidents filed against this company were closed last year without payment?
    30%
    50%
    80%
    •    If an employee is sued because of an act s/he committed within the scope of their duties, the employee must provide his/her own legal defense. (T/F)
    •    This company is self-insured for Auto Liability and General Liability. (T/F)

    Questions
    Carefully constructed questions are often the easiest and most powerful “Hooks.” 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 nodding, raising hands, even standing up.

    Visualization
    This technique gives even “dry” subjects the emotional content you need to hook the learners’ 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 and state the learning outcomes.

    Remember: to keep your audience actively engaged from the get-go, you must HOOK their interest in the first few minutes of class. Wait until they’re hooked to introduce yourself!

    Read more articles to boost your Training Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Train the Trainer Workshops.

    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.

  • When Leaders Train: How to Avoid the Pitfalls

    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    Why don’t all leaders make great trainers? Perhaps it’s because they believe that training falls outside their (already large) job descriptions. As a result, leaders often strive to “cover the material” in order to get on with business.

    Yet the ability to facilitate learning, not just to cover the material, is an essential leadership skill.

    “Acquitting Oneself” vs. Facilitating Learning
    To acquit means “to release from duty or obligation;” or to get off the hook. Leaders most often acquit themselves by simply covering the material. They do this by lecturing, even though evidence shows that participants forget 50% of a lecture in just 20 minutes.

    For leaders who want to competently facilitate learning, I offer these tips.

    1. Hook your students.

    In the few minutes of class, you must:

    • Excite: Demonstrate your own excitement about, and commitment to, your topic.
    • Involve: Ask a relevant question to get participants’ hands up, refer to a recent critical incident, or deliver an interactive quiz.
    • Inform: State the training’s purpose clearly. Succinctly describe how the participants will benefit from the training.

    2. Make it Active.

    Include small-group work using case studies, skill practice, or other problem-solving exercises. Honor your participants by supporting interaction.

    3. Design a conscious closure.
    Always build in several minutes at the end to test participants’ knowledge and skills. This ensures accountability-both your participants’ and your own.

    Leaders, challenge yourselves to deliver vibrant, compelling learning opportunities. Forget about “acquitting yourself,” and  include great training as part of your job description.

    © Guila Muir.