Tag: Classroom management

  • “Difficult People” Versus Difficult Dynamics

    Presenters wanting to learn to respond to ruckus-causing participants discover an industry dedicated to techniques, programs and articles, but especially labels. Experts in the “difficult people” business love labels.

    Here are several labels for different kinds of “difficult people”:

    • The Know-It-All
    • The Show-Off
    • The Rambler

    But Guess What? We Are All “Difficult People”

    To be a person is to be difficult. “Difficult people” are often just regular people responding to difficult dynamics. Difficult dynamics can include:

    • Organizational change
    • Bad room set-up or temperature control
    • Mandatory attendance
    • Ambiguity about how the event will benefit the individual
    • Personal challenges, such as hunger and low blood sugar.

    What trainers, facilitators and presenters need to know is:

    • You cannot fix people.
    • You can reduce difficult dynamics, thus lowering the risk of reactive behavior.

    3 Ways to Reduce Difficult Dynamics

    You may have little control over organizational change or mandatory attendance. However, these steps will address a broad spectrum of difficult dynamics:

    1. Set Up the Room for the Outcome You Desire
    For engagement, interaction, and accountability, seat people in groups of 5-6.

    2. Clarify the Benefits
    You MUST clearly express on why this topic is important to the participants and how it will benefit them.

    3. Model Both Authoritative and Cooperative Behaviors as a Presenter
    Encourage people to express themselves and to ask questions. Simultaneously, set and hold limits.

    To achieve smooth dynamics, don’t label human beings. Instead, prevent difficult dynamics before they occur.

  • 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!

  • Focus on the Uncommitted in Your Audience


    Presenters, do you fear waves of animosity coming from your audience? Or have you ever believed your audience to be friendly and accepting, only to receive a terrible shock?

    One of the best “Presenter Tricks” I know is to present as if everyone in your audience is “uncommitted”. Doing so allows you to effectively deal with crosscurrents, hostility, and support–all at the same time.

    This chart identifies the needs of all the segments in your audience. By focusing on the uncommitted, you benefit everyone!

    Audience Segment What Do They Want from the Experience? Dangers of Focusing Only on This Segment? How This Segment Benefits When You Focus on the Uncommitted
    “Friendlies” Satisfaction, affinity. Perhaps a pep-talk. Too easy – you may assume too much. Their knowledge and commitment is deepened.
    “Hostiles” To see you fail. To hear you say something wrong. Increases your own nervousness and 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. To the exclusion of the rest of the audience, 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. You construct and present your message thoroughly, persuasively and with confidence.

    By focusing on the Uncommitted, you take great strides towards more resiliency and effectiveness as a presenter. Try doing this the next time you present.

     

  • How To Build “Home-Grown” Trainers

    Happy top manager standing by the whiteboard and interacting with business partners at seminar

    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.

  • 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

  • Wild Classroom: How to Prevent the Chaos

    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    Have you ever worried about your participants going wild, tuning out, or exhibiting other potentially disruptive behaviors? The concept of “classroom management” will help.

    Good classroom management is the ability to run your training sessions smoothly. Research shows that good classroom management enables students to learn and retain more.

    Surprisingly, research also shows that good classroom management has nothing to do with the trainer’s personality, or even whether participants like the trainer. Rather, it has everything to do with the trainer’s behaviors–how you act in the classroom.

    Dominance and Cooperation

    Research shows that a trainer keeps control of the classroom by exhibiting appropriate levels of both dominance and cooperation.

    Dominance

    A trainer’s dominance doesn’t mean forceful command and control. Instead, educational researchers define appropriate dominance as the trainer’s ability to provide clear purpose, strong guidance, and consequences for unacceptable behavior.

    Think of the best classroom experiences you have had, either as a trainer or as a participant. Did the trainer set out clear goals for the session? Were expectations about behavior clear? Did the trainer provide clear instructions, both visually and verbally?

    It’s important to use assertive body language. Maintain an erect posture. Speak deliberately and clearly, especially in the face of inappropriate behavior. Keep your cool.

    Very rarely, a trainer must ask a participant to leave the session because of behavior that is impeding the learning of others. This consequence is at the far end of the continuum of classroom management. In more than twenty years as a professional trainer, I have never had to take this step.

    Cooperation

    Cooperation is characterized by a concern for the needs and opinions of others. Whereas dominance focuses on the trainer as the driving force in the classroom, cooperation highlights a sense of teamwork between trainer and participants.

    Often, a trainer models cooperation by asking what participants want to get out of the session, and then integrating these elements into the lesson plan. Cooperation involves other aspects as well, including:

    • Taking a personal and authentic interest in participants.
    • Learning about participants’ interests and passions outside of class.
    • Talking informally before and after class.
    • Greeting each participant by name.

    You can also demonstrate your interest in non-verbal ways. These include making eye contact with everyone, moving toward the participants, and ensuring the seating arrangement allows clear and easy ways to move around the room.

    Good Classroom Management: Just a Set of Behaviors

    There have been many quests for the essential traits that make a teacher great, and each quest has come up empty-handed. According to a special report in the New York Times, extensive research shows that neither an extroverted personality, politeness, confidence, warmth, or enthusiasm make a great trainer.

    However, the educational researcher Doug Lemov has identified one trait that separates great trainers from the rest: good classroom management. Lemov discovered that what looks like natural-born teaching genius is often deliberate technique in disguise.

    It all boils down to two sets of behaviors on your part. By balancing your dominant behaviors with your cooperative behaviors as a trainer, you’ll create an environment that encourages learning and is pleasant for all. Have fun!

    Read more articles about Training Development. Learn about Guila Muir’s Trainer Development 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.

  • 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?”

    iStock_000009219951XSmall

    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.