Tag: Training courses

  • How to “Pump Up” What Students Remember

    Group of business people hiding their faces behind a question mark sign at officeAs a trainer, have you ever wondered why the information you provide doesn’t always “stick?”

    What do You Know About Memory?

    Take this quiz to find out:

    1. Learners who can perform a new learning task well are likely to retain it. (T/F)
    2. Immediate memory will dump input in 30 seconds or less. (T/F)
    3. Lifting weights improves memory and cognitive function better than aerobic exercise . (T/F)

    How well did you do?

    1. FALSE. Even if a learner performs a new learning task well, chances are high it will not be permanently stored in memory.
    2. TRUE.
    3. FALSE. Although no studies have found a link between weight training and cognitive function, aerobic exercise improves memory and cognitive function of both adults and children.

    How Can I “Pump Up” What My Students Remember?

    Students can only process input intently for about 10 minutes before losing focus. To prevent the material from fading, we must quickly use it in a different way. In training, this could involve applying the information through an activity, like solving a case study, building a model, talking about how they’ll use it on the job, etc.

    In order for information to encoded into the learner’s long-term memory, it must meet two criteria:

    • Does the information make sense? (Does the learner understand it?)
    • Is the information relevant? (Can the learner connect it to past learning and current needs?)

    Think of the training YOU do. How well does it meet these 2 criteria for helping your students to remember?

    Making Better Training

    You can probably guess by now that the odds are stacked against your learners’ remembering everything you teach. Here are 3 helpful, easy techniques to help boost retention:

    1. Use humor.
    Increased oxygen and the positive feelings that result from laughter improve the probability that students will remember what they learned.

    2. Make clear what the students will be able to do as a result of the lesson.
    State the learning outcomes at the beginning of class, and return to them as you move from one chunk of content to the next. Be sure to test throughout to make sure your students are actually getting it.

    3. Provide prompt, specific, and corrective feedback.
    Frequent, brief quizzes will build retention better than one large test.

    Remember: You CAN boost your students’ retention. Just use these simple techniques.

  • Can a Room Kill You? Yes!

    How to Ensure Your Physical Space Works For You

    Have you ever felt that something’s just not working right, no matter how well you know your material, how confident you came in, or how much you practiced?

    You may be experiencing an attempted “Death by Room.” This malady has knocked many a trainer and presenter to their knees—and kept them there. The disease is preventable. But to overcome it, you must take these tips to heart.

    3 Tips to Prevent “Death by Room”

    1. Ask yourself: What do I want?

    Do you want a dialogue or a monologue? Many presenters espouse one theory (for example, “participation is good,”) but everything they do communicates a different message (like “sit down, look at me, and shut up!”)

    The seating arrangement provides a strong, non-verbal statement from the minute your participants walk in the door. Make sure your room set-up is congruent with your message.

    TIP:

    If you desire interaction, you must provide a seating arrangement that allows participants to talk easily with one another, as well as with you. This may involve using round tables, a “U” shaped set-up, or rectangle tables pushed together. If you must use a “theater style” set-up, ensure that participants can move their chairs into small working groups of 3-5.

    2. Don’t make assumptions.

    Here are a few common assumptions that kill trainers/presenters:

    • “I sent a diagram—I know the room will be set up just like that.”
    • The space doesn’t matter. Content’s the thing.
    • I don’t need to see the room until it’s time for me to start.

    TIP: When possible, set up the room yourself (with help, if necessary.) View the room the night before. If this isn’t possible, arrive at least one hour early. Remember, the way your space is organized can impact your presentation as much as your content knowledge.

    By eliminating your assumptions, you’ll sleep better the night before an important event.

    3. Rehearse in the room.

    There is no way that a professional actor would work in a space in which he or she had not practiced. Professional trainers and presenters make the room their own by visiting it, testing it, and practicing in it.

    TIP: Deliver the first 3-5 minutes of your presentation. Check the acoustics. Does the room absorb your voice, or can it carry with ease? Walk around the area from which you will present. What parts of the room could be blocked from view? Remember that all participants must be able to see you at all times.

    Can a room kill you as a presenter? YES—but only if you allow it to. You can prevent “Death by Room” by attending to these three easy steps.

  • 3 Rules for Excellent Presentations

    I was excited to find John Medina’s great book, Brain Rules, in the San Francisco airport bookstore in 2009. The book is incredibly readable and valuable to trainers and presenters. I was thrilled most of all to see that Medina provides research to support 3 rules I’ve shared in my Train the Trainer classes for years.

    1. Provide the gist, the core concept, first.

    Verbalize and show your session’s purpose within the first few minutes of your presentation or training. Medina claims that you will see a 40% improvement in understanding if you provide general concepts first.

    2. Give an overview of the class at the beginning, and sprinkle liberal repetitions of ‘where we are now’ throughout.

    Provide clear transitions and summaries throughout your session. Clearly and repetitively explain linkages.

    3. Bait the hook.

    Every ten minutes, Medina gives his audiences a break from the firehose of information by sending “emotionally competent stimuli” (yet another word for ‘hook.’) A hook can be a surprising fact, anecdote, or question, and must must trigger an emotion: anxiety, laughter, nostalgia, etc. It must also be relevant. Use hooks at the beginning of each module.

    Research suggests that by using these skills, you will prevent your audiences from “checking out” during your presentation.  Not only that, but these 3 tips will enable  you to enjoy presenting more. Have fun!

    Learn about Training Development. Read more articles about training.

    © Guila Muir.

  • How to Blow Your Credibility from the “Get-Go”

    When you are speaking in front of a group, do you really want to blow your relationship with the audience immediately? These two common presentation behaviors will help to ensure that you do!

    Myth #1: You should start a presentation by thanking your audience or your hosts

    Picture it: You’ve prepared carefully and are about to present. The first words to your audience as you take the stage? “Thank you. I’m glad to be here,” or something similar.

    These words serve many purposes. Quite possibly, you are not really thanking anyone. Instead, you are using the words to ease your way into your position as presenter. You say the words mechanically, not really hearing them yourself, as you peer at the crowd (or not) and shuffle your papers.

    Your attempt is to make yourself comfortable by uttering “Thank you.” Meanwhile, your audience has experienced this robotic opening so many times that:

    1. They don’t really hear it.
    2. “Thank you” means nothing.
    3. They start to tune you out-and you haven’t even started!

    You’ve already wasted an opportunity to connect with your audience, just so that YOU could take a stab at feeling more comfortable as you begin to speak. Was it worth it?

    What to Remember
    Your presentation actually begins two minutes before you take the stage. You should have slipped into your “presenter persona” before you are even introduced. This persona is the authentic YOU—but a little more so. You are alive with energy–pumped up, feeling powerful, and ready to go.

    Within just ten seconds after your taking the stage, you should have engaged your audience’s attention and interest. Simply saying “Thank you, etc., etc., ” won’t accomplish that.

    What to Do
    Take the stage. Stand for 1-2 seconds in silence. Stay connected with your body. Be totally present. Feel your feet, quads, spine, and chest. Fill your body with breath and strength. Breathe, smile, and connect with your audience. Look at audience members and “make friends” with them nonverbally.

    THEN open your mouth to speak. Engage your audience with an anecdote, question, or mental exercise. Be sure that this opening leads fluidly into the body of your presentation.

    To ensure that those first precious moments enhance your presentation and credibility, practice the first few minutes of your presentation at least 4-6 times prior to “showtime.” Your practice should take place in front of a mirror. Begin with pretending that you hear yourself being introduced (or get your spouse or friend to introduce you.)

    Make the motions of getting out of a chair and walking to the front of the room. Then take the stage, and follow the instructions above.

    Why?
    By centering yourself before speaking, you don’t need to fall back on clichés. And when you actually do thank your audience and/or hosts at the end of your presentation, your words will be much more heartfelt, authentic, and heard.

    Myth #2: You should move about as you present

    “You’ve got to be kidding!” I can hear some readers saying. “Some of the best presenters I had in college walked as they talked.” Others will say, “Look, I move around when I give a presentation. It keeps the audience awake!”

    What to Remember
    There is conscious, or deliberate, movement—and then there is its opposite. Many speakers (especially males) demonstrate a kind of unfocused, rambling, back-and-forth movement with their feet. This distracts enormously from their message.

    Focused movement has to do with centering yourself as a speaker. When your mind is jumbled and jumping from thought to thought, you are more likely to move about in a jumbled, unfocused way. When you are truly invested in what you are saying, AND connected via eye contact to your audience, your focus is clearer. You are less apt to aimlessly wander.

    Remember, it’s good to gesture with your arms and hands to enhance the meaning of your words. It is not good to wander the stage as you think out loud.

    What to Do
    Become aware of WHY you are moving. Do you want to address another part of the audience? It’s totally acceptable to move from one side of the stage to another, but then you must STOP to make your point. Gesture dramatically with the top half of your body. Use your hands, arms, and torso. But keep your feet still as you make your important points.

    The best suggestion is simply this: Be interested and invested in what you are saying, and say it directly to the audience as if they were a friend. Chances are, you won’t “wiggle around” so much with this mindset.

    Why?
    Aristotle paced the Lyceum when he was teaching, and Kierkegaard was a proponent of walking while he thought aloud. But today’s world, it’s all about connection with the audience. This means that you face your audience directly and securely, no “bobbling” allowed.

    In Conclusion

    The underlying message of both these Myth-Busters is this: Presenters, be Present! Be 100% “there” for your audience, both physically and mentally.

    Remember that your presentation begins minutes before you take the stage. Get centered and focused before you start talking…and beware of your “wandering ways.”

    Boost your Training Skills with a workshop from Guila. We can also help you improve your  Facilitation and Presentation Skills.

    © Guila Muir.

  • How Do You Know They Know? Designing In-Class Assessment

    How serious are you about your students actually learning? Most of us would say, “VERY serious!” Yet many trainers and instructional designers actually have no idea what, and even if, participants have learned by the end of a session.

    Because trainers operate in organizations and businesses, we typically don’t issue grades. Even in preparing participants for a performance test down the line, we often don’t do a good job of checking in along the way. At best, many trainers rely on “Happy Sheets,” the end-of-class evaluations that mainly determine if the training room was too warm, or the coffee not warm enough.

    It’s hard to know if this lack of attention to assessment in organizational learning can be traced to lethargy, lack of knowledge about how adults learn, or the culture of corporate training itself. Whatever its root, “Warning! Warning!” as the Lost in Space robot used to say on TV. Assessment is so integral to learning that if we don’t do it, we cannot claim to be serious about our participants actually learning.

    The Real Test
    Jane Vella, founder of Global Learning Partners, answers the question, “How do they know they know?” with this answer: “Because they did it!”

    Certainly, the ability to perform is the real assessment of learning. Can the participants do what you promised them they’d be able to do when you developed the learning objectives?

    Although performance is the real test, many corporate trainers don’t have the luxury of following their participants when they return to the workplace. Once they leave our classrooms, it’s impossible for many of us to observe how well participants actually use the new skills.

    Assessment AS Learning
    Research shows that students learn better when they receive feedback early and often. When trainers use in-class assessments, they are able to provide this feedback. The best assessment exercises are fun and engaging (forget the dreaded pop quiz!)

    Try one of these in-class assessment techniques to enrich your training.

    Three Tips for In-Class Assessment
    Tip #1: One-Minute Paper

    When to Use: Midway or later in a training session.

    After delivering important content, ask the participants to write their reflections for a solid minute. Reflections can include how they will actually apply the information, their thoughts and feelings, challenges, etc.

    Collect the (anonymous) papers, read to self, and respond if appropriate.

    Tip #2: Two Insights, One Area of Confusion

    When to Use: Midway or later in a training session.

    Have participants write two insights and one area of confusion based on the information you have provided. Either collect and address in the next module, or have participants read these to a partner, then discuss issues as a class.

    Tip #3: Using Learning Objectives as Assessment Points

    When to Use: Throughout the session.

    Ask a variety of prepared questions based on the session’s learning objectives either to the whole group, or to subgroups.

    Remember: Assessment is part of learning. It’s not an add-on, and it’s not “just for show.” Integrate in-class assessments into your training sessions, and watch the learning soar!

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

    © Guila Muir.

  • So You Want to Do a Seminar!

    Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner? Have you been asked to present at a professional conference? Giving a great seminar can increase your business, your status, and your memorability. Yet most professionals don’t feel 100% comfortable with their ability to develop and deliver an effective seminar.

    Here are 3 tips to ensure your “Seminar Success.”

    1. Choose three points you MUST get across.
    Before developing visuals of any kind, or even an outline of your talk, determine its three most essential points. These points must mean something to your audience, not just be sales incentives. Design your presentation around these points. Stick to them.

    2. Don’t waste time with fluff.
    Grab your audience from the get-go. Don’t bother to tell them how nice it is to be there, or mention the weather. The first three minutes are essential to your success. Make these minutes count by making them meaningful to the audience.

    3. Conclude with a call to action.
    It’s not enough to leave people excited. Challenge them with a concrete action. Also offer a “real” resource (a free consultation, an article, something that will help them–no strings attached.)

    Seminars are a prime marketing tool. Follow the tips above and make the most of this opportunity!

    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.

  • How to Help Adults Learn Best

    Three Keys to Help Them Stretch!

    Here’s something for you to try. (C’mon, I’ll wait for you to get out of your chair!)

    Stand up and stretch your right arm out behind you, as far as it will go. (You may turn your body as you do so.) Now, come back to center and relax your arm.

    Next, visualize doing this again. Think about taking your arm further back. Then do it again, but really “stretch” your eyes back as far as you can as you do it.

    Did you notice this time that you could take your arm back much further?
    To many, this exercise illustrates the powerful force that our intent exerts over perceived reality. (It can change or “stretch” our limits.) To me, as a teacher of adults, it serves as a metaphor for adults and learning. As learners, we thrive on challenges that are slightly beyond our reach, but reachable. In fact, research is clear that adults learn best when provided with learning tasks that really make them stretch. (Thank you, Dee Dickinson, for this exercise.)

    Here are three ways trainers can help adult learners stretch.

    Make it challenging, but present it simply. One of the biggest challenges we have as trainers is to present complex subjects simply. Strive to say things in the simplest possible way. This involves real practice for trainers, not just a quickie “run-through.” One way to challenge learners is to periodically “shut up” during the training. Provide opportunities for learners to discover things themselves. Don’t feel compelled to explain everything. Act as a facilitator to their process.

    The excuse trainers often give for lecturing is “I have to cover the material!” Interestingly, this phrase can be taken in two ways. One of the meanings of “cover,” after all, is to “cover up”, or obfuscate. By trying to cover everything, we confuse, muddy and even lose the core, “must-know” content elements.

    I encourage you to use the Acid Test when developing a workshop: When time limitations and a desire for simplicity mean you can only include the “must know” elements of a topic, first figure out what those are. Then identify the “nice to know” elements. Strip them out. Leave them behind. You can inject meaningful small-group activities into the class time you gain.

    Make it fun. A great trainer once said: “I make ’em laugh, and when their mouths are open, I throw something in for them to chew on!” Humor and creativity come from, and create, the same chemicals in the brain. People are much more open to learning when they’re having a good time.

    How to ensure the learning process is fun? Part of the answer is to have a good time yourself. If you consistently don’t enjoy what’s happening in the classroom, something’s wrong. When you provide engaging, relevant learning activities (NOT “fluff”) students have more fun. You will, too.

    Organize chunks of material into one larger chunk. Research shows that people’s brains can only hold on to a maximum of nine items at a time. So trainers need to create meaningful chunks of training that condense several pieces of information into one. In their excellent book, “Telling Ain’t Training,” Stolovitch and Keeps provide this example:

    • The four cardinal points of a compass are north (N), east (E), west, (W), and south (S). (four items to store in memory.)
    • Remember this acronym: NEWS (one item to store in memory, so it’s easier to retain.)

    Identify which parts of your training your can “clump together” to make easily-managed, larger chunks.

    Helping adult learners successfully stretch directly correlates to the amount of preparation we do. How willing are you to truly think things out, develop helpful metaphors, and ensure your own thinking is clear and logical? If you experience any “fog” about any portion of your topic, your learners will, too. One of Malcolm Knowles’s essential principles for adult learning is “Respect.” We trainers respect learners by truly being prepared–not only to “cover the material,” but also to help them stretch their limits.

    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.

  • Games, Simulations, and Roleplays: Do Differences Matter?

    Which would you choose…and when?

    Long ago, I discovered I loved experiential learning and wanted to learn more about simulations. As a trainer in 1981 Thailand, I experienced the famous “Ba-Fa-Ba-Fa” cultural simulation. It blew me away! Years later, with great hopes, I attended an ASTD-sponsored workshop called Experience Simulations. To my disappointment, the workshop centered on board games a vendor was highlighting. I walked out–I can’t stand board games!

    Since then, I’ve often heard professionals use the words “game,” “simulation” and “roleplay” interchangeably. It wasn’t until I read Ken Jones’ “Simulations: A Handbook for Teachers and Trainers” (Nichols Publishing Company, 1995) that I felt I could really verbalize the difference between these three very different activities.

    I’ve created the chart below to compare and contrast these varieties of experiential learning. The different role that ethics play intrigues me.

    Characteristics of Games, Simulations, and Roleplays

     

    Games Simulations Roleplays
    Participants try to win within a set of rules. No “real-world” ethics are involved except the spirit of fair play. Participants keep their own personalities and try to behave professionally in a situation where they have functional roles. Participants’ skills and emotions are real. The environment is simulated. Real-world ethics apply. The aim is to give a good performance or imitation. Often, emotions, personalities, and ethical motives are supplied.

     

     

    CBS Survivor: What is It?

    No matter what your feelings about this show, it’s interesting to examine it through the lenses this chart provides. Overall, no matter how often the participants say, “It’s only a game!” (which they tend to do whenever they model some particularly nefarious behavior,) “Survivor” seems to me to be a classic simulation. The participants’ own ethics guide their actions. Periodic physical and mental competitions are the only real games being played. These games are discrete. They begin and end. The participants actually live and work within an extended simulation.

    What About Roleplay?

    Les Lauber, board member of the North American Simulation and Gaming Association (NASAGA,) presented a stimulating workshop on roleplay at NASAGA’s 2002 conference. Lauber explained that roleplays are actually “a discrete form of simulation,” falling mid-continuum between case study and total virtual reality:

    Case study Roleplay Virtual Reality

    Lauber says roleplays work best to:

    • Reinforce new skills
    • Sensitize participants to others’ feelings or concerns,
    • Test problem solutions from social or cultural arenas.

    Effective roleplays involve everyone in the room. Even the “observers” have a role and should be briefed as carefully as the players. The fact that observers are present and active actually helps differentiate roleplays from simulations, where observers (if any) do not play an overtly active role. (Of course, the mere presence of observers impacts participant behavior, as any anthropologist knows and Heisenberg postulates.) Would “Survivor” participants act exactly the same without the presence of TV cameras?)

    Test Yourself!

    Mark which activity you’d choose to reinforce the following skills. Why?

    Skill Game Simulation Roleplay Combination
    (which)
    • Flying an airplane
    • Matching terms with the correct definition
    • Commanding the Starship Enterprise
    • Diapering a baby
    • Giving behavioral feedback
    • Resolving workplace conflict
    • Perfecting your firearm aim
    • Writing a grant proposal
    • Establishing rapport with a potential customer

    Resources for Those Who Are “Hooked”

    I have been lucky to discover two wonderful sources for all sorts of experiential learning activities, including simulations and roleplays. One is NASAGA (www.nasaga.org.) The other is Sivasailam Thiagarajan, otherwise known as Thiagi, the master of creative learning. (www.thiagi.com.) I invite you to explore their web sites.

     

    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.