How to Conduct a Successful Training Program
By Jason WilleyMany statistics show that people are more afraid of public speaking or “glossophobia” than spiders, heights and even death. A majority of people would rather die than speak in front of a live group! Don’t let the fear of public speaking scare you away from conducting a successful training program. Whether you’re facilitating leadership training, customer service training, management training or soft skills training, Corexcel can help you make your first (and every) training program a huge success.
Follow these 4 tips to conduct a successful training program every time!
1. Know Your Stuff
I find my fear of speaking in front of a group decreases dramatically when I am prepared. Do your research; learn as much as
you can about a specific training topic or product. This way, you’ll know more
than your audience, feeling confident and prepared. Corexcel offers a ton of supporting
material on the training products we provide. Things like research reports,
white papers and facilitator kits help you prepare for your training programs. Your group is going to be looking at you as the expert so make sure you've done your homework!
In addition to knowing the material, make sure you know your audience. Don’t be afraid to ask your contact about the group. Questions like “Who is attending the training program? What are their DiSC styles? How do they like to learn? What training programs have been successful or unsuccessful in the past?” can be extremely helpful to you. Again, it comes down to being prepared. If you're conducting a DiSC profile training, generate a Facilitator Report in order to see the DiSC styles in your group. Customizing your program for your audience specifically will ensure they enjoy it.
3. Use the Facilitator Kit
This is one of the best tools you can invest in. The kit contains customizable PowerPoint presentations, facilitator scripts, participant handouts and videos to help make your training program a success. The facilitator kits will save you tons of time in the development area which will allow you to focus your energy on familiarizing yourself with the content and customizing it to fit your group. These kits are inexpensive and can be used over and over again. Don’t try to recreate the wheel.
4. Get Your Audience Involved
We've all been through training where the facilitator continues to lecture, and we can’t wait for the barrage of words to be over. Chances are, you didn't learn much during that training and you remember it for all the wrong reasons. A fun, engaging training program will help your audience learn and, most importantly, retain the information! Break your audience into groups, ask a lot of questions and get a dialogue going. Getting the audience involved will help take the pressure off of you and ensure an engaged audience.
Don’t misunderstand me; training a large group of
professionals can definitely be a scary thing, especially if you don’t follow
the tips above. If you are new to this, and it’s your first go around, give us
a call and let us help. Seasoned speaker but new to a specific product? We can
still help! We will get you setup, give you some good advice and provide you
with the tools you need to make it a slam dunk!
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