Coaching
If someone lacked confidence in themselves or their material do you think it would show? Would you feel inspired to learn by someone like that? If the person running the session had a negative attitude and they allowed it to show how would that impact your learning?
If the trainer was someone who was easily distracted or derailed then how long do you think they would be able to maintain control of the learning so ensure that the learning goals were achieved?
I believe being able to add CPR to your sessions can make or break them!
For training sessions in your own organisation - whether run by yourself, your team or your colleagues – how much CPR do you believe gets added? Consider...
Confidence
• Do you have some techniques which work for you which help ramp up your confidence before you deliver a session?
• Do you know what a confident person looks and sounds like? Is that how you act during your sessions? (After all if the trainer doesn’t appear confident what impression will that make on their delegates?)
• Do you have techniques at your fingertips to help you cope when you look at the list of delegates and see the name of at least one person on it who you would class as a “difficult” delegate?
Positivity
• If asked, can you spell out the benefits for your delegates of spending some of their time with you? More importantly can you highlight to them what they will gain from spending time with you (instead of tackling their emails) in terms that they will understand?
• Can you create an environment where learning is seen as both possible and valuable?
• Would an observer to your sessions describe your approach as positive? (You don’t need to be full on, in your face sort of positive – just someone who projects the message to their group that spending precious time with you is going to be a good and productive idea!)
Resilience
• When you do get those inevitable bumps in your session (that awkward question, the delegate who wants to steal the spotlight from you, that exercise which doesn’t quite work…) do you have a plan B?
• Do you have a strategy to allow you to cope with those bumps in your session and allow you to keep going without showing your audience that anything is amiss?
• If your course last for several days, do you have techniques to help you maintain your energy and morale throughout the whole event?
When I discussed some of my thoughts on CPR in training with the manager whose trainers were simply people who “knew that little bit more” he admitted that training in his organisation was not always classed as effective. He told me that he could guarantee who went to which session but could not guarantee that the training would “stick” with those people
Consider what soft skills training your own trainers receive – is it enough to get you the results you want?
If not I’d suggest that working on these three areas could be an investment for your organisation which will pay you real dividends
Based in Glasgow, John started his career in sales but quickly found his calling after completing a secondment to training.
An L&D professional for over a decade now, John has brought his training delivery, design and coaching skills to a range of organisations from across a range of sectors including financial services, telecommunications and charities.