Effective Training

What makes a training session effective? Is it the content, the presentations, the in-class activities or the trainer themself?

An effective training is a combination of all the these and even other factors. Let's see how we can make a training session effective.

1. Know your audience: the first and foremost things to do when you are up for a training is to understand your participants. Each person will have a different perception and so does their questions. For a trainer it is very important to understand their need.
2. Know the topic: homework is your basic key. There is always an update we must be looking for. Update yourself with the latest information about the training topic. This will help you answer most of the participant's questions and help them to learn new things from the session.
3. Prepare your content: the presentation/slides itself will play a different role. We will encounter audience with different learning styles and hence it is important to prepare the slides considering the different learners.
4. Engaging activities: it is always vital to include activities in the training, especially if the session last more than an hour. After all no one wants to see only wordings and hence some brainstorming activities are must.
5. Ice breakers: first impression is the best impression. So, make it best with some icebreakers. It is an effective way to make the room comfortable for both you and the participants.
6. Sense of humor: Laughing is the best therapy. The session becomes interactive with activities, and it becomes entertaining with little of humor added. Make them feel good and their attention towards your session will be great. Caution: DO NOT Crack jokes while discussing a serious topic.
7. Patience: is the key. Be patient and open minded with the questions and discussion. Instead of disagreeing you may step up to correct their approach. A positive reinforcement is better than demolishing.
8. Ask the right question: you audience may not give the right answer. Howe about asking them the right question? Make them think by asking the right question and appreciate every information that comes from them. Effort counts.
9. Be available and approachable: your approach matters. The participants should not hesitate to approach you. How can we achieve this? Set an expectation at the beginning of the session. That you are open for the questions and if you are unable to answer then make the question a group discussion. Two heads are better than one.
10. Leave on a good note: remember people may forget what we did for them, but they always remember how we made them feel. Your training effectiveness is based on how you did the session than what you did in the session. Each participant will have a different ability and quality and if you can identify and encourage that, then you can call it a success.

Yes, you can conduct a post training assessment, and you can collect your training feedback in addition to what is mentioned above. Always, read the feedback and take what will serve best for your next session. Consider every session as you first session and always practice. Because Practice makes both men and women perfect.

Experienced and written.

Peruselvan Kaliappan