I’ll tell you what’s wrong with your training

It’s actually got nothing to do with you, your quirky icebreaker or your branded PowerPoint.?

I’ve been training and teaching adults throughout my entire working life. First in workplace training and then formal accredited training. There is one thing that all learners have in common that I find many facilitators overlook or downplay - the lived experience of learning of their participants.

Today I dropped my kids off for their first day at school - Year 1 for the eldest and my baby started Kindergarten. They were excited and why wouldn’t they be? They are blank canvases really - their limited learning experiences have only ever been positive. They are won over by a ballon garland, a tour of their new classroom and dedicated locker.?

As facilitators of adult learning, we are dealing with complex individuals whose primary requirements go beyond us asking if there are additional learning supports required. Past experiences culminating in anxiety and barriers need to be recognised and a sales pitch where people feel pressured isn’t going to work.?This applies to initial sign-ups, completions and repeat customers - at every stage, those past experiences can have significant impacts.

So what do we do??

• Identify potential barriers and hesitations so you can address them in your marketing strategy
• Where you have 1:1 contact, make time for general chat - that’s when people will open up and tell you their learning needs and wants
• Remember that everything you deliver goes through their individual filter - it will take more than one strategy and approach to get everyone to the same learning outcome and it won’t be at the exact same moment (this is ok!)?
• Build trust and recognise that for many, signing up to any kind of learning is confronting and they need more from you on an interpersonal level than you'd think!

Adult and vocational education is such a rewarding industry to work in and I hope this piece is food for thought. I’d love to hear what you would add to the list above - either from a trainer or learner perspective.?