FIVE TRAINING RULES

FIVE TRAINING RULES

I have gathered these rules from a thousand hours of training staff of corporate clients, professional groups and student audiences around the country.

1.       MAKE YOURSELF VULNERABLE IN THE FIRST 15 MINUTES

This does not sound sensible until you realize that the moment you step up to the podium you are the centre of attention. Within those first few minutes, the audience makes a decision to be “for” or “against” you. You need to position yourself as “acceptable’ as quickly as possible. Some people start with humour, others with an impressive recital of their CV or a story. This is all good, if it works, but most of us do not naturally exude outstanding qualities that make us listenable, attractive or charismatic. What I have found works well all (most) of the time is to reach out to the audience. Do not discredit or demean yourself, but identify with the people in the pews with a touch of humanity. Let them know they are no different from you and that you have something to say that will interest them. Sometimes I volunteer to answer a few questions they may have about me rather than tell them what I think they need to know.

2.       UNPACK YOUR MESSAGE

Obeying rule number one does not excuse you from packaging your product well. However, trainers often have great material and knowledge of their subject, but deliver it carelessly.  It is important to unpack your message and clothe your listeners with it piece by piece. Some trainers pull out the “clothes” from their “case” and throw them about the room and expect the audience to make sense of it.  If you clothe your audience with the essential first, the over clothes next and the top coats last, they will not only leave the room fully dressed in the new fashionable clothes but they will also show them off to anyone. If you don’t unpack your message properly, your audience will leave the room half dressed.

3.       READ YOUR AUDIENCE

It is distressing to see a facilitator rambling on and an audience rambling too. This happens when trainers believe that their material is so important that it will naturally get the attention of the audience. This is a mistake. You can tell when a trainer is reading his audience by the changes of pace, inflection, diversion and examples they “add” to the presentation as they go along. You will find that these “additions” by the trainer were not in the original written script. The trainer, however, keep an eye on the audience and responds to them, so as not to lose them. What the amateur trainer does not know is that a sudden change, any change, always draws and refocuses participant attention to some detail.

4.       MAKE SURE YOUR AUDIENCE HAS SOMETHING TO DO.

Every audience will always be doing one of two things; listening to you or not listening to you. Build in interaction to your presentation with a question or an activity. Use word like “think”. “imagine” “discuss” or “write this down” to help the audience draw the greatest value from your presentation. This gives them something to do. Most audiences love it and think you are very smart because you made them part of your presentation. Contrast this picture with that monotone college lecture.

5.       STOP ON TIME

Always be ready to start on time, but always keep the allocated end time, whether you started on time or not. Stop when your material is finished or stop when the allocated time is up whichever comes first. If you must go on, ask your audience for their time. Don’t bargain. Every audience values their time and there is always a visible sense the relief when the show is over - whether they enjoyed it or not. If you press for more time, you may diminish the gains you’ve made, and lower your personal standing in their eyes.  One of the most “stickable” memories of a great presenter and presentation is being “released” on time. 

Allan Bukusi