From the Trenches: Making Training More Fun, Engaging, Effective

Like so many trainers, I happened along into the field.  “You are technical, you can teach Microsoft Office.”  I did okay and learned by trial and error but after many years my employer (RadioShack at the time) helped us out by sending us through an Instructional Design Certification with Ruth Clark Training and the most amazing and career changing workshop, Bob Pike’s Train the Trainer Boot Camp.  Wow!  I always wanted to learn how to make my training, especially technical training, more fun, engaging and more effective.

Having a theater and performance background, I often used to get by with enthusiasm, energy and jokes.  This helped, but sometimes my energy wore them out and exhausted me.  I needed to find a way to tap into their energy.

The things I learned from the T3 boot camp helped me do just that.  I started out with a few techniques and built up my confidence and my reputation!

Some of the things I found invaluable were:

People don’t argue with their own data.  For many of my professional development classes, I’m not a subject matter expert and now I don’t have to worry about it.  I learned that I could break learners up into groups (5-7 work best, any less and you don’t get the synergy, any more and you can have some “check out”) and have them discuss a topic and present their findings.  For example, Group 1 lists what makes the best customer service experience, Group 2 what happens in a bad customer service experience, and Group 3 lists the qualities for a great Customer Service representative.

That means your learners:

A.      Do the work themselves

B.      Are more engaged

C.      Remember and accept more than if you droned on with the same information.

You get to relax, add help if needed and learn from the real experts.  This can provide you with excellent stories and examples you can use in future sessions.  What I have found is that any who were forced to attend, prisoners, may give the trainer some attitude, but find it difficult to keep it up in a small group of their peers.  Gradually they often forget their objections and find themselves enjoying the class and discussion.

You role, as Bob says, is to “Be the guide on the side not the sage on the stage”. .

Another tip from Bob is “Learning is directly proportional to the amount of fun they are having”.  This fits perfectly with my own style of “EnterTRAINing” that has allowed me to differentiate myself from other trainers.  I instinctively wanted the learner to have fun, but now I have the power of Pike to back me up on why this leads to more transfer of knowledge.  It has enabled me to build a reputation as the “fun” trainer.  I was privileged to have someone tell me that their coworker was bemoaning the fact that they “had” to go to training and was told, “But you are going to the “fun” class with Kyle.  You’ll learn and have a good time too!”

I do get an occasional raised eyebrow from a manager or director but I can assure them of its validity and show the results from this style of training.  Slowly I can dispel the notion that pain=gain.

The last principle I’ve found invaluable is, “Learning has not taken place until behavior has changed.”

In many organizations, I still find that some think that a lecture or demo constitutes training.  Is it possible to learn this way?  Sure but you will never know for sure unless you build in a way for them to demonstrate the change desired.

I often use this analogy in classes.

If that is the case, then the learner and the trainer’s time was a costly waste.  I use pre and post assessments, personal action plans and encourage them to share insights with their manager or ask the managers to follow up with the learner.  I also let the learners know it is on them to apply what they have learned and ask them to share with me what they are doing differently as a result of the discussions in the class.

Sometimes when I lead my own Train the Trainer course for managers and new trainers, I get some “Yes, but” from them on using some of these techniques.

Here are some I commonly hear:

Yes, but if I create participant centered training where the learners lead discussions; management won’t see the need for me to be there.  People will say I do that because I don’t know the material.

You do have to know your stuff.  A good facili-trainer can lead a conversation and if discussions end with to an inaccurate conclusion, I simply toss it back to the group.  “Is this a good idea/best practice/productive course of action?”  I’ve never had this fail.  I can disagree and provide reasons but the group think is much more effective.

I’ve also found the more I allow the learner to lead and develop the material (which I have carefully prepared of course), the smarter they think I am.  This is totally non-intuitive but after using these techniques for 8-10 years I can say this is the norm.  After leading 80 employees through a participant centered Customer Service workshop, I received comments such as:

In the “What did you find most valuable in the class" were comments such as:

This is the norm for these types of classes.  One of my favorite comments was, “I learned more from the other managers in the room than I did from the trainer”.  I wasn’t the least offended.  I can never have and retain the wealth of wisdom and knowledge from all the participants in my classes.

Yes but you’re funny Kyle, I’m don’t have that ability. 

This is the great thing about Bob’s techniques.  You don’t have to be a stand-up comic for them to work.  Try them!  You’ll find your own successes in time. They work better the more skilled I become, but even my feeble attempts in the beginning produced excellent results.

Yes but trying to measure whether learning took place is a lot of work. 

Yep, no shortcuts for us but many techniques are available for us to use.  Hey it can’t all be easy, right?  That’s how we earn and prove our worth!

Kyle Anne Poland has been developing and delivering training for more than 10 years as a corporate trainer, training consultant and teaching public workshops.  Kyle also has an IT background, with roles including Network Administration, Network support and IT Project Management. 

Prior to joining the IT and training world, Kyle had a theater background with ten years spent in New York City studying voice, dance and acting, which afforded her many opportunities to wait tables, tend bar and type and file in numerous NYC offices.