Any trainers here?

I have to do a 2 day training course on some reasonably dry material.

Any tips to keep it from being DULL? My worry is the "trainees" have to take a certification exam on day 3.

I've shadowed the same course in August and did a half day of the instruction myself, but it's my baby this time.

Thanks in advance!

Tell them all the answers on the second day after they have sobered up from the previous night?

Give them a pretest that is also the post test? BTDT on MANY training courses I have taken.....

In reply to Ranger50: that is not a bad idea...

in fact, you can set up the tests to follow the format of the material that you are presenting. In the end, the answers should be easy to remember if they flowed logically. Also, having the pretests to compare to the post-tests will give you an idea of how well you presented the material and how well you explained stuff.

akamcfly wrote: I have to do a 2 day training course on some reasonably dry material. Any tips to keep it from being DULL?

Do you have boobs?

Here's the thing - there is no pre-test and the exam is run by the certifying organization. I won't be on site when the test is conducted.

That being said, there's no reason why I can't get them to read the materials beforehand and use their input to plan what we spend the most time on.

I'd prefer that to a top-down course anyway. Plus, it's only 5 people and myself.

From experience, get real life examples from your students. When they're trying to figure out how their real-life problems relate to the course, it makes them much more engaged.

Dumping a ton of caffeine and food into their system seems to help. A 10 min. break every 1.5 - 2.5 hours really helps everyone refocus. I say 10 min. break because 10 inevitably extends to 15 minutes. Start at 15 min and it's really a half hour.

Good luck!

Woody wrote:

akamcfly wrote: I have to do a 2 day training course on some reasonably dry material. Any tips to keep it from being DULL?

Do you have boobs?

Certainly would keep their attention.

Not sure it would help them learn anything.

Woody wrote:

akamcfly wrote: I have to do a 2 day training course on some reasonably dry material. Any tips to keep it from being DULL?

Do you have boobs?

Is this you, by chance?

Tell them what you're going to tell them.

Tell them.

Tell them what you told them.

The worst thing from an attendees point of view is to think that they are not learning what they need or want to learn. So I often start with polling the audience and getting their input on what they hope to learn in the course. Jot the topics down on a whiteboard or flipchart. Then go down the list and discuss which topics are within the scope of the course, and which ones are not broad enough for everyone, but you would be happy to discuss offline individually. This will get everyone invested in the course, and you can adjust your material a bit if needed to better align with their expectations.

I do a lot of training/coaching/feedback.

How much "wiggle room" do you have? In other words, do you have to follow a very rigid format and follow a script? If you don't, inject some of your own style into it. Speak like a real person who is enthusiastic about the subject, not like the teacher in Ferris Beuler. If possible, try to inject a little light humor or related "war stories" into the material. Not too much, but just a sprinkle here and there. With a group that small, try to make it more interactive. Check for understanding and get participation.

Just relax, be yourself, try to give the material a flow and put some personality into it and you'll be fine.

This is interesting. I also have to do a training session for dealer mechanics for one of our OEM customers. I've done very little of it before, and what I've read here helps. Good luck with yours.

bravenrace wrote: This is interesting. I also have to do a training session for dealer mechanics for one of our OEM customers. I've done very little of it before, and what I've read here helps. Good luck with yours.

Just don't bring up Chinese angle grinders.

Stories from the trenches are good for dealer techs.... One guy in one of my classes was on his 20th or so Intrepid 2.7 engine R&R for resale. Pick them up for nothing and sell for 3k. Or ways to beat the book time on recurrent warranty repairs. Kind of like the Ram recirc door repair. It started out as a 5hr repair, now it's maybe 1.5hr. If you take the repair part apart, 25 min, only the door breaks everything else is fine.

I don't know what you are teaching, but it can be very useful to get the participants to DO something, rather then just yakin' at them for hours on end. It is obviously highly dependent on the topic and how much leeway you have in the training.

Some of the techniques can be pretty goofy (silly games etc.) but they don't have to be, just something to get the participants to move around, talk, write, discuss etc. Get them involved. One theory is to make sure you engage their Hearing, Seeing, and Moving (touching, manipulating etc.) during each of the major topics of the training. The Moving one of course can be the most difficult to figure out.

As and example of the Moving concept (really just figuring out a way to get them to move): If you were teaching about fuel mixture, you could designate some of the participants as fuel and some as air, then move them around in the room temporarily to show the different mixtures for different fuel. Like I said, silly, but it gets them moving, and they will very likely remember whatever concept you are demonstrating more then just a note in 4 hours of lecture.

As far a learning is concerned, one of the powerful concept to understand is reinforce your major points. You can't expect people to remember everything you teach, but you want to make sure the get the major points (or concepts), so mention them multiple times, from multiple angles and do periodic reviews of you main and sup-points.

Be brave, don't show fear (they feed on that ). Confidence! Remember, they don't know what you are talking about, so even if you feed them crap, they won't know , just kidding, but maybe that will give you confidence.

Ranger50 wrote: Or ways to beat the book time on recurrent warranty repairs. Kind of like the Ram recirc door repair. It started out as a 5hr repair, now it's maybe 1.5hr. If you take the repair part apart, 25 min, only the door breaks everything else is fine.

OT, I know, but I'm guessing you used the break the re-circ door, drop the blower motor, and pull out the broken re-circ door? BTDT.

In reply to dj06482:

OT: Kinda. door is already broke. Just remove the servo motor, blower motor, and remove the door. Fish the new door in and attach everything removed. Job done. Just have to drop the glovebox door down to remove the servo motor.

Or you can move the dash out of the way in about 20 min.......

bravenrace wrote: Good luck with yours.

Thanks!

I've done a bit of training before, but this is my first solo for this material.

I believe I have enough wiggle room to to structure the course how the participants and I see fit to cover the material in the time we have.

The books were sent ahead of time and they should have them today or tomorrow. I'll follow up with an email this week encouraging them to read ahead and let me know what their priorities are.

The course itself is a pre-packaged manual and powerpoint presentation. My worry is that a powerpoint slide show for 2-3 days is a poor way for someone to learn anything...

akamcfly wrote: The course itself is a pre-packaged manual and powerpoint presentation. My worry is that a powerpoint slide show for 2-3 days is a poor way for someone to learn anything...

Yup. One helpful thing is to use the Black Screen function in PowerPoint (B button, some remotes have the function).

It always amazes me that people do presentations that basically involves them reading the slides to the participants! You don't really need a presenter at that point.

If you black the screen, they will turn their attention to you! You know, the guy doing the presentation!

PowerPoint gone wrong: http://www.norvig.com/Gettysburg/index.htm

I've got a Masters in Instructional Design, fwiw.... Try to make sure that you've got a clear list of what you want your students to be able to do at the end of the course and structure everything you've got in content to support that goal. Break it into lots of easily digestible bits and check with them frequently to make sure they understand each of the bits. If you think it's going to be so simple they'll get bored, then think of ways to stress their understanding a bit. Get me offline if you want.

The course itself is a pre-packaged manual and powerpoint presentation. My worry is that a powerpoint slide show for 2-3 days is a poor way for someone to learn anything...

Not necessarily. You could black it out, as suggested. You could also explain it to the class up front. I do that if given a powerpoint I didn't write. I'll say "I've got a Powerpoint to use during the training. However, I don't want to just sit here and read to you, so I'm not going to. " Then just use the Powerpoint to highlight the key points. The rest of the training comes from your mouth, not a read along. I may point to the slide on the wall and point out the specific key points, then say "OK, let's talk about these". Always remember, you are the teacher, not the Powerpoint slide show.