A trainer requires not one, but a set of skills to deliver training.
To develop skills in training, consider participating in Train the Trainer Training Course from pdtraining in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Tauranga and other cities.
Basic Lesson Planning
A lesson plan may remind you of being in school and having a teacher flip open a plan book. That really is what you are doing here. A good lesson plan won’t just keep your training on track; it helps you to ensure that you have included all of the required elements in your training. In addition, a good plan has a few extra elements to it that will help keep you on track.
The Introduction: Sometimes a trainer is so focused on delivering the training that they forget that they also have to introduce themselves. Your introduction at the beginning of the session (whether you do it yourself or someone else introduces you) helps to establish your credibility as a trainer.
- Are you a subject matter expert, someone who has been where they are and has a good understanding of their needs?
- Is there something compelling about you to the participants that they need to know?
Wrap-Ups: If you can start your training by considering your wrap up, you will bring some enhancements that other trainers don’t include or develop.
For example, you’ll want to end your training with a strong call to action so that participants make the intended changes to their behaviour. Sometimes that means providing them with that call to action in an empty form at the beginning of training so that they can build it throughout the day. Other times, it means creating it as a part of the summary or evaluation. Whatever way you decide to wrap up the day, this is an essential element of your training plan.
Activities: Activities are designed as places and times where learning takes place. They are also a way to engage those different types of learners on levels they relate to, and allow for the self-directed learning that you are designing to take place. Don’t just throw in an activity because you think it’s time; plan things that are meaningful to your training. We’ll cover different types of learning activities later on in this course.
Breaks: Planning breaks and meal times is as important as your training itself. Starting and ending training on time, including the times that you design for breaks – shows your participants that you value them. When it comes to breaks, you can also plan them strategically when you have exercises taking place. Designing exercises that will be finished as a break starts means that people who finish up early can leave the room and not distract the participants who want a few extra moments.
Lunches: Lunches are an interesting part of your training plan. If you can afford to have lunch provided with the training, it’s a nice way to keep the group together and have them grow a little closer over meal time conversation. If participants must bring their own lunch, encourage them to share the time together, again for some connecting or networking. If you can avoid having your participants wander too far at lunch (for example, by shopping or sightseeing if they are from out of town) then you can avoid their commitment to the class leaving with them, and they will return on time.
Including Flex Time
There are a several different ways that you can build some flexible time into your training. Having participants help to design the training (perhaps by selecting which objectives you will cover in the training), is one great way to do this.
Secondly, keep in mind that training is all about your participants. As professional trainers, sometimes we are so excited about the potential for growth that we cram way too much into the lesson design. Keep your materials content rich so that you have excellent training, but don’t feel that you have to incorporate everything that you know just because you can. Meet your objectives, be participant-centered, and design your lessons well.
The best way to build in some flexible time is to deliberately create a couple of spaces in your day that are light so that if you do need to incorporate something extra, or people get engaged in a particular learning opportunity, you won’t have to race to get through the rest of your material. This means that you have a couple of topics that are optional that will add to the training if you can include them, but can be left out if needed.
Pdtraining delivers 1000’s of professional development courses each year in Wellington, Auckland, Napier, Christchurch, Hamilton, Dunedin and Tauranga, so you can be assured your training will be delivered by a qualified and experienced trainer.
All public Train the Trainer Training Course courses include am/pm tea, lunch, printed courseware and a certificate of completion. Customised courses are available upon request so please contact pdtraining on 1300 121 400 to learn more.