From one-on-one to group instruction, ongoing communications skills training is key to building capacity within your organization. Here are a few things you can do to ensure people flock to your training events.
Chart your course—Know where you’re going in advance of your training. Set meaningful objectives and share them with participants. The sooner you get participant buy-in, the easier it will be for your training to take flight.
Stop squawking and let it digest—People need time to let information sink in. Be sure to build in time for breaks so participants can regroup.
Provide materials—Comprehensive materials can help reinforce your main points and provide a ready reference for participants to consult after the training. Use lots of bullets and headings to help make your background materials easier to read and reference.
Don’t wing it—Before you fly solo, do a test run of A/V equipment, and check that your timing is right and your messages are clear.
Provide egg-amples—Consider where your audience is coming from, and devise relevant ways to illustrate main points through concrete examples. Cookie-cutter trainings might seem easier, but participants are less likely to use their new skills if they can’t see how they directly apply to their work.
Be flexible—Things don’t always go according to plan, and during a training, that’s more the rule than the exception. Don’t panic if participants seem to want something different from the training than you intended. They will appreciate your input more if you seem to care less about your original agenda and more about their own goals for the experience.
Nurture enthusiasm—Make your trainings engaging by providing interactivity. Whether it’s small group exercises or issue debates, getting participants involved increases their retention and enthusiasm.
Evaluate—Before your trainees leave the nest, find out what they thought about their experience. Evaluation should help you improve, not prove how good you are. Be sure to ask specific questions that will aid you in altering the training for your next audience.
Read about Vanguard’s training and technical assistance experience.
