So You Want to Be a Trainer!

“What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn’t think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Chances are sometime in your career you will be asked to train someone to do something. Poof! You are a trainer.

There are many tasks you will need to consider for both in-person and on-line training. Some of these tasks will be common to both, some tasks will be individual to each.

Below are checklists for before, during, and after your in-person and online training sessions.

Before the Training

Below are checklists for before, during, and after your training divided by tasks common to face-to-face and on-line training and on-line training only:

• Both Face-to-Face and On-Line

• Ensure you know everything you possibly can about your audience
• Plan and create slides
• Plan to give your audience a call to action with specific tasks for them to accomplish
• Plan exactly what you what your audience to know after the presentation; include only this information in your speech and no more
• Plan specific gestures, pauses, and movement at specific times during your training
• Plan stories into your training to emphasize your main points
• Create an introduction that will establish your credibility with your audience
• Create a facilitation evaluation/marketing form for audience
• Create an evaluation/marketing form for audience
• Practice, Practice, Practice

• On-Line Only

• Select the on-line training system to use
• Become proficient in on-line training system
• Secure the services of a moderator who will actually run the on-line training; you are the teacher, not the moderator
• Clarify features you as the speaker and the moderator will be able to access.
• Decide
• How long your on-line training will be • How many participants will be in the training
• Whether you want to use a webinar format (50+ participants, little interaction with participants) or more interactive training (< 50 participants, chat room)

During the Training

Below is a checklist for during your training divided by tasks common to face-to-face and on-line training and on-line training only:

• Both Face-to-Face and On-Line

• Introduce yourself and your program
• How long the program is
• Breaks
• Question and answer policy
• Give your audience a call to action with specific tasks for them to accomplish
• Use specific gestures, pauses, and movement at specific times during your training
• Use stories into your training to emphasize your main points
• Plan a change in your presentation every fifteen min, for example

• Show a video
• Ask your audience questions
• Hold an exercise
• Pass around a prop
• Tell a relevant story

• Summarize everything you have gone over so far after each segment of your training – Repetition helps participant remember your presentation points

• Face-to-Face Training Only

• Explain where restrooms are
• Other items for in-person meetings
• On-line Training Only
• Review what on-line features for participants, speaker, moderator can access
• Moderator

• Interpose speaker and speaker’s slides
• Summarize chat questions/comments and present them to speaker

After the Training

Below is a checklist for after your training divided by tasks:

• Ask attendees to hand-in or e-mail the evaluation/marketing form to you
• Talk to the meeting planner to see how he/she thinks your presentation went
• Ask the meeting planner for an e-mail list of attendees
• Send a message to all attendees with a free PDF report asking them if they want to be put on your newsletter list

This newsletter has covered the before, during, and after tasks for you to accomplish for your in-person and online training.

Some of these tasks are common to both, some tasks are individual to each.

Follow the foregoing checklists and you will be assured of an organized and well-presented training!

Call to Action

• Spend ten times the amount of time of your training on preparation for your training

• Ensure you follow-up after your training according to checklist in this newsletter

• Realize there are differences common and different considerations between in-person and on-line training

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin