Few people choose training and development while they are still in school, and yet there are talented and knowledgeable trainers working in every industry. Some individuals become trainers because they are passionate about sharing their knowledge and about helping people.

Others become trainers because their employer asks them to get involved in mentoring, training, or coaching new or existing employees. Trainers also get started when they want to make some changes to their daily activities, but wish to continue contributing to a particular organization or industry.

If you are thinking about becoming a trainer, or have started doing some training already and what to know more about what will help you to become an excellent trainer, this workshop will help. This one-day workshop is designed as an exploration of the essential skills that trainer’s need to develop and get you started on the learning process in an interactive and fun environment.

At the end of this workshop, participants should be able to:

• Understand the essential background for trainers to have
• Explore how being genuine enhances training
• Identify the elements of good questions
• Understand how to apply listening skills
• Develop rapport building strategies
• Describe the essentials of presentation skills

Course Outline:

Introduction and Course Overview

You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

What Makes a Good Trainer?

To start the day, we will discuss some key background ideas, including principles of adult learning and what the word “trainer” means.

Projecting the Right Image

Next, participants will learn how to make a good, lasting first impression and how to maintain that impression.

Being Genuine

During this session, participants will explore what being genuine means in a large group discussion.

Acting Assertively vs. Aggressively

Participants will explore the differences between passive, aggressive, and assertive behavior, and why assertive behavior is important for a trainer.

Asking the Right Questions to get the Right Answers

This session will focus on open questions, closed questions, and the communication funnel. Participants will also have an opportunity to practice these skills in an exercise.

Listening

Participants will identify their listening strengths and weaknesses through a quick quiz and a personal inventory. We will also discuss some ways that participants can improve their listening skills.

Connecting With People

During this session, we will look at ways to build rapport and how to use facilitative training. Participants will then evaluate themselves to see what skills they need to build in these areas. To conclude the session, we will look at some potential problem situations and ways to defuse them before they start.

Presentation Skills

We will use the PAFEO acronym to identify the elements of a good presentation.

Essentials for Success

We will ask participants to complete a checklist of what attributes they feel makes a good trainer. This will also help participants identify areas for further training.

Do’s and Don’ts for New Trainers

To wrap up the learning points, participants will discuss a checklist of do’s and don’ts.

Workshop Wrap-Up

At the end of the day, participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.