Effective training

Are you training or wasting time?

Three keys to effective training:
1) Training should be clear
2) Training should be concise
3) Training should be interactive

Clarity is the key to ensuring that you have a point. The sequence of questions any effective presenter must ask are, "Do I have a point? Is my point worth sharing? How can I connect with my audience to get this point (the point which I have clarified in my own mind and that I am confident is worth sharing) to transfer effectively to my captive partners?" If you don't have a point, it isn't worth sharing or you cannot relay the information effectively - don't have the meeting. Whether you are the boss or not, if the point of a business is to be productive and make money, pointless meetings such all of the above out of your team. 

What does it mean to be concise? Functionally this means that if you have a point you should get to it. Whether you set a time limit or a word limit or have someone you trust give you a secret signal when your presentation is going off the rails, respecting your time and that of your audience requires that you are diligent in using the time you have to get to your point and get on with life. Meeting topic, tone, location and duration are all essential elements. As a presenter, especially if you are a leader in the organization, you must lead by example in the culture of how your meetings will be conducted. How long do you like to sit in meeting? How much information do you retain after 30 minutes of lecture? 

Making meetings interactive promotes an environment where every individual, their perspectives and their potential are regarded as valuable. Asking questions, discussing scenarios and even mixing up presenters from within your team are simple ways to get the discussion going. Everyone has an opinion, if you have a culture that can receive input as well as direct it to be productive you can create opportunities to harvest ideas, perspectives and passion from within your group. 

A meeting agenda that is sent out by the organizer at least 24 hours prior to the meeting is an effective means to ensure that there is a point, the time allotted for presentation and the parameters for feedback from the team. The discipline of communicating that we have set aside this time as valuable and have prepared ourselves to be clear, to be concise and to allow for interactive functions will assist us to have better training sessions as well as meetings.

If you are preparing for training, meeting or presentation you may find these tips helpful - Powerful points for your next presentation (HERE).

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