Transform Your Training

I remember sitting in a meeting some years back when a group of trainers were discussing the design of a new course. One person said something about creating an environment where the learners felt ” comfortable ” and ” at ease “.
 
One of the other trainers questioned this and said, ” Is that how we want them to feel? Shouldn’t we be  challenging them and putting them under a bit of pressure? We don’t want them too relaxed. ”
 
It’s an interesting, and crucial, discussion if you’re designing and delivering training. Just how comfortable, or uncomfortable, should people be if they are to learn effectively?
 
Actually, the way I just phrased the question gives away my own approach to the issue. Because, for me, the question is about helping people to learn effectively.
 
What is a constructive state for people to be in when they’re learning? ( I know I’ve said this many times, but here I go again ).
 
It would include being:

• curious
• thoughtful
• challenged
• stretched
• accountable for their own learning

If you can create an environment which meets these criteria, then people won’t be feeling completely at ease.
 
They’ll be challenged to think in new ways, to move out of their comfort zones, to try new ideas and perhaps question their existing ways of doing things.
 
They may also have to work quite hard, to accomplish tasks, to work with other people, to take responsibility.
 
You don’t want people to be so ” at ease ” that they are:

• uninspired
• bored
• uninterested
• lacking in curiosity
• able to fall back on easy answers or well – rehearsed approaches to situations

A training session isn’t a holiday, where people can kick off their shoes and relax, enjoying some time away from ” real work “.
 
On the other hand, you don’t want your learners to feel:

• stressed
• anxious
• confused
• overwhelmed
• embarrassed

because these feelings are not conducive to good learning. These feelings stop people from thinking clearly. They get in the way and distract them so they can’t focus properly. In other words, they are counterproductive.
 
Have you ever watched a TV quiz show and found yourself shouting at the television because some poor contestant was struggling to answer a ” simple ” question?
 
You wonder why they can’t see the answer when it’s so obvious. Any fool could answer it.
 
The reason they can’t is because trying to think of the answer to any question when you’re sitting in front of a bank of lights and cameras and a live audience is very stressful, especially if you stand to win a large sum of money if you get it right.
 
( I know this, I was on ” Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ” many years ago but didn’t get past the “fastest finger” round ).
 
When the brain is put under a lot of stress, it tends to shut down various areas and leaves open mainly those necessary for survival – it’s part of the “fight or flight” response. When this happens, you’re not in the best frame of mind for learning, to say the least.
 
So you need to be careful. It’s OK to challenge people, to make them think and to push them out of their comfort zones a bit. No-one wants a training course which doesn’t stretch people, which is just  too easy.
 
But go too far and it can backfire.
 
I’ve heard some people boast about how stressful their courses are, how they really put people under pressure to see who can deal with it.
 
That’s fine – if the purpose of the course is to see how people react to pressure, if you’re training them to work in a pressurised environment.
 
Firefighters, for instance, practise working in blinding smoke and appalling heat because that’s when they need to be able to operate most effectively.
 
Presentation skills courses are stressful for most people because they don’t like speaking in public. But, if that’s what they’re going to do, they have to learn to speak well even when they’re feeling stressed – because that’s how they will be feeling when they speak.
 
And, if you’re running a Time Management course, putting learners under time pressure to complete a task is relevant and appropriate.
 
But don’t create stress just for the sake of it. If your training isn’t about dealing with stress, introducing it artificially may only impede what you’re trying to do.
 
I’d love to hear your thoughts – please leave a comment.

For more great training tips, get your FREE copy of ” How To Be A Top Trainer ” from www.transformyourtraining.com

Most of the training I do is what I would call ” classroom- based “, which means it involves getting a number of live human beings together in a room for a certain length of time.

However, I’ve also done a lot of one-to-one coaching and I’ve delivered webinars and teleclasses and written self-study programmes for people to work through by themselves.

And, when it comes to my own learning, I often use web-based methods, self-study materials with DVDs and mp3s or even good, old-fashioned books!

There are lots of ways in which people can learn, of course, and they all have their place. But, with all this variety of methods, especially with web-based approaches, I sometimes hear a suggestion that perhaps classroom-based training has had its day, that it’s old-fashioned and ineffective.

Is this true? No.

Thank you, end of article. Next time – is there still a place for pencils in the modern office?

Oh, alright, I’ll elaborate a little.

Why would anyone suggest that face-to-face training might be outdated?

Well, as usual, I think money has something to do with it. It can cost a lot to get a group of people together in one place, including perhaps room hire, travel and accommodation.

Also, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to find the time to spend away from their work to attend training. This is especially tricky if it involves a number of people from the same office or department being away at the same time.

There is also a cost in non-working time ( although, in my experience, anyone who attends training catches up on their work afterwards so it still gets done ).

Computer-based training programmes, or “e-learning solutions”, if you want to make them sound more interesting, can be very cost-effective as you only design them once, then you can use them for years – and people don’t have to travel to get the training.

Another potential criticism of classroom-based training is that it is not tailored to the individual. Because it involves a group, it has to be more general and it may not be at exactly the right level or come at exactly the right time for everyone who attends.

For this reason, individual coaching or some form of self-study may be seen to have an advantage.

And, sometimes, I think this comment arises just from the fact that classroom based training has been around for a long time and some people think anything new, especially if it involves computers and the internet, must be better in some way.

So what can I find to say in defence of classroom-based training?

Well, let’s go back to the idea of “brain-friendly” learning – in other words, based on what we know about the brain, what are some of the things which seem to help people to learn effectively?

These would include:

• a chance to interact with other people as they learn
• a chance to contribute to, and process, the information they receive
• an opportunity to create meaning rather than just consume information
• physical movement and activity
• variety of approaches and stimuli
• engaging as many senses as possible while learning and the material having an impact at an emotional level as well as an intellectual one
• having controlled repetition and reinforcement
• learning being fun or, at least, an enjoyable experience
• being able to practise and apply skills as they are learned

I would say that well-designed and delivered classroom-based training can tick all of these boxes where no other form of learning can.

It’s certainly not the only method which can offer some of these things. Other approaches can certainly offer a few of them  and, sometimes, perhaps even better than classroom-based training.

Other forms can offer more individual tailoring of learning to suit the individual and perhaps be timed more accurately so they occur just when needed.

And I do believe that, in some ways, individual coaching is the most powerful tool for personal development and change there is.

But I still think, at its best, classroom-based training can be the most effective way of offering learning to a group with similar needs.

It also allows people to share their knowledge and insights, to get away from the workplace for a while to focus on their learning and to get great value from participating in a shared experience with other people.

However – to be effective, there are a few things which need to be addressed:

• there needs to be effective training needs analysis to ensure the training is relevant and pitched at the right level
• the timing has to be thought out carefully
• the delivery needs to follow “brain-friendly” principles
• there needs to be support within an organisation for people to apply the learning back in the workplace
• classroom-based training is far more effective if combined with individual coaching to help learners to implement what they have learned

So, overall, I think there is scope for all sorts of training or learning approaches and I’m not ruling out any of them.

There’s a place for webinars, teleclasses, audios, DVDs, etc – but these offer only part of the whole learning experience. Classroom-based training offers far more – if properly designed and delivered.

I’d love to know what you think, so please leave a comment.

For more great training tips, get your FREE copy of “How To Be A Top Trainer” from www.transformyourtraining.com

How do you know whether any training you’ve organised or delivered has been effective?

How do you know whether the money your organisation is spending on training is being used wisely?

In difficult economic times, many businesses are looking hard at their training budgets and deciding how well their money is being spent. Or, in many cases, they’re making an assumption that training is an optional extra which can be put to one side until things get better.

If you’re in a department which is responsible for training, how can you argue against this?

How can you defend yourself against having your budget frozen if you can’t show that the training has a real impact on the business?

It all comes down to being able to evaluate the impact of training. If you can’t prove that training makes a difference, why should anyone spend money on it?

But how do you evaluate training? Here are some ideas.

One approach to evaluating training is to go back to the 4 levels set out by Kirkpatrick and outlined in his book in 1994, ” Evaluating Training Programs: The 4 Levels “, San Francisco:Berrett-Koehler.

Level 1: Reaction

You can measure Reaction by using what are often called “happy sheets”. These gauge people’s immediate reaction to a course, how they feel about what they have just done, the content, the trainer, the level of the information, etc.

Most trainers are very familiar with these. They can be designed using numbers, scales, open or closed questions or just asking learners to give their comments.

Which method you use partly depends on whether you want to make statistical comparisons, e.g. ” This course averages 4.3 for learner satisfaction “.

Generally numbers give you less useful information than comments but, as we all know, getting learners to write meaningful comments at the end of a course can be difficult. I’ve written previously on ways to make this process more useful.

These forms can be helpful but they can also be misleading. They can reflect how much the learners enjoyed the course rather than how much they actually learned.

Level 2: Learning

This level measures whether people actually learned what they were meant to learn. Do they know or understand something which they didn’t before?

Have they acquired a new skill? If so, can they put it into practice?

You can try to measure this by using:

• tests before and after the training – these may be written or practical
• observation of people at work following the training
• case studies, role plays or simulations
• interviews with learners and their colleagues and feedback from people they work with
• questionnaires

These methods clearly take more time than using “happy sheets” but they give more in-depth information and measure what people learned rather than just how people felt about the training.

One issue is how you design accurate, standardised tests and when you ask people to complete them. If they complete them immediately after the training, will they still remember what they have learned a few weeks later?

Level 3: Behaviour

This has some overlap with Level 2 in that, if people have really learned something, their behaviour is likely to change.

In fact, you could argue that if someone’s behaviour has not changed, then almost by definition they haven’t learned anything.

Level 3 is really about application – have the learners put what they have learned into practice? This is really getting close to what organisations need to know because, if people don’t put what they have learned into practice, what was the point?

You can try to measure this using:

• interviews
• feedback from colleagues or customers
• observation
• questionnaires
• focus groups

As with Level 2, there are some difficulties with these methods:

• how long after the training do you carry out the evaluation?
• what factors may inhibit people from applying what they have learned – e.g. lack of opportunity, resources, management support?
• how do you establish that changes in behaviour are due to the training and not to other factors, e.g. gaining work experience?
• how much time and cost may be involved in setting up interviews, observations, etc.

Level 4: Results

This is what businesses really want to know – what impact has the training had? What difference has it made? To put it bluntly – was it worth it?

How do you measure this? That’s the issue here – you need to establish what measure you think is appropriate, such as:

• increased sales
• speed of response
• reduced time to complete tasks
• client satisfaction ( as measured by feedback )
• productivity ( however you want to measure that )
• reduced absenteeism or staff turnover
• improved quality ( again, you have to determine some means of measuring this )

 One problem here is that not all things are easily measurable. Some businesses, of course, only value what they can measure, but it’s not always easy to measure the impact of, for example, soft skills training.

However, focusing on results may have the benefit of forcing trainers to really think about the purpose of their training. Why do people need the training? What is it meant to achieve? What are the outcomes?

I’ve seen a lot of training where these questions haven’t really been asked at the start so the training lacks focus, purpose and clarity.

And no-one can say whether the training has achieved what it set out to achieve because they aren’t really sure what that was.

 You don’t need to do all levels of evaluation for every training event, that would be overkill. But, if your training budget is under threat or people are wondering whether it’s worth paying you to go in and run a training course, it would be wise to think about how you’re going to prove the value of what you’re doing!

I’d love to know what you think so please leave a comment.

For more great training tips, get your FREE copy of “How to Be A Top Trainer” from www.TransformYourTraining.com

One of the things I’m often asked about on my Transform Your Training courses is, ” How do you deal with difficult questions? ”

 It’s something which quite new trainers, in particular, seem anxious about. So here are a few practical tips.

 First of all, what makes a question a “difficult” one?

 There seem to be 3 kinds of questions people are concerned about:

1. questions you don’t know the answer to
2. questions which are off the topic
3. questions which suggest the person hasn’t understood anything you’ve said!

The first issue doesn’t arise as often as some people fear it will. If you’ve prepared your training session, you will be ready for most questions. And you probably underestimate how much more you know about your topic than the people you’re training.

 But it can help if you anticipate problems. For example, go through your material and think, “Where could I get caught out?” Or think about the one question you hope no-one will ask you. Then go and research the answer so you’re ready if it does come up.

 But what if it does happen – you’re asked a question and you really don’t know the answer?

 Well, it depends what sort of question it is.

 There are some questions where you know you should know the answer ( and maybe you do ) but you just can’t think of it at the moment. Maybe your mind’s just gone blank for a minute.

 Or sometimes it’s a question you really haven’t come across before and you actually don’t know the answer.

 In both cases, try opening it up to the group.

 ”What does everyone else think?”

 ”Who has come across this before?”

 Don’t feel you always have to be the one with the knowledge. Encourage others to contribute. Someone else will probably come up with an answer – or, if not, at least it will buy you time to think of one yourself.

 In fact, do this even where you do know the answer to a question, to get people in the habit of sharing their knowledge and not seeing you as the one who has all the answers.

 Resist the temptation to say, “I’ll find out and get back to you” unless you know that you can find the answer very quickly.

 This might be OK in the situation where the answer has just slipped your mind for the moment but you know where to find it. But offering to find the answer to a question where you have no idea about the answer could commit you to hours of work.

 You could always try saying, “That’s a very good question and I haven’t come across it before. If you come up with the answer, I’d be interested to hear it.”

 It should go without saying that, if you don’t know the answer to a question, you don’t just make stuff up!

 Sometimes you will get a question you can’t answer because it actually falls within the second category – it’s a question which is off the topic so you weren’t expecting it.

 One way to head off these questions is to be very clear when you’re setting out the scope of the training at the start so that people know what you’re going to cover and what you’re not going to talk about.

 But they may still come up because people have thoughts which suddenly come into their heads and they need to ask something that’s bothering them.

 You need to make a decision whether you should really spend time on the question you’ve been asked. Is it a good use of the group’s time to discuss this or is it a distraction?

 Don’t feel obliged to spend time discussing it just because one person has asked. You have to balance your desire to help the individual with your responsibility to the group as a whole.

 If you think it might be of general interest, and it’s not too much of a sidetrack, you could ask the group whether they want to discuss it for a while.

 Otherwise, just say, “That’s an interesting question but it’s really outside the scope of what I wanted to cover right now.”

 You could offer to discuss it with the person individually later if you want to. But, again, don’t feel you have to commit yourself to spending time on something which you never said you were going to cover anyway.

 The third type of question is where someone asks you about something you’ve already covered and it makes you wonder whether they’ve heard, or understood, anything you’ve said.

 It’s the sort of question where you think to yourself, “I can’t believe you’re asking me that.”

 Try not to say those words out loud and do your best to keep the look of shock and disbelief off your face.

 Also, don’t say, “I think I covered this earlier.” In other words,”Were you not listening?”

 Actually, perhaps they weren’t. Perhaps they did just miss something you said or didn’t understand at the time but didn’t want to stop you at that point to ask.

 Or maybe they got bored and switched off.

 Or maybe your explanation just wasn’t the model of clarity and brilliance you thought it was.

 Once again this could be a good time to turn it over to the group. It’s a good opportunity to do a recap with everyone and get them to go over your key points again.

 Also, if one person is asking this question, there may be other people who also didn’t follow but didn’t have the courage to say. So having a group discussion will help you to see whether everyone has got the message.

 As a general point, one way to cut down the problem of difficult questions is to make your training as interactive as possible and involve your group in the learning as much as you can, so there’s plenty of discussion and activity going on. You’re more likely to get these questions if you’re doing a lot of presenting or lecturing and only allowing questions and contributions towards the end.

I’d love to know what you think, so please leave a comment.

For more great training tips, get your FREE copy of “How To Be A Top Trainer” from www.TransformYourTraining.com

A couple of years ago I was thinking of buying a new car, a black VW Passat. Suddenly, every time I went out, I saw black VW Passats everywhere. I remember thinking, ” I didn’t realise they were so common! ” It nearly put me off buying one.
 
Similarly, when my wife started suffering with migraines, we kept spotting articles about migraines in lots of newspapers and magazines.
 
Has this ever happened to you? It probably has.
 
Why does this happen? Because you have programmed your brain to look out for information which is relevant and important to you. So you start to spot things which were always there but which you didn’t notice before because they weren’t important to you at that time.
 
How many people do you see in a day? How many cars do you see? How many do you remember?
 
Your brain takes in millions of messages all the time, it can’t hold onto all of them. It has to pick and choose what it pays attention to. It chooses what is important and that can change depending on your interests and your needs.
 
My wife is often amazed ( not necessarily in a good way ) by how much I can remember about football results and trivia. I can scan the sports pages and remember most of what I’ve read there without much effort.
 
On the other hand, if she asks me to collect something from the shops while I’m out, chances are I’ll forget if I don’t write it down.
 
Why? Because my brain knows what’s important to me and pays attention to that. ( I have to say, that doesn’t go down well as an excuse for forgetting the shopping ).
 
We all notice, and remember, things which are important to us. We remember what we focus on and pay attention to.
 
What does this mean to you as a trainer? How can you use this to help your learners to remember?
 
It means you have to get your learners to focus, to pay attention – and you have to make them see that what you’re trying to get across to them is relevant and important.
 
Here are a few ways to do that:

• make sure your material actually IS relevant and important – why do your learners need to know what you’re telling them?
• prepare the ground – let them know what they’ll be learning and why it’s important, generate some cusiosity and interest before you even start
• pose some questions about the material beforehand so they’re primed to think about it in advance, ideally get them to think of their own questions and let you know what they are before the session
• also ask them, at the start of the session, what they need to get from it and make sure you cover these points
• spell out the benefits of paying attention and of learning the material you’re covering – how will it help them?
• base your training on real-life issues and situations where possibe rather than made-up ones – focus on the real problems your learners have
• direct attention to your material, especially key points, by saying things like, “look at this…”, “think about…”
• avoid distractions in the training room, such as mobile phones, noise, interruptions so people can focus on what they’re doing
• ask people how they will apply what they are learning and what difference it will make to them
• see one of your main tasks as being to increase your learners’ motivation to learn, to get them in the right frame of mind – curious, interested, eager, positive – so they’re ready to pay attention

We remember what we pay attention to – and we pay attention to what we’re interested in and what we think is relevant and important.
 
So any time you invest in persuading your learners that your material will be relevant, interesting and important to them will be time well spent.

I’d love to knw what you think, so please leave a comment.

For more great training tips, get your FREE copy of “How To Be A Top Trainer” from www.transformyourtraining.com

Have you been on a training course recently ( or run one yourself ) where there have been some little toys on the table – springs or bendy men? Or sweets? Or music playing when you went in? Or those smelly felt pens ( the brown ones are cinammon, in case you’ve ever wondered but didn’t want to find out ). 
 
If you’ve been on one of my courses, then the answer will be, ” yes “, at least to some of those. I don’t tend to use music but I do use the other things – chocolate features quite heavily.
 
Why? What’s the point? What difference does it actually make?
 
Good questions. And, if you’re a trainer, you need to have an answer.
 
Because I’ve been on lots of courses myself where trainers have used these things. They’ve become popular recently as part of the movement towards what has been called ” accelerated learning ” or ” brain friendly learning “.
 
But I suspect, like many things which become popular in training, some of the people I’ve seen using them don’t really know why. They are either just copying something they saw on a course somewhere or, at the other extreme, they make exaggerated claims about the impact of these sort of things.
 
In the same way, I see people using inappropriate ice – breakers or ” team building ” activities which they’ve got from a book  – but don’t get me started on those.
 
Anyway, here’s my view.
 
The whole move towards ” brain – friendly “  learning is meant to reflect what we know about the brain and about learning ( the clue is in the title ). 
 
The problem is that what we think we know keeps changing but here are a few key elements:

• people need to be in a positive and receptive state to learn effectively – they should be curious, motivated, relaxed, focused rather than anxious, stressed or resistant
• learning is multisensory – we use all our senses to take in information and we recall items more easily if we can attach more senses to them – there are more clues to help us find the memory
• the brain works better when there is some physical activity and exercise which sends it more oxygen – as opposed to long periods of inactivity such as sitting listening to someone talking
•   variety is important in learning because people cannot focus for too long doing just one thing and people have different preferences for the way they approach new learning situations

So where do the toys and the smelly pens fit in?
 
Well, I don’t make huge claims for the benefits of these things but they have a place. I’ve heard people say that you need to have bendy men and springs to play with because they appeal to ” kinaesthetic learners ” and the smelly pens make it a ” multisensory experience “.
 
That might be going a bit too far. I just tend to think that some people need things to fiddle with when they’re concentrating or they get distracted. Whether that makes them ” kinaesthetic learners “, I’m not sure.
 
And people do seem to like the smelly pens ( and chocolates ) and get quite excited about them, which makes them more interested in what they’re doing and happier about being there.
 
So, for me, they are a part of setting up an attractive and stimulating learning environment and they can play a role in the overall experience for your learners.
 
For example, when I set up a room I want people to come in and think, ” Hey, this looks interesting ” I want it to look as if we might actually have some fun. I also want it to be clear that they won’t be sitting there all day watching a PowerPoint presentation.
 
This is a major part of getting people in a positive and receptive state for learning.
 
A word of warning, though – be mindful of your group and their expectations. Read the mood.
 
Some groups come into a room and I can immediately tell we’re going to have a great day. They love all the bits and pieces – the toys, the cartoons – they’re excited and ready to get going.
 
Others seem more reserved, as if they’re thinking, ” What’s all this? We’re giving up valuable time to come here for this.”  They may find it a bit childish and, if so, it could set up more resistance and be counterproductive.
 
In that case, I often find that explaining what I’m doing helps a lot. I tell people why I’ve provided the toys, sweets, etc and why we’ll be doing certain things during the day.
 
That way, I make it clear I’m treating them as adults and I’m doing things for a good reason. I also say, ” It’s not compulsory – if you want to fiddle with a spring and eat some chocolates, go ahead. If you’d prefer not to, that’s fine. ”
 
Usually, more reserved groups respond to this and gradually warm to the idea as they realise it’s not just some pointless piece of silliness
 
But that’s just the start.
 
There’s no point just putting a few sweets and bendy men on the tables and then delivering a long, tedious presentation which ignores all the other aspects of ” brain- friendly ” learning.
 
The rest of the training has to build on the positive start. It needs to be interactive, lively, engaging, relevant – otherwise the toys and sweets are just window dressing.
 
So, by all means, use these things in your training – but make sure the training itself is also ” brain – friendly ” or no amount of smelly pens will make a difference.
 
I’d love to hear your thoughts – please leave a comment.

Get your FREE Copy of ” How To Be A Top Trainer “ from www.TransformYourTraining.com

As trainers, we are all in the business of brain development. Our work involves attention, learning, memory, the retention and application of new information.
 
To be really effective, we should understand as much as possible about how the brain works and how people learn and remember.
 
The problem is, of course, that this is a very complex area. What’s known about the brain is still developing at a frightening pace. It’s hard to keep up, unless you can find the time to read the latest articles on neuroscience!
 
So what we tend to do is pick up bits and pieces from various places – books we read, courses we go on, other trainers.
 
And, in most cases, we’ll accept something because we’ve read it, or because someone has said it, without ever going back to find out where the idea came from and whether it’s really valid.
 
We may even use models and theories in our own training which we’ve never read in their original form, just summaries we’ve picked up from a website or a book.
 
Again, it’s often a question of time and inclination – after all, we’re trainers, we want to know what works, we’re not neuroscientists or psychologists.
 
But what this can lead to is trainers saying some things which they shouldn’t really be saying.
 
This may be because what they’re saying is out of date and has been overtaken by more recent findings.
 
Or because what they’re saying is a third hand summary of some piece of information which has suffered from ” chinese whispers ” syndrome – i.e. it’s been altered and exaggerated as it’s passed along from one person to another.
 
Or it’s something which never had any validity at all, but enough people have kept on saying it that people assume there must be some truth in it!
 
Here are just 4 things I think trainers should stop saying.
 
1. We only use 10% of our brains.
 
There’s no evidence at all for this. It’s hard to see where it even came from. It seems to be a general assertion that we underuse our intellectual capacity and we don’t reach our full potential – but it’s not true, we all use all of our brains. How well we use them is another matter.
 
2. People tend to be ” left – brained “, logical people or ” right – brained ” creative people.
 
This is often repeated but isn’t accurate. Yes, the brain has two hemispheres, but they are joined together and work together. There are specific functions which are located in one side of the brain or another, e.g. recognising letter shapes and understanding the meaning of words, but these areas work together to help us understand the world.

There’s little we do which only uses the left or right side of the brain and it’s meaningless to suggest that ” creativity “, for example,  is based in one half of the brain.
 
3. Listening to Mozart makes you learn better.

This is a great example of an idea being taken completely out of proportion. There was some research by F. H. Rauscher which showed that listening to a particular piece of Mozart increased some people’s capacity to do certain spacial – temporal tasks ( i.e. things like stacking building blocks in a sequence ).

This was very short – lived ( the effect lasted for about 10 minutes ) and had no impact on general intelligence or on the ability to perform any other type of task.
 
It was thought that the reason may be because the part of the brain used to process music is the same as that used for these sort of tasks so the music primed those areas for a short time.
 
But I’ve just seen an article on an educational website headed, ” Mozart makes you clever ” , which says that ” listening to music cuts the learning time in half and increases retention of new material…music activates the whole brain and gives you more energy. ”
 
I can’t think of another way to say it but…this is garbage.
 
There have been some other studies of the impact of music but nothing at all would support that claim.
 
4. People remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear and 30% of what they see.
 
This is something which sounds as if it could make sense, and it’s nice and easy to say and remember, but it isn’t supported by the facts. As usual, things are a bit more complicated than that.
 
How much people remember of anything depends on lots ot things, including the amount of attention they were paying, their interest in the subject, the environment they were in, the amount of repetition that took place, their opportunity to apply what they learned.
 
And, as a general rule, people seem to retain information more effectively if they engage more of their senses in the experience of taking it in in the first place.
 
But beware simple statements like the one above – remember 86% of all statistics are made up ( including that one ).
 
So there are 4 of the things I hear trainers say which they really shouldn’t – you may have more to add, or you may disagree with what I’ve said. either way, feel free to leave a comment.

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A lot of people say, ” You can’t treat adults like children, it’s very different working with adults. ”
 
Well, to some extent, they’re right. But, as someone who has worked with young children ( from 4 – 11 ) and with adults, I can tell you that there are many ways in which they’re just the same.
 
We might like to think that we’re all grown up and mature and professional but some adults still behave the same way they did back in Primary School.
 
One
 
Adults, like children, will push you to see what they can get away with. They will try to find the boundaries of what’s acceptable.
 
For example, some people will turn up late for sessions or talk to their friends in class to see if you say anything. I’ve even had someone reading a newspaper in a training session when he’d finished a case study until I had a quiet word with him about it.
 
Two
 
On a similar topic ( naughtiness ), if one child ( or adult ) misbehaves, others will watch to see what you do about it. If you do nothing, some will start to follow their lead, others will want you to do something because they want to learn.
 
So you need to deal with bad behaviour quickly.
 
However – you need to be careful about how you do it because, if you come down too hard on the naughty ones, the others will rally behind them and they’ll all sulk.
 
This is why I had a quiet word with the newspaper reader rather than just setting fire to his paper to make an example of him.
 
Three
 
Adults, like chldren, will find ways of putting off things they don’t want to do.
 
Children will ask to sharpen their pencils ( which they then cut down to a tiny stump ) to avoid starting work. Or they’ll say they haven’t got any paper ( this may be dating me a bit ). Or they’ll ask to go to the toilet.
 
Adults are particularly good at wasting time when you ask them to go and work in groups. They’ll go and get a coffee on the way. They’ll wander around saying, ” Which group am I in? Which room am I in? ” Or they’ll go to the toilet ( some things never change ).
 
Four
 
You have to watch out for people bringing in their latest toys to show off to their friends.
 
With children, it used to be cars, dolls, little torches, key rings, anything they could smuggle in.
 
With adults, it’s mobile phones ( is that the new Nokia? ), Blackberries, iPads and netbooks.
 
Actually, these days, I think that’s probably the same with children.
 
Five
 
Adults, like children, need to get up and run about from time to time. They can’t sit still for long periods without getting fidgetty. They can’t listen for long without losing concentration – they need to talk, to move, to do something. Don’t expect them to learn without giving them a chance to speak, to move around, to interact, to get involved.
 
And they need regular breaks to just run around and shout outside ( or read comics if it’s wet playtime ).

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When I was a Primary Teacher many years ago, I used to work with 4 and 5 year olds. In those days, we had a range of activities around the room, such as the sand tray, water, building bricks and the Wendy House ( I’m sure it’s not called that now! ).
 
Children would take it in turns going round the activities.
 
I never once heard a child asking why, or what they would learn from it, or how it would help them or whether that was the best use of their time. The worst that might happen would be that a child would sulk because they wanted to play with the sand when it wasn’t their turn yet.
 
( Before any teachers write to me, yes I know that’s all changed now – 4 year olds aren’t what they used to be, neither is the curriculum! ).
 
Anyway, my point it – adults aren’t like that. Adults do question everything. They may not do it out loud but they will always question why you are asking them to spend their time doing something or why they need to learn something.
 
Adults aren’t immediately receptive to everything you may want them to do, they need a good reason. This is partly because they have a dozen other things to do at any given moment and you need to justify the time you’re taking out of their busy lives.
 
Also, where young children tend to focus entirely on what they happen to be doing ( watch a child eat an ice cream and you’ll see what I mean ) adults tend to have half their minds on something else.
 
I think this is extremely significant for you as a trainer.
 
I think that motivation largely determines whether someone learns what you want them to.
 
I believe motivation is more important than ” learning styles “.
 
I’ve been doing a lot of research about learning styles recently ( in fact I may well publish a fairly lengthy article just on that topic as it’s so important ).
 
What I’m starting to believe is that learning styles are more just preferences about the way we tend to approach learning situations. They’re partly based on habit, partly on what’s worked for us in the past and partly just on personal preferences.
 
They’re not fixed or absolute and no-one learns in only one way.
 
I think that motivation is the single most important factor in adult learning. If people are highly motivated and focused, they can learn even despite poor training methods or difficult conditions.
 
If people are really motivated to learn something, they’ll find a way. If they’re not motivated, it doesn’t matter whether or not you use the ” right ” method for their learning style.
 
Of course, it’s still important to use effective training techniques but, without a group who are motivated to learn, they won’t work very well anyway.
 
The problem is that most adult learners are not that motivated to begin with and many trainers do not do enough to get them motivated before and during training sessions.
 
Many adults turn up for training courses feeling:

• uncertain as to why they are there
• resentful for the time it’s taking up
• anxious about what’s going to happen
• tired

annoyed at being told to turn up without having any choice in the matter
This is why, on my Transform Your Training courses, I spend a lot of time talking about how to get people in a ” receptive state ” for learning.
 
I won’t go into all the ways you can do this now. I’ve mentioned them in previous articles so you can go to the Articles page on the website and find more tips.
 
Also, there’s a section in the booklet How To Be A Top Trainer - if you don’t have a copy yet, now’s the time to get one!

My point is, you must see it as your number one priority to motivate your learners and to keep them motivated. If you do, you’re well on the way to helping them learn whatever they need to.
 
I’d love to know what you think. Why not leave a comment on this article?

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Have you ever been on a training course or attended a presentation and, when the person leading it has started their introduction, after a couple of minutes you’ve thought, ” I don’t think I like you very much “?
 
I certainly have.
 
And, once you’ve had that thought, it’s very hard for that person to win you over and really get you involved.  In fact often, the harder they try, the more you think to yourself, ” No, I don’t think so. ”
 
Sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on exactly why you’ve taken against them. There’s just something about them that’s putting you off. The point is, though, that this lack of connection is a barrier to your learning.
 
And, from a trainer’s point of view, it’s fatal. If you can’t establish a positive connection with people – rapport – then you won’t carry them with you, get them to cooperate or engage them.
 
This is why I often say, if you can’t develop a rapport with your group, you may as well get your coat and go home because nothing of any value is going to happen.
 
So, if rapport is so vital, how can you make sure you’ve got it?
 
The short answer is – you can’t. There’s no guarantee. some people will just take against you, some will just not see you as their sort of person.
 
But there are a few things I think you can do to win over most of the people most of the time.
 
1. Be authentic.
 
Be yourself, don’t try to be someone else. Don’t put on an act or try to be like your learners if you’re not. For example, if you’re working with a group from a different age group/industry/background than yours, don’t pretend to be one of them. They’ll see through the pretence and you’ll lose credibility.
 
What you can is let them know exactly what you bring that’s of value. For example, you can say, ” Now I know I  don’t have any direct experience in accountancy myself, but what I do have is years of experience working with stress in the workplace and I know I can give you some great ideas to use in your own situations. ”
 
2. Be friendly and approachable.
 
Smile, greet people as they come in, show an interest in them, check they’re comfortable and they’ve got what they need. Put people at ease.
 
Also, if your learners challenge or question something you’re saying, deal with it in a cooperative and supportive way.
 
I was in a session years ago run by an NLP Practitioner which was, ironically, on the subject of building rapport. A couple of people in the group  ( including me ) challenged some of her assumptions and she reacted in quite a defensive and hostile way.
 
She made us feel as if we we were wrong to question her or as if we just didn’t understand. You could feel the tension in the room and any rapport she might have had disappeared.
 
3. Share something with them.
 
The people you’re working with want to see that you’re a real person, not a robot delivering a training session or a talk. Tell them something about yourself.
 
BUT – do NOT share with them the fact that you’re feeling nervous, you’re not prepared or you’ve had a bad night. They don’t want to hear that and it just makes you look unprofessional.
 
4. If you have something in common, mention it.
 
If you do have something in common with them, drop this in without making too much of a song and dance about it.
 
If you have a shared experience, mention it in your introduction or in a story about something that happened to you. Be subtle about it, there’s no need to say, ” Hey, look I’m just like you. ”
 
5. Be positive about what they’re going to get from the training.
 
Always stress what people will get from being there. Tell them how valuable the training is going to be to them, what practical benefits they will get.
 
6. Show concern for their learning.
 
This is the big one! This is the one main thing you must do to build rapport. Show that you really care that people get something from your session.

 - ask them what they want and need from the training, before the course or at the start
 - be prepared to be flexible in your approach and your content to make sure it’s at the right level and covers the right material for this particular  group
 - check with them at various points that they’re getting what they need
 - acknowledge any concerns they may have or any resistance to being there – if you know that people have been sent without any option, recognise this and thank them for their time
 - do not just go through the motions, delivering the same course you’ve given lots of times before, regardless of the group in front of you

If you follow these tips, you’ll have a great chance of building the rapport you need and of keeping people on your side. If you can do that, they’ll cooperate, they’ll get involved, they’ll give you a chance to help them learn effectively.

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