Training that Leaves An Impact

Training that has high value is one that leaves a deep impact on the trainee long after the training is completed. To have impact the training must hit the trainee right on the head, there must be an instant 'ah ha' exclamation and the feeling must be right. You cannot fake an impact, and you definitely can tell a fake impact from a real one.

Some trainers, in their bid to make an impact, do certain things that have the opposite effect. Instead of leaving an impact on the trainees, they leave a bad impression on them. The wrong things that these trainers do include making assumptions, forcing answers for questions and going all out to please them with too many jokes, games and too little content. 

In my experience since training over 13,131 people in 16 countries (from 1996), there are 5 steps for the training to have an impact on the trainees:

Like.  Trainees must like the trainer, that's why the trainer must greet and smile when they first encounter a trainee. Other things that the trainer can do to make people like him is to smile often, being interested in them, being interesting, showing concern for their situation and most importantly, adapt to their pace


Content. The training content must hit the trainees right on the head, and this means the trainer must customize the material on the spot to suit the trainees' situation


Use. The trainees must be able to use the material immediately in their lives and at work. To facilitate this we have a 30-day Action Plan to be completed every 3 hours of the course


Share. People like to share their experience and how the content would relate to them. Trainers can get people to share by asking for their opinion, create discussion groups, and giving time for people to take notes (on their thoughts)


Recap. At the end of the day, the recap will leave a lasting impact on the trainees. A good trainer should let people recap in their own words and not read out from the notes.

One more thing: many people come for training for the purpose of learning something new. The trainer must have something new that people may not know. The easy way to do so is to have a new perspective on an established subject, like looking at things from the opposite.