Technical Training:  Some Guidelines

 For several years, I've been teaching the majority of EMA's seminars, primarily on variable speed motor drives.  The people attending vary from machine operators, which have very little technical knowledge, to engineers.  While there are plenty of variables to consider, based upon my experience, here are a few guidelines that may prove helpful to anyone that wishes to teach a technical seminar.          

 To begin with, think about whom you're training. Most of the time, it will be adults that haven't been in a formal classroom setting for a long time. This presents a challenge.  You must tailor your presentation to their interests, and not yours; it would be very discouraging to attempt instructing people with no interest in your subject. A technical training class usually has the objective of improving the student’s skills and knowledge on the topic presented.  A successful training class should not only energize students, but also allow them to take the information and apply it immediately to their jobs.  

Preparation
(The devil is in the details) 

   Small issues can become major roadblocks to a successful presentation.  The following list may help.

q       Get a good nights sleep.  If you yawn, so will your students.

r       Is the training room ready? Arrive early each day to make sure.

q       Are all the technical props (hands-on equipment) ready?

q       Are all handouts complete, and ready?

q       Are the refreshments & bathrooms ready?

q       Are the sign in sheets & nametags complete?

q       Temperature: a hot room will put people to sleep.  I like to keep the room around 67 degrees F.

q       Sit in the seats that the students are to sit in, make sure everyone has a clear view.

 Practice Practice Practice

  If you aren't interesting, you're boring.  It is crucial that you practice your public speaking skills with your training curriculum.  This is unquestionably time consuming, but here are a few ideas that may help.

q       Rehearse in front of a video camera.  You will be surprised how many strange mannerisms, repeated words, and mistakes you exhibit.  Videotape your first few classes to be sure bad habits, and mistakes don’t spoil future seminars.

q       Make sure you are on time for each topic covered.  It is worse to fall behind, than to be ahead.  If you find you are to far ahead, ask more questions of the group, or fill in with  “Sea Stories” (see below).

q       Put some inflection in your voice, and speak with a good volume.  This is not a bedtime story hour!

q       If you have a soft voice use a microphone. 

q       Move around to keep their attention on you.  People find dynamic body language engaging, a statue will put people to sleep.

q       Eye contact; try to move your view to everyone’s eyes in the whole room.  Don’t stare to the back of the room; look at the students as if they were your friends.

q       Try not to turn your back to the crowd.  It affects your voice volume, and is interpreted as a point to lose attention.  Use a laser pointer.

q       If using slides or other media, keep yourself as the center of attention.  They came to be taught by you, not to watch a video presentation.

Know your Stuff! 

Ever heard the expression, “Those that can’t do…..teach?”  Maybe in some cases it's true, but you can't get away with it when training industrial maintenance types. It's crucial that the instructor have a clear understanding of the subject matter.  The best advice I can give? Study!    

Clarity

(Don't try to 'baffle em with ...  well, you know)

Not only does the instructor need to know the subject matter, he must clearly express the concepts to those with different educational and experience backgrounds.  What I like to do is attempt to clarify complex subjects by using different approaches, selected to appeal to the group I'm teaching   

For example, I may use a “water analogy” for explaining electrical concepts to a mechanic, and mathematics to explain the same subject to an engineer.  If while practicing your presentation you find you can’t explain the concept clearly in at least two different ways, then contact someone who can, and adapt that technique to your presentation.

Don’t just read the text, TEACH.  If you find you have to read continuously for more than 5-10 minutes, you’re a professional reader, not an instructor.

Set Expectations

Expectations can be your best friend, or your worst enemy.  The first training segment of the class sets the expectations that the students have for the rest of the class, and allows the instructor to establish the “flavor” for the rest of the class.   OK, I know by now that you're getting tired of seeing lists, but here's another one for you:

q    Show up early the first day to not only make sure the room is set, but also to speak with early arrivals informally.  Ask them their experiences with the subject you're teaching.  Try to tie your training into your students' experiences.  This will add value to the class.  A successful seminar must provide information that the student can walk away with to apply directly to their job.

q    Set the rules during your introduction.  Cell phones and pagers must be switched to vibrate.  Training sessions should be anywhere from 50-90 minutes.  Longer than 90 minutes, and people will get up and walk out to go to the bathroom, and this can be disruptive. Breaks should occur between training session for no longer than 15 minutes. 

q    During your first speaking segment, you must be upbeat, and passionate about the class.  Tell them how pleased you are to be there, and thank the students for coming.

q    Make sure you have a volume of subject matter to fill no less than 90% of the allotted time.  Have extra reference sheets included in the handouts as free material. 

Engage the Group

(if you have fun, so will they)

Remember, they're going to be listening to you all day; it won't kill you to entertain them a bit. A great instructor is an entertainer.  Even if you're dry as a bone, you can use good material to lighten things up.  "Did you ever notice that it doesn't matter what temperature the room is, it's still always room temperature?" "Anyone know another word for thesaurus?"  Use the Internet, you'll find material.  Entertain them a bit!

q        Between your early morning informal “interviews”, and talks during the break times, you need to be gathering information regarding what individual people are having issues with, or are curious about.  During the next training slot, talk about them to the entire group.  I use topics brought up during the breaks to help introduce subjects I am teaching. 

q       ASK QUESTIONS, and wait for answers.  Start with simple questions everyone knows and work your way up to more difficult questions as the seminar progresses.   Some people are shy by nature, but usually open up after awhile.  Never criticize a wrong answer, and always thank them for attempting to answer the question.  

q       When questions are asked of the instructor try to answer them as best you can, however, it is acceptable to say “I don’t know the answer, but I will get it for you”.  You may use the “I don’t know" line a few times, however, it's not an excuse for failing to prepare. After all, you are the technical trainer!

q       NEVER make up an answer….ever. "Uh, yes, I believe potatoes will exhibit inductive reactance under some conditions."  If it's a question you're unsure about, say so before you address the question.  A technique I have used on instructors in the past is to ask a question that I already know the answer, and see how they address it.  If they give the “I don’t know, but I’ll get the answer for you” response, that's OK.  If they try to fake it, I lose respect for them. 

 Avoid lengthy, or off topic discussions with individuals during the open group sessions.  If the question and answer session takes you off the subject, it will usually throw you off your time line, and distract the students from the established agenda.

Tell Stories

Stories are a great way to peak interest, and to be remembered.  You need to be able to inject funny, and entertaining stories during the class.  Ideally these stories should involve something that pertains to the subject, and are personal experiences.  If you don’t have the personal experiences, use other people's, and give them credit.  I find the best stories are the ones about me that are funny because I make fun of myself.  These show I make mistakes, and also have the same “hands on” experience that the students have.

The Heckler 

Deal with the “Heckler”.  Sometimes you'll have a person who wants to be the center of attention, or likes to tell stories, or worse, enjoys tripping up the teacher.  These people must be dealt with politely, and promptly.  Sometimes it is as simple as using the universal statement of “I’ll be happy to discuss this with you further during break”.  Or “alright, we need to get going, we have a bunch of material to cover”.  Or if all else fails, pulling the perpetrator aside during a break time, and asking them if they could “cut you a break”.  I have never had to ask a person to leave my class, but I would not hesitate if the student were making it disruptive for everyone else. (You could also pay someone else in the class to beat them up, but I don't usually recommend it.)

 Use Surveys 

Provide written survey forms at the end of the class, and encourage the students to complete them.   Allow the students to place the survey face down in a pile at the back of the room.  By doing this, you will be able to find out what people liked, and what you need to improve upon for the future.   

 In conclusion, the most important thing to remember is “Passion”!  As a great instructor you must have passion for what you are teaching.  An enthusiastic trainer can wipe away many mistakes, but a depressing speaker is doomed from the start.

Attend training classes, and study other speakers to find out what works.  A good idea is to study people who are considered excellent public speakers, CEO’s, motivational speakers, pastors, politicians, even comedians.  By adopting techniques other speakers use you will develop your public speaking abilities, and feel very comfortable speaking in front of groups of people.

 Remember this: Most people who attend your class want it to be successful.  Just give them an experience that is both educational, and engaging. They'll think you're terrific!

 Dean Williams
dwilliams@emainc.net
EMA Drive Lines.. November 2006

Dean gets consistently high marks from his students for both his technical and industry knowledge, and his presentation.   Want to see Dean in action? Visit our training page at www.emainc.net .