What are the most common mistakes an inexperienced or new trainer makes?
Thank you to everyone in the LinkedIn group Effective and Fun Training Techniques who shared their knowledge so we can benefit from it.
This is part five of your great work.
My belief is that trainers and facilitators should not use slides, so Part 5 is purely about the use of slides.
I have seen inexperienced trainers when referring to something on the screen actually point to the laptop screen to illustrate!
Claire Poole
Call to Action: Use visual aids appropriately.
Common mistakes I have observed are: errors using pointers and errors using projectors.
Lei Vellin Datuin
Call to Action: Know how to use your equipment before you start training.
I had to use a presentation once which was a 400 slide (believe me that was Four Hundred), for a day long training course on tourism destination. I was a new trainer then, my manager wanted me to do it and copy pasted content which was received from the head office… I had time just to flip slides.
So many new trainers might accept what everyone cannot chew!
Prabhu RM
Delivering sessions as a lecture, not engaging with participants.
Chameleon Training
Minimize talk and PowerPoint and be a facilitator.
Scott Wood
Call to Action: Training isn’t lecturing AT people.
I think that the next most common mistake is over-reliance on PowerPoint slides, training schedule and all the scheduled points of the agenda. It all gives the novice trainer a feeling of safety, but in most cases blocks spontaneity, does not allow to establish authentic relationships with the participants and to follow their needs.
Krzysztof Szewczak
Call to Action: Feel the fear and lose the slides.
I’ve encountered many novice trainers that are good presenters, but poor trainers – they deliver a lecture and despite the amount of stuff people see and hear, the amount they actually learn and take away is a very low percentage.
Dave Smith
Call to Action: Less is more content wise.
When there is too much Power point, people are too busy looking at the text and visuals to appreciate what we are saying.
I am always reminded of the saying that ‘Lincoln had no slides at Gettysburg’.
Milind Kher
Using too much Power point!
Paul Craven
Call to Action: Step away from the slides.
New trainers (or training Managers) many times aren’t designing & delivering training for participants needs but the organizational leadership. Attempting to impress by providing class delivery durations that don’t correspond with the training objectives. Resulting in the ploughing through content, lack of interactivity, or creation of web based training with is little more than a reading a powerpoint with a assessment at the end.
Jim (James A.) Tibi
Call to Action: Focus on learning, not content.
A trainer once described ‘death by PowerPoint’. I rarely use it. A few months ago I was to present to a business network but couldn’t make it so they had another RTO stand in. They used PowerPoint. Four weeks later it was again my opportunity and though our marketing team had given me a PowerPoint template I decided to wing it instead preparing just a list of important points. The other RTO immediately conceded my presentation was by far the better and were in the line of people wanting to do business with us. Don’t overuse it, don’t read from it.
Lou Szymkow
Call to Action: Presenting isn’t training.
I totally agree with the PowerPoint comments. The amount of ‘training’ sessions I have attended where the sole teaching method was PowerPoint. It’s boring and uncreative. I don’t use it ever, which tends to surprise customers, but works. Not using it forces you to interact with your customers more and find a more creative and engaging way of getting your meaning across.
Helen Hastings
Call to Action: Use creative and engaging learning methods.
I attended a course recently where the trainer spoke at the start about ‘I’m here to present to you…’. When I pointed out the learning objectives I had signed up to, he stuttered and assured me the course would cover them.
He started on a Power Point journey of slide upon slide. The particular slides I find amusing are ‘Tea Break’ or ‘Activity’. How do they add value?
The major annoyance for me, and when I chose to leave, was when I asked a question – “I’m lost at this point. {I think it was slide 150 by lunchtime} and so he sighed, clicked to the previous slide, re-read it to me and then asked ‘Is that clear now?’.
Ah, the magic re-reading trick to enable a learner to learn.
Call to Action: Carefully choose your visuals to aid your message.
There will be more blogs to come on this subject.
If you are a new trainer or an experienced trainer, please let us know your thoughts in the comments box below.
If you enjoyed reading this blog, please share with your friends using the buttons below:
