by Regina Saunders, BCG Learning Consultant

How many times have you heard it? “I want to be a trainer.” Often, just because someone is a subject matter expert in their field, they think they can train others to be just as versed. But there is definitely an art to be able to effectively train so the students actually learn. Below are 3 key tips out of many that can be utilized when training.

Tip # 1: Interactivity is Essential

The rule of thumb: Interact with your students at least every 10-15 minutes of lecture. Why should you do this? To help your students learn by being involved in what they are learning. If your students feel they are involved they will process what they are learning much more quickly. AND you will not have to wake up any sleepers.

Interactivity, however, is not asking the question “Do you have any questions?” Interactivity is done multiple ways: asking the class questions regarding what they learned earlier in the class, planning group exercises, etc…

Tip # 2: The Wrong Way Versus the Right Way

It seems opposite, but often times people learn more from seeing how something is done the wrong wayversus the right way. The brain actually spends less time processing things that do not meet expectations than things that do!

But how do you make this work? Perhaps you do some role plays demonstrating the wrong way to handle a situation or you purposely demonstrate an action in a software application that brings back an error message. In any event, you will not be able to teach the entire class by demonstrating the wrong way, but you can pick and choose some important examples you want the class to learn from and focus demonstrating those in the wrong way. For instance, let us say you are training a class on telephone etiquette. Perhaps start out by doing a role play with poor telephone etiquette.

Tip # 3: Don’t Give Answers Too Quickly

You may be thinking, “Well I am the trainer, I need to answer all of the students' questions.” And this is true; however, when you have exercises for the students to apply what you have taught them, do not give the answers right away. Allow them the opportunity to think the answer through. If they are still struggling, give them hints to the answer, but the goal is to let them determine the answer. Of course, if they still are unable to figure out the answer, you may then give it to them. They will learn and retain the answer far better than if you simply give them the answer.

In Summary

Being able to train so your students actually learn what you are teaching is more than just being a subject matter expert. There are many nuances in the training delivery and this article just covers three of them. For more tips in training delivery, consider signing up for our Train the Trainer course!