Tip #277: Getting Past Embarrassing Training Moments

I thought that this topic would attract attention and it definitely has. As a matter of fact, today's entire Tip comes from Tom Jackson, who is Training Team Lead for the Division of Strategic National Stockpile, Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here is Tom's story:

I have an embarrassing moment I'd like to share with you and the accidental way in which I handled it.

I was going through a portion of one of our courses where we discuss public health and emergency response actions for a large public health emergency'sometimes this can get scary and more than a little weighty. I don't even remember what triggered this person's response, but I do remember the response. This participant obviously had an axe to grind and went off on a tangent about how "we" (meaning 'me' as I was the guy in front) in the Federal public health field were setting performance standards too high, and that local people were suffering, even getting fired, for not being able to meet those standards.

This was an unexpected bolt as it wasn't the current topic of discussion. For a moment, I was stunned (here's the accidental part). "It is not very often that I am at a loss for words, but I could think of nothing to say, so, I said nothing. I let her rattle on for about 2 or 3 more minutes although it seemed like a much longer. When she took a breath, I just said "OK" with a smile and went right back to the subject. I wasn't trying to be dismissive or embarrass the participant, but I didn't want to get dragged into a "no win" situation discussing topics that could be flash points.

Later, I had other participants thank me for diffusing the situation and getting back on topic. I really didn't think much of it, they were impressed, but I just didn't know what to say, so I said "OK". In retrospect, it was the right thing to do. Since then, I have gathered some information from encounters like this, and here's what I have learned:

1. If you are organizing a course with a local person, ask them if there will be any problem children in the course. Pre-identifying those people will be helpful if you know their 'pet peeves' and have some prepared material. NEVER, say, Oh, I heard about you! Or, I was ready for you! That would be very off putting. Address the issues, not the person.

2. If you represent management, or, in my case, a much larger organization, remember that you are the face of the organization. There are times when I find myself not as the representative of my organization or parent organization, but the Federal government. Don't be afraid to say, That's not my area of expertise; or, Our organization is very large and deals with a lot of issues. I am sure you have legitimate concerns, but that is not something I can address. Unless you are a spokesperson sent to address all these issues, your job is to teach the subject, not host a Q & A about the failures of "higher HQ".

3. Your participants can have legitimate concerns' and there are some that are not "legitimate". If they are legitimate and pertain to the subject, address them. If not, tell the participant that you're happy to discuss this with them after class but have to get through the material today. Don't be afraid to redirect the course back to topic, but also pay attention to audience needs. If the audience wants to go in a different direction and you can still tie in your learning objectives go where the audience wants to go.

4. You will always have folks with pet peeves and axes to grind. Let them kvetch, let them grind, but get them back to task. My smile and "OK" did it in this case: It took the wind out of her sails and she saw she had no supporters. And that was it.

5. If it really starts to get out of hand, no one would mind if you said, Now would be a good time to take a break. During the break, you can talk to some of the dominators and make it clear that while they have legitimate gripes and issues, you need their help to get through the learning material.

6. Also, you will always have supporters in the crowd. Most folks are there because they want to learn and don't want to listen to someone's pet problem. You can use those folks by saying, That's interesting "what do you guys think?" and turn it back to them. You will find other participants who are willing to help you re-direct the course.

7. If all else fails, I have three rules:

(1) Take five, slow deep breaths - it helps you take the emotion out of the situation so you don't say something inappropriate from an emotional response.

(2) If the breaths fail, just say to yourself, Will this matter in 90 minutes? Normally, the answer is "no", so this too will pass.

(3) If the 90 minutes fail, just remember that there are millions of Chinese people who could care less about what is happening or just happened I know it's a little silly, but, keep it in perspective. Do you think you're the first person to get embarrassed or flustered in front of a class?

Thanks so much, Tom, for sharing your story and what you have learned about getting past similar training moments. You have given us some wonderful guidelines that easily apply to handling most difficult training situations: stay calm, stay focused, and stay in control while still staying respectful. What a great model!

Next week, we will continue to discuss embarrassing training moments, starting with a classic situation shared by Lois Walton.

If you have ever been embarrassed as a trainer and lived to train another day, please send in your stories and we'll publish them in the next Tip!

Tip #276: Reverse Numbering for PowerPoint Slides

This is one more trick from Dan Poynter: in the upper left hand corner of your PowerPoint slides, identify the number of slides that are left. This is one way to help pace yourself.

Since I've noticed that these recent Tips have generated very little comment, next week we will move on to a much more scintillating topic: getting past embarrassing training moments!

If you have ever been embarrassed as a trainer and lived to train another day, please send in your stories and we'll publish them in the next Tip!

Tip #275: Tiny LCD Remote and Digital Audio Recorder

Last week, I mentioned that I attended a workshop by Dan Poynter. Dan gave two suggestions that I am definitely going to follow, so I thought it would be nice to pass them on to you!

First, he uses Velcro to mount a very tiny LCD remote onto a ring on his middle finger. This way, he always knows where the remote is and holding it doesn't interfere with his hand gestures. I actually didn't even notice that he had it in his hand. Isn't that creative?

I love this idea because I frequently put my remote down, forget where it is, and then have to hunt for it. Not my most professional moments! Dan uses a radio frequency (RF) Honeywell StreetSmart remote, which you can learn more about at http://www.powerremote.com.

Second, he records his presentations on a small Olympus WS2005 digital recorder ($150). He then uses Audacity, a free recording/editing program. If you have ever been asked for audio versions of your presentations, this approach can help you create audio products pretty easily. I'm certainly going to try it!

If you would like more information about Dan and access to a number of free articles, visit his website: http://www.parapub.com.

Next week, we will continue our look at some very useful gadgets, strategies and resources for trainers! If you've discovered some gems, please share them and we'll use the Tips to pass the word along!

Tip #274: Travel Itineraries and Workshop Locations

A few weeks ago, I attended a workshop by Dan Poynter on how to write a book. Since he has written more than 100 books, he apparently knows what he is talking about! Many of his suggestions will be featured in upcoming Tips.

The two items in this Tip are drawn from the May 22, 2009 issue of SpeakerNetnews.com, which is one of Dan's free eletters. He travels approximately 320 days a year to conduct workshops around the globe, which adds enormous credibility to the following recommendations.

Travel a lot? TripIt ( http://www.tripit.com) is a great no-charge tool for efficiently creating detailed travel itineraries. It automatically inputs flight info once booked, links hotel information with maps, directions, weather forecasts, and a method to add notes and important contact numbers about each specific engagement. It can save you a lot of time and make your traveling exceptionally smooth.

Need to find a good place to hold a workshop? If you are looking for a high-end location to hold your next workshop, avoid hotels and use Regus ( http://www.regus.com ). They offer boardrooms/meeting rooms for 8-100 participants by the hour through full-day in high-end business buildings across the globe that are very affordable. You can also establish a "virtual" business identity in these buildings for safety/security/image. (Who wouldn't want an office in NYC/Dallas/Rome/etc.?) They have packages ranging from mail forwarding through answering inbound calls with your company name. Call and tell them your offer code is 'satellite' and they'll give you $500 worth of credit towards their services. Some packages include use of an actual office as well as discounts on board/meeting rooms!

Next week, we will continue our look at some very useful gadgets, strategies and resources for trainers! If you've discovered some gems, please share them and we'll use the Tips to pass the word along!

Tip #273: How to Email Large Documents

Since this is a holiday week, I'm going to keep this Tip very short.

Have you ever tried to send an email attachment that is more than 10 MB and had it bounce back? Or have you ever had a client want to email you a large document, but your only option was snail mail? Frustrating, isn't it?

What if I told you that there is a website that will let you securely send email attachments as large as 100 MB- and it is free and easy to use?

Thanks to Kathy Doran of Pump Systems Matter, I have discovered http://www.CuteSendit.com.

No, I have no idea why it has a cutesy name. Quite frankly, I'm so impressed by the site's existence and capabilities, I don't even care.

However, when you do plan to send a large email attachment using the site, it would be wise for you to alert the receiver. Otherwise, when they see mail from CuteSendit, they may not realize it is a legitimate business communication!

After you create your free account at CuteSendit, the rest is a snap.

In Step 1, you simply fill in the recipient's address, write your message, attach the file, click and send.

In Step 2, the recipient receives an email message with a link to the file. This avoids email attachment limitations. The download link takes the recipient to a web page where they can download the file with their browser.

In Step 3, you are sent a confirmation email as soon as the recipient clicks the download link. This eliminates any worry that the file has not been received.

Isn't that wonderful? Thank you, Kathy, for alerting me to the site!

If you know of any other sites that provide this capability, please let us know.

Next week, we will continue our look at some very useful gadgets, strategies and resources for trainers! If you've discovered some gems, please share them and we'll use the Tips to pass the word along!

Tip #272: Three Learning Design Principle

Last week, we discussed the fact that there are apparently three different types of memory: working memory, sensory memory, and long-term memory. So, how does that affect learning design?

There are three design principles identified in Multimodal Learning Through Media: What the Research Says:

1. Recognize and address learner preconceptions.

Learners have stored prior knowledge, preconceptions, and experience about an area of study in their long-term memory. It is important to help the learners become aware of this prior knowledge. This can be done with learning activities that will cue it from long-term memory into working memory. These activities will enable the learners to correct any misconceptions, build on prior knowledge, and create new schemas of understanding abut the topic. "Learning is optimized when students can see where new concepts build on prior knowledge."

It seems to me that this relates directly to the concept of transfer, in which the learners' prior knowledge and experience transfers into the classroom. Positive transfer means that this information is useful as a base on which to build any new learning. Negative transfer means that this information can get in the way of the new learning. A good learning designer makes sure to incorporate learning activities that enable the learners to identify and build on positive transfer- and disconnect negative transfer.

For more information about learning activities that handle transfer, see Tip #3 and Tip #39.

2. Make concepts personally meaningful to learners.

In order for learners to develop useful schemas about the topic, they need to participate in learning activities that show them the topic is relevant and meaningful to them.

A long-identified adult learning principle is that learning is more likely to occur if learning is made meaningful by relating it to the learners' experience, goals, or interests and values.

This second principle differs in that it introduces the concept of "authentic learning," which is defined to include three key concepts: depth of academic concept or deep learning, relevance to person(s) outside the classroom, and student use of the key ideas in a production. [I believe production refers to an application activity.]

Learning designers need to incorporate learning activities that engage the learners both emotionally and intellectually, and then give them a chance to apply what they have learned. These activities will, therefore, draw on working memory, sensory memory, and long-term memory.

3. Develop learner metacognition.

Learners need to be taught how to think about what they are thinking. Then they will be able to approach problems by "automatically trying to predict outcomes, explaining ideas to themselves, noting and learning from failures, and activating prior knowledge."

This third principle directly relates to learning strategies that create germane cognitive load in working memory. In order to help learners form new schemas, learners need to be encouraged to provide their own explanations of work examples.

There are three ways to promote productive self-explanations: (1) train learners how to productively self-explain, (2) use faded worked examples (where they have to complete portions of the example and explain their rationale), and (3) add questions to the worked examples that will stimulate self-explanations.

This concludes our discussion of multimodal learning. Next week, we will begin a look at some very useful gadgets, strategies and resources for trainers!

Tip #271: Three Types of Memory

I was very surprised to learn that there are actually three types of memory. According to Multimodal Learning Through Media: What the Research Says, these are: working memory, sensory memory, and long-term memory.

Working memory is where thinking gets done. It is dual coded with a buffer for storage of verbal/text elements and a second buffer for visual/spatial elements. Working memory is short-term and limited to approximately four objects that can be simultaneously stored in visual/spatial memory and approximately seven objects that can be simultaneously stored in verbal short-term memory. [Keep in mind that these 'objects' could be very large and complex schemas.]

If the person shifts attention when those buffers are full, new elements may be introduced into working memory, causing others to disappear from thought/consciousness. This is called an attention blink!

As trainers, we have known for a long time that the more senses engaged, the more likely the learning will be retained. We work to engage as many senses as possible through vivid stories or visualizations, meaningful metaphors, and participatory learning activities. Neurological research now explains that if a number of senses provide input to working memory at the same time, this convergence will have a positive effect on memory retrieval. It creates linked memories, so that triggering any aspect of the experience will bring to consciousness the entire memory, often with context.

Sensory memory occurs when we experience any aspect of the world through our senses. A sensory experience is involuntarily stored as episodic knowledge in long-term memory. We need to pay attention to sensory memory episodes for them to get introduced into working memory. Once the experience is in working memory, we can consciously hold it in memory and think about it in context.

Long-term memory in humans is estimated to store the equivalent of 50,000 times the text in the U.S. Library of Congress. The brain has two types of long-term memory, episodic and semantic:

Episodic memory comes directly from sensory input and is involuntary.

Semantic memory stores the thinking accomplished in working memory, such as ideas, thoughts, schema, and processes. The processing in working memory automatically triggers storage in long-term memory.

How the brain works has direct implications for effective training design.

Next week, we will conclude our discussion of multimodal learning with a look at three key principles that should be considered when designing learning.