Written by: Alan Some learners like to show up early for training. I’ve had people walk in the room 30 minutes before the course starts. In the time between the first arrival and the start of the course you have a chance to set the tone. If you haven’t prepared for it, this time can end up with "dead air," that dreaded silence that can make people uncomfortable. That’s not how you want your learners to feel before the training has started. Besides the weather and what’s in the news, here are a few ways to keep the conversation going and improve the climate for your training. Common Ground Nothing puts people more at ease than being among compatriots. Consider any hobbies, work duties, or other personal details you have in common. Ask how that’s going. Ask about any new developments in that area of their life. Even better, ask for their opinion on a facet of the area you have in common. Their Interests If you don’t have any common interests, then just ask about theirs. This works when you don’t know the person, or you have nothing in common. Some popular areas to cover are: movies, food, outdoor activities, hobbies, clothes/fashion, travel, family, or friends. Their Work Most people spend half their waking hours at work on weekdays. That makes fertile conversation ground. Ask about new developments in their field. Inquire about things going well. See what challenges they face. Find out what they like most (or least) about their job. The Current Course To really up your game, make a transition from the previous topic (their work) to this one. You can ask what they’ve heard about the course. Find out if they have any questions about the content or the logistics. See which parts of their job they feel the training should cover. Maybe even build up anticipation about the most relevant or enjoyable parts of the course. You may have prepared for your course delivery very well. But if you didn’t prepare for the few minutes of social interaction beforehand, your learners may not feel the same way. Strive to make your participants comfortable before the course starts. It will stack the odds in favor of them feeling good throughout your training.

Written by: Steve In today’s learning climate, instructors are under pressure to deliver critical, need-to-know content in an interesting way and in a short period of time. We sometimes get so focused on this that we overlook the need to show learners we are also interested in them as individuals and not just delivering content and getting through the material. Here are seven ways to show learners you care about them: Address learners by name. Make an attempt to learn all learners’ names and speak to each one at least once every day of the course. Give as much individual attention as possible. Some learners come to class wanting individual attention from the instructor. It is important that instructors are open to this and be available for individual time before and after class. Socialize with learners during coffee, lunch, breaks, and before starting in the morning. This helps instructors connect with individual learners. Be open in discussing your interests about subjects outside of the course content. Instructors often find that they may share interests similar to the learners. Relate personal experience with the subject matter. Using personal examples and stories while presenting content can add a human touch that helps to connect with the learners. Visit small groups while they are working. Be friendly and available without being disruptive. Stay connected with learners even when they are busy working. Show a sense of humor and willingness to have fun (without going too far). Using these seven tips will show learners that, in addition to being a skilled instructor, you are a genuine person with a sincere interest in their learning and in them as individuals.

Written by: Melissa Honesty is the only policy when responding to questions in an instructional setting. However, blatantly admitting, "I don’t know," in response to a direct question from a learner can be disastrous. The solution is to be honest and maintain credibility at the same time. No one can know the answer to every question. It is how the situation is handled that separates the great trainers from the amateurs. Take a look at the following four strategies and keep them in your back pocket to help you field even the toughest questions with confidence. The question is about information within the scope of the course but you don’t know the answer - Take a deep breath, repeat the question, then toss it back to your audience, "Does anyone here have any experience with that?" When you allow the audience to help you, they’ll "save" you without ever realizing it. In fact, the audience will revere you because adults love to be involved and share their knowledge. After you have fielded all of the contributions, be sure to summarize and add your own ideas if any have been sparked by the interaction. Summarizing at the end helps you to maintain control and authority. Always repeat questions before answering for the same reasons. The question is too narrow or too general to answer - Reserve the right, as the expert, to open a question up or close it down by asking a question in response. Once upon a time I was a trainer for a beauty company. One day a woman asked me a very specific question, "What does that ingredient do?" I had no idea, but I didn’t confess that I didn’t know. Instead, I asked her a question, "What is your skin care goal for that ingredient?" She elaborated for me and explained what she wanted to accomplish. I knew a way to help her and it didn’t involve explaining that ingredient. She was happy. I was honest, credible, helpful, and very happy! The question has no exact information available - Simply inform your learners that facts are not known, and then offer what you do know to demonstrate some credibility. Say, "I’m writing this question down and I’ll research it at the break and get back to you." Refrain from droning on and on about your parallel knowledge. The question might make for a good group discussion. Brevity is the key to this technique. The question is unrelated to the course content - You can avoid these types of questions by setting ground rules for questions at the beginning of the course. Whenever you train, you’re the leader. You are accountable for everything, so lead. My experience is that if you set rules and follow them, the audience respects you. If you make rules up as you go along, you lose credibility. The number of rules you set will vary depending on the topic. When I teach a workshop, during the initial housekeeping introduction, I’ll say, "I welcome general questions at any time about anything on the agenda. If you have a specific question outside of the agenda, please post it on the Parking Lot or see me at a break for a private consultation. Because we have limited time together, I reserve the right to postpone taking questions and comments. This is not personal. It is to make certain we cover every agenda topic." You can’t know the answer to every question. It’s how you handle yourself that counts. If dealing with questions is something you’d like to know more about, attend our Instructional Techniques for New Instructors workshop, or consult our self-study resource, The New Trainer’s Survival Kit. So, speaking of questions…what do you think about these four techniques?

Written by: Melissa The Balancing Act airing on Lifetime Television® is America’s premier morning show that brings today’s busy on-the-go modern woman positive solutions and cutting-edge ideas to help balance and enrich their everyday lives. Recently, I was privileged to represent Langevin on an episode of the show. During the ensuing interview by host Olga Villaverde, she asked two right-to-the-heart questions: how did I get my start in the training industry, and what did I enjoy most about my current role as a course leader with Langevin? Those of you who have attended any of my workshops know my journey into the world of corporate training began about twenty years ago, when I was hired as a corporate trainer for a beauty company based in Los Angeles. I loved teaching people. Whether it was showing a young lady how to apply her makeup, or teaching a beauty advisor how to close a skincare sale, I truly enjoyed the process. There’s something uniquely satisfying about seeing the light bulb go on for a learner. It makes me feel that I have passed something tangible, something lasting to another individual. That feeling of accomplishment is what continues to drive me. So there I was, roughly three years into my cosmetic training job, and still loving it, when the mailman delivered my first Langevin course catalog. Like most corporate training professionals, I had never been formally trained to work with adults in an instructional setting, so I immediately (and eagerly!) requested to attend my first "train-the-trainer" workshop. My company granted me the time (and tuition) and off I went. Who knew there was so much to learn? So many tips, tricks, and tools—all meant to make my job easier, and to bolster the learning experience for the attendee! I left that workshop with a to-do list a mile long and couldn’t wait to get back to work to start implementing some of my new-found knowledge. This enlightenment only whetted my appetite, and soon I attended a second Langevin workshop. It was at the second course that I knew I had to work for Langevin. That I could do this full-time—bring clarity to training methodology and provide skills and knowledge for any trainer to succeed in their career—seemed like someone had devised the perfect job for my passion, my talent, and my desire to help others succeed. And so my tenure with Langevin began. Now it’s been fifteen years, and I still love what I do! My Husband says I love an audience, and maybe that’s part of what drew me to this career as well. Recently I’ve heard several motivational speakers talk about "following your passion" and "following your dream." I would amend that to: "find something you enjoy and are good at and become excellent at it." If you have a smattering of teaching talent, a desire to pass on knowledge and to see the "ah-ha" moments light up a room like fireflies on a summer lawn, AND want to be excellent at it, then I encourage you to take your first (or third or sixth!) course with Langevin. Be part of the conversation on Twitter! Share your love of training! #LangevinOnTheBalancingAct

Written by: Jeff Judging from several economic indicators, it seems as if the most recent global economic downtown is thankfully behind us. Many economies worldwide have recovered and job growth appears to be on the rise. With a stable recovery in the job market, it’s very likely that companies across the United States and Canada will be hiring new employees, including those in the training department. If you happen to work for a growing and expanding training department, this could be a perfect opportunity to mentor one of your newly hired colleagues. According to a recent article found on www.careerstonegroup.com, workplace mentoring can lead to dramatic improvements in efficiency, productivity, and the passing of institutional knowledge from one generation to the next. Over the years, I’ve had some great mentors. Some of my mentors were actual managers and supervisors, while others were colleagues with whom I’ve worked. I’ll share a few ways in which workplace mentoring might prove to be beneficial. Create a Positive Onboarding Experience Most of us can probably remember the first day at a new job. That day always reminded me of the first day of school. I always felt an emotional mix of excitement and apprehension. While I was always excited about the possibility of new opportunities, I also had some uneasy, yet legitimate questions swirling through my mind. Will they like me? Who will I sit next to? Is the corporate culture much different from my last job? I was always nervously curious about those and many other things. To lessen new hire nervousness and anxiety, many human resources professionals recommend pairing new employees with a peer mentor. A peer mentor may help acclimate the employee to the culture and environment of his/her new workplace. I had the privilege of being partnered with an experienced instructional designer named Kate on my first day of employment at an Atlanta healthcare company. Grey-haired, wise, and somewhat older than me, I began to refer to my new mentor as "Mama Kate." For the first few months on my new job, Kate showed me the ropes as it related to everything from workplace procedures to navigating the social landscape of my new department. Establishing that bond helped me become more productive and assisted me in embracing the company culture. Both Kate and I have since left the healthcare company for other employment opportunities, but we periodically communicate through email and telephone. Transfer of Real World Knowledge and Skill Workplace mentoring provides a wonderful opportunity to transfer and distribute real-world knowledge and skill and can be an effective addition to formal training. My partnering with "Mama Kate" provided me, a new employee, with direct access to a subject-matter expert. A day never went by when she didn’t share valuable tips and best practices with me. I specifically remember her showing me several shortcuts to maneuvering our department’s learning management system. Those helpful shortcuts were never addressed in my new hire orientation session. Not only does workplace mentoring provide an opportunity to share real world knowledge and skill, but the mentor can also answer any questions and provide oral feedback in real time. This information sharing may very well shorten the new hire’s learning curve and quickly enhance workplace productivity. Promote Employee Engagement Employee engagement is the emotional connection that an employee has to his/her organization and its goals. Employees who are truly engaged don’t just work for a paycheck; they genuinely care about their work and their company. Workplace mentoring is a good way for every employee to identify themselves as a crucial part of the organization. I once read a story that took place at a major US financial services firm where workplace mentoring resulted in a unique group of engaged employees. At this particular organization, a group of senior-level executives were partnered with newly hired, entry-level college graduates to offer wisdom, advice, and internal industry knowledge. However, somewhere within that partnership, something unexpected happened. The executives (mostly age 50+) were reluctant to embrace the use of social media as a business tool so a "reverse mentoring" process occurred when the new hires (mostly in their 20’s) were able to tutor their mentors on the workings of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media outlets. Results from the survey completed by both the executives and the new hires found each person considered themselves fully engaged within the organization. Both parties felt empowered to assist each other in their own unique way, and they all identified themselves as a critical part of the organization’s overall success. As you might conclude by that last example, workplace mentoring can result in lasting benefits for the mentees, the mentors, and the organization. So if your department happens to hire a new instructional designer or facilitator, why not introduce yourself and commit to becoming their Mr. Miyagi (Karate Kid) or Yoda (Star Wars)? Both of you might just be glad you did! What are some of your most successful examples of workplace mentoring?

Written by: Lynne Everyone’s always trying to sell us something! You can’t escape it. You wake up in the morning to your clock radio (if you still use one) and there is a commercial for something. You pick up a cup of coffee on your way to work and there is an ad on the coffee cup. You go to a ball game and there are ads all over the scoreboard. You go online and your homepage has ads all over it. You use your smartphone and ads pop up! I could go on and on. Well, guess what? We trainers can advertise too! We do amazing things for our companies, and our employees, but sometimes we forget to tell everyone about it. When employees take our courses, they leave with new knowledge and skill they did not have before. When you know more, you can do more. If you do more, you may receive a promotion, raise, bonus, and even become happier. You even make yourself more marketable for other companies that may want to hire you in the future. With all the benefits of training, we should not be keeping what we do a secret! So, how can we market our training programs? We are not likely to put an ad on a company coffee mug but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. In our workshop, Marketing Your Training Internally, we show you how to market your programs in more detail. Here are three suggestions: Create advertisements for your training courses and display them all over your company. Don’t forget to include your LMS and/or your intranet site. Build solid working relationships with all of your "customers." Make sure you include executives, managers, and employees. Let them know what you can do for them, and find out what they can do for you. Implement specific marketing plans for your courses. Include the features and benefits of your courses, how you will promote your training, and how you will measure the success of your marketing campaign. So there you have it. Three ways to let everyone know how fabulous you are and what fabulous things you can do for them! I’m curious, how do you market your training?

"Expect the unexpected." Have you ever heard this expression? Or how about Murphy’s Law, "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong?" A good trainer should heed these expressions as they apply to us all the time when we deliver training. There are many things that can throw us off our game. For example, a participant can say or do something unexpected, our projector bulb can blow out, a video may not play properly, or unexpected events can happen near or outside of our training room. What should we do? How can we remain composed and stay focused when these things occur? In this blog I will give you some tips to help you stay calm when unexpected things happen so you can keep training effectively. Here are five tips/guidelines to follow: Practice, practice, practice. I know you’ve heard this one before but the more you practice your craft, the less likely you are to be affected by little disturbances. Know your content inside and out. Again, the more confident you are in knowing your course content, the less rattled you will get if a participant says or does something unexpected. Always have a backup plan. Before you teach a course, imagine all the possible things that can go wrong and plan for them. You can have hard copies of slides in case the bulb blows out, or, if some activities do not run as planned, you can switch gears on the fly and do something else. Never let them see you sweat. If you make a mistake when you teach, do not draw attention to it or yourself. Do not apologize for your mistake. Just keep on teaching as if nothing happened. Do not take yourself too seriously. You are human and so are your learners. Mistakes happen. Try not to let the small things knock you off your game. Stay positive and remember that training and learning should be fun. Your learners are pulling for you and they are not out to harm you. Relax and enjoy your job! If you follow these guidelines and make them standard operating procedure, nothing will rattle you when you work. Your learners will be impressed and you can end each class with a big smile on your face!

Written by: Alan "Agenda" is a Latin word meaning "things to be done." Every training session should include one. It is an invaluable tool that can help start, manage, and end a course. Here are six ways to get the most out of your training agendas: Show an overview We’re very contextual when we’re learning something new. We like to see the big picture before getting into the details. As you start the course, the agenda can show your learners just how much you plan to cover in that session, and how it’s organized. Segment a long course On courses that last multiple sessions, the content can be harder to remember. People often confuse things that were learned over many days. Keeping the agendas for each session visible helps learners recall and relate prior content for maximum retention. Transition between lessons When you’re ready to wrap up a lesson and move on to the next one, the agenda makes a perfect transitioning tool. Refer to it and point out what was just covered. Check if any questions remain, and then introduce your new lesson. Reposition content People’s work is often interrelated. Very few job tasks stand entirely alone. During training, this can muddy up the waters. If the course starts getting off track as a result, return to the agenda to refocus everyone. Use it to remind people which part of the job to focus upon. Defer questions Every trainer has received a question that should be put off until a more relevant part of the course. Deferring these questions can make learners feel dismissed at times. If you go to the agenda and point out the part of the course where the question is most relevant, you assure your learners that you aren’t just avoiding their question. Summarize the course All trainers want their learners to feel good at the end of a course. We want them to feel like they’ve accomplished something worthwhile. Showing the agenda(s) can provide that sense of progress. It can also be part of the summary, involving an activity where learners recall key points from each agenda item. Whether you deliver training in a classroom or over the web, an agenda is a powerful tool that can make your job much easier. Use it to keep things organized, timely, and structured. With these benefits, you’ll have more mind space to focus on your learners, rather than the logistics of your course.

Written by: The Langevin Team Let’s face it, not everyone is a good listener. We can use this awareness to find creative and effective ways to be a better listener, especially when facilitating in the classroom or consulting with clients. Here are four instructional techniques that will help you improve your listening skills: Have a series of prepared, open-ended questions printed in large font for easy readability, related to the course content for group discussion. As the instructor you do not participate in the discussion unless something requires major correction or guidance. Engage in an exploratory conversation during which you listen to a question or comment and probe for further detail by asking the participant to be as specific as possible. Asking the learner to provide a specific scenario helps us focus on the dialogue. Truly listen to the question being asked and don’t immediately think you "know exactly" what they are talking about. Think of questions you can ask that will help you discover what information the learner is looking for. Anchor yourself to something specific, like a barstool. When you are sitting on the barstool you turn the "Speaking Power" over to the class allowing you to be receptive and a better listener. When you wish to be more in control of the conversation, stand up and move away from the barstool. The group will soon learn this pattern and will speak more when you sit, and listen more when you stand. What instructional techniques do you use to be a better listener? Please share with us on our blog. We look forward to hearing from you!

Written by: Lynne I once attended a live owl show at a ski lodge up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The session was 75 minutes and the presenters had the audience in the palm of their hands. I enjoyed the session thoroughly as I was given the chance to observe six different varieties of owls. I even enjoyed the presentation leading up to the display of the owls themselves. I appreciated the introductory slide show because the two presenters used very effective techniques to engage the group and keep their interest the entire time. Normally, I find presentations boring, especially when the presenter has poor delivery skills and just drones on and on, spending too much time on one slide. This duo of presenters (a husband and wife team) got only kudos from me. They used a variety of effective techniques taught in our Instructional Techniques for New Instructors, Advanced Instructional Techniques, and Polish Your Presentation Skills workshops. Here are five examples of these instructional techniques in action: To open the session, one presenter asked a thought provoking question to engage the group right away. They gave us an overview of what to expect in the session and let us know when they were going to open up the floor to questions from the audience. One presenter advanced the slides while the other spoke very briefly on each one. They never spent more than two to three minutes on each slide to keep the energy They used humor very effectively throughout the entire lecture to keep us all engaged and smiling. They kept the information sharing and slideshow short and devoted most of the session to what people wanted to see: the owls! These presenters demonstrated many key techniques trainers use every day. They used an engaging benefits statement at the beginning, they provided an overview of the session, they kept the presentation short and interesting, they used humor effectively, and they worked well together as a team! So the next time you are asked to make a presentation remember these transferable instructional techniques!