You’ve worked endless hours (including nights and weekends) prepping for this training session.

You’ve set up the room (physical or virtual), welcomed participants and successfully started your session.
Then it happens.

The dreaded “problem children” start to emerge.

In a classroom setting, they’re sitting to the side or in the back of the room texting, chatting, talking on the phone or just being obnoxious. Virtually, they are monopolizing the chat box or are having their own private conversation with another participant, not turning off their mic and providing the rest of the virtual learners with lovely office background noise or making bold (inappropriate) comments that you know they would not have the guts to make face to face! These folks are clearly disrupting the learning process of those around them, not to mention irritating you.

In this session you will learn to:

• Discern whether the behavior is training or non-training in origin
• Decide whether the behavior should be addressed or ignored
• Examine various approaches to help you stay calm, grounded and in control while addressing this disruptive behavior

Join us and learn how to handle disruptive behavior before it rears its ugly head!

As a part of this special presentation, participants were given a handout containing exercises that prompted multiple informative chat responses.  Those transcripts are attached as PDFs below.

Maria Chilcote is Managing Partner of The Training Clinic, a training consulting firm specializing in state-of-the art design, delivery, management and evaluation of training through development and delivery of workshops, certificate programs, on-line courses, publications, training products and job-aids. Since 1977, The Training Clinic has trained over 200,000 people on five continents in train-the-trainer techniques and other topics including interpersonal, sales, management development, communication, administrative and self-management skills workshops.

As a consultant, trainer and designer with over 30 years of experience, Maria specializes in performance consulting, management development, the train-the-trainer process and marketing the training function. Maria has conducted hundreds of workshops for a wide variety of industries including government, retail, manufacturing, hospitality & food service, financial and non-profit. In addition to public and in-house workshops, Maria regularly facilitates webinars, workshops and certificate workshops for Training Magazine and ATD. She is author of many white papers and articles on learning and development best practices. Maria is a very engaging trainer in the classroom, modeling the skills she teaches and blending examples from her breadth of corporate experience with just the right amount of humor!

Melissa Smith is Managing Partner of The Training Clinic, a training consulting firm specializing in state-of-the art design, delivery, management and evaluation of training through development and delivery of workshops, certificate programs, on-line courses, publications, training products and job-aids. Since 1977, The Training Clinic has trained over 200,000 people on five continents in train-the-trainer techniques and other topics including interpersonal, sales, management development, communication, administrative and self-management skills workshops. 

Melissa has extensive preparation in adult learning theory, workshop facilitation and instructional design. Her methodology, which is based on action learning principles, is designed uniquely for each client and is tailored for a specific purpose and output. In addition to public and in-house workshops, Melissa regularly facilitates webinars, workshops and certificate workshops for Training Magazine and ATD. She is co-author of Temperament and Type Dynamics: The Facilitator's Guide, Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types and Teams, and Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types in Organizations and author of many white papers and articles on learning and development best practices. Melissa is a fun, dynamic presenter and course designer who stimulates individual participation, group involvement and learning.