Three Easy Ways to Elevate Your Training
If you're reading this, you already know a thing or two about tech, training, and HRD. Feeling ready to step up your game? Try these three tips to turn your current run-of-the-mill training into a standout session. #1 A picture is worth a thousand words, literally. (Well, almost literally.)
It's going to be hard, but it's time to let go of wordy PowerPoint presenations. You can still provide detailed handouts (or save a tree and go digital!), but if you're presenting on-screen, try replacing text with images, screenshots, infographics, charts, or videos. By making your presentation more graphic, your students will be more engaged, and more apt to pay attention to what you say. You may have heard of the 1x6x6 rule; one idea per slide, comprised of six bullet points or less, with six words or less for each bullet point. While that rule may have worked in the past, it just doesn't cut it now. To start, try for three bullets per slide, but don't stop there. Do you really need bullets at all?
Think of the best presentation you've attended… Did the presenter just read off slides?
No! So why would you?
#2 Kick-off and conclude your training with a live poll.
Although there are many options for live polls, my personal favorite is polleverywhere.com. Polleverywhere is text-message audience response system, where respondents can answer poll questions using their phone's text messaging feature. The service is free, easy, and only takes a couple minutes to create your first poll. Start with a quick poll to evaluate your learner's objectives for the training, or even to do a pre-training learning check. The poll should be designed to instantly grab your learner's attention and transition into the training material.
A poll can also be a great way to end a training; it can be used as a survey to determine what was most beneficial, or as a learning check to make sure the training succeeded in its objectives.
#3 Quiz games can make training fun. FUN!
If your training is fun, your trainees will be more engaged. There is plethora of tech tools that can assist with making your training fun, interactive, and still keeping it learner-centered and performance-based. I recommend Kahoot!, a multi-person quiz-game that's free and easy to get started.
Quiz games like Kahoot! work great, as they allow the trainees to have fun, but really assist the trainer in ensuring the material was understood and that performance objectives were successfully met. If respondents are struggling to get the correct answers on the quiz, it presents a perfect opportunity for the trainer to discuss the concepts further.
If you're ready to take your training to the next level, try implementing one or more of the above ideas in your next session. Think you're ready to be a training all-star? Implement all three!
What's your best suggestion for training to the next level? I'd love to hear it!
Great information! I agree with the more pictures and less words on PowerPoint presentations. I recently read that it creates more emotion for your audience. I also read that the new rule is six words per slide so you are right on with your suggestions. I'm currently creating a quiz game so I'm going to check out Kahoot and see if it will work for what I am doing. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteKayla,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. You have great ideas and suggestions. I really like the point you made about including a live poll. This is could be a great way to get fast and effective information. It will also help with getting a better understanding of your students and their expectations.
Kayla,
ReplyDeleteI am a little mixed on this one. I agree when in class, to much on a powerpoint can be distracting - why even give a lesson if everything is on the slide. At the same time, I like them available for special points in areas like text. I do not always understand what I have read fully, and it is good to have a secondary place to read this. I struggle sometimes remembering things that are not in writing (audio learning, or hearing what I learn is not my strong area).
Live polls can be great - so long as everyone in the class has access. For more than half of my college career, I used a dumb phone, and even now, I do not always use the wifi system the campus supports. In order to perform a live poll, instructors would need to ensure all students have access to something that allows them to do this. Since not all students use electronics that are compatible with it, it would either need to be required for students to have this access - which would exclude people - or the tech of the room would have to support it - which means more money. This is a little bit complicated as an issue.
It could be suggested tech that allows this be added to classrooms, but care would have to be taken to ensure the monetary need is met. Do you have any thoughts on how you might work toward accomplishing this? It is still a good idea.
Hi Annile, sorry for my delayed reply. In the recent training I conducted, only on trainee out of 20 didn't have a compatible device for our Kahoot! quiz game. I had a couple extra devices on-hand, but the trainee preferred to just pair up with the person sitting next to them. Polleverywhere is completely text-based and doesn't require internet access, whereas Kahoot! requires web access; so, if there was concern regarding the technology, Polleverywhere would be a safer bet.
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