Ever been in a “Training” session where your mind has been anywhere other than in that room and time? Yes, me too and there’s nothing worse to put you off training for life because you are just wasting your time when you’re there for a reason – to learn!

It’s a common theme I hear from many who tell me “I’ve been a Trainer for ‘X’ amount of years”, but actually they’ve never been a “Trainer” because all they do is stand and “tell” information to their audiences.  Often it isn’t their fault as they have only the perception of what they believe training to be and haven’t had the benefit of being developed properly but when this is the case, it’s very harmful to all involved.  So how can you tell if you are a teller?  Here are 4 of the most common tell-tale signs:

You hide behind PowerPoint – Since its introduction, PowerPoint has been such a common tool that people have used for both presentations and training, but it becomes the sole focus.  Big paragraphs with lots of words, tens of slides become something to hide behind and creates that dreaded “Death by PowerPoint” experience.  PowerPoint is an aid to you the trainer and should complement and not rule.

You can see the disengagement – You see the yawns, nodding dogs, distracted body language and bad behaviour. Correct training engages people and gives little time to exhibit the behaviours above.

You feel the nerves – Since you are doing all the talking, you will feel the many sets of eyes on you and then the pressure that brings.  The nerves build and build, mistakes start to happen and then the very worst can happen if you lose it.  Using the right type of engagement will ease your nerves and focus the attention away from you solely.

You hear the negative reaction and feedback – You’re experiencing lots of negative comments around your training such as “Not this again” and “I’ve got better things to be doing”; effective, engaging training will frequently receive positive comments.

Like to make the transformation from Teller to Trainer?  Then join us on one of our PTT Train the Trainer courses where upon completion, you will never deliver nor see training the same ever again.

Scott Fraser is a Master Trainer at Target Training and delivers our PTT Train the Trainer courses and our Advanced PTT Train the Trainer courses.  You can read more about him here.