Recently,  I was in Manchester and my fellow trainer Bryan was in Birmingham where we were simultaneously delivering our PTT Train the Trainer course. Interestingly, one of Bryan’s delegates raised an excellent point while the same day, I was dealing with a question that highlighted the same point; “Why it’s so important to stand while delivering Training”.  This made me immediately think “Great, I’ll write a blog on that”...

If you consider that globally, 40% of the population have a preference for learning visually, we must consider what that means to us as trainers.  Yes, we can provide great aids like PowerPoint with images and videos plus flip charts and handouts etc, but they are ALWAYS purely an aid to YOU.  You and your body language (BL) are the most important visual aid in the classroom.  This means that your body language is one of the most crucial things you must get right as a Trainer; never forget that your audience will be reading your BL all of the time as it’s an innate skill we all possess.  Getting your BL right then means demonstrating it positively in an open, natural manner; If you close off your BL, it will be immediately read by your audience as negative and can very quickly disengage your audience.  Closed BL can include creating barriers or hiding parts of your body and when you sit at a desk you are hiding your lower half and then sometimes it can get even worse by then hiding behind a laptop or computer where you will really only then see a face.  Another great example of this in action was when the delegate on my course gave feedback on someone else’s delivery stating that she had, “Hidden behind the chair so I couldn’t see you.”  Interesting then that the gentleman who gave the feedback asked later, “What about standing behind a stage or lectern” to which I referred him back to the feedback he had given earlier!  I also once saw a political debate on TV where both started behind lecterns; one of whom stood behind whilst he addressed the audience whilst the other came out, moved forward and addressed the audience with natural, open body language; I’ll let you guess who won that particular debate.  When I deliver training I always stand however, there are times where sitting will work e.g. When I do 2-way feedback sessions it will always be sat down, because you are far more likely to get open and honest feedback when you create that rapport and use the appropriate body language on the same level as the other person.  Remember, that a good trainer will always consider the type of session they are delivering and will choose the most appropriate means that ensures positive, open, natural body language.

On our Train the Trainer courses we not only give you the right tools to demonstrate positive, open BL you get the chance to demonstrate it and get feedback from our team of experts.

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.