Training Delivery

When planning an effective training delivery, it involves careful consideration of integrating training methods, content, and objectives. You have to consider your audience (trainees) and the training environment. Think about your trainees’ needs and the physical and psychological environment. Try not to keep adults sitting for more than two hours. You’ll find when you approach the ninety minute mark most trainees’ are ready for a break. When considering your trainees’ needs, remember not to talk too much without changing methods or without taking a break. Be sure to plan stretch breaks in to your training sessions. Although, there aren’t usually any physical threats during soft skill training. The environment where training takes place should be a secure one. Trainees are a part of a professional team and trainers should treat them as professionals in a training session. As a trainer, you should focus on content and delivery that will increase trainee effectiveness, efficiency and self-actualization. Another aspect of consideration of the audience is attention span. Long, drawn out lecture sessions are likely to lose trainees’ attention even when the information and delivery are effective. A motivated audience can focus on any task for only a certain amount of time- roughly, twenty minutes. Trainers should keep this in mind when developing the curriculum design, content development, training methods and the use of presentation aids. In addition to being mindful of the length of training sessions and using a variety of methods of presentation, consider the overall tone you want to establish. Your training style should connect with people rather than emphasize information. Successful presentations are interactive dialogues between trainer and trainees. To create a sense of dialogue is to adopt a conversational delivery style. Asking strategic questions during lecture and through- out the session will stimulate dialogue and interaction. In chapter 6, it provides more ideas on training methods that will actively engage trainees. Talk to trainees conversationally, just as you would talk to a colleague or a friend. The four classic methods are Manuscript delivery, Memorized delivery, Impromptu delivery and Extemporaneous delivery. A conversational delivery style is most readily achieved through extemporaneous delivery. I will discuss the others in more detail during class. Extemporaneous style of delivery allows trainers flexibility to adapt and respond to trainees comments and reactions, trainers can also ask questions, trainers can engage trainees in small group activities, and experiential exercises. As mentioned before the physical and psychological environment influences the delivery of the training. Room temperature and the lighting can be physical issues. Making sure the PowerPoint screen is sufficiently bright and trainees can see their materials are very important to the trainer. Other physical aspects are the seating arrangements, which often determines the amount and the types of interaction during training. There are three types of seating arrangements, which are traditional, horseshoe seating and modular seating. Traditional is generally best. The horseshoe is when you want to promote interaction and discussion among trainees. If you want to promote team brainstorming activities, modular seating will work best. Psychological environment are things like the organizational culture. Organizational culture refers to the norms, rules, policies, customs, practices, values, history and characteristics of an organization. As you deliver your training material, monitor your appearance, facial expressions, eye contact, movement, space use, and vocal cues, using them in such a way that trainees are drawn to you and your material. Establish nonverbal immediacy between you and the trainees. Immediacy cues communicate liking and closeness between you and others; they include professional appearance, making eye contact with your trainees, and appropriately reinforcing your movement and gestures to support your message. Use verbal immediacy; speak with rather than at trainees. Use effective affinity-seeking strategies to establish good interpersonal relationships with trainees. Please review this article: https://www.ashfordglobalit.com/article/business-courses/10-tips-developing-successful-training-session.html By Latoya Harris