Show Me Your Training & Coaching Skills

We’ve all once sat as participants in some type of training event. And I’m certain you remember whether the instructor or coach was effective or a total wreck. You notice the good and probably notice more the bad ones especially if you’ve ever led a session. Instinctively you say to yourself, “I can do better”, if they’re bad, or “how can I emulate this trainer” when they’re really good.

It really doesn’t matter if you have extensive training experience, conduct an occasional workshop orientation session, or simply lead a department it’s to your professional benefit to develop or to refresh specific learning transfer skills.

Lets try a quick exercise together. Think back to a recent training session you were a participant and ask yourself, what made the instructor effective or ineffective?

For the good ones, what comes to mind is usually the trainer’s professionalism, how well they conducted the course, how they made it relevant to you, and how the course helped you to develop knowledge, skills and a positive attitude to make you more effective in your job.

For the bad training sessions, the stories are usually about how it was boring, possibly they didn’t target the right skill level or the trainer just didn’t have the skills to effectively communicate with participants.

Many think that effective trainers have a depth and wealth of subject knowledge. This is a myth. And because of this myth many subject experts and managers are thrown into a training role.

But you know what happens most of the time? Participants get frustrated with the expert or manager because they can’t translate their knowledge into concepts the audience can easily understand. Even though the expert or manager knows the subject they don’t have the learning transfer skills that leads to a poor training experience.

Another common example leading to poor training experiences is when a trainer or coach doesn’t have the required knowledge. And while they may have other facilitation skills, participants feel that the trainer crammed a textbook or an operator’s manual the night before the session.

It’s true that having depth of knowledge is an asset to effective training but it’s not the only or even the most important training skill. The best trainers and coaches are often not the most knowledgeable in the topic they train. There are many other contributing factors to a successful training session and to being an effective trainer including:

• The knowledge and skills to train effectively
• Well-developed communication and interpersonal skills
• And a positive problem-solving attitude

Expertise vs. Training Skill

The good news and stress reliever is that you don’t have to be an expert to train a topic. But this doesn’t mean you can simply stand up in front of a group and hope they learn something. Without a doubt you need working knowledge, experience, plus the training skills that allow you to effectively transfer your knowledge to others.

Effective and experienced trainers ensure participants leave knowing the core concepts they came to learn and that they’re able to apply them in their jobs. And even though these trainers are effective, they strive to continually improve their training skills.

Is it Hard to Develop Your Training Skills?

The question we often get asked from aspiring trainers, is it hard to become an effective trainer? The short answer is no. Whether you’re new to training or have years of experience there are resources, like my leading Lynda.com Train-the-Trainer course, that gives you an opportunity acquire or develop core training skills.

As you embark on this journey to develop or sharpen your training skills take a moment to reflect on your needs. Ask yourself do you have training skills? If so, what skills do you want to develop? And finally, what steps will you take to become a better trainer, instructor, or coach?

If you're like me, conducting a training session is overwhelming process. So if you want participants to walk away with a positive experience then remember to keep it simple and to continually hone your training skills. Know that the best trainers and coaches are continuous learners so use this time to become one yourself.

Don't be complacent and refresh your training skills now. You can do it in 1-hour registering for this LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com) Train-the-Trainer elearning course designed for both recent trainers or seasoned veterans. Learning is not only for your participants...as a trainer your must lead by example and be a learner yourself. So, please #alwaysbelearning

Ajay M. Pangarkar CTDP, FCPA, FCMA is co-founder of CentralKnowledge.com and LearningSourceonline.com. He's a renowned employee performance management expert and 3-time author most recently publishing the leading performance book, “The Trainer’s Balanced Scorecard: A Complete Resource for Linking Learning to Organizational Strategy” (Wiley), award-wining assessment specialist with Training Magazine, and award-winning writer winning the 2014/2015 prestigious TrainingIndustry.com Readership and Editors’ Awards for the Top 10 most read articles. Help them start a, “Workplace Revolution” at blog.centralknowledge.com or contact: [email protected]