Archive for creative training techniques
Quick! Count the Number of Ways You Teach
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Quick! Count the number of ways you teach. Are you a ‘one-trick’ pony, or do you vary your teaching methods and strategies often?
The picture is from the last Instructor Development Workshop I just taught. My awesome attendees posted what they thought were the most valuable teaching strategies they got from the session. Wow–they won’t be boring presenters now!
Are you stuck in one method?
We all have a favorite method to teach. Why? Because it’s our behavioral ‘style’. Many of us in the real estate industry like to lecture. Admittedly, it’s the easiest. We can control the audience–we think! We are the whole show. We don’t want input. After all, we must know more than the students, right? We are experts. We want to provide lots of information, and we don’t have much time to do it. So, we talk–and talk–and talk.
The problem with the presenter being the whole show…..
Unfortunately, though, the attendees get real tired of hearing us in about 10-15 minutes. Oh, I know. A very few lecturers can be entertainng for longer than that. But, learning studies show that learning drops way off in a short period of time when the students are not involved.
How much do you want your students to learn–and retain?
You would think, that, the more we talk, the faster we talk, and the more information we provide, the more the students grasp and remember. But, as you can see from the study below, that’s not the case. If we’re just talking, the student retains only 20%. But, if we’re using various other training methods, the student retention goes WAY UP.
The REAL Reason We Rely on Lecture
OK. I’m going to throw back the covers on a dirty little secret: We lecture because we aren’t trained in other methods of teaching. In addition, the courses we are given to teach are not even courses–they’re little books, or ‘streams of consciousness’. So we grab them and talk.
The other big problem with relying on lecture
When I teach Instructor Development, the attendees always want to know how to deal with the ‘chatty Cathys’ or the ‘disruptive Dans’. So, let’s look at how those challenges occur. They occur when we rely on lecture. It’s easy to lose control when someone wants to take over and teach the class to us, or argue, or comment with a war story! And, that only occurs when you lecture or hold a discussion.
Divide and conquer
What if you could develop alternative methods to deliver your content? What if you could divide them in various ways so those chatty Cathys and disruptive Dans couldn’t run their schticks? What if you could control your audience with grace? What if you could help your attendees learn more and retain better? What if your attendees could find your training fun, exhilarating, exciting, and engaging? It’s possible if you learn and use other methods of teaching. That’s what we explore and practice in my Instructor Development Workshop, and my distance learning version, Train the Trainer.
Are you doing sales presentations and need to capture interest and action?
Are you doing clock hour trainings and want to put the excitement and participation in your course?
Do you want me to certify your instructors to teach clock hour courses? Contact me and we’ll get it done! carla@carlacross.com
Why Isn’t Your Training Working for You?
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Why isn’t your training working for you? Every company says they ‘have training’. Yet, whether you’ve been in business 2 days or 20 years, you’ve probably felt frustrated that those hours spent in class–listening to someone at the front (the ‘expert)–didn’t do you any good. Therea��s one reason training doesna��t worka��and herea��s how to make it work for you, so you dona��t waste precious hours in training rooms.
Dona��t forget: Get the Analysis of your Sales Performance Skills worksheet at the end of this blog. This is great for managers to use to plan training needs and for agents to use to assure theya��re refining the skills that make a difference.
Training doesn’t work because it’s not taught right–and the people in the class aren’t doing what needs to be done for training to make a difference in their lives.
A�Herea��s what training needs to help you every time youa��re in class:
A�Training must have action inside class to be effective for you
What do I mean?
A�I mean we have to look at real estate as a a�?performance arta��, not a a�?knowledge pursuita��!
Big question for you: Think of your last 3 trainings–that you took–or you facilitated. What were you doing in class? Listening to the a�?experta��? Or, were you putting to work what you were learninga��while in class, so you could get valuable feedback before you a�?practiceda�� on real peoplea��your clients?
What you need to be doing in class to assure you can do it a�?for reala��:
- If ita��s appropriate, you need to role play (like answering objections, giving a listing presentation, etc.)
- If appropriate, you need to differentiate (like finding mistakes in a purchase and sale agreement).
- If appropriate, you need to practice the actions in class and then go out and do it with a a�?real persona��a��the clienta��and come back and tell how it went (practice a listing presentation, do it a�?for reala��, and come back to class and refine it).
None of these things happening in class? Make it work anyway. Take the a�?actionablea�� items you learned in class and go do thema��for reala��within 3 days of going to class (otherwise we only remember 10% of what we heard!!!!!). Now youa��ve made your own action plan.
Trainers: I just did a series of 5 videos showing how to make your training work. See them on my uTube channel.
Real Estate: Performance Art or Knowledge Pursuit?
Leta��s be honest: Do you know someone in your office who seems to know everythinga��but doesna��t sell a stick of real estate? Sure. Thata��s the problem with treating real estate as a a�?knowledge pursuita��. It has little to do with results. Ita��s a performance art. How you perform in the fielda��with real clientsa��determines your success.
Big question for you: Which kind of agent are you? A a�?performance arta�� agent or a a�?knowledge pursuita�� agent? A�Which is easier to become?
Your Training Should Resemble a Piano Lesson
As a long-time pianist and teacher, I know intimately that, if you dona��t practice, you cana��t play (or you play badly)! Think of effective training like a piano lesson. You practice outside class. You come prepared. You get tips and modeling from your teacher. Then you practice in class with your a�?coacha�� watching and listening. Then, you a�?go out in the fielda�� and practice. You come back ready to perform for your coach again. Thata��s effective training.
Here are 3 things that dona��t work in training (and things for you to avoid):
- Listening for a long period of time and thinking you can do it (you already know that, from your experiences, right?)
- Thinking most company training will a�?do ita�� for you
- Relying on a�?on demanda�� video. Many large franchises are providing video on demand training. Brokers may be relieved that this is going to take training off their plates. I wish. Unfortunately, video training can provide very limited production results. Why? Because people dona��t learn much by watching video. Yes, they learn a little. They observe someone else doing something; they get information. But, they dona��t have to take action.
When youa��re ready to get results from your training, youa��ll be ready to treat your training like the power tool it really can be.
Want to see an effective training program? Check out Up and Running in Real Estate.
Dona��t forget to grab that Analysis of your Sales Performance Skills here. Tell me how it worked for you.