Archive for lecture
Four Ways to Avoid Boring Them to Tears!
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Here are four ways to avoid boring them to tears in a training session.
I just sat in on a training session for new real estate agents, and I had trouble sitting there. Why? Because the presenter was using almost all lecture. Yes, the agents were listening intently. Yes, they seemed eager to learn. But, that lecture was not helping them learn. They needed to get involved!
Not only that, the students were new real estate agents, scared of a new career in which everything was up to them! They needed exercises to get confidence, to create ‘buddies’, and to meld as a team.
So, instead of lecturing, try breaking up your presenter-directed lecture with these techniques:
- Do a warm-up to loosen up everyone, teamify, have fun, and show that it’s going to be an exciting, fun-filled, course (more about how to do a warm-up in another blog).
- Instead of asking a question and letting people raise their hands to answer, turn it over to the group, and work in small groups to come up with answers. Then, name a reporter and compare answers (this is the task force, which I’ll also blog about later). This makes it much more interesting to the people, they get to know each other, and they gain confidence that then can come up with good answers.
- Pair up people to have them compare opinions, thoughts, and answers. You’ll be starting the buddy system now.
- Use accountability: Do you have it built in? You’ll want to build in assignments to complete so the students are learning in the field. That way, they’ll pay much more attention to you and learn a lot more.
Your turn:
How can you use these methods to wake up your students, get them involved, and get them learning at a much higher level?
Top Tips for Trainers: Use the Case Study–Video
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Top tips for trainers: Use the Case Study.
This month, I’m focused on helping trainers refine their skills. So, I’ll be sharing some short videos I’ve made to explain various types of teaching techniques.
Is lecture your favorite method of teaching? Maybe you think it’s your only way! Wrong!!!! In fact, relying on lecture and ‘wimpy’ discussion makes you lose control of your audience–and bore them to tears. Instead, use what we trainers term ‘alternative delivery methods’–teaching alternatives to lecture. Your students will learn much more, will be more participative–and love you to death!
Watch this video on ‘case study’–one of the teaching techniques almost every instructor can put into almost every class.
Want more teaching skills? Join me for one of my instructor workshops. They have 15 clock hours and fulfill the qualifications to become an instructor in Washington state for clock hour courses. The next one ‘live’ is coming up Oct. 3-4 in Bellevue. See more here.
Or, if you want to get certified to teach clock hour courses and learn great new teaching skills ‘on your own time’, check out my distance learning version of the course, Train the Trainer.
Have you already taken instructor courses? If so, you’ll love my advanced course, Beyond the Basics: Training Techniques to Make that Course Come Alive. We use your course and put exciting, innovative teaching methods into it so you gain confidence AND the skills to energize your courses. I’m teaching this course ‘live’ Oct. 23-24 in Bellevue (7.5 clock hours, too).
You can always see all my courses, the calendar, and resources at www.crossinstitute.com.
If You Present: Tips to Stop Them from Being Bored!
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If you teach: tips to stop them from being bored!
Let’s get honest. Do your students get bored when you present? As a student, you know those 71/2 clock hour courses can be killers! The presenter goes on and on. It may be great information, but, after _____ minutes (you fill in your blank), you just zone out (usually about 10-15 minutes!). And, sellers and buyers feel the same way about boring presentations.
Here are 2 quick tips to rev up your presentations, increase your effectiveness, and keep your a�?audiencea�� riveted.
- Ask more questions
Dona��t go over 3 minutes in a listing or buyer presentation without asking a question. How about your presentations? Do you drone on for A? hour or an hour without involving your audience? Quit right now. Thata��s where your audience a�?controla�� problems starta��when ita��s all about you.
Action: Write down a question you can ask during your normal a�?lecturea�� period. Or, as a listing or buyera��s agent, write down a question you can ask instead of droning on over 3-4 minutes.
- Quit lecturing your way through all that time!
You can even do some of this with your sellers and buyers. Involve them in the process!
Action: If youa��ve taken an instructor development course, go back and see where the instructor used a�?alternative delivery methodsa��. Then, find a place in your presentation where you could use one of these methods. Keep expanding your horizons!
The result: Youa��ll have more enthusiastic a�?receiversa��. Youa��ll have more fun teaching, and youa��ll greatly reduce any audience a�?controla�� challenges.
Click here to grab my ‘workshop cheat sheet’, which shows you how to put alternative delivery methods into any workshop–and in which order so they ‘flow’ right.
Is the Course You Teach Just a Lecture (read ‘boring’ to students!)?
Is the class youa��re teaching (or supposed to teach) full of facts and figures? And, therea��s no instructor manual or guidance in how to teach it? Are you finding yourself talking through ita��talking for hours? (Even boring yourselfa��) Are you struggling to make that course come alive?
If you want to energize your course, keep your audience interested, and change their outcomes for the better, you need this unique course!
Bottom line: Youa��ll walk out of this course with the skills to take any boring class and make it highly participative, useful, and fun to teach. Youa��ll get the 3 best methods to use, how to use them, and when to use them to a�?plug them intoa�� any course at the right time. Youa��ll even have time to try out your new methods in your own course and get feedbacka��and watch others, too.A� Why not energize your course, have a better time teaching, and gain business all at the same time?
When: Sept. 12 and 14 (2 half days, so you can polish your course)
Time: 9:30 am to 1:30 pm each day
Where: Bellevue, Wa.
Investment: $149
Accredited for 7.5 clock hours in Washington state
Not in Washington? Contact Carla to bring her to your company or association and invigorate your courses so your students clamor to come back! (and they learn a lot!)