The Biggest Mistake Real Estate Trainers Make and What To Do Instead
You’re excited. You’re teaching your first class, and you want it to be scintillating! You’ve never taken a Train the Trainer or speech course, but you’ve watched others teach–so you just copy what they do. Not so fast. Here is one of the biggest ‘launch’ mistakes even seasoned presenters make–and what to do instead.
Take too much time dawdling around at the beginning. They chat, they joke, they ‘create rapport’. Ha! Even worse, they burn time telling attendees about their history, why they are so wonderful, etc. All the while, the attendees are thinking, “When will the class start?”
Instead of dawdling through introductions, housekeeping, and your, ahem, boring bio, launch right into your course. How?
Get them out of their seats in the first two minutes.
Why? Because they aren’t expecting it. What are they expecting? a slow, rambling, chatty beginning–so they can tune out and go on auto. What doesn’t count as ‘get them out of their seats’? Ask a question and have attendees raise their hands. That’s not getting them out of their seats.
Create an Exercise to Mix ‘Em Up and Surprise Them
In my Train the Trainer 2.0 course, I ask each person to create an exercise that’s pertinent to what they will teach–an exercise that gets them out of their seats. I provide feedback on that exercise, too.
‘Segue’ from your Exercise to your First Topic
Avoid doing an exercise just to do an exercise…..instead, make your exercise something that has a conclusion to glide right into your topic. That way, you and your attendees are energized, have fun, and you’ve set up a creative start to an attendee-focused, active learning program. (I give a concrete example in my Train the Trainer 2.0 course, too).
In my next blog, I’ll address some of the other ‘no-nos’ in starting a class. Just like we make judgments in the first few seconds of meeting someone, we also make up our mind about the value of a class in the first few minutes we’re sitting in that seat. Be sure you’re making the best first impression!
Gain Creative Methods to Teach
Most of us have learned this the hard way. Our ‘product knowledge’ and innate talent will only take us so far on the stage. To break through that ceiling of achievement, we need strategies. We need proven skills. We need practice. Train the Trainer 2.0 (online) lays out the skill, and shows exactly how to apply it. Then, you practice the skill. Carla Cross provides invaluable feedback. So, when you try these creative skills’for real’, you’ve already practiced them, gotten feedback, and gained confidence. There’s no other course like this one!
I have been training for years, and attended twice the amount of trainings I taught. This course connected all the dots!”
Julie Colangelo, New American Funding
Check out Train the Trainer 2.0 here.
(15 clock hours; qualifies you to teach clock-hour approved courses in Washington state).
