What Works in the Classroom

03/05/07

How you launch and conduct classroom-based training courses may have almost as much impact on the employees’ success as the material itself. Here are some ways to build rapport and deliver information with flash, dash, and panache.

Break the Ice
Try these time-honored techniques to learn more about each group and start the ball rolling.

Have them introduce themselves. Ask students to summarize their job responsibilities, experience, and what they want to learn from the class.

Have them introduce a classmate. As an alternative to the above, ask students to pair off, exchange information about themselves for five minutes, then introduce their partners. This helps everyone get acquainted.

Request a self-critique. After introductions, ask each person to complete a personal statement that connects them to your course topic. Use this information to tailor your content to specific class members. Examples:

“My way of dealing with coworker conflicts is to…

“I believe I could communicate more clearly with others if I…

“My biggest difficulty when setting goals is…

Change the Pace
How can you destroy the stereotype of a boring lecturer and capture the class’s attention?

Do something flamboyant. Pound the lectern; kick the wastebasket; slam a book on the floor; whistle. Showmanship keeps trainees from going comatose.

Change your speech pattern. Speaking loudly? Drop to a whisper, so they’ll have to listen closely. Speaking softly? Crank up the volume. Rattling off facts? Throw out a few rhetorical questions, and preface your answers with a pregnant pause.

Precede key information with heads-up phrases like, “The teaching point is,” “Here’s what that means in plain language,” or simply, “Write this down!” Use attention-grabbing visual aids. Some possibilities:

Inspiring or thought-provoking quotations on transparencies or slides. Allow a moment’s silence for the meaning to sink in.

Enlarged excerpts from newspapers or the Internet that illustrate your point with real-world examples.

Video clips or sound bytes from public-domain material that illustrate problems you will help the class solve or concepts you’re going to explain.

Promote Participation

Every group has its own personality. Some are enthusiastic and personable; others may respond only to a cattle prod. In either case, here are some ways to engage them with your material and each other.

Print their names in block letters on tent cards. That makes it easy to call them by name.

Enrich and prolong productive discussions. Do that by asking people to expand on remarks, speculate on the causes or effects of problems they’ve described, or offer personal opinions about how to apply course material on the job. Don’t play Perry Mason, however, because some employees may not want to speak out in a group. Compliment or thank those who’ve asked insightful questions or volunteered opinions.

Use personal and work information from the first meeting to involve individual members of the class. Ask questions such as, “How do you think that idea would work on the first shift, Brenda?” or “Mark, do you think what Mary did might reduce turnover among your payroll clerks?”

Be Patient with Yourself
If you’re a beginning trainer, realize that it takes time to develop your own teaching style. Presenters who seem to be “natural teachers” usually aren’t. They became so through practice, self-awareness, and a desire to make each new class better than the last.