Ed spoke about Designing any Training in 15 minutes

Ed had us get in groups and discuss our successes and challenges. These groups allowed us to brainstorm a lot of ideas quickly, and then Ed had us come back to the main group and report our top answers.

Some of the training successes:

– Think, Pair and Share 

– Recorded feedback

– Visual, Auditory and Kinistetic – when you get them to move, it can be more effective than visual/auditory

Some training challenges:

– getting involvement – Ed mentioned the Think,Pir, Share method as a way to overcome this

– getting attention – bringing the group back

– speaking after lunch or at 4:00

– varying skill levels

– scaling training for larger audiences

– culture 

Quick and Dirty basic course design

Data – content

Written exercise

Partner share

Group share

Think, Pair, Share – have them work individually (best when written down); then ask to share with a neighbor; finally have them share with the whole group – this helps to overcome the fear of public embarrassment, and allows them to hear their idea in front of one or two people. Then, they will feel more comfortable giving the answer in charge of the group.

Next, Ed discussed the 3D Outline method. I’ve written about this before, and attached a picture with the handout below. In this outline, you determine what your objectives are, why, and how you’ll do it. Finally, you look at the delivery style:

1D – Trainer speaking

2D – limited audience involvement

3D – active audience involvement

All 1Ds? Boring. All 3Ds? You’ll tire the audience. The goal here is balance.