Creating an Active Training
When designing your training plan you must also keep in mind the objectives you wish to fulfill at the beginning of the session. Either if it’s a BANG, a teambuilding exercise, a group assessment or goal setting, always keep in mind your audience and their specific characteristics. The way you open a presentation will set the tone of your course. Specifically, keep in mind:
1. Level of threat • How well do you know your audience? • Will they be open to new exercises and ideas or will they be hesitant and reserved as you begin your presentation? • Be aware of your opening exercise so that it does not expose your participants’ lack of knowledge or skills; be prone to engage them in an activity that encourages opinions on a familiar subject in order to create a relaxed environment.
2. Group Characteristics • Would you use the same type of activity for an audience of managers as for an audience of students? • Presumably your answer is no, therefore adjust the level of the exercise to the type of audience you are delivering for.
3. Connection to content • The conclusion of your chosen activity should be related to the rest of your training. • By tying an icebreaker to the content of your training, you are creating a transition stage that will help the audience smooth into the subject.
Even after you have created an amazing opening for your presentation, group attention or understanding may disappear in a moment’s notice, therefore we shall present 8 methods to keep the participants engaged and transform a usual training into an active one
1. Sharing • Pose an open question and ask the participants to feel free to share any opinions. • You should ask this type of questions when you are sure the audience wants to be involved. • Control the sharing period by stating “I would like to get 4 or 5 opinions….”
2. Anonymous answers • Pass index cards around the audience and ask them to write the answer/s on the card without having to write down their names. • The anonymity of the cards will offer you truthful opinions and it also saves times for the conciseness of the cards.
3. Questionnaires • Create a brief questionnaire that can be answered easily and can be verified fast. • Sharing the results of the questionnaires during the training will be extremely appealing for the participants.
4. Buddy system • Ask participants to group in 2’s in order to answer certain questions/questionnaires. • This system is efficient in creating a collaborative environment but time to create bigger groups is not enough.
5. Whips • Move around the audience and obtain short answers to key questions. • The questions posed through this method should offer multiple answers, for example: A leader’s main skill is ….. • Ask the audience to offer different answers, personal opinions and not repeat the past responses.
6. Panel • Invite in front of the audience a small group of representatives to share their views on a certain matter. • If time allows it, rotate the members of the panel so as many participants as possible may offer their insight.
7. Fishbowl • Select a part of the audience to form a circle and begin discussing the requested subject, as the rest of the audience listens from outside the circle. • Shift people from the outer circle into the discussion circle to keep the discussion going and offer new perspectives.
8. Games • The variety of games, from icebreakers, to puzzles, quizzes or team challenge can help challenge your participants’ knowledge and ideas, bringing forth a key message of the training.
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