Training 1.3 (Eng): The Key Elements For a Good Teacher/Trainer (Part1)

Training 1.3: KEY ELEMENTS FOR A GOOD

TEACHER/TRAINER (1st part)

You are a professional teacher/trainer ? You want to become one?  Is there a topic  you know better than most people? Are you able to correctly transmit information  ? To make someone visualize a concept? To use layman terms to explain something complex and or theorical? Do you have good adaptation skills? What are the required comptences to be successful in this sphere?

In a previous article, I have already breached some of these aspects but I only gave an  overview for people to have a general idea on the role of a trainer/teacher. In any training that can be respectfully called as such, the teacher is one of the essential elements and is worth spending a few moments on the topic.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE A GOOD TRAINER/TEACHER?

In the education system, there is a saying that goes like this: "To be a good teacher, you have to be a "parent", a "friend", a "psycho-educator", a "social worker" and even sometimes a "babysitter". Well the role of a professional trainer is a little bit like this as well. Only the names, or the labels, change depending on the clientele that we have in front of us. And believe me, it can be varied! I know for my part that I can give a class to professionals in early afternoon, give schooling help for teenagers by late afternnon and have another couple or group of people sitting around a table with a bottle of wine in the early evening.

One of the best qualities, if not the most important one, for a teacher is his adaptation, his ability to adjust himself to his audience. There are not two people out there who learn exactly the same way or at the same rhythm, so that says it all. The more a teacher will be able to « mold » himself, his teaching, to his audience, the more efficient his training is going to be because it will become personalized and people who follow it will be able to put what they have learnt immediately in practice. 

If you always oppose and/or fight changes because they make you feel uncomfortable, maybe teaching or giving trainings is not made for you. Although, on the other hand, the adaptation skill is something that can be worked on and improved or developped. Some people are born with it but if not, it is not a total loss.

How to help yourself develop those adaptation skills? The answer is simple; get out of your comfort zone as often as possible. Experience things you are not used to do, do various activities with different people, hang out with people not belonging to your usual crowd, discover cultures and other places. Explore different beliefs, but do it all while having fun doing it. Confront your own limits and you will ask yourself afterwards why you had set them in the first place. In a word, broaden your world while having pleasure discovering new things! The bigger your life experience is, the easier it is to adapt yourself.

The second main quality of a good teacher is his knowledge of the subject. This may seem obvious but I can assure you that, unfortunately, it is not always the case. If we are not at ease to talk about a subject, it is only because we either do not know it well or not at all. If we are well versed in a subject, it is much easier to express ourselves and give our point of view. The more we know our subject the easier it is to explain it.

A vast knowledge of the subject also allow us to adapt our teaching to our audience. We can make one type or another of exercises, organize specific activities, or manage role plays that represent appropriate reality  of the subject under study.

This being said, even if we know our subject very well, we will always be confronted to difficult questions or situations in which it will be hard to give an answer. It is practically impossible to know everything on a specified topic. In these occasions, personally, I recommend to be honest. If we do not know the answer to a question, well, we do not and we should admit the fact. That is by far a much better attitude than trying to impress people and answer just about anything. If you try to anser a question to which you do not know the answer, you are gambling your credibility away. If your student realises that you have fooled him, it will be extremely hard for you to regain his trust. 

On the other hand, if you simply admit that you do not know the answer but you make a note of it and tell the student that you will get back to him on this next time, this practice will not only allow you to deepen your knowledge on the topic but will assuredly gain you the respect and admiration of your audience.

Make it a regular practice to verify what is going on in the sphere of your topic. Always keep your knowledge updated, take time to do reseach! Do your homework! J

And with this I conclude the first part of this article. The second one will be here soon, I promise! J

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Louis Carle

Director,

Formation Linguistique L.C.

Training 1.2 (Eng): Is A Good Training Still Possible (Part 2)

Training : Is A Good Training Still Possible? (2^nd part)

In the first part of this article, I gave an overview of the importance of the content and of the teacher/trainer itself to insure the success of a good training.

It is not by chance that I have decided to talk about those aspects first because they are related to a common factor, which is, in my opinion, THE crucial point of the training and is also the third key to a successful training; your AUDIENCE!

3. The AUDIENCE

 

                                                                                                            Vs 

 

                            ???

The first question we should ask ourselves, and this even before we start thinking about the content or the format, is: What is my audience? Who are the people participating in this training? Are they administrative executives? Are they corporate professionals? Are they daily workers? In which field are they working? What is the group age? And so many other question!

By knowing in advance who is going to be part of our audience, we can already start thinking about the main underlying direction of the whole training. We can think about the tone to use; which vocabulary will have the biggest impact. What are the comparisons and/or the examples in order to avoid discrimination or even offending the participants? Which words should we use that will be favorably interpreted? On the opposite side, what are the words/examples that will create a negative reaction?

The more you are able to adapt the content to your audience, the more successful your training is going to be; it will be more enlightening for the participants because they can recognize themselves in what you say and put it into practice.

5.         Audio-Visual Support

Unless you are giving a training about a very complex topic that requires  visualization in order to be able to grasp its full meaning, my own experience advises against using audio-visual

support.

Why, will you ask? Simply because the attention of your audience is not focused on you anymore but on your video, your slides, the kind of instrument you are using, its quality and its technology. In other words, you are bringing them a considerable sum of distractions on a silver tray that will eventually make you lose the attention of one or more of the participants. When this happens, it is difficult to get the attention back, especially if the group is large. You are the one who has the required and sought knowledge from the participants. Keep their attention on you and then you will be able to control a controlled, dynamic and interactive atmosphere.

On the other hand, if you do have to use audio-visual support for your presentation/training. first make sure that it works properly. That may sound trivial but I assure you it is not (you would be surprised how many times I have heard about such a situation!) Also keep in mind that the information you are projecting/showing must be concise, direct, powerful, visually clear and easy on the eyes and that only repeats the general lines of what you are saying. The audio-visual support must not become the presentation/training itself. People will keep listening to you because they will want to know more and this way the attention of every one remains focused on you and not on your beautiful images, your long texts, or your complex graphics.

5.         Material

We have to carefully select the material we want to use in a training. Is it appropriate to the training and its objectives?

For example, in an enterprise linguistic training, we can give exercises to the participants they will answer/fill out directly, in real time, individually or in small groups. Obviously, if I ask them what is the most wonderful place they would like to visit for a vacation stay, I doubt the interest and relevance of this exercise is the most appropriate. But, if I ask them to elaborate different answers to a question that might be submitted to them in an official business meeting and then to explain to me what are the nuances among the different ways that were expressed by the participants themselves, I think this could give them something to use in their everyday life.

Choose material that will generate a reaction, a response, an organization of some kind asking the participants to move, to think, to build something together so they can put to use what you are teaching them. If you run out of idea, do searches on how to animate/direct a training session. There are plenty of articles written on the subject. If procrastination takes hold of you, always keep in mind that role plays are very effective and productive if they are well directed.

We can clearly see that presenting information is not always an easy task and there are numerous factors we have to take into account if we want to be somewhat successful …or have a definite success. Each theme mentioned in this two-part article will be given more attention in the pages to come, in more explicit terms than just a simple check-list.

Write to you soon,

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Louis Carle

Director,

Formation Linguistique L.C.

Training 1.1 (Eng): Is A "Good" Training Still Possible? (Part 1)

IS A GOOD TRAINING STILL POSSIBLE? (Part 1)

I have been teaching English and French in businesses for more than fifteen years and I heard many customers telling me of previous trainings they followed, either linguistic or other. Many of them expressed their satisfaction regarding what they learned in them but I would say that was not most of them. In fact, most people shared their desapointment or discontent regarding some trainings they received in the past.

But these training were based on content they found interesting and/or sought. Right from the start, we should have expected them to be "good", should we have not?

Not necessarily. Not always.

We then can rightfully ask ourselves "What is a "good" training? What are the key elements, that once put together will insure its success?

Right from the start, we have to keep in mind that we cannot please every one. Each individual being different, it would be ridiculous to think that we could reach them all in the same way. But, generally, there are a few combinations of elements that will make your training animated, relevant and most of all, appreciated by the participants.

What are these elements?

 1. Content: It may come as a surprise for most, but I would say that the content of a training is of a relative importance, at the limit I would even say it is the least important factor. Let me explain. I teach languages; the language is there and we use it every day. Furthermore, there is an impressive quantity of information to be found on the Internet about it to help people learn and practice it. It is already there. we are not re-inventing the wheel. Then why would someone come and follow classes about this? It is the same thing for a plumber. If a new, light-flow toilet with an eco-tank is invented and all its parts are in plastic so they do not rust and last a lifetime, he can take the user or maintenance manual, read it, and learn how it works. Why would a company organize a training session on this for its employees?

The answer is simple: people want a solution that is efficient, quick and most of all that represents what they see every day. That is where training has its advantages.In other words, the content has very little value if it is not adapted to the reality of the participants. Personalize the global approach of your way of teaching so people can recognize themselves and use what you teach them. Your training will then give concrete results and the satisfaction rate will reach levels that were undreamed of as of yet.

2. The teacher/trainer. At University, during my Methodology In Psychology course, I had a teacher who, for three hours, always talked with the same monochord tone of voice, without varying his tone even once. It is the only class where I was caught snoring like there was no tomorrow to the great discontent of my teacher.

The teacher/trainer is the number one key of a successful training. If he is dynamic, in a good mood, has a sense of humor, knows his subject well and most of all if he wants to naturally transmit it so it is relevant for the students, his training cannot be anything else but successful.

Either we like it or not, it would be difficult here not to talk about the "control" in the training. The teacher control what happens in his classroom and, like with everything else, too much is like not enough. A good balance favoring interaction among the participants where they can put into practice what they are learning doubled with a guideline to reach specific objectives is practically a magical recipe to guarantee the success of a "good" training.

But, as every good thing must come to an end, I must stop here. After all, I did mention "Part 1" in the title. ☺ I will come back soon with the second part.

Leave your comments! Share your experience! We will all come out stronger!

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Louis Carle
Director
Formation Linguistique L.C.

(Eng) Benefits Of A Private Training With A Physical Person In 2018

BENEFITS OF A PRIVATE TRAINING WITH A PHYSICAL PERSON IN 2018

Since a few years, I have been asked many times what are the advantages of a personalized training, given by a physical person, present in the same room as the student/small group.

Compare to a grammar site, if students have questions, they can receive their answers more rapidly. Explanations can also be addressed in different ways in order to make sure that the sudent(s) have understand well what is being studied. This way, the learning process is not affected; we are not working on a "stop and go" mode, which, most of the times, will greatly impact on the participant's overall progress.

The advantages here are obvious but these days, even if this answer still has some use, it is slowly getting obsolete. This is mainly due to the explosion of different kinds of online training, with visual communication in real-time; the most popular among those are, evidently, linguistic trainings.

If this is the case, is there any advantage to have a class given by someone who is physically present in the same room as you?

The answer is clear: YES. Why? Simply because we can find here the basic principle of human contact and proximity, two words that are at the basis of any definition of teaching.

Yes because this kind of training allows the teacher/trainer to create a synergy among the participants. This energy created by every one's proximity will give the tone to the general ambiance of the class. We can therefore establish a complicity that would be otherwise much harder to obtain through a video conference, for example. Furthermore, it allows the teacher/traner to see all the participants' non-verbal signs and then adapt his teaching appropriately. This is hard to do/know when you can only see the participants' faces.

After all, isn't a a clear and efficient communication the basic fundation of teaching?

Louis Carle

Director

Formation Linguistique L.C.

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Formation 1.3 : Les éléments-clé d'un bon formateur (1ère partie)

Formation 1.3 : LES ÉLÉMENTS-CLÉ D'UN BON FORMATEUR (1ère partie)

Vous êtes formateur ? Vous voulez le devenir ? Quelles sont les aptitudes requises pour connaître du succès dans ce domaine ? Y a-t-il un sujet que vous connaissez beaucoup mieux que la moyenne des gens ? Êtes-vous capable de transmettre une information ? de faire visualiser un concept à une autre personne ? de vulgariser quelque chose de théorique et/ou complexe ? Possédez-vous de bonnes aptitudes au niveau de l’adaptation ?

Dans un article précédent, j’ai déjà abordé quelques-uns de ces aspects. Mais je n’ai qu’en fait survolé le tout afin de transmettre une idée, une vision générale du rôle de formateur. Dans toute bonne formation qui se respecte, le formateur est un des éléments essentiels et le sujet mérite qu’on s’y attarde un peu plus.

À quoi reconnaît-on un bon formateur ?

Dans le milieu de l’éducation, la maxime suivante est bien connue : « Pour être un bon enseignant, on doit être à la fois un pédagogue, « parent », « ami », « psychoéducateur », « travailleur social », et parfois même « gardien d’enfants. » Le rôle de formateur ressemble beaucoup à ceci, seules les appellations changent tout dépendant de la clientèle que nous avons et celle-ci peut être extrêmement diversifiée. Pour ma part, dans le domaine linguistique, je peux donner un cours à un groupe de professionnels en début d’après-midi, faire de l’aide aux devoirs pour des adolescents du secondaire avant le souper et avoir un couple ou un groupe de gens assis autour d’une table avec une bouteille de vin en début de soirée.

L’une des meilleures qualités, si ce n’est pas la plus importante, que l’on puisse rencontrer chez un formateur, c’est sa faculté d’adaptation à l’auditoire. Il n’existe pas deux personnes qui apprennent exactement de la même façon, ni au même rythme ; c’est donc tout dire. Plus un formateur sera en mesure de « se modeler » à son auditoire, plus sa formation sera efficace car elle deviendra personnalisée et ceux qui la suivent pourront mettre en pratique immédiatement ce qu’ils y apprennent.

Si vous êtes rébarbatifs aux changements et qu’ils vous rendent inconfortables, peut-être que l’enseignement ou la formation n’est pas pour vous. Quoique d’un autre côté, la faculté d’adaptation est quelque chose qui est possible d’améliorer ou de développer. Certes certaines personnes possèdent cette aptitude dès la naissance mais, sinon, ce n’est pas pour autant perdu.

Comment aider à développer ses facultés d’adaptation ? En fait, la réponse est simple ; sortez le plus souvent possible de votre zone de confort. Expérimentez des choses que vous n’avez pas l’habitude de faire, faites des activités diverses avec personnes variées, fréquentez des gens, des cultures ou des lieux différents. Explorez diverses croyances en prenant plaisir à le faire. Confrontez vos propres limites et vous vous demanderez par la suite pourquoi vous les aviez établies. Bref, élargissez votre univers tout en vous amusant au fur et à mesure que vous effectuerez des découvertes ! Plus votre expérience personnelle sera vaste, plus il vous sera facile de vous adapter.

Le deuxième aspect principal d’un bon formateur est sa connaissance du sujet. Cela peut sembler évident mais dans la réalité, ce n’est malheureusement pas toujours le cas. Si nous ne sommes pas à l’aise pour parler d’un sujet, c’est simplement parce que nous le connaissons très peu ou très mal. Si nous sommes versés dans ledit sujet, il nous est beaucoup plus facile de nous exprimer et de donner notre point de vue. Plus nous connaissons notre sujet, plus il nous sera aisé de pouvoir l’expliquer.

Une vaste connaissance de notre sujet nous permet aussi de pouvoir adapter l’enseignement selon l’auditoire que nous avons. Nous pouvons construire tel genre d’exercice ou tel autre, organiser une activité spécifique, orchestrer des situations de rôle qui représentent une réalité appropriée au sujet d’enseignement.

Ceci dit, même si nous connaissons parfaitement bien notre sujet, nous serons toujours confrontés à une question ou une situation où il nous sera difficile de répondre. Il est pratiquement impossible de tout connaître sur un sujet. Dans ces occasions, personnellement je recommande d’être honnête. Si nous ne savons pas la réponse, nous ne la savons pas et devons admettre le fait. C’est là une bien meilleure attitude que d’essayer d’épater la galerie et répondre à peu près n’importe quoi. Si vous tentez de répondre à une question dont vous ignorez la réponse, vous jouez l’ensemble de votre crédibilité. Si votre étudiant se rend compte que vous l’avez trompé, il vous sera extrêmement difficile de regagner sa confiance.

D’un autre côté, si vous admettez simplement que vous ignorez la réponse et que vous prenez la question en note en assurant que vous reviendrez avec l’information lors de votre prochaine rencontre, cette pratique vous permettra non seulement d’approfondir votre connaissance du sujet mais vous aura gagné le respect et l’admiration de votre audience.

Développez une routine régulière afin de vérifier ce que se passe dans l’actualité de votre sujet. Maintenez vos connaissances à jour, prenez le temps de faire vos recherches, prenez le temps de faire vos devoirs de formateur ! 

Ceci conclut la première partie de cet article.  La deuxième s’en vient bientôt, promis! J

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Louis Carle

Directeur

Formation Linguistique L.C.