Have you ever imagined how amazing it would be to have fireworks in the classroom? Is it even possible to have your participant’s “oohing and aahing” and even end a training event with applause? Believe it or not, our jobs as training and development facilitators are not just about delivering a message, but it’s about delivering a performance. I call this the “Training Big Bang Theory.”
My discovery of the Training Big Bang Theory started about seven years ago. I was in the middle of a career change; transitioning from a college instructor to a human resources facilitator. I was so enthused to start my new career within HR. I thought to myself, everyone is going to be so excited to attend new hire orientation.
Boy was I wrong! Enthusiastically, I walked into my first orientation, welcoming my first group of new hires to their first day. As I looked at the crowd, all I saw were participants sitting in the audience with arms crossed and scowls on their faces. Remaining optimistic I chalked it up to it being cold in the room at 7:00 a.m. on a Monday morning. Then the low whispers and comments began, “This is so stupid…I usually work nights…I’m only here because I have to be.”
Wow, talk about bursting my bubble! I was not expecting this, nor was I used to it. I was an experienced facilitator, having taught college classes. Teaching college was always fun. I had students who wanted to be there and who were eager to learn.
This immediately made me ask:
- What was the difference between facilitating college classes and mandatory training for employees?
- Why was I greeted by eager students as a college instructor, but now in the corporate world, greeted by crossed arms and reluctant participants?
HR and corporate training have gotten a bad reputation due to its mandatory nature. Mandated training has given our participants the perception the event will be cheesy, with no real take-aways. This has also created complacency for facilitators, knowing that training is required. And training for those in the healthcare field is no different.
While facilitating college classes, I was incorporating activities, and I looked at every class as a performance. I thought of my participants, as an audience—a paying audience, in fact. As healthcare trainers, we are often concerned about how we are being perceived by our co-workers and leaders. We want to have fun, but also remain professional. We often hear that our audiences are “professionals” and not receptive to activities and games. As a result, you begin to second guess your delivery and end up with a lack luster performance.
I decided I was not going to be afraid of how I was perceived by healthcare professionals in my training sessions. I made a conscious effort to not only focus on the content, but also the delivery. I began looking at each training event as a performance—and what a difference this made.
The secret is making sure you deliver with a bang, and forget about how you are being perceived. Believe it or not adults want to learn, and have fun doing so! They want to be a part of your learning event, and will feed off your energy, guaranteed.
You can bring a bang to your healthcare-related training event by incorporating the Training Big Bang Theory. The theory consists of blending storytelling, games, scenarios, and role playing while being able to gauge your audience. We know we have different learners in the classroom, and these activities ensure we are hitting on everyone’s learning preferences. The whole idea is to motivate and inspire your participants while they learn.
Principles of the Training Big Bang Theory
Storytelling: This is a great way to share and connect with your audience. Think about the last time you read a story to a child. Did you bring it to life? Were you animated? Did you become a part of the story? Of course, we all do! When you bring it to life the listener is hanging onto your every word. Now flash-forward to a classroom full of your peers. Do you read the story with passion and animation?
Imagine yourself out for an evening at the theater. One person is standing on stage telling you a story with no excitement, no performance. You would want a refund, immediately. If you do the same thing in the classroom, your participants may not ask for a refund, but are going to check out mentally. This is when your learners start thinking about what to make for dinner, create shopping lists, anything except engage.
Games: As a trainer I often hear people say adults don’t like to play games. Or these are professionals and they don’t have time to play when they should be learning. We have been playing games to learn, since we were children, and it is still a great learning tool. When you come home after a day at the office, you turn on the television and have to ask yourself: Do I watch Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, or both? These game shows are geared towards adults and people have been tuning in for years. Games can help your participants tune into your training, but remember your delivery is everything. If you are not enthused, how can you expect your participants to get excited?
Scenarios/role playing: Using scenarios are a great way to bring case studies to life. My team was tasked with making our companies codes of conduct a fun and exciting part of orientation. We did this by creating cards listing each code of conduct. Teams were created; each team selected a card, and was asked to develop a skit, with the best skit being declared the winners. At first everyone moaned and groaned, but it only lasted a few seconds. Then I saw the planning rehearsing, excitement and even competition begin. This was a huge success and at the end of an 8 hour training day, participants were able to recall the codes of conduct, and even explain them.
Pulse check. It’s vital that you gauge your audience throughout training. Once your audience tunes you out, it doesn’t matter what you say or how you deliver it. This is why it’s so important to be able to read your audience and know when to redirect your approach. If people are starting to fidget, it’s a great time to have everyone stand up, grab a beach ball, and start a game of catch—while reviewing material, of course.
Final Thought
Training and development is now being referred to as talent development. As facilitators we are often focusing on developing talent, that we tend lose sight on developing our own talent. As you know, being a trainer is more than just delivering a message. To engage our learners it takes a performance. It can’t be a one man show, we have to invite our audience to participate and become a part of our performance. Don’t forget to bring your fireworks and add a bang to your training events.
