TRAINING

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 3
T O D A Y
If It’s Tuesday, This
Must be Oakbrook

Wayne Turmel ........................3

Training Trainers

Don Sandel ..............................6

From the OD Perspective:

Aesthetic Practice

By Debra Orr-Alfeo ................8

Eleven Ways Trainers Can

Create Terrific Role Plays

By Beverly Feldt, Workplace

THE MAGAZINE OF THE CHICAGOLAND CHAPTER OF THE Productions, Inc. ..................10

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

 If It’s Tuesday,This Must Be
by WAYNE TURMEL
n our best days, we know that training
O is fun, exciting, and a constant chal-
lenge that keeps us at the top of our
game. We also know, if we’re honest with
ourselves, there are times when we would
rather cover ourselves in honey and roll in
an anthill than teach one more session of
“Dynamite Customer Service” to one more
group of blank faces who would rather be
rolling in that pile with us.
Trainer burn-out is an occupational
hazard, much discussed in hotel lounges
late at night after class participants have
gone to bed, but seldom in the light of
day. How can we as professionals stay
sharp and be at our best given the
demands of travel (and don’t let anyone
tell you commuting from the North Side
on Monday morning is not travel time),
the logistical changes we face (we can get
photos from Neptune, but we can’t get
workbooks to a class site), and the often
repetitive nature of what we train?
This problem affects more than the
mental health of those in front of the class-
room. Learners pick up cues from
facilitators. If getting out early to make
your flight or beating traffic is the key
metric of success, your attitude has serious
implications for learner buy-in and partici-
pation. If the return on investment to a
buyer is the adoption of new skills and
Training Today • March/April 2003
OAKBROOK
Keeping training fresh for
you and your participants
their implementation back on the job,
then enthusiasm and sharpness have
significant financial worth. Sharp trainers
are effective and thus valuable assets to an
organization. Stale, ineffective trainers are
a line item.
This article would be almost over
now if it were as simple as saying, “Okay,
so keep your energy up and do a good job
all the time”. If only it were that easy. Most
of us think we do our best every class, and
the signs of burnout are seldom obvious.
Here are some of the leading indicators:
• If you’re still referring to “new
technologies like email”
• If the examples you use in class begin
“Back in the Reagan Administration”
• If you are still drinking coffee at the
11:00 break
• If you find yourself giving answers
to questions they didn’t ask, or giving
the same answer no matter the
question
Essentially there are four areas where
trainers can improve their skills and stay
keen. They are Facilitation and Platform
skills, Business Acumen, General Knowl-
edge, and Technology.
Facilitation
When it comes to Platform and Facilita-
tion skills, few people know their stuff like
Joe Bill. Besides being a long-time trainer
for Communispond, specializing in
presentation and sales training, Bill is a
theater director and teacher at Second City.
He brings that background to every class
he teaches.
“Facilitation is more than just impart-
ing information,” he says. “It’s about having
people accept the information for them-
selves. That doesn’t happen unless they are
engaged.” Calling on years of theater tradi-
tion, he adds “The fact you’ve played this
part a hundred times means nothing—it’s
the first time this group is hearing it, and
you have to play it that way.”
Okay, but how?
“The key is listening and being in the
moment,” Bill says. “You have to concen-
trate. It’s hard work but that’s also when
you get the big payoff—seeing the light
bulbs go on over their heads. That reward
is what keeps me sharp and my head in
the game.”
Part of the trick is to be aware of the
differences between groups, rather than
the similarities. “They may all work for
GE, but the engineers in the South will be
different than the engineers in New York,
who are far different from the accountants
in Denver. Adjusting to the regional or cul-
tural differences can make every class fresh
for the trainer,” says Bill.
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 There are also multiple opportunities they did—a story or an exercise you can
to learn new skills. Some are obvious: incorporate into your training.
ASTD, nationally and locally, offers work- According to an HR specialist at a
shops and developmental opportunities leading Chicago area bank, trainers are
that most members just never take advan- among the lowest per-capita users of inter-
tage of. Even if the subject matter isn’t nal training. In other words, many of us
necessarily appealing, good presenters will dish it out, but we don’t take it. Whether
almost always inspire you with something this is because of our work load, lack of
Quotes Keep It Fresh
“Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.”
—Johnson: Rambler #2 (March 24, 1750)
www.samueljohnson.com
t was in sales training that I first appreciated the power of the quote. I was
training opportunities that relate to our
position, or good old fashioned hubris
is best left to the individual to answer.
Even if you can’t take an expensive
workshop, there are some simple things
you can do in the classroom to stay sharp.
One is to do something—anything—
differently from the way you always do it.
As much as company policy and the course-
ware will allow, try to vary the situations.
Sometimes do an exercise in pairs, some-
times in triads. Use a slightly different
assessment or ice-breaker exercise. Any
change in the routine will sharpen your
senses.
Co-teaching a class is also an oppor-
tunity to stay sharp. Working with your

I listening to a salesman complain yet again about not getting enough hot leads,
that it took too long to prospect—anyone who has done sales training knows
the song. I remembered something I had read the night before from Robert
compatriot to deliver honest feedback and
coaching, listening for how someone else
handles the same material and the exam-
ples they use should inspire you to adopt
Browning; “Those flowers you carry in June are from seeds of April’s planting.” It
was short, pithy and sounded way more eloquent than, “It takes time to develop some of those things in your own training.
leads—shut up and cold call.” Business Acumen
Have you ever wanted to be that person who always had the right quip or
quote at their fingertips? Well technology makes it easy to have the smartest Business Acumen is a vital area of growth
people in history on your side. for almost all trainers. While we tend to
The mother lode of all quote finders is www.bartlebys.com quotations. be subject matter or courseware experts,
This site, based at Columbia University, contains not only the full text of Bartlett’s many organizations feel that trainers don’t
quotations, the most well-known of all quotation books, but the Columbia World know enough about business in general,
of Quotations and Simpson’s Quotations as well. The site has thousands of mod- and their business in particular. According
ern quotes from thought leaders in business, science, and the arts. In addition to to a former training executive at Sun
the world’s largest data base of quotes, Bartlebys has a remarkably good search Microsystems, “training that doesn’t take
engine that makes finding the right quote as easy as finding a Britney Spears site the real business world into account is
on Google. largely wasted.” Since the true value of
Okay, but how do you decide whom to quote? I recommend some guidelines: training is in its application to the busi-
The older the quote the better—if you’re trying to make a point in training, ness, it would behoove most of us to
reminding people that it’s been a good idea since 335 B.C.E. certainly helps understand that business better.
If you’re going to quote someone, make sure you know who that person is. Besides taking courses in introductory
First, it adds credibility to the quote. Second, it adds to your credibility. People are business and reading the business press,
far more impressed that you know who Epictetus is, than that you know anything talk to participants off-line. Ask questions
he said—sad but true. about what they do; try to understand
The age of a quote also helps protect against the winds of change. Two years their businesses. If you are an outside
ago, any quote from Jack Welch was considered gold. There are a lot of people resource to the company, read its website
replacing PowerPoint slides these days. prior to the training to get a feel for what
is driving the training, besides a need for
When in doubt, quote… your wisdom. Then here’s the important
Samuel Johnson. He had an opinion on everything, a magazine to print it in, and part: incorporate it into the facilitation.
I’ll let you in on a secret: If you quote Shakespeare incorrectly, you might get busted Use of new examples, news hot off the
because people have actually read Shakespeare. Nobody you know has read press help create a connection to a
Samuel Johnson in 50 years. Still, there’s a killer website: learner’s world, an increased sense of
www.samueljohnson.com with the quotes organized by topic. urgency, and ultimately, better buy-in
Here are some more cool sites for quotes: and learning.
• http://www.freedomsnest.com/quotes.html Quotes on philosophy and religion There are multiple opportunities to
• www.brainyquote.com 35,000 from Aristotle to Zappa learn about business and what’s happening
• www.insults.net Nothing like being told off by Homer in the wider world. Subscribing to free email
newsletters, while it increases the amount
of spam you might get, is a cost-free way

4 Chicagoland Chapter • American Society for Training & Development

to find out what’s happening in the world
of business, a world that will impact you
directly inside the classroom and out.
General Knowledge
While subject matter expertise is impor-
tant, general knowledge about the world
your participants live in cannot be under-
estimated. This is where analogies come
from, the ability to relate seemingly unre-
lated things or events to make a point. You
also pick up quotes and other resources to
back up your position from unexpected
sources. (See “Quotes Keep It Fresh” on
the facing page.)
“We are very lucky at Ace Hardware,”
says Deborah Rakestraw, a senior training
specialist, “We get $5,000 per year to take
training in anything, from almost any
source. It may not be training related, but
it is all valuable and makes us stronger in
the classroom.” She is quick to point out
that most internal trainers have access to
the same professional development as
other employees, but they don’t always
take advantage of the opportunity. Even
if it’s what NOT to do in a training session,
the opportunity to take any course you
Training Today • March/April 2003
can is important to your ongoing develop- Ultimately, the issue of building your
ment and staying in top form. skills in the classroom and maintaining
“Our trainers are very experienced, focus on the learners is in your own
very senior, and very good at what they do, hands. As Joe Bill says, “Jerry Seinfeld tells
and we monitor them closely. Because our the same joke, night after night, but still
customers (the individual retail stores) pay keeps it fresh for the audience.” Of course
for the training, our folks are held to a very Seinfeld never had to teach seven weeks
high standard, and performance issues are of “Dynamite Customer Service” in a call
dealt with quickly,” she says. In other words, center.
the trainers are expected to keep themselves
Wayne Turmel is Director of Products and Services
sharp and relevant—their jobs depend on it. for Communispond, Inc. In his career, he has been a
standup comic, writer, and used car salesman, as well
Technology as a trainer of trainers. His latest book, A Philistine’s
Finally, technology is an area where many Journal: An Average Guy Tackles the Classics, published
trainers do not keep themselves as informed by New Leaf Books (www.newleafbooks.net) is due
as they should. We’re not talking only out in May 2003.
about classroom technologies like Power-
Point, projectors, and the internet, but the
technology that touches their learners
every day. How many of you have taken
part in a web-meeting? Many independent
consultants haven’t had the resources or
the opportunity, but going to any of the
providers like WebEx or Placeware can
get you a free demonstration. Even if you
don’t use the technology yourself, your
learners do, and it’s their world the train-
ing ultimately has to be applied to.
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