How to Prepare to Train Others

I went to a public seminar a few years ago and arrived about 15 minutes ahead of schedule to start. The coach was flying around the front of a room like a bat. His leader’s guide came out of his briefcase, followed in rapid succession by transparencies, markers, a large number of samples that he would then distribute to the participants, and, believe it or not, a banana. For the next few minutes he was a blur as he tried to organize his supplies and the equipment he would use. You may have had a very good reason for being late. Hey, this was in Minnesota. From what I know, you may have been trapped behind a snowplow your entire trip. But whether the delay was legitimate or the result of poor planning, the result was the same: Not being ready for your session sapped your credibility. If you had arrived on time and had everything ready to go, your group would have been able to focus on the content, not the exhausted presenter.

Doing the groundwork before the session sets the stage for more engaged and less distracted participants and a more effective and less stressed presenter. It ensures that you and all your equipment and supplies are ready to go. Your goal is to start by appearing in control, relaxed, focused on your assistants.

Here are some tips to help you prepare for your presentations.

Get a head start

Can you identify which of these examples is fiction? The presenter arrives at the place of the session and:

• Find that all the windows have been painted closed. It’s 85 degrees outside. It’s hotter inside.
• Find out that it is being redecorated … that day. A worker is busy removing the wallpaper. You are told that the room you reserved for your group is not available, but arrangements have been made in the grand ballroom. It is as big as a tennis court and has 35 foot ceilings.
• Find out that this is where the company stores extra chairs. There are chairs everywhere, at least 200 of them, which equates to about 10 chairs per person scheduled to come. However, there are no tables.
• You don’t see any of the equipment you ordered in the room.

Now, the surprise: this is all true. And these aren’t even the really scary things that my colleagues and I have talked about over the years. The only thing worse than arriving at your presentation site and finding something terribly wrong is being too late to do something about it. So how can you avoid this?

• Please arrive 45 minutes to an hour early. In the best of situations, you have plenty of time to set up your equipment and supplies, and you still have a minute to collect your thoughts. When the worst happens, you have time to correct problems or make other arrangements.
• Prepare the room the night before, if possible. If you are working in an off-site location that does not have the room you will be using reserved the night before, management may allow you to set it up at that time. The next morning, you can arrive a little later (say 30 minutes early) to finish getting ready.
• Put in the place of each participant the resources that you will use at the beginning of your session. This avoids spending the first few minutes of your time handing out materials. Keep whatever you use later in your presentation so attendees aren’t distracted by it.

Check your equipment

When you order that overhead projector, PPT PROJECTOR, flip chart, microphone, video / dvd player, and monitor, you are assuming these tools will make your presentation easier and more effective. Theoretically, this is true. The reality, however, can be a completely different story. The projector bulbs go out. Flip charts have a limited amount of paper. The microphones may be dead, the video / dvd players may have a short circuit, the cable must be connected to the monitor, and the PPT PROJECTOR is not compatible with your computer. We won’t even get into white boards covered in indelible ink. Here are some equipment checks to perform before your session begins:

Overhead projector:

• Make sure you have a replacement bulb (better yet, two) and know how to install it.
• Turn on the projector and check that the glass is clean, not covered with lost ink marks or fingerprints from the last user.
• Secure the cable with tape so that no one trips over it.
• Screen:
• Position it so that everyone in the room can see it. Turn on the projector and walk around the room, checking visibility from all angles.
• Dim the lights around the screen so that participants can see better, if possible. Otherwise, consider where else you could move it that would be a little darker.

Do you have something to write about?

THING PPT:

• Save your files to three different disks if you are using someone else’s computer to display your PowerPoint presentation. For reasons known only to the world of MIS, a disc that works perfectly on your computer will be a failure on another system. Cover your bets. Bring several copies.
• Save your file (s) in different ways. Consider saving as a normal PowerPoint file in the current version, as a “presentation” (which is read-only), and in earlier versions of PPT (PowerPoint 95 or PowerPoint 97-2000). Again, if you are using someone else’s system, you cannot guarantee that they have the same software version as you.
• Email your files if you are working off-site or for a client company and ask the recipient to open it so they know you have a working copy. In some cases, you can send it directly to the MIS person in charge of the team. Ask them to put it on your network / hard drive, so when you get there, you can access it. This is good when you have multiple presentations to make. It is always ready to go.
• Bring your own cables if you are running the presentation on your computer and someone else’s THING NAME PPT so you know you have wiring that a) is present and b) works with your PC.
• Charge your laptop battery (if that’s what you’ll be using to show your PowerPoint slides) or carry a power cord and extension cord to ensure uninterrupted power.

Microphone:

A headset or lavalier microphone can be a great advantage if you are presenting to a large group, the room you are working in is large, or if you are giving a multi-day presentation. I once did a five-day, eight-hour-a-day training course. By the end of the third day, my throat felt like I had a tiger trying to claw its way. Oh what a blessing a microphone would have been! Since projecting your voice for hours is exhausting and can leave you too hoarse to continue, consider using a microphone. Check your microphone for:

• How It Fits Your Clothes You don’t want it to wrap around your neck like a rope, so take a minute to figure out how to put it on correctly. If you are using a headset, adjust it to fit securely so that it does not slip while you move.
• If you have enough cable to allow you to comfortably move around the room. If it’s a wireless model, make sure you have a spare battery or two.
• The quality of the sound. Resolve any creaking, dropout, or deadlock issues in the room before your group arrives.

Flip chart

Ah, the flip chart! The lowest tech team you have, but it gets a workout in every presentation you give. Believe it or not, though, you can throw a curveball or two at you if you don’t get a full look at it. Check things like:

• Whether the mount is sturdy or will collapse if you exhale on it. Older media tend to bend before WHAT IS CALLED THAT ALLOWS COLLAPSE FOR STORAGE /. If necessary, stick the THINGS to open.
• If it is level. If it bends over every time you touch it with a marker, roll up some packing tape and glue it to the bottom of the short legs.
• How much paper is in the notebook and if the remaining paper is clean. (Someone else may have used sheets on the back of the notebook, leaving you with less paper than you thought.) Use the remaining sheets of the original pad to distribute for group work.
• If you have an adequate number of markers on hand. Never, ever trust that a) bookmarks come with you when you order; b) the markers that come with it are not dry, worn, or those horrible markers that give you a headache. Bring yours. Stick to colors that are visible throughout the room, which practically let out anything pastel, yellow, or orange.

Video / DVD player

Make sure:

• You know where the play, stop and pause buttons are on the video / dvd player and the volume control on the monitor.
• The cables are placed between the monitor and the video / dvd player.
• The volume is correctly adjusted to the size of the room.
• It is positioned so that people can easily see it from anywhere in the room.
• No light, including sunlight, is causing reflections on the monitor.

Check your materials

The last thing to review before your presentation is the materials you will be using. Check your:

• Overhead projector transparencies. They are in order? Are they all there?
• Video tape. Is it indicated where you want to start it?
• Leader / presenter guide. Are your pages in the correct order? Are the notes you use useful?
• Job aids, demonstration materials, brochures, samples. Are they present and accounted for? Are they ready to use?

Preparation is the most important stage of any training presentation. When you take the time to really consider the needs of the participants, they will notice and can focus on the teaching points, the exercises, and how to apply what you have shared in their lives.