How to Become an Effective Trainer

I once inadvertently told a client who approached me, looking to develop his people, that he needed “to hire a great trainer” to begin to solve his problem. What I had not realized was that he was attempting to turn his subject matter experts into trainers, and after my unwelcome advice he graciously said, “point taken”. Since that exchange, I have given it some thought and would like to instead provide a little direction to someone wanting to either get into training or improve their skills in helping others succeed.

First, I should tell you that I unexpectedly fell into training over the course of my career. I should also warn you that I might age myself with the examples provided in this post, but these concepts can transcend technological advancement and be applied to any workplace issue or development you are facing today.

Being in the workforce when computer software was advancing at a rapid pace provided me with a significant challenge. I had to learn how to use programs that came with little, or no, instruction at the same time as many of my colleagues. Computers were not originally designed for the mainstream, so learning how to use them was hard alongside the other expectations of my job. I needed a way to figure out, and remember, how to use the various programs I was exposed to. To this, I followed a simple, self-directed plan to develop my skills as a trainer.

Figure Out How Things Work

I started with documenting how each of these new programs worked, and why they worked the way they did. Then I tried to put it into a systematic order so there was some logic to draw on. The next step was creating examples to solidify the instructions I had created. I realized that this was something that I excelled at, and I enjoyed.

Get Noticed and Help Others

My work got noticed. I developed little “cheat sheets” to help me learn the programs and people around me were asking me to help them. So eventually, I was tasked with getting others up to speed in my organization. My ability to breakdown complicated concepts, and provide pertinent examples ended up helping me to expand my career, and I was offered a job at a technology training company.

Learn How to Deal with People

Great trainers need to be great facilitators. Great facilitation required that I could read how people were doing as they were learning new concepts in a potentially challenging or uncomfortable environment. Did they understand what I was telling them? Were they getting that light bulb moment when things became crystal clear? What was their learning style, and could I accommodate that?

I had to understand timings and how I could either speed up or slow down the training process for those who needed it, all the while accomplishing the key objectives of a program. I needed to understand what types of activities would work to enable the learning process, and when to use them. The only way that I can accurately describe this skill is the ability to herd cats. I have many memories of pandemonium in courses when participants went in every different direction, and I needed to rein them in while supporting their individual learning processes.

You might have noticed that I have not talked about content knowledge. I believe a great facilitator can come up to speed on any content. I continue to see too many knowledge experts fall flat without facilitation skills. Unfortunately, it is more prevalent that technology experts, not inexperienced facilitators, take over virtual training from the experienced trainers who are reluctant get into the virtual training space or feel don’t feel confident enough to train on certain topics.

There are plenty of programs that will teach you how to train. If you want to be a great trainer, don’t worry so much about becoming an expert and focus on developing your own process, building your reputation as someone who can teach, and practicing your facilitation first.