Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Members are withdrawing from TC one by one
Recent withdrawals/resignations from Trainers Circle
Ramakrishnan
Myself
CSN Raja
Sam Naidu (Sampath)
Jayalatha
Abhi
Ramjee
Venkat
Raja
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Mastering Gamification
Pl. watch a video on this topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O1gNVeaE4g
Rgds
A.Shanmugasundaram
98404 85595
Watch video on Gamified E-Induction
Dear Trainer friends,
Are you aware of the latest developments in the field.
Gamification is a new buzzword in training.
To know a little about Gamification watch a video
http://tinyurl.com/ndevxpv
Rgds
A.Shanmugasundaram
Vice Chancellor
University of LIFE
98404 85595
Are you aware of the latest developments in the field.
Gamification is a new buzzword in training.
To know a little about Gamification watch a video
http://tinyurl.com/ndevxpv
Rgds
A.Shanmugasundaram
Vice Chancellor
University of LIFE
98404 85595
How to market your training ?
Dear Trainers,
How to market yourself and your training ?
If you find these tips useful, give your feedback by SMS to me.
How to market yourself and your training ?
I am not going to charge you Rs.3900/- for this. Take it FREE.
1. Are you sure, in which area you are powerful ?
Which topic you can handle well ?
Which topic you always have more stuff and don't find time to finish ?
Which topic, still more slides are to be shown but you have to cut short ?
Find out your KRA = KEY RESULT AREA.
As for as I am concerned, in two areas I can do well
1. Motivation: YES YOU CAN.
2. Mind Power: How you can program your mind for success.
I give preference for these topics when I market myself. In your area only, you can get a very good feedback.
2. Print 1000 visiting cards every year. Never hesitate to handover your visiting card to a stranger. Always introduce yourself with your visiting card only. Who knows, any person can bring business at any time.
3. Networking:
Attend other interesting meetings. Meet as many people. There are many professional forums in Chennai, conducting regular meetings. Once in a while,attend as a guest and share your visiting card. Talk for two minutes or so as a feedback about their program. Cover the audience in this two minutes. Everybody will turn towards you, 'Who is this gentleman ?' 'Seems like more knowledgeable' feeling will spread. Definitely they will love to get your visiting card. Either you may get business in their company or for your future public workshops.
4. Go for many guest lectures. Try to influence your contacts for guest lectures at Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs,
Women's Clubs/Ladies Clubs, Residents' Association, etc. Try for just 90 minutes speech. Mesmerize the audience with this 90 minute speech. If you cover these audiences, your future business is assured.
5. Collect email database of HR Managers:
Collect as many email addresses of related people. You can always send just 10 to 15 lines messages about training programs or your public workshops. Don't send often. Once in a month will be nice.
Don't write lengthy messages. People don't have the patience to read.
Write about interesting topics for corporates:
Why training is required ? What is the ROI for training ? Recent survey about training on workforce.
6. Try to talk to HR Managers for an appointment for about 10 minutes.
Initially, no HR Manager will permit you. You assure them that you will not take more than 10 minutes of their valuable time.
Present your views about training, your methodology, etc. Initially ask for one program at a discounted fee. If they allow you for a discussion, then make sure you are converting this into a business.
Your first program should grab future confirmed businesses.
7. Build a beautiful professional website. Your website should talk about you. Initial cost may be there. Right from Rs.15000 cost, you can build a website. There you have to add some of your training videos (may be 3 minutes or 5 minutes), feedback videos, list of clients, list of topics you handle. Some other innovative information in your website should draw people towards it. May be everyday you can add some motivating message in a particular column (if is a dynamic website, you can change it without the help of software people). Never mention about the fee anywhere.
8. You can also prepare video resume, to be sent to the companies.
9. Take a list your earlier clients, have constant touch with them. In some companies, previsous HR people might have left. Create a contact with the new people telling your earlier programs and feedbacks in the same company.
10. Try to use your influence in your contacts to go for TV shows on training areas. To start with, you can appear in morning shows.
11. In the long run, you have to advertise. Without publicity you can't grab business. But analyse, on which area you are spending.
I spend about 5K to 12 K every month on neighbourhood newspaper ads, notices ads, bus advertisements, ads in Hindu, etc. More the money I spend on advertisement, I am expanding my horizon.
If I don't spend for any ad, my participants will be less for my public workshops.
12. Every year you should post about 500 letters to different corporates (or colleges if you take programs for colleges also). Include your visiting card along with your letter. Your visiting card will speak. If you get
even one new business, your cost is covered. Balance 499 is investment for future business. You have planed seeds. It will give you harvest.
13. Tie up with training consultants till you get experienced. They may take 40 % to 50 %. We should not bother about how much they are taking. How much you are getting is the matter. May be after 10 years of experience, once you have more confidence, you can have direct business, like me.
14. You can appoint some marketing people not on salary basis, but on referral commission basis. Once business is clinched you can share. Otherwise, no amount will be paid. Housewives, people working from home, can do this type of jobs.
15. Email campaigns for some event: One event may be organized by you. You invite corporate HR people.
Issue complimentary passes. Let them taste your style.
16. Writing blogs regularly is an added tool.
17. Identify the primary target market and start contacting them regularly.
18. Urbanpro.com is a useful site for links
19. Use free classified online advertisement sites to post regular ads.
20. Business Magnet monthly magazine offers cheapest advertisements. 1200/- for half a page.
21.Attend NLP Certification Course. If you are NLP Certification trainer, entry to corporate will be easy. Whether you use the techniques or not, is not a matter.
22. You can become a Certified Training on a particular subject. Lot of international companies offer such certified training courses. You can put the tag as "Certified Trainer". That is an added value.
23. Analyse your earlier failed attempts: Whether anything has to be changed from your side. Learn from your experiences.
24. When you discuss with HR people, try to know their requirements. Initially don't project your training programs first. Once you listen their requirements, you can design a training program with their help. Afterwards, you can always add your training topics slowly.
25. Design a colourful brochure. You have to spend for it. I started this very late only. Even now, I am not ready with more than 2 designed phamlets.Due to experience and wide contacts, I am getting regular trainings. It may not be case for everybody. You have to use brochures.
26. Project to HR people about the effect of training, don't commit about the ROI on training. You can say "Definitely, my training program will have an impact, of course, not overnight".
27. Seek testimonials from your clients and add it in your brochure/website.
28. Always search for Hot Leads from your contacts/strangers, whoever you meet.
If you find these tips useful, give your feedback by SMS to me.
Further points will be added in the next post in this same blog.
Bye now,
Rgds
A.Shanmugasundaram
98404 85595
"What would be 5 basic attributes/criteria to judge a trainer?"
Discussion among the trainers on the above topic is given below:
Alive and sensing
Depth of learning shared
Openness to seek and accept feedback
Creating a Learning space when training
Friendliness
Couldn't agree more with Mr Vivek Mendonca, but would like to add a couple of my observations.
* A lot DEPENDS on the Middle n Top Management from client side. As many times a lip service is paid by them but really not taken seriously by themselves.
* Follow up sessions should be encouraged and paid for with active participation from concerned dept managers.
* A trainer is a giver, not a magician, so onus of making best of the training lies on client.
4) Most Important - The persons who take the call on training / trainers, are they equally experienced if not more than the trainer to judge the trainer. (Sad truth is many a times person lot less experienced than the trainer is sitting in the chair of HR Mgr/HR Head or any other decision maker.
Totally agree with Sarma PVS's views. Daniel, have an observation on your comment- what you are saying is an ideal state to be in, but unfortunately, the world we live in , everyone sits on judgement on everyone else, and that includes trainers....hence this discussion ...
I am not writing about an ideal state to be in . I am writing about the correct word to use.The correct word to use is "Evaluate a trainer" not "Judge a trainer".Words usage plays a very important role in training, facilitating , coaching and consulting. The higher up you rise in an organization the more important it becomes to make a distinction between the nuances of word usage so that the right message is conveyed without being misunderstood.. .
What do you judge after all, when you are not a trainer and you don't attend the session yourself. This is like creating a marketing strategy for the consumers that you never met in life. Understand all trainers are unique individuals with diverse backgrounds so also the learners. It is, therefore, very difficult if not impossible to judge someone comparing with others in this matter. If asked, everyone will have their opinion divided, if so what are they trying to judge here. Well, perhaps, you might wanted to say various skills of a trainer. Fine, these are simply the attributes to be established as a trainer before one get into professional training. There is no compromise on it. However, I still find it incomplete and imperfect (perfection itself is imperfection). Organizations have to identify what attributes are most suitable to their learners and pitch on it. Those who judge trainers after the training hours are simply trying to shift the blame for their own inefficiency to identify what is needed for their learners or they have complete lack of understanding of what is training is all about.
Why only 5 basic traits? Are 5 sufficient to assess capability? Why not 7 or 3 or 10?
Evaluate Vs Judge...I agree Daniel ....Thanks for pointing it out..it indeed makes a difference....:-)
Thanks Daniel for pointing out...Let's have your views on what are the 5 most basic and essential traits common across trainers to evaluate or assess their capability..if we were to have an objective score common across industries or types of training for trainers' capability...which traits one should have to be a called an effective trainer... Thanks everyone for brilliant inputs
Every day in the morning I open my diary and write down my goals for the day (expectations ). Goals are set for the morning. for the afternoon and for the evening. Every day I evaluate myself based on the goals set.(feedback based on the expectations set for the day verses reality ). Every two hours I keep track of time and write down in real time how I am proceeding towards my goals. If I find myself diverting my attention doing what I love to do and enjoy doing instead of doing what is needed and wanted or what is the most useful thing to do at that point of time - then I know that there is something wrong with my being that is why I am diverting my attention and creating a knowing doing gap.. If this happens over a period of time for many days then I know I am subconsciously avoiding what is needed and wanted and have to take serious action to set things right before it becomes a crisis . Training is designed in the same way . One session is designed in five different ways at different levels as I do not know how the audience will react. So in effect I am designing five different sessions to do one session with five different examples,stories, metaphors based on what what is needed and wanted by the audience. Of course before the session I boil it down to plan A and Plan B and very rarely had to shift to Plan C or Plan D or Plan E Goals are set for each session. If it is a ninety minute session it is broken down into ten chunks of nine minutes each and If I divert my attention for more than ten minutes then I got to get the training back on track. Every minute is tracked and going off track for a few minutes is ok but going off track for ten minutes is dangerous.. . There is no such thing as five essential traits that are common across industries as even within the same industry the culture of one organization varies from another organization and as Peter Drucker says " Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast", Even an excellent trainer has good days and bad days and Trainers are human beings who also have a bad day.They are only as good as their last training so they must constantly evaluate themselves .Just as every individual has a unique DNA a unique fingerprint a unique eye scan each and every training program is unique even if it is for the same organization because people are unique, groups are unique. Try using my methodology for one week and share your experiences. I can only share what works for me . It may work for you or it may not. May be you have a better method to evaluate training - so be it - I use what works for me and you use what works for you.. If there is something common between what we do fine if there is nothing common between what we do that is also fine..
.
An interesting question and one that I have centre stage in the opening definition sessions on my UK “Train the Trainer” courses. Five is just too prescriptive & absolute to cover everything so with apologies to your question,Neeta, I have actually enumerated nine below. But nothing to stop you picking and mixing your favourite five. However, I suggest they are all inextricably linked and like horses and carriage you cannot really, as the song goes, have one without the other. Haha
* to be non-judgmental
* for ambiguity
* to appreciate and communicate respect for other people's ways
* to demonstrate empathy
* to be flexible
* to acquire new patterns of behaviour
* to acknowledge what you don't know
* to see the bigger picture
* to challenge inappropriate behaviour and provide feedback
Energy Level, Simplicity to connect with audience, handle class room, make learning fun & ensuring active participation of trainees .
Selfless. Unbiased, motivating, communicator and an effective coach.
The attributes are to be viewed in their deepest sense
What do you intend to measure? Why does the trainer matter? If you want the trainer to be effective, is there a way to ensure that before the intervention and not after? Can you design a learning experience that continuously enables real-time fine-tuning of the learning experience? Seek not a post-mortem. Step back and see how you can deliver on the whole without relying on any one part.
My training experience has taught me that every day is a new day for a trainer especially if s/he has to face a new batch of learners. Since the demographics of each batch will be different, the approach of the trainer need to be different for different batches. Therefore, the flexibility of the trainer becomes very important for effective learning. That can be made possible only when the trainer has complete hold on the subject he is sharing with the audience. I do not think that we can have just 5 common traits for all the trainers. In that case training will become mechanical and may lose the human touch especilly for the life skill and soft skill training. The moment that happens, training will lose its impact. Let us leave it to the audience to judge their trainers.
Absolutely right Mr Romesh Raina Sir .
I am glad that you are endorsing my view. I hope you are doing fine.
Thanks for your comments Raina Sir. So I could gather two essential traits from what you have mentioned -
1) Flexibility and 2) Domain knowledge
2 days ago
I am glad you are very active on the forum. It feels good when someone already known to you invites suggestions from the other members. This speaks volumes about the person's willingness to learn. I feel this is the best form of learning as people with different backgrounds come out with differenet points of view. That way you not only get the answers you are looking for but also get some new dimensions. That is value addition! Keep it up.
As said before, a great trainer can be derailed by an unreceptive audience/group. Making sure the class is engaged. At the end of the training, when the class is ask about the trainer and responds with, "I would love to take further training with the trainer!"
Alive and sensing
Depth of learning shared
Openness to seek and accept feedback
Creating a Learning space when training
Friendliness
Couldn't agree more with Mr Vivek Mendonca, but would like to add a couple of my observations.
* A lot DEPENDS on the Middle n Top Management from client side. As many times a lip service is paid by them but really not taken seriously by themselves.
* Follow up sessions should be encouraged and paid for with active participation from concerned dept managers.
* A trainer is a giver, not a magician, so onus of making best of the training lies on client.
4) Most Important - The persons who take the call on training / trainers, are they equally experienced if not more than the trainer to judge the trainer. (Sad truth is many a times person lot less experienced than the trainer is sitting in the chair of HR Mgr/HR Head or any other decision maker.
Totally agree with Sarma PVS's views. Daniel, have an observation on your comment- what you are saying is an ideal state to be in, but unfortunately, the world we live in , everyone sits on judgement on everyone else, and that includes trainers....hence this discussion ...
I am not writing about an ideal state to be in . I am writing about the correct word to use.The correct word to use is "Evaluate a trainer" not "Judge a trainer".Words usage plays a very important role in training, facilitating , coaching and consulting. The higher up you rise in an organization the more important it becomes to make a distinction between the nuances of word usage so that the right message is conveyed without being misunderstood.. .
What do you judge after all, when you are not a trainer and you don't attend the session yourself. This is like creating a marketing strategy for the consumers that you never met in life. Understand all trainers are unique individuals with diverse backgrounds so also the learners. It is, therefore, very difficult if not impossible to judge someone comparing with others in this matter. If asked, everyone will have their opinion divided, if so what are they trying to judge here. Well, perhaps, you might wanted to say various skills of a trainer. Fine, these are simply the attributes to be established as a trainer before one get into professional training. There is no compromise on it. However, I still find it incomplete and imperfect (perfection itself is imperfection). Organizations have to identify what attributes are most suitable to their learners and pitch on it. Those who judge trainers after the training hours are simply trying to shift the blame for their own inefficiency to identify what is needed for their learners or they have complete lack of understanding of what is training is all about.
Why only 5 basic traits? Are 5 sufficient to assess capability? Why not 7 or 3 or 10?
Evaluate Vs Judge...I agree Daniel ....Thanks for pointing it out..it indeed makes a difference....:-)
Thanks Daniel for pointing out...Let's have your views on what are the 5 most basic and essential traits common across trainers to evaluate or assess their capability..if we were to have an objective score common across industries or types of training for trainers' capability...which traits one should have to be a called an effective trainer... Thanks everyone for brilliant inputs
Every day in the morning I open my diary and write down my goals for the day (expectations ). Goals are set for the morning. for the afternoon and for the evening. Every day I evaluate myself based on the goals set.(feedback based on the expectations set for the day verses reality ). Every two hours I keep track of time and write down in real time how I am proceeding towards my goals. If I find myself diverting my attention doing what I love to do and enjoy doing instead of doing what is needed and wanted or what is the most useful thing to do at that point of time - then I know that there is something wrong with my being that is why I am diverting my attention and creating a knowing doing gap.. If this happens over a period of time for many days then I know I am subconsciously avoiding what is needed and wanted and have to take serious action to set things right before it becomes a crisis . Training is designed in the same way . One session is designed in five different ways at different levels as I do not know how the audience will react. So in effect I am designing five different sessions to do one session with five different examples,stories, metaphors based on what what is needed and wanted by the audience. Of course before the session I boil it down to plan A and Plan B and very rarely had to shift to Plan C or Plan D or Plan E Goals are set for each session. If it is a ninety minute session it is broken down into ten chunks of nine minutes each and If I divert my attention for more than ten minutes then I got to get the training back on track. Every minute is tracked and going off track for a few minutes is ok but going off track for ten minutes is dangerous.. . There is no such thing as five essential traits that are common across industries as even within the same industry the culture of one organization varies from another organization and as Peter Drucker says " Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast", Even an excellent trainer has good days and bad days and Trainers are human beings who also have a bad day.They are only as good as their last training so they must constantly evaluate themselves .Just as every individual has a unique DNA a unique fingerprint a unique eye scan each and every training program is unique even if it is for the same organization because people are unique, groups are unique. Try using my methodology for one week and share your experiences. I can only share what works for me . It may work for you or it may not. May be you have a better method to evaluate training - so be it - I use what works for me and you use what works for you.. If there is something common between what we do fine if there is nothing common between what we do that is also fine..
.
An interesting question and one that I have centre stage in the opening definition sessions on my UK “Train the Trainer” courses. Five is just too prescriptive & absolute to cover everything so with apologies to your question,Neeta, I have actually enumerated nine below. But nothing to stop you picking and mixing your favourite five. However, I suggest they are all inextricably linked and like horses and carriage you cannot really, as the song goes, have one without the other. Haha
* to be non-judgmental
* for ambiguity
* to appreciate and communicate respect for other people's ways
* to demonstrate empathy
* to be flexible
* to acquire new patterns of behaviour
* to acknowledge what you don't know
* to see the bigger picture
* to challenge inappropriate behaviour and provide feedback
Energy Level, Simplicity to connect with audience, handle class room, make learning fun & ensuring active participation of trainees .
Selfless. Unbiased, motivating, communicator and an effective coach.
The attributes are to be viewed in their deepest sense
What do you intend to measure? Why does the trainer matter? If you want the trainer to be effective, is there a way to ensure that before the intervention and not after? Can you design a learning experience that continuously enables real-time fine-tuning of the learning experience? Seek not a post-mortem. Step back and see how you can deliver on the whole without relying on any one part.
My training experience has taught me that every day is a new day for a trainer especially if s/he has to face a new batch of learners. Since the demographics of each batch will be different, the approach of the trainer need to be different for different batches. Therefore, the flexibility of the trainer becomes very important for effective learning. That can be made possible only when the trainer has complete hold on the subject he is sharing with the audience. I do not think that we can have just 5 common traits for all the trainers. In that case training will become mechanical and may lose the human touch especilly for the life skill and soft skill training. The moment that happens, training will lose its impact. Let us leave it to the audience to judge their trainers.
Absolutely right Mr Romesh Raina Sir .
I am glad that you are endorsing my view. I hope you are doing fine.
Thanks for your comments Raina Sir. So I could gather two essential traits from what you have mentioned -
1) Flexibility and 2) Domain knowledge
2 days ago
I am glad you are very active on the forum. It feels good when someone already known to you invites suggestions from the other members. This speaks volumes about the person's willingness to learn. I feel this is the best form of learning as people with different backgrounds come out with differenet points of view. That way you not only get the answers you are looking for but also get some new dimensions. That is value addition! Keep it up.
As said before, a great trainer can be derailed by an unreceptive audience/group. Making sure the class is engaged. At the end of the training, when the class is ask about the trainer and responds with, "I would love to take further training with the trainer!"
Free e-learning courses
Thousands of professional level courses are being offered free of charge from elite universities/Biz Schools and other institutions. Please search for "MOOC list" on google and you'll get a list of all the courses running or to be started
Pl. see the following sites:
EdX
Coursera
NovoEd
Udacity
Futurelearn
OpenUpEd
iversity
Open2Study
Canvas
OpenLearning
Class2Go
Class2Go
MRUniversity
P2PU
Udemy
OpenHPI
UoPeople
Saylor
alison.com
novoed.com
open2study.com
Pl. see the following sites:
EdX
Coursera
NovoEd
Udacity
Futurelearn
OpenUpEd
iversity
Open2Study
Canvas
OpenLearning
Class2Go
Class2Go
MRUniversity
P2PU
Udemy
OpenHPI
UoPeople
Saylor
alison.com
novoed.com
open2study.com
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Jayalatha resigned from Trainers Circle
Msg from Jayalatha, Trainer
Me too...i am withdrawing as starting itself so much problems. Please refund my amount at the earliest......thanks jayalatha
Ps:raja lic please ensure my refund thanks
Me too...i am withdrawing as starting itself so much problems. Please refund my amount at the earliest......thanks jayalatha
Ps:raja lic please ensure my refund thanks
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