Top 10 Tips on How to Become a SUPER Trainer

"It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well." - Henri-Frederic Amiel (1821-81), Swiss philosopher, poet.

Training is at the core of all our activities be it personal or professional. But good training is not a matter of coincidence, it is a matter of the right mix of knowledge, skills and attributes.
So, what does it take to be a good trainer? Well, in short, it takes time and patience. For the long answer, there are some essentials to training. For example, all training is about communication so the rules of good communication apply to training. Similarly, good training is about robust instructional design and training delivery practices. An application of learning theories and principles helps in delivering good training. But beyond these theories, models and techniques - there are some specific personal skills and attributes that are worth a discussion. 
It is relatively easy to become a good trainer. This usually involves taking some formal education in training, getting certified and learning from your own experience. But in order to transition from good to great and to really embrace training and make an impact, you need to put in something extra! That's when you become a SUPER TRAINER!

If you are a good trainer and are aspiring to become a SUPER trainer, here are my top 10 tips:
1. Be knowledgeable: It is expected that as a trainer you know a lot about some things and be a subject matter expert in your area of specialization. But  it is also important to know a little about many things. Having a wider view of life makes the difference between a good and a great trainer.
2. Be curious: The common trait of all good trainers is that they are always curious and wanting to learn. In addition, super trainers are not afraid of learning from their learners!
3. Be accepting: As a trainer, you are likely to have a wide variety of participants who don't always learn in the same ways or at the same speed. Accept and embrace the differences and leverage the opportunities presented by diversity.
4. Be patient: Practice makes perfect and for a trainer patience makes super. It takes a lot of patience to teach and train others. 
5. Be a role model: It is one thing to teach someone and another thing to follow what you teach! A super trainer always walks the talk. You have to practice what you preach and become a role model for your trainees.
6. Be a good listener: Most training is about listening rather than talking. We have 2 ears and 1 mouth, not vice versa :) A super trainer is always ready to listen - sometimes even listen things that are not being said.
7. Be challenging: A super trainer has to provide ample opportunities for trainees to feel challenged. Life is never boring with a super trainer around. There is something new waiting to be discovered.
8. Be entertaining: When you are a super trainer, the show must go on. A good training always involves feelings and emotions. Humor and entertainment go a long way in making a memorable session.
9. Be passionate: All super trainers are passionate about their area of expertise and about teaching others. There is a certain degree of positive energy and aura around great trainers. Remember, only passionate trainers can create passionate learners.
10. Be inspiring: As a super trainer, you must aspire to inspire. Every conversation with your learners is an opportunity to train and impact others in a positive way. Seize that opportunity and inspire your learners to do the impossible.

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward

Emptying Your Cup: Unlearning to Learn

We are constantly learning. We should also be constantly unlearning. Unlearning is as important to learning (if not more) than the process of learning itself. According to the dictionary, unlearning is a transitive verb that means to put out of one's knowledge or memory OR to undo the effect of or discard the habit of.

In the cognitive scheme of things, to me, learning and unlearning are two sides of the same coin. We can never learn without first unlearning what we know (or believe). Let's take a simple example of riding a bike. When learning to bike, we first need to learn about the handle bar, the pedals, the speed, the balance and how to review the road conditions. But if we focus on only one of these elements and continue to learn and pay attention and energy to only one, we cannot learn how to ride the bike. We need to defocus from the individual elements, learn and then unlearn to master how to ride a bike. Here's an interesting story by Prasad Kaipa that explains this learning and unlearning process.

One may ask, what is the importance of unlearning. I have found, experienced and learnt that what we already know or believe to be true often acts as a barrier to learn new things.

A Cup of Tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" 
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" 
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Zen_Stories

Unlearning is this emptying of our cup. It is more difficult and uncomfortable than learning because we have to let go of knowledge that has served us well. In today's rapidly changing environment, our success depends not on how quickly we learn but on how quickly we unlearn. 

This beautiful paragraph from Trevor Pateman's paper titled 'Lifelong Unlearning' says it all: "In our cognitive lives our memories - what we know - is often an obstacle to engaging with the world around us. It is a commonplace that what we see is often influenced by what we think there is to see, and if that is true, then that might be taken as an argument for thinking less and with less conviction. We should carry our knowledge lightly, and always be ready to let go of it."

As instructional designers and learning consultants, there is so much to unlearn. As a first step, we need to unlearn:

• the way we think about learning 
• our approach to design learning
• the methodologies and theories of learning
• the knowledge that we have collected about the limitations of our audience, content, technology and learning process

Every thing unlearned brings about more learning. Just like continuous and lifelong learning, our process to unlearn should also be for life. We have to let go of the rules and boundaries in our mind and free ourselves from all mental limitations before we can begin to admire the many possibilities of life.

Watch this powerful and inspiring TEDx video by Jack Uldrich on Unlearning Possibilities:

Follow Jack's website http://www.schoolofunlearning.com/

Follow Jack on twitter @ChiefUnlearner

To attain knowledge, add things everyday. 
To attain wisdom, subtract things everyday. ~ Lao Tsu

Games We Should Play - The Gamification of Learning

Recently, I participated in a #TrainChat on twitter on the topic: "What Angry Birds Can Teach Us About Instructional Design." The chat was interesting and insightful and some very good points were made about the impact of design elements such as simplicity, focus on skills and competencies, engagement, motivation and challenge. The chat came at a time when I was reading about 'gamification' and its impact on education and learning. Karl Kapp's book on “The Gamification of Training: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Learning and Instruction.” is out and I recently read the reviews by Clark Quinn and Jane Bozarth. I have also been visiting http://gamification.org/wiki/Gamification to study how gamification is impacting various industries and how it is quickly changing the trends in education and learning. So, it was the perfect time to reflect and blog about gamification and its role in learning.

So what is gamification?

As per Wikipedia: Gamification is the use of game design techniques^[1], game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts. But I found a better definition on Dr. Camille's blog "the gamification of education is a relatively new approach to education that employs game play mechanics to creating a more engaging and playful learning experience. It works by using ideas from game design to encourage people to learn and complete tasks with more enthusiasm. Gamification can also provide the necessary external motivators for the important learning that must occur outside the classroom (Pearce, 2011)."

Gamification is different from game-based learning. Gamification focuses on the design, techniques and the process of thinking and applying gaming principles in the design of training whereas game-based learning utilizes games to teach concepts and apply games in specific learning contexts with pre-defined outcomes.

And why does gamification of learning matter?

Games are powerful, addictive, immersive, engaging, challenging, social, competitive and fun - all the things we want learning to be. Therefore, there are many lessons to learn from games.

The truth is that we have always learnt better using games. As toddlers and young children, we participated in role-play games at home and with our friends and played games with our teachers to identify shapes, numbers and colors. However, somewhere along the line, games stopped being a part of the classroom and other training methods. Perhaps one of the reasons could be that games and having fun is considered the opposite of learning and serious work. But when work and training becomes fun, it becomes closer to how we naturally learn – using stories, play and role-play.

Gamification of learning matters and is critical to how training and education evolves in the coming years because games are:

•  Skill and level-based
• Social and competitive
•  Experiential and immersive
• Non judgemental and fearless (do not generate fear of failure)
•  Focussed on problem-solving and application

When we play games, we are able to apply existing skills, learn new skills, get feedback, learn from our mistakes, reflect and apply new skills – all in a matter of a few minutes! All desirable factors of a perfect learning environment are therefore engrained in the design of games. 

Game environments are active, real-time, hands-on, short-bursts of learning and that’s why people must play games. The questions that remain to be answered is what kind of game designs work best and how should gamification be integrated into learning, education and training and eventually the work environment.

References and further reading

• You can find a recap of the chat with @LnDDave on lessons for training pros from #AngryBirds here.
• Read more about the Kapp’s book and gamification here.
• Read more about the distinction between gamification and game-based learning in the following posts:

-  http://gamification.co/2012/01/13/gamification-vs-game-based-learning-in-education/

-  http://www.openequalfree.org/gamification-versus-game-based-learning-in-the-classroom/10082

-  http://spongelab.tumblr.com/post/18029475115/game-based-learning-vs-gamification

-  View a short interview with Brenda Enders who answers this question during the Learning Solutions Conference and Expo 2012 in Orlando, Florida. 

• Karl Kapp views about why games matter http://learningcircuits.blogspot.ca/2012/01/what-is-gamification-and-why-it-matters.html. 
• Dr. Camille Rutherford post that shares practical tips about how to gamify your classroom and discusses gamification of learning.
• Read how gamification is changing the face of the 21st century education and if you have time to spare, check out the speeches that were delivered at Penny Conference 2012 .
• For case studies and examples of how gamification is being used in corporate world, check http://gamification.co/
• Here’a another useful post by Kapp that lists examples of how gamification has been implemented.
•  For further reading, here is an interesting list of gaming and gamification-related books http://gamification.org/wiki/Gamification_Books