August 2009

Personal What’s in it for me? How much time will it take? What is my part? Management How do I make this work? Impact How will the learning of this material impact my teaching?

How can I use this – tomorrow… Preconceived ideas and biases Why are we doing this? Old habits die hard Filled with fear of risk Don’t want to change Time…. Not knowing something may reveal an inadequacy

Feel Safe Be Autonomous Option of working solo, in pairs, or in teams Enjoy Success Feel valued and cared for Enjoy themselves

Explorer Love being in the training and want to learn as much as they can from the session Vacationers Vacationers want to have as much fun and free time as possible. Prisoners Prisoners resent being in the training and imagine themselves breaking free.

A difficult participant is anyone whose attitude or behavior prevents that person or others from meeting the objective.

Start on Time Praise “on-timers” After breaks, start with hot topics Do a classbuilder Use a visual timer Don’t wait and delay your training

Clear table of all personal belongings Make a To-Do list, and have them set it aside for later Structure interaction among team members – don’t use “group work” Use proximity to encourage eye contact and engagement Have a private discussion with the participant

Classbuilding Teambuilding Assign jobs and tasks Have teammates practice “encouragers” Enlist their ideas after teamwork or pair work

Select who starts Use proximity Set ground rules for both the good trainer and the good participant Select the teams Use talking chips Use timed turns within the group

Explain the three types of participant: prisoner, vacationer, and explorer. Follow it up with a RoundRobin activity: Which one are you? List the benefits: “What’s in it for me?” Allow them to leave Use negative examples about yourself to illuminate their behavior Empathize and move on

Assign them to do research Give references State facts Ask the class – What are 5 reasons why? Project quotes

Conduct a pre-test Acknowledge expertise Ask them to share successes Draw a common object – penny Sometimes we don’t know everything we think we know Watch them teach the content

Explain why training material is required and critical “Parking Lot” – participants put questions on wall and trainer answers them after the break Explain how lucky they are

Give examples from their job or in their content Use concrete examples Give testimonials Show data Tell successes, but say that they “May not work for you” Ask them why? Why not?

Identify and handle the problem participant quickly and effectively. Turn difficult participants into assets. Turn questions and skepticism into opportunities to delve more deeply into the material.