Train the Trainer program. Sounds funny, doesn’t it? Well that’s what I thought when I first heard the term. It’s like ‘Teach the Teacher.’ How can you teach someone who is already a teacher! I didn’t understand the meaning of the term back then, but now I realize it. In fact I now not only realise what it means but also understand how important it really is!
Just a few days back, I was having a casual conversation with my colleague. We were discussing our college times. I was telling her about one of my professors who was really bad at teaching. With all due respect, I never understood why she became a teacher. She would simply walk into the class, put on the PPT, read through it and leave. That’s it. Not understanding what she was trying to say was one thing, not even being motivated to hear what she had to say was another!
All of us have gone through similar experiences in our lives. Times when we had this one teacher who just couldn’t teach and another who was our all-time favourite. One who was ironically a ‘teacher who couldn’t teach’ and the other so amazing that even if you were woken up in the middle of the night you would want to hear him/her. Well almost!
One thing that’s certain from this is, simply choosing a profession is not enough. Being good at it, is what’s important. Only then can you really add value.
Same is the situation with corporate trainers. We have thousands of corporate trainers available. But honestly, how good are they all. Being a corporate training company in Mumbai since the past 10 years, we know a large number of trainers who aren’t actually great at their jobs but are still trainers. Fortunately or unfortunately, we are in a business where your delivery skills really matter. If you don’t leave a good impression on the participants and land up simply boring them no matter how great your knowledge is, you really won’t have much success. The fact is, that you are required to be an exceptional trainer no matter what.
Training is a skill. A skill that many are born with and also one that can be developed with practice. And this brings us to what can help in that development – a good ‘Train the Trainer program.’
A holistic & professional Train the Trainer program will take you on an experiential journey. It will assist you in enhancing your knowledge, skills and attitude for becoming an impactful trainer. It involves understanding the role of a trainer in depth and what makes training successful.
There are various skills that are essential for a trainer like; Communication Skills, interpersonal skills, presentation skills and most importantly content development skills. Content is the key to any program’s success. It is a difficult task for many but can be learnt with the right support and with practice. It is therefore very important that a Trainer the Trainer program includes the all-round development of all these skills.
Apart from these, other important aspects of a holistic Train the Trainer workshop are; understanding adult learning techniques, learning various training tools and critical elements of training/facilitation, audience handling techniques to overcome learning barriers, self-presentation, etc. Learning all these aspects and practising them will help you in becoming a successful trainer.
So what are you waiting for? Join a Train the Trainer Program today and take your first step towards success. But make sure you choose the program carefully. Only a quality Train the Trainer Program will make you a quality trainer!
