How to Run Seminars and Workshops, 4th Edition

Chapter 10Using Visual Aids

Years ago, when I decided to hang up my insurance sales shoes and become a trainer, I attended my very first Train-the-Trainer course. As I nervously entered the room, I began searching for my name tag. The trainees' list read more like a who's who from various Fortune 500 companies. With little to no training experience behind me, I was a walking sponge. The room was fairly quiet, with trainees fidgeting nervously with the training materials when the trainer entered the room. The room immediately fell silent. I was struck by the fact that the trainer made little to no eye contact as he headed for the overhead projector. Without a smile, without an acknowledgment, he flicked on the projector. A newspaper article that had been copied onto a transparency appeared. The headline read: “Expectations for Trainers in the Workplace to Decrease 75% by 1994.” There was a moment of uneasy silence, which was soon broken by nervous laughter and finally conversation from all in the class. It seemed as if everyone was discussing the article and the ridiculousness of it when the trainer again moved into the pit, turned the overhead off, and began to speak. “Now that I have your attention,” he said, “I want to start talking about the wonders of training.” The four-day class was not yet 30 seconds old, and I already knew I was going to like the course and the trainer who was teaching it. That is an example of the potential of a well-thought-out visual aid.

Do your ...