Product Training for the Technical Expert

25 The Facilitation of Hands‐On Learning: An Executive Summary

Overview

There is a subtle but distinct difference between presentation skills and facilitation skills. Many employees have taken classes designed to improve their presentation skills. Continuing to improve those skills will certainly increase their ability to teach others. More importantly, however, is the ability to facilitate training. Generally, facilitation requires a smaller, more intimate audience, and necessitates significantly more student engagement.

Chapter 11 is a written overview of how instructors can engage their students verbally. Two different skillsets are necessary concerning verbal communication: decorative language and declarative language. Decorative language deals with how we say things, while declarative language deals with what we say. It is important to control both. A chart and exercise is provided to help instructors identify which of the six decorative areas they need to work on (energy, breathing, pitch, tempo, volume, and articulation) and which of the four declarative areas they have strengths or weaknesses in (jargon, grammar, word crutches, or silence).

Chapter 12 helps instructors understand the importance of engagement. Engagement happens when the instructor refrains from speaking, more than when the instructor is lecturing. Students need time to absorb what the expert is teaching them. Learning happens at the rate of absorption, not at the rate of hearing or speaking. Instructors ...