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5 Tips for Trainers to Prevent TechFail

February 4, 2010 By

Rewind to Monday, February 1, 2010. It’s 11:45 am at the Harford Public Administration offices.

It’s a typical Monday morning: catching up on email, social media, mailboxes moving slowly toward zero. I prepare to jot down some notes for this post on the ALA Learning Blog.  I open my trusty laptop and start banging away at some ideas about marketing your trainings and marketing yourself.

I take a break and find some video blogging resources on the web and >>>WHAMMO<<< surreptitious website redirection to an unknown Web site, leads to an extremely large popup ad that says:

YOU HAVE BEEN INFECTED…DOWNLOAD OUR PRODUCT NOW.

The background on the screen becomes an ugly green/yellow color and says:

YOU ARE INFECTED SAVE YOURSELF!

Well it said something like that making me think a zombie had entered the interwebs. I clicked the X to close the program, which of course installed the bleeping thing. I tried the faithful CTRL + ALT + DEL keys and discovered I lost Task Manager.

To sum it up, it’s a Monday morning and I lost my computer.

Yeah. Good times. The upshot is that my laptop has now been nuked. Wiped out. Toast.

But I am such a twenty-year plus veteran tech head, of course I saved my data on our network. Right? Well, no not quite everything. So that stuff is toast. I lost two projects in various stages of brilliance.

Did I mention that my brand new HTC Hero (an Android based smartphone), with 50+ apps and set up to my specs also decided to take a holiday to bricktown? Yeah, great day Monday was, so as we stand today (Thursday) the Hero had to get fully wiped–as did the laptop. But, I got an upgrade to Windows 7 so I have that working for me! Yeah me.

So, what does this have to do with training you ask?

There are so many aspects to creating and delivering training and presentations that inform and transform that sometimes we forget some essential training tech tricks that save our sanity. I like to think my bad day of tech inspired this list so that you may not have a day like my “Techfail” Monday.

Training Tech Tip One: If you need it, back it up.

Backing up your important data should be as automatic as the sun rising. You will always be thankful for backed up copies of your presentations, research, writing and photographs when your computer goes belly up–which it will when you least want it to do so. Make sure you do this on a regular basis. If you are a mobile trainer, you may want to back your stuff up in the cloud (as in applications and/or data that live on the web) and on a handy portable hard drive.

Now ask yourself: Do you have your vital training materials backed up? If so, could you reach them if you needed them while you are out of the office?

Training Tech Tip Two: Don’t cry over spilled anything.

Think of this as the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy tip. Don’t panic. Stuff happens. Everyone has had something unexpected happen while training. The room you booked for training is being used for a storeroom or extra office space. You will show up and no one remembers that you were coming that day, and no one is available for training, and can you come back next Thursday. Thanks. Goodbye.

Perhaps you will double confirm and show up at the wrong time, floor, building, street, town or state because someone left the trainer out of the loop. Perhaps the room is uncontrollably too hot/cold/moldy/drafty/sunny for you (and your participants) to be comfortable during four–days of training. Perhaps you are doing an all-day training on “Using the Internet for Beginners” and there is NO internet access whatsoever because of a fire early that morning. Roll with it and adapt. Remix on the fly.

Now ask yourself: Have you had a bad start to a training day followed by the one of your best trainings ever? Were you able to transform your tragedy into a learning opportunity for not only your learners but for yourself?

Training Tech Tip Three: Be prepared for technology to fail.

Being prepared for technology failure will save your bacon and make you look like the training deity that you are. Make sure that you could get across most if not all of your learning objectives without anything that uses electricity or batteries. Just you and your tools (voice, handouts, facilitation skills, adaptability, experience, flipcharts) and some time should be all you need to do your presentation in a pinch.

A very easy way is prepare for tech fail is to think about doing computer training without a computer. What would you say? How would you demonstrate certain skills or point things out? Would you want to have screen shots to hand out as back up plan? Detailed instructions on basic tasks participants could do back at their computers without you standing over them?

Now ask yourself: How would you deal with a technology failure while training? Would you be able to get across your training objectives without technology?

Training Tech Tip Four: If you think you need it, bring it.

Over the years, I’ve created my own technology kit for off site trainings.

The BGIMD Basic Training Technology Survival Kit©:

Computer stuff:

  • One 50 Foot Network Cord
  • One 25 foot Rotating Head Extension Cord
  • One/Two Surge protectors
  • 24 port hub
  • Projector
  • Laptop
  • USB 8 in one kit
  • USB hub

I also may throw in a small webcam and speakers if needed.

Boy Scout Stuff:

  • Extra Batteries for Remote Keyboard/Mouse/Presentation Remote
  • Flash Drive with Materials (if I am working outside of my home library system)
  • Healthy Snack Food (a low blood sugar trainer is a mean trainer)
  • Markers, pens and sometimes writing pads
  • An extra shirt or two to adapt to the crowd

Ask yourself: Do you have your own “training kit”? What’s in it? What do you always seem to need but forget to carry to a training site?

Training Tech Tip Five: Back that cloud up!

The cloud (as in applications and/or data that live on the web) is a great tool to organize and back up your information. You can use tools in the cloud to create training curricula; share materials and resources; bookmarks and links; all accessible from any computer with an internet connection. You may be able to eliminate all of your handouts or point trainees to a site with all of your class information in one handy place.

Just remember to have a copy of whatever you put in the cloud somewhere in real life. If you use a wikispace to create your content and that wikispace gets attacked your data could be wiped out. A more likely scenario is that your favorite cloud resource is purchased/goes bankrupt and you no longer have access to the data you created. Would that throw a wrench into your plans? Sure it would.

Now ask yourself: Do you have up-to-date copies of all of your cloud materials? Are you ready if your cloud service goes offline?

I hope these five tips and the follow up questions help you become better trainers and help you avoid a technology disaster. Have you survived techfail in training? Share your stories and tips in the comments!

Maurice Coleman (ALA Learning Bio) is a Trainer for the Harford County (MD) Public Library, Speaker, Consultant and Organizer/Producer of T is for Training, the Library Training Podcast.  He blogs when the mood hits at
The Chronicles of the (almost) Bald Technology Trainer and tweets a few times a day.

Maurice Coleman

Maurice Coleman, has been Technical Trainer at Harford County (MD) Public Library in North Eastern Maryland for the last 7 years. He has 20 years of experience training all ages how to sensibly use technology, computer hardware and software. He has also trained on effective technology planning and deployment, social media skills, nonprofit organizational development and fundraising, community organizing and presentation skills. He has presented at numerous conferences on topics such as digital personal branding, technology implementation, presentation and training skills, community development and effectively using social media. He hosts the library training podcast T is for Training and writes for the American Library Association’s LearnRT blog ALALearning. For his work he was named a 2010 Library Journal Mover and Shaker and received the Citizens for Maryland Libraries Davis McCarn Technology Award. You can find him on twitter @baldgeekinmd

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10 Steps to Promote Learning in Your Conference Presentation

February 2, 2010 By

A small meme developed on Twitter yesterday prompted by the following tweet by David Wedamen,  “Just had a GREAT idea from @brandeislibn. Conferences should be built around TEACHING not PRESENTING. Wouldn’t that be something?” (Thanks to Michael Stephens for retweeting and bringing to my attention.)

Alice Yucht built on the idea with her tweet, “how about Conferences should be about LEARNING, not Show-n-Tell ?”,  which got me thinking about how we approach conferences, and conference presentations, in the library profession.  If the goal of the conference is that attendees will learn, what do conference presentations have to look like to achieve that goal?

I believe the goal of presenting should be to a create a change in the listener;  a change of behavior, thinking and/or feeling.  Any good teacher or trainer will tell you that to be effective in creating that change, you must begin with the learning objective(s) in mind, and work backwards from there to design the lesson or the talk.

CONFERENCE PRESENTING: THE CART BEFORE HORSE?

Wedamen’s tweet points out an interesting feature of many library conferences—they seem to be designed around topics that presenters wish to present on, more than they are designed around, or focused on, the learning that participants need.  In too many conference presentations speakers design their talks as core dumps of data, or long, dry recountings of “how we did it good”, without giving enough attention to the key question, “As a result of hearing me speak, people will do/think/feel_________ “(fill in the blank).

The answer to that question is the main organizing principle, the guiding star, of any well-constructed talk.  Leaving out all of the other variables that go into an effective presentation (emotion, humor, pacing, eye contact, vocal variety, body language, visuals, questions, room environment, acoustics, etc.) it is very difficult to have a successful presentation if what constitutes success is a mere afterthought (or worse, if success is constituted by the fact that the speaker got a chance to speak at a conference…)

PUT THAT HORSE BACK!  TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO TO EFFECTIVELY PROMOTE LEARNING WITH YOUR TALK

  1. Ask, “What do I want them to do, think, and/or feel as a result of hearing this program?” Ask and answer this question before you write one word or create one slide.  The answer to this question is your OBJECTIVE.  Let the objective guide you continually as you construct your presentation, throwing aside anything that does not help achieve the goal of the talk.
    Standing Ovation

  2. Share your objectives with the audience at some point during your presentation–preferably during the first few minutes.  If the audience knows what you intend to achieve with the talk it will give them context that will help them make meaning and ground the learning.  It will also help them evaluate whether you have effectively achieved your goal.  Or not.

  3. Have a strong opening. The first two minutes of your talk gives you a great opportunity to grab and hold the audience’s attention, but it’s likely that you already have their attention during the first two minutes.  It’s the next 58 that present the challenge!  So what do I mean by a strong opening?  I mean an opening that engages the audience, creates some positive expectation for the rest of the talk, and/or provides a framework for the learning that is about to take place.  Olivia Mitchell, who blogs over at Speaking and Presenting, suggests three possible openings –  Organized Opening, Story Opening, Dramatic Opening — and discusses when/why to use each.

  4. Use examples to illustrate your points.  For example…  Don’t just say, “Merchandising your collection is good.”  Say, “When we created a ‘recently returned’ display at the front door and displayed them all covers out, 98% of them recirculated within the same day and our circulation stats increased 20%.”  Examples support the learning by attesting to the truth of your message, and also help ground the learning by clarifying and fleshing out your meaning.

  5. Use simple, clear, engaging visuals to reinforce your points (or don’t use them at all.)   Good visuals can help you focus the audience’s attention, help them make meaning, and promote future recall, by connecting intellectual ideas with visual representations. As for bullet points… I’m not one of those people that believes bullet points should never be used, but if you use them, do it sparingly, with a  large readable font, and a supporting image (if room permits.)

  6. Tell stories.  Our brains are actually wired to enjoy stories.  And because stories have the power to simultaneously engage the listener both cognitively AND emotionally, they are highly effective in getting your point across (assuming you know your point–see #1).  And speaking of engaging the listener…

  7. Appeal to emotions as well as reason.  Unless you are presenting on the planet Vulcan, your audience probably consists of human beings, and research shows that it is our emotions that lead us to act.  If your goal is get listeners to DO SOMETHING, you need to rouse some feeling within them by appealing to their empathy, their self-interest, or some combination of both.  As the Heath Brothers suggest in Made to Stick, you want to appeal, “not only to the people they are right now but also to the people they would like to be.”

  8. Practice, Practice, Practice: There is no substitute for practicing your talk, preferably in front of others, to work out the kinks, identify and clarify muddied points, and become comfortable with the material.  When you know your talk cold you will relax, let you personality show, and more easily connect with the audience. You may have noticed that it’s difficult to connect with a presenter who reads his talk in a monotone and seldom glances up from his notes.  Conversely, it is very easy to tune out and start twittering during such a talk.

  9. Have a strong closing, and telegraph when it’s coming.  You don’t have to bring tears to the audience’s eyes, or bring them to their feet.  But you do need to let them know that you’re wrapping it up, and use the closing as an opportunity to reinforce your goal.  You can do this by simply restating your main points and asserting why/how the listener will benefit by doing what you want them to do. Or you can end with a provocative question (engaging them cognitively), or with a story (engaging them emotionally).  However you choose to close your presentation, use vocal variety and word choice to telegraph that your are concluding so the audience realizes that it is now appropriate to clap wildly.

  10. WHAT ARE YOUR IDEAS? I’m leaving #10 blank for suggestions.  What do you do to effectively promote learning in your talks?  What have speakers done that have helped you as a learner/listener?

Peter Bromberg sometimes talks, sometimes listens, sometimes learns, sometimes tweets, and sometimes blogs over at Library Garden.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gruenenrw | CC BY-SA 2.0

Peter Bromberg

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8 Easy Ways to Get Connected With ALA Learning

February 1, 2010 By

I hope you enjoyed getting to know the ALA Learning authors these past few weeks. Tomorrow we return to our regularly scheduled posts bringing you the best training and learning news, information, best practices, and thoughtful discussion.

Today I’d like to share some additional ways for you to get connected with ALA Learning, the official blog of the Learning Round Table of the American Library Association.

  1. Comment and join the discussion on our posts.
  2. Become a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ALALearning
  3. Join our Linked In Group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2700921&trk=anet_ug_hm
  4. Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ALALearning
  5. Subscribe to our posts or news by RSS or email: http://alalearning.org/subscription-options/
  6. Join the Learning Round Table Email List: http://alalearning.org/about-the-learning-round-table/email-discussion-lists/
  7. Become a Learning Round Table Member–Only $20 on top of your ALA Membership: http://alalearning.org/join/
  8. Plan to join us for one of our events at PLA, ALA Annual, or ALA Midwinter.

As always feel free to comment and contribute to the discussion. If you have a topic to suggest for a post drop me (or any of the authors) a line at webmaster@alalearning.org.

Lori Reed

Lori Reed, Managing Editor of ALA Learning, has more than 15 years experience in training and is the Learning & Development Coordinator for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library where she oversees the learning & development of a diverse group of staff at twenty libraries. Lori’s passions are performance consulting, learning strategies, and e-learning. Lori is coauthor, with Paul Signorelli, of Workplace Learning and Leadership: A Handbook for Library and Nonprofit Trainers. Lori also blogs at LoriReed.com and can be reached at lori[at]lorireed.com.

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