Gold Star Training Blog

Are you a meticulous planner?

Training is so much like acting that many professionals call their job at the front of the class, being on-stage.  And, just like acting, knowing your lines, understanding the script and timing are important elements that must be learned and rehearsed.  Really good trainers have developed a repertoire of stories that they weave into the training material to bring it alive and to push home the learning points.  Their preparation usually consists of deciding which stories to use and how to adapt them to be relevant to the material and to the audience.

A training course that consists of nothing but the text from the training manual is going to be as dull as dishwater so your training material should include some nuggets of wisdom that don’t appear in the written word.

Important preparation also includes knowing as much about the audience as you can.  Names are a good start as are job titles and, if you know some of your delegates from previous training, remembering likes and dislikes can be helpful.

Written by Philly Fuggle

Do you build rapport?

As a delegate attending a training course, you are going to respond and learn much more if you feel the trainer is talking directly to you and dealing with your specific issues around the subject.  Even the delegate who was “told to come but I don’t know why I’m here” can be brought on-side by a talented trainer.  Gaining rapport with your delegates, no matter how large the audience will allow you to empathise with their point of view and provide them with motivation to be involved in the event.

Excellent trainers spend the first few minutes of every training course aligning themselves with the new audience.  They never believe that the same approach is applicable to all people.  They will “play the crowd”, testing for responses in a humorous and a serious way to elicit how people are feeling, what the problems are in their lives, what their fears might be and what focus would best suit them.  They may disguise this activity in a “getting to know each other” exercise or they may overtly collect information on flip chart to refer back to throughout the training.

Written by Philly Fuggle

Do you want more clients?

Then save this date – 30th June...NEXT TUESDAY!

This is the day that my good friend Bernadette Doyle,
starts her TWO-PART Teleseminar Series

"7 Secrets to Attracting All the Clients You Want"

And it's FREE to join!

In a hurry? Click here to register now

http://tinyurl.com/clientmagnets

Let’s face it, with all the information and advice
floating around, it can become overwhelming and confusing
as to what to do and where to start.

And this is where Bernadette can help.

Now Bernadette is someone I personally admire for her
passion for helping others succeed.

For over 13 years she’s been helping people to win new
business and get new clients. Bernadette told me recently
that the rules of the game are changing and the things
that USED to work to get clients are no longer working.

Has this been happening to you?

 - you’re doing all the right things but still not
getting the consistent, paying business you want and deserve

- you're finding it harder to get commitment from clients

- you're losing former clients and struggling to replace them

- more and more people are saying "I can’t afford it"

- you get great feedback, but STILL don’t have enough clients

Does this sound familiar?

Well, you're not alone. And you're probably wondering

- What still works?
- What doesn't work?
- What should I do now?
- What should I stop doing?
- What do I need to KNOW right now to change all this?

Well, Bernadette can help you.

Starting 30th June, she’s offering this two-part teleseminar
series on what it REALLY takes to GET NEW CLIENTS NOW!

She’s got so much to share with you on this topic that
she can’t fit it into one call!

Whether you are an established business owner or just
starting out, you are going to discover what is working
right now for Bernadette, her clients and her
7-figure colleagues.

You can get all the details and reserve YOUR place
by clicking the link below.

So Click this link and register now...

http://tinyurl.com/clientmagnets

P.S. I'll be on the calls listening as well.  There is
always so much more you can learn and attracting clients
that YOU want is essential to the success of YOUR business.

Make sure you go here and register now

http://tinyurl.com/clientmagnets

Discover the Proven Way to Create a Successful Training Business!

- Do you want to break into freelance training but don't know where to start?

- Does the idea of selling and marketing your training services scare you?

- Do you feel daunted by the process of chasing corporate clients?

- Do you feel you have no choice but to accept low value work?

If you have answered YES to any of the above then please let me  introduce you to my good friend Sharon Gaskin.

Sharon has over 7 years experience in running her own business and has been training in corporates for over 20 years.

She has learnt all the secrets of the Industry, overcome all the hurdles and created a proven strategy that will turn your business around in just 30 days!!

If I was you, I would do everything you can to get to this 1 day workshop which is happening on 2nd July!

Click here for more information now.....

http://www.thetrainerstrainingcompany.co.uk/cmd.php?af=1002503

then I highly recommend you join Sharon Gaskin from The Trainers Training Company on her upcoming workshop - How To Create A Successful and Profitable Business - The Easy Way. 

How to Make A Professional First Impression

 

Have you ever seen a Trainer or Presenter who looks as though they have not brushed their hair, not ironed their clothes and they really do not look the part?

 

What first impressions do you make about that trainer?  

 

To be a professional presenter or trainer you need to gain respect from your participants from the start of your session, you need to impress them within the first 30 seconds of them coming into contact with you.

 

1. Identify your brand, decide what image you want to portray. 
2. Make your brand recognisable, make it smart, make it memorable.
3. Follow your brand through your clothes, your advertising, your training materials and your website. 
4. Keep this consistent in everything that you do.
5. Make sure that your brand is smart & professional looking
6. Make your brand friendly to the eye so that you will develop a brand that your customers will remember.
7. Look at other trainers and presenters that you are inspired by, identify what you like about them, what you like about their brand and come up with something for yourself.
8. BE YOU.  Do not try and be someone else you will never be comfortable with it.

 

~

Do You Flap Like A Penguin?

Do you flap like a Penguin?
Can you believe it.....

I had been training for years, thought I looked professional
until the day

I had some of my friends in the audience...

They told me that
...I flapped my arms like a Penguin!!!
"NO WAY!!!"
I could not believe it

I was SO EMBARASSED!!

IT WAS TRUE!!
... not just 1, not 2, but 4 of my friends
confirmed that when I got excited during my session...

...I FLAPPED MY ARMS LIKE A PENGUIN!!

How is your Body Language whilst Training?

Do you have a habit?
Do you do something you really wished you didn't?

Join us for f_r_e_e this Tuesday for the next One Stop Teleseminar

"Discover The Techniques on How To Improve Your Body Language Whilst Training"

Remember these sessions are f_r_e_e.

So reserve your place now at

http://tinyurl.com/improvebodylanguage

See you there!

Philly :-)

P.S Remember it is happening this TUESDAY!!  Places are limited!

http://tinyurl.com/improvebodylanguage

Can't Attend?
Tell me your question anyhow!   http://tinyurl.com/improvebodylanguage

Icebreaker for Events

Anagrams

Make up anagrams of the participants' names and either:

Display as pairs on a flip chart (for finding pre-allocated partners and groups),

or

Use them on name plates (for pre-arranged seating).

Great Brain Teaser....

Here's a Brain Teaser for you to use in your training room...

Ask everyone in the group to:

1. Pick a number between 1 and 10 and keep it secret.
2. Multiply this number by 9.
3. If this number has 2 digits, add them together.
4. Subtract 5 from this number.
5. Equate this result to a letter of the alphabet (1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C etc).
6. Think of a country begining with that letter.
7. Think of an animal begining with the second letter of that country.

Finally ask ‘How many people were thinking of a grey elephant in Denmark?’

Great Icebreaker For All Ages and Can Be Used For All Topics!

Name of Icebreaker:  Biscuit Tin

Category of Icebreaker:  Communication

Time Scales:   20 Minutes

Size of Group:   10 +

Materials Required:   Empty Biscuit Tin, Strips of paper, stopwatch & pens

Aim of Icebreaker:   To encourage participation and teamwork within the group and to enhance communication skills

Pre-Organisation: None

Process
Give each team member 6 strips of blank paper and ask them to write a different famous person on each one.  They must then fold the piece of paper twice so will not fall open easily.  Once they have all done this, they put their pieces of paper into the biscuit tin.  You must then split the group in to teams of 5 or 6 and the teams are to sit together.  One person in Team A starts.  You start the stopwatch. 

The first person has to pick a strip of paper out of the tin and explain to their own team who that person is without saying their name. Once their team has guessed that person correctly then they put that strip of person to the side and take out another piece and explains again who that person is.  When one minute is up you shout STOP and the biscuit tin is passed to Team B.  If a team member does not know who the person is on the piece of paper then they can put it back folded into the tin.  They are only allowed to do this 3 x per go.  You must be keep score of the number of correct guesses each team has and the winning team is the team with the highest score.

Conclusion
This exercise will energize the group and encourage communication between team members.  You need to be a strict judge and that you keep an eye on when the stopwatch reaches one minute and to ensure that there is no cheating!!

Variations
You could use this game as a consolidation of the session where you write on the pieces of paper a word or a new tool that they have learnt and they have guess what you are trying to explain.

A Motivating Icebreaker For you... Sunshine! :-)

A Wonderful Motivating Icebreaker for you....

Name of Icebreaker: Sunshine

Category of Icebreaker: Motivation

Time Scales: 10 Minutes

Size of Group:  Unlimited

Materials Required: A4 Paper and Pen

Aim of Icebreaker:  To increase positivity, motivation and boost self confidence within a team.

Pre-Organisation:  None

Process
Give each team member a piece of paper and a pen and ask them to write their name in the middle of it.  They are then to draw a sunshine around their name with the number of lines to match the number of team members in the group.  

The sunshine is then passed around the group anti-clockwise and each team member will write something positive about that person on a line.  Each team member passes round their sunshine.

Conclusion
This game ends once every person has written on every sunshine.  This will help to boost the confidence for every team member encouraging them to feel valued in their team.