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Why I love what I’m doing right now.

Confessions of a trainer by Mel Morris

Life is great. We have the technology we have the knowledge to share and very cool plans for the future.

Being a Trainer is the most awesome feeling; sharing knowledge, seeing the light go on! These wonderful endorphin type encounters with people are what make me tick.

In the olden days I was a night school tutor at Christchurch Polytechnic tutoring students in medical reception courses, this is where I got the training bug. I now contract to Xero to undertake certification training for Accountants and Bookkeepers globally.

I do all of this while running an award winning global training centre of my own, our team training Accountants and their clients on Xero and a suite of the add-ons that make up the Xero ecosystem.

To feel like I am helping people is a highlight of my working career.

I am a people pleaser, people helper type personality this fits well with a trainer. A trainer needs to be able to see outside the square and look at the whole picture not just follow the lines in the training manual.

Tips and tricks 4 training success

• Firstly being able to ensure that you have assessed an attendees learning style, it will also allow you to identify other potential training areas.
• Never assume your attendee has comprehended your instruction/delivery by nodding and smiling, this can mean they might be blank or worried.
• Always ask questions to ensure comprehension or at the least ask a leading question to establish whether they understand.
  Best of all about 15-20mins later quantify the learning point with your attendee.
• Always bear in mind that you may have a group of attendees with different learning styles. For group delivery ensure you try and deliver training to cater to this.

Set the scene for best learning – Online

• Make sure internet quality is excellent.
• Ensure the person can see your screen and hear you well.
• Always re-check the above it is easy to be delivering training without your screen being displayed for example.
• Explain the housekeeping points when training via webinar e.g. everyone is on mute, question box to be used and open on a second screen.
• Use peoples names at all times when answering questions to keep people engaged.

Set the scene for best learning – In person

• Mobile phones off preferably or at least on silent.
• Room temp (Human optimal temperature 22.5 degrees).

Set the scene for best learning – Classroom

• Attendees switch off if they aren’t engaged every 10-15 minutes, to combat this walk around a lot, up and down left to right the brain must track movements.
• Draw a map of the desks and attendees so names can be used frequently throughout the session.
• When reviewing I might say remember when “John” and I used the Xero to Xero network. Case studies are a trainers best friend, using real life case studies and telling a story assists comprehension and reiteration of learning points.

Finally, I love my job as a trainer it is a huge satisfaction, a word of experience please don’t under estimate the energy required to deliver successful training, you need to keep yourself buoyant and interested to ensure that your audience is engaged and have a great experience.

Happy training!