What makes a good classroom trainer? I will break it down into some relevant bullet points:
- Careful preparation, which includes reviewing your material and observing your body language.
- A sincere rapport with your audience.
- Engaging the whole group and not just a select few.
- Ability to adapt to changes that present themselves during the training session.
- Helpfulness in answering questions.
- Honesty when you don’t know something and need to get back to the group with an answer.
- Firmness when someone wants you to break a rule or is disruptive during the training session.
- Keeping track of time and staying on topic. (Questions that are not central to the session can be dealt with one-on-one with the questioner during a break, or via email after the session.)
- Availability after the session, either in person or via email, to answer questions. This point is especially relevant if you are a designated “super user” of a system that is being deployed.
- Keeping your promises to contact people with an answer after the session.
- Striving to improve yourself on a continuous basis.
- Accepting constructive criticism and learning from it.