What Skills Do I Need To Be An Effective Trainer?

Have you been thinking about a career as a trainer but you’re wondering what the skills of a good trainer are?

Delivering great training is no simple task, there are a lot of skills that come into play. It isn’t just about standing infront of an audience talking all day and flipping through your power point presentation.

How boring, right? You would most likely doze off if the training was not as engaging. 

So what tactics can you employ to ensure that your training skills are at par and will help you deliver the best training possible?

Here are some few tips:

Stay curious about your industry

Understanding the current trends and developments in your field will enable you to arm your trainees with the appropriate tools for success. It also helps deliver a more engaging course.

Get accredited

Learning is a significant part of the training game. Even those who feel they‘ve all the relevant knowledge to do their job can still pick up new skills by earning accreditations. And, in many industries, there’s an increased expectation that individuals continue their professional development, in a formally recognized way – like a training of trainers certificate course. Getting certified in your field is basically your mark of approval, and it can go a long way in instilling faith in your services as a trainer. Not to mention the chance you’ll have to really refine your skills.

Self-reflect

 It’s important to spend a little time self-reflecting. Those who are really successful at training others are the ones who look for patterns of effectiveness in their method. It’s the same with sales, or any job really. The only way to get better at something is to spot where we’re achieving great results and, perhaps even more importantly, where we can learn from our mistakes.

Ask for feedback

Don’t be scared of getting criticized. Constructive criticism will enable one to know which areas need improvement and will enable you to grow as a professional.

You need to be adaptable

The modern-day trainer is skilled to deliver across multiple platforms, such as face to face, webinars, online virtual training, conferences etc. Therefore, the skills of a good corporate trainer, must be transferable across all different types of training. A successful trainer is not one that whose style only works for one learning method only.

You need to understand how to adapt your delivery style for each delivery method (i.e. online, face to face etc.) to meet the audience’s needs. What works in the classroom doesn’t necessarily work online and vice versa.

Effective communication skills

Arguably, one of the most important and most obvious characteristics of a good trainer is the ability to effectively communicate. Often, an organization decides to offer training on a very challenging topic or sensitive material. For this reason, a trainer must be able to clearly and concisely teach the content. In any classroom, you can expect to be teaching to individuals with varying learning styles. Some learners may prefer to learn through listening and others may prefer to learn through images or graphs. It is important for a trainer to be able to communicate effectively with all different types of learners.

Conclusively,

It’s important to remember that training skills aren’t necessarily inborn, but they can be developed. Learning to adapt to your audience and environment is the key to delivering a really great training program.

Looking to hone your training skills? Register for this Training the Trainers Course and be the best trainer in the game!