|
|
What Should Trainers Accomplish During The First Fifteen Minutes of A Seminar By Robert Bacal
As we said in the main page of Starting Off Seminars Successfully, it's impossible to OVERSTATE the importance of the first fifteen minutes of a seminar.
The question is, what should trainers focus on during that time. Here is a quick rundown of what you should accomplish.
Create And Focus Attention
Because participants enter the seminar room in a distracted state your FIRST priority is to create the attention you need. For this reason, your first fifteen minutes need to be fast paced and dynamic, because you must grab them right away.
Create Anticipation
Because learners enter with a whole array of baggage, you need to create a sense of anticipation and purpose, during the first fifteen minutes. You do that by:
- Building curiosity and a sense of mystery.
- Offering up challenges that are meaningful to the group.
- Presenting the seminar will help solve.
Allay Participant Anxiety
Participants don't know what to expect from the seminar, and what will be expected of them, so they tend to have some sense of anxiety that can interfere with their learning. For example, participants may enter worrying that they may be forced into role plays they hate. For that reason, you need to:
- Outline your expectations about your role, and the role of participants.
- Explain and reassure about the training activities.
- Offer confidentiality (what happens in the seminar stays in the seminar)
Create A Sense Of Fun
Early on trainers need to set a tone of "focused fun". Nobody wants to be bored. If you create a light, but focused atmosphere people will be more likely to engage in the training.
Focused fun means that while you are there for a serious purpose (learning what is to be learned), the process isn't going to be like a forced march through an unpleasant desert. You need to maintain a balance of having fun, using humor, along with a serious learning focus.