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The Accidental Trainer
By Christine Martell | July 14, 2007
I became a trainer because I’m not afraid of speaking in public. I knew nothing. I had a knack for it- for fifteen years before getting my graduate degree. Until then I had no formal training in training, never even read a book about it. It was the school of try something and see what happens. I was lucky that I really did have some kind of sense about it, but it could have been so much easier.
Have you inherited a training assignment because you are good at something similar? Or do training a few days a year? Or when a new person is hired? Have you been assigned to design a training program and have no idea what to do next? If so, then this section is for you.
ASTD is a great place to start. We are here to support the professional development of workplace learning professionals (even if you only do it one day a year). This category of posts is being created to share with you the very basics of training.
What resources would you recommend?
For those of you who might remember the early days, are there any books or websites you wished you knew about then? Any suggestions you have for those starting out?
Other posts on similar topics- Allison Rossett Program: Part One
- Destination Profit with Rita Bailey
- ASTD Cascadia’s Board, Director and Volunteer roles
- Learning 2.0
- I do new employee orientation when we hire, am I a trainer?
Topics: Are you new to training? |
July 29th, 2007 at 8:23 am
Two books I recommend to all new trainers are “The Ten-Minute Trainer” by Sharon Bowman and “Active Training” by Mel Silverman. They would have been very helpful to me in my transition years ago from the vocational training classroom to corporate workshops. Moving from lecture-based classes to active learning is not an intuitive step, and these two books make that transition much easier.
July 29th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Great suggestion Lynn. Examples really help, and these books are full of them.
August 14th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Thanks for this encouraging post and the titles. I’m working in the non-profit world and know that teaching is something I love to do. I’m starting to explore how I can carry this interest and skill into other work settings. Nice to know how you began.
August 14th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Robin,
There are many of us who took our passion for learning and sharing with others and moved it more into the center of what we do.
I don’t know if you are in Portland or not, but ASTD -Cascadia offers a great 2 day Fundamentals of Training. The next one happens September 27-28. You can get more information on the main part of our website http://www.astdcascadia.org
August 16th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Christine, I think many of us started out as SMEs who liked to interact with folks and thus became trainers! That is how I got into it, and I’m grateful for that “accident” every day of my life.
As a new trainer, I had to develop my own content and really wished I had found Robert Mager’s “Six Pack” of instructional design books earlier in my career. Mager has a conversational writing style that is an easy read and his books incorporate exercises to apply your learning. He practices what he…teaches! The volume on “Preparing Instructional Objectives” is particularly valuable. Specific, measurable learning objectives are critical to a solid piece of training. I’m stepping off of my soapbox now!