Moving the Needle

Hey everyone, I need to ask a favor!
 
If you are lucky enough to be offered training or a professional development opportunity by your organization, can you please 1) accept, and 2) go with the mindset that you want to move the needle and grow, rather than attend just to check the box and say you went?
 
Awesome, thanks!
 
Putting some of your own skin in the game – that is, committing to yourself that you will try and learn something new, try and take something away that you will employ – can make all the difference. And that would be all the difference to YOU! Your employer hopefully benefits too, but it’s really all about you. Your time is precious, so if you’re being asked to spend a chunk of it learning something, be sure to make it worth your while and mine the session for the valuable nuggets that will enhance your performance and up your game. That’s your responsibility to yourself.
 
Then there’s the session leader’s responsibility to you. Clearly, it’s one thing for you to sit and hear about new ideas or best practices, and it’s yet an entirely different thing to try and employ them. If you attend a training or work with a coach, it’s the trainer’s or coach’s job to ensure that you leave with some skill-building practice already under your belt, or at the very least some actionable tips and follow-on activities that will help reinforce the learning. It doesn’t always happen that way, but it should, so feel free to ask for it.
 
So why am I raising this issue? Well, this is the exact issue that keeps me up at night. It’s my mission as a trainer and coach to not just deliver the workshop or coaching session but to ensure that the recipients get something they feel confident they can and will try to use or do differently. The best sessions are constructed with multiple opportunities for participants to test-drive the learning and with follow-on activities that are designed to keep the concepts and best practices on participants’ radar screens for as long as possible. By definition, training and coaching are intended to encourage change (for the better), and in order to achieve change (arguably, one of the most difficult challenges out there!), there needs to be repetition, reminders, and reinforcement.
 
To that specific end, SmartMouth Communications will now be offering its SmartMouth OnDemand “Presentations” course to reinforce our presentation skills trainings.  While “Presentations” is also a great stand-alone training tool, it will no doubt serve as the ultimate reinforcement tool for anyone who attends a training of ours.
 
If you or your organization wants to be able to deliver more influential and impactful presentations, give us a shout! We’d love to bundle a live training with an e-learning experience to maximize the benefit for you!