How To Design a Training Room

Here is my list of top 5 items to watch out for and improve communication in training by designing the right training room:

1. Entrance Door Location

Make sure the entrance door is in the back and not in the front of the training room. This ensures that if you have attendees coming in a few minutes late they do not interrupt the flow as much as if they were coming in at the front of the classroom.

2. Ceiling Mounted Projector

This is a must for a professional training room. It moves the cables away and allows the trainer and attendees to walk around without the danger of stumbling over cables. It also stops (most) people from borrowing the projector. Don't forget to have a spare bulb ready for the projector.

3. Ethernet Port and Power Socket Locations

The golden rule here is first of all "have enough". You do not want to have to search for extension cords and little switches. Think about the location of the ports and ensure they are placed well. E.g. if the training room is U-shaped then do not place the ports and sockets at the walls but you need to have them in the floor in front of the desks. I also recommend to let the Ethernet ports go to a patch panel and not directly into a switch. This way you have freedom of reconfiguring port connections without having to mess with the cables at the switch which usually is located outside of the training room.

3. White Boards

Usually its good to have one in the front and one on the side. Ensure you have the correct markers and keep them separately from the ones form the flip-chart. ;-)

4. Flip Chart

Highly recommended to have one available that can be stored away also.

5. Projector Screen

Go for an electric one that comes down from the ceiling. Forget about anything that stands around in the front of the room.

Relax - Autogenic Training

Autogenic training is a powerful method for relaxation and is easy to learn. When you do it before giving a presentation it helps you relaxing a lot. It is based on the body-mind connection. Thoughts have an impact on our body. When you are stressed your body gets tense in certain areas. Many people feel stress and tension in their back. Autogenic training uses thoughts to bring our attention back into the body.

Here is how you do it. You can learn it in 4 days or less.

Day 1: "Very calm"

Sit on a chair with your spine straight and your feet resting flat on the floor. Your arms can be placed comfortably beside you on armrests if possible. Close your eyes focus your attention on your breath. Count in your mind "one, two, three". When you inhale think "very" and when you exhale think "calm". It's a bit like using a mantra. Do this for about 5 minutes. Then count backwards in your mind "three, two, one", slowly become present in your body and open your eyes.

Try this a couple of times during the day or if you can only do this once a day then try it for a few days until you are used to it.

Day 2: "Very heavy"

Sit on a chair with your spine straight and your feet resting flat on the floor. Your arms can be placed comfortably beside you on armrests if possible. Close your eyes focus your attention on your breath. Count in your mind "one, two, three". When you inhale think "very" and when you exhale think "calm". Do this about 4 times. Then replace "calm" with "heavy" and focus your attention on your arms. You soon feel them getting heavier. Do this for about 5 minutes. Then count backwards in your mind "three, two, one", slowly become present in your body and open your eyes.

Day 3: "Very warm"

Sit on a chair with your spine straight and your feet resting flat on the floor. Your arms can be placed comfortably beside you on armrests if possible. Close your eyes focus your attention on your breath. Count in your mind "one, two, three". When you inhale think "very" and when you exhale think "calm". Do this about 4 times. Then replace "calm" with "heavy" and focus your attention on your arms. You soon feel them getting heavier. Do this for about 4 times. Then replace "heavy" with "warm". Keep your attention in the body on your arms. Your arms and hands will get warmer now or soon. Do this for about 5 minutes. Then count backwards in your mind "three, two, one", slowly become present in your body and open your eyes.

Day 4: "Very deep"

This is like day 3 but you add "very deep" at the end. This is it.

Here is the full cycle:

1. Count one-two-three

2. Inhale thinking "very" and exhale thinking "calm" (4x)

3. Inhale thinking "very" and exhale thinking "heavy" (4x)

4. Inhale thinking "very" and exhale thinking "warm" (4x)

5. Inhale thinking "very" and exhale thinking "deep" (4x)

6. Count three-two-one

This will take about 5 minutes but you can do it longer or shorter. 

There are different variations and you can adapt this to your needs. E.g. you can put your attention into the legs, shoulders or solar plexus and try other positions.

If you like to learn more checkout this article or visit the British Autogenic Society.

Go and try it and see if you feel more relaxed.

5Ws - Presentation Tips & Tricks

Why? Who? Where? When? What?

There isn't really one single recipe on how to create and deliver a state-of-the-art presentation. Many factors play a role like personality of the speaker, type of people in the audience, topic, knowledge. 

If there is one single advice to make sure to get it right it is this one. When you plan your presentation be sure to answer 5 important questions:

Why do you do the presentation and why does your audience attend? This is the question that investigates the motivation of all parties involved and is the most important one to get things right. The answers here will help deciding on the the messages and content of your presentation.

Who is your audience? The answer here will guide you to pick the right level of content. E.g., if your audience is a bunch of R&D engineers you can have a more detailed and technical level of content whereas if you are speaking to senior executives your content needs to be more high-level and the focus needs to be on impact on company strategy.

Where will you present? Are you going to present face-to-face in a boardroom or in a conference room? Maybe you are presenting in a conference call using a web tool? You need to know this because the location and way of delivery will dictate the tools that are available to you and the format of your delivery.

When do you present? Are you presenting at a conference? Will you be the first speaker or the last? Who is presenting before you and which content? If you know this in advance you might be able to relate to previous speeches. How are you going to wake your audience up if you are on right after lunch or at the end of the day? The best speaking slots are the first and, believe it or not, the last. People retain best what is said first and last. This is valid for a whole day of presentations but also for each individual speech. 

The answers to the above questions will all help you to decide on the content also. Therefore, the next question is:

What are you going to present and talk about? 

Are you ready?

BANG - Presentation Tips & Tricks

BANG

Start your presentation with a "BANG". 

You only have about 30 seconds to catch attention at the start of your presentation! If you loose your audience in the first seconds it's going to be very hard to make up for this during the rest of your speech.

Depending on the type of presentation you can use different types of "bangs". Choose it carefully. It needs to be appropriate for the topic, audience and yourself.

A great way to get started is to directly address the motivation of the audience. Let's take an example. If you have to present a new product to a bunch of sales people a great way to start is to share your prediction of the amount of increased sales:

"Good morning everybody. Today you are going to see a new amazing product that will increase your sales figures by at least 30%. The phone will start ringing with orders coming in the day we launch. I have samples here in this bag so you can get a feel for the new product."

You speak directly to their motivation and also create interest. Be careful, you need to be realistic. So, do not exaggerate or say something that is impossible. You are setting high expectations. If you are unsure about possible sales figures you might be better off with a different type of BANG. Maybe burst a ballon instead.

If you can speak to all senses it will be even more powerful. Try to use visual, auditory and kinesthetic language like in the example:

"Good morning everybody. Today you are going to see a new amazing product that will increase your sales figures by at least 30%. The phone will start ringing with orders coming in the day we launch. I have samples here in this bag so you can touch and play with the new product after the presentation."

This is a very powerful technique to get important messages across to a broad audience by addressing the most common three representational systems VAK. If you are introducing a new perfume you need to include the olfactory system too.