What mistakes do hardcore engineers do when training other people?

Technical training in progress

Hello again. I work in the internal university of Beeline and among other things I teach engineers and other technical specialists to teach our other employees. And I promised to tell you about what to do if you perform tomorrow , and you even have no idea how to go to the audience. Well, at the same time run through the typical errors.

What is the average technical specialist different as a coach?
Two things. Firstly, the plus is that he is able to perfectly structure information and present only hard facts, supported by a verified system of evidence or experience. No water Secondly, a minus - while it is usually quite difficult for him to communicate with people the first few speeches. This is what I correct.
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What is the most common mistake of such a trainer?
The most important thing is to understand that the audience does not always want to receive this knowledge. In the sense that if you were asked to conduct training and people came, this does not mean that they understand why to study. Therefore:

1. We must always explain what you tell and why it is useful. In particular, it is also important for motivation: when adults know the result, they can assess their progress towards it.
2. It should be understood that if you do not make your presentation interesting, efficiency will fall. You can not just take and read the theory - you need a little interactive.
3. You can not speak the same terms without explanation - not the fact that everyone will understand you. Simplifying material is one of the main things that only you can do.
4. And you just can't be boring - try to change the type of activity every 6–10 minutes. For example, from theory to questions of the hall, and so on.

Do I need to meet people?
Of course! We usually have not just courses, but courses that are rigidly tied to the practice. That is, your guest is not idly interested, but people who get up tomorrow and go to the installation of what you are talking about. This means that you need to meet people and understand what they will do with your knowledge. For example, if a group from Siberia arrives, it is possible to devote more time to the behavior of iron in conditions of extreme temperatures. People are more important than your plan - you need to answer all their questions and focus on them. If they do not agree - understand why.

What you need to know about the structure?
The most common mistake - immediately jump into the theory. But you need to start with a short story about yourself and what you know about the subject. One phrase “I have been assembling these pieces of iron for 12 years and now I’ll tell you what the manufacturer does not write in the instructions” can, at times, increase the desire to listen and write. If the group is small, you need to understand who does what, why he needs training, and so on. To tell the problematics (what this training solves), to describe the result. Remember that at technical trainings (especially) the presenter is not the king. The task is the transfer of knowledge, not self-praise: the audience may well have a person with five times more experience, who sees you as the fastest way to learn something new about the topic that interests him. And his comments, questions and objections can supplement the information you have. On the other hand, you need to be able to catch "rock stars" and negotiate with the audience so that you can be heard and understood. Example: if someone from the audience says that he knows the question better than you (it can happen, but this person is not trained to transfer knowledge), you must recognize his qualifications and agree in the spirit: “I will be happy with examples from your practice, it will be cool, if you have something to add. "

Need to share responsibility
It is very important to understand that you are not alone responsible for the result. Trainers-managers almost always know this, but, on the other hand, it is almost always a surprise for technical specialists. Immediately indicate what you are doing, what you are counting on from the audience: your bullets should fly out, they should fly. This is spoken openly, and I just teach it almost immediately.

Presentation
There are presentation skills: where to stand in the audience (do not hide behind a flipchart, choose a place where you can be seen better and so on, do not shut off tables and other objects from people), learn to look into the eyes of the hall (this is difficult), follow the pace of speech, set voice Some things can be shown quickly, some need to learn for weeks. As a rule, after one-day or two-day courses, it’s enough just to read a bunch of books on public speaking — everything is there. Well, practice is obligatory - the first two or three seminars are paired with an experienced trainer, then independently.

What you need to know about the appearance
Yes, almost nothing. In the case of an engineer-trainer, the audience is engineers, and no one will look at your sweater with deer or your tie. Actually, it is good if at least a third remembers at all what you were wearing. But, of course, look better neat.


The first couple of trainings - with an experienced friend in a pair. Then - independently.

What you need to know about the technical audience "humanitarian" coach
Knowledge here is more important than relationships. This leads to a number of consequences:

1. Engineers are very attentive to terms - you need to define the basic ones or use common definitions. If an additional meaning is put into the term, explain it immediately.
2. Almost everything at once is superimposed on the practice - there are much more questions that are better answered during the course of the training.
3. There is a “debug mode” - this is when each piece of information is immediately run in different extreme situations. We must not forget about this and prepare in advance for this type of thinking. By the way, when working for an audience of non-technical people, it should be borne in mind that they may be ashamed of partial ignorance of something, and when moving from block to block, you need to ask questions, checking that everyone understands the material in the same way.
4. More credible, but less polite reviews - if the audience of humanities specialists can leave soft enough responses out of politeness, then technical experts know that feedback is an important thing. And therefore, it is often returned rather rudely (since they do not always know how to formulate politely), but clearly in the matter.

So what to do if you perform tomorrow?
Understand the basic mistakes above. Prepare your stuff. Confidently go in, take a good place, say hello, introduce yourself and activate the audience (for example, ask a question to the audience). Start performing. The best way is to play it all at home or in a hotel with a camera phone or just onto a voice recorder. This allows you to catch the main mistakes, set the pace of speech and make sure that everything is not as bad as you think. Well, understand that when you tell something, you should not, for example, move your fingers in your pockets, enchanting the audience with these movements.