creative ways to penalize participants who return late to class. We may make them sing a song, dance a few steps, do push ups, or put money toward a group celebration. To help get them back in time after breaks, we may play music, project a timer on the screen, or assign someone with a watch to ride herd on the entire group.
Instead of punishing participants who return late, Darin suggests that we reward participants who return on time. And instead of making the trainer or one participant responsible for getting the entire group back on time, he makes each table group responsible for their own members. Every time the entire table group is back and seated on time, that table gets points. At the end of the day, the table with the most points gets a prize. This motivates the table group members to monitor and motivate each other to be timeconscious.
I think it is a wonderful approach and I plan to implement it in my very next training. Thank you so much, Darin!!
Last week, Karen Phillips, the Training and Development Manager for Ultradent Products, Inc., asked for a useful suggestion about what colors work best so that PowerPoint can be seen without needing to dim the lights. Julie Almont, the Executive Director of Employee Development for Delaware Park, responded:
Hey Deb!
I love the many suggestions your talented friends have shared in this week’s “Tips”.
As to the PowerPoint issue, I use black or bold dark blue on white. The white illuminates the message and the room. I try to keep the words in large font and to a minimum while I ‘voice-over’ the information/lesson. I have been adding one appropriate animation and/or sound to most slides that illustrates the main point of the topic…my folks especially like subtle humor or something beautiful and poignant!
An example of this is a recent Time Management session that began with a picture of an alarm clock and a background of a ticking sound. It allowed me to open with, “Do you feel like the clock is always ticking and the alarm is going to sound before you’re ready?”
I really have moved away from PowerPoint but still like using it to display a question or questions that require time for a thoughtful response or group activity.
I have been paying attention to ‘billboards’ as I drive on the interstates. If the theme or colors catch my attention, I try to copy that in my PowerPoint, treating it like an indoor billboard. I worked in the motivational poster business for thirteen years, you should hear those theories!
Once again, thanks for keeping us on our toes!
Regards,
Julie
Julie, I love the idea of thinking about PowerPoint as an indoor billboard. That guarantees it is kept short, sweet, and to the point! It’s a perfect metaphor!! Thank you for consistently providing useful feedback and creative ideas through the years to both Delaware Park and Tips readers!
This week, we have a quick tip to help sluggish Mac laptop computers start up more easily.
