ince this is a holiday week, today’s Tip will be a quick read.` Here is a classic situation shared by Lois Walton, MORE Trainer at Hazelden Springbrook:
I think my most embarrassing moment as a trainer was when I had to leave while my clients (fellow employees) were doing a small group activity so that I could use the restroom. I forgot to turn off my lapel mike, so everyone heard the toilet flush. They were all laughing when I returned to the training room and the story was all over the organization by later that day. Enough time has gone by that I laugh at the embarrassment now, but it was only funny to the group, not to me at the time. I was mortified! Thank you, Lois. I think that many trainers have probably had the very same experience when using a lapel mike for the first time- or remembered to turn it off just in time: myself included! When something like this happens, the best we can do is laugh along with the group. When trainers are nervous about presenting in front of a group, one thing they are often told is to Imagine the audience in their underwear. Well, turn around is only fair, don’t you think? Next week, I’ll tell you about one of my own most embarrassing moments and how I managed it!
