Testimonials

Deb is an amazing instructor and curriculum developer. Her Train the Trainer program helped to solidify my love for adult learning and coaching. Deb’s innovative methods and logical templates have helped me design many successful training programs. She is a wonderful facilitator, educator and coach.

Deb is the most amazing and dynamic trainer or trainers I have ever witnessed! The skills she taught me in such a short period of time not only made me a better trainer, but allowed me to become promoted to the Health Program Manager for the State of WI. I attended Deb's Trainer the Trainer session as part of UW's Continuing Studies Program. This was sponsored and paid for by my place of employment. From day one Deb had all of us trainers in a learning activity, wanting more and more and looking forward to the next training! The skills Deb taught me made me not only a better trainer but a better human being! There are two things that I need to point out that Deb taught me that are invaluable! Deb taught me to establish training objectives using action words (verbs). Ever since I have done this my presentations have been much more concise with the learner knowing exactly what is about to take place. I use this skill to present to the Group Insurance Board and my coworkers have asked me how do I do this? The next thing Deb taught me completely changed my training style and that is to stop being such a lecturer and create learner activities to make my trainings interactive. This was the gamechanger for me! Now my trainings have long lasting impact for retention. Debs knowledge, humor, and compassion make her the absolute best trainer or trainers I have ever witnessed! She is so very special and essential to the world of training. Thank you Deb!

It’s my absolute pleasure to recommend the services of Deborah Laurel. Deb has worked with Compressed Air Challenge since its inception in the mid 1990’s. Without her expert training and advise, all our workbooks, and training material used today would not have occurred. Deb took the knowledge many of our engineers and turned it into an amazing training that has been successful and still going strong today. Both a fundamentals training and an Advanced Training were created. In her work with us, Deb took a bunch of engineers who thought they could easily relay technical informant and taught us how to teach adult learners. To deliver the material in small doses so the attendees fully understand each lesson. This was not an easy task, yet Deb pulled it off brilliantly. I would absolutely recommend the services of Deborah Laurel to anyone interested training or curriculum design.

I attended one of Deb's workshops several years ago in Boston. It was the single-most beneficial learning experience I've had in my career. The resulting breakthrough forever transformed the way I delivered training, to the benefit of my employer and colleagues. Since then I continue to find her resources and tips useful and relevant. Thanks Deborah!

I think Deb did an outstanding job. I had taken Bob Pike’s Training Boot Camp before this class and I learned so much more here. She is an excellent facilitator and I learned a ton!

Deb taught me that passion, extensive topic knowledge and expertise are not a substitute for great training and facilitation skills – which are learned skills of which she is a masterful teacher. No matter how long you have been in the business, this is a “must do” class if you want others to truly learn and use what you are so passionate about teaching.

In my nearly 20 years of training, this program gave me more clarity and useful tools for facilitating and designing programs than any other I have attended. The level of learning was phenomenal. The tools and tips are something that I can use immediately. The feedback was very insightful and again, something that I can put into practice. I recommend this program to all trainers, regardless of their experience level.

This is a perfect way to learn how to prepare and facilitate training- both technical and interpersonal. It leads to a positive learning experience from which all participants can leave feeling that they are ready to take the next step on their own. Knowing that there is support afterwards completes the positive experience. I would recommend this class to new trainers, as well as experienced trainers. There is always something new to learn that can only enhance the participants’ job as “facilitators.

I have attended three of Deborah Laurel’s trainings and coordinated many more for our WI Department of Correction trainers. Deb’s trainings are dynamic, interesting, useful, inspiring, fantastic, and interactive. At times they are even painful, (in a good way), as they will stretch your mind and help you grow stronger as a trainer and facilitator.

This is not a class for sissies- come prepared to engage, work your brain, think outside of the box, and leave a stronger trainer than you were when you walked into her training. You will hear music to get you fired up, see visual stimuli to get a jump start on your learning, and have treats to keep you well fueled.

I still refer to her manual- “Increasing Training Effectiveness” most every time I am creating curriculum for WI Department of Correction staff here at the training center. I hear “honor the learner,””tell them what they need to know and how it will affect their job,” “match your learning objectives to the learning level you need” in my head when I am preparing for a training.

You will love this training and the trainer. Deb is awesome.

I attended your “Train the Trainer” Program in Manhattan a few weeks ago.  I really took to heart what was taught, practiced and learned during the training. I added the colorful charts, a good agenda, toys and giveaways, the gallery walk from chart to chart, koosh balls, pop ups, music, cartoons and lots of audience participation. I facilitated two 3- hour People Skills Workshops for IT professionals at my office. I got high scores on my survey, which I did not hand out last!!! The manager was happy. The participants expressed that it was much more fun than they thought it would be. They set goals to use what was learned. All in all it was fantastic! 

Because of your training techniques, I enhanced my training and facilitation skills 100%. No kidding!  I used what you taught and would recommend your training to anyone who needs to learn how to train, facilitate or needs to learn anything.

Thank you Deb for all the great learning!!!

I must tell you that you have really messed things up for me. Let me explain. Since I went to your training, you have raised the bar of what I hope/expect to get out of a seminar; things like an interactive format with lots of opportunity to practice/apply what I’m  learning. I’ve gone to a few 1 day seminars and a 2 day seminar on different topics. And, I’m often disappointed when I leave. I find myself getting yearning for that chance to take my learning to at least the “application” level. But, many seminars seem to be set up with the goal of only the “knowledge” level. Well, I’m very excited about having had the opportunity to be in one of your courses. And, now that I’ve gone to others, I’m even more grateful for your approach. Thank you for making sure that your participants are engaged. Because of your training techniques, I enhanced my training and facilitation skills 100%. No kidding!  I used what you taught and would recommend your training to anyone who needs to learn how to train, facilitate or needs to learn anything.

Thank you Deb for all the great learning!!!

You have a gift for delivering and designing learning. Not only did I have a blast in your workshop, the interactive nature of your workshop design ensured that I retained far more than I would have with more traditional learning methods. I have used so many tools from that workshop in my job. You are a natural for designing learning. You very quickly can identify the goal of the training, can work through powerful learning objectives, and then rapidly put together effective interactive activities to ensure knowledge transfer. Your approach to learning is clear, logical, and compelling. Thank you for sharing your gift for delivering and designing training with me! I feel blessed to have a mentor with such skill available to me as a new learning and development person. I would love to continue to learn from you!! Because of your training techniques, I enhanced my training and facilitation skills 100%. No kidding!  I used what you taught and would recommend your training to anyone who needs to learn how to train, facilitate or needs to learn anything.

Thank you Deb for all the great learning!!!

Thanks for the promised materials – your class is going to be SO helpful in making our training classes more fun and productive.  We have 4 PowerPoint presentations that we give one after the other and I have had the hardest time doing these presentations because I have found them so boring.  Now I am breaking them up with Jeopardy and worksheets and brainstorming in hope of keeping the class as well as myself awake. Your class will make a big difference in how we present our information.

Wisconsin DOT’s Compass program hired Deborah Laurel for two interrelated projects over two years. As Compass’ program manager, I was delighted with Deb’s work and would recommend her highly to anyone considering a similar project.

We hired Deb to create a fairly technical training on a new program and to train the folks who would deliver that training – none of whom had any previous professional training experience. We had a short time frame, a combination of technical and program information to convey, and an audience that needed to be handled firmly, respectfully and honestly. The future of our young, high-profile program depended in large part on the success of this training.

Deb provided a workshop on adult learning, worked with us to understand our key messages and our audience, designed the training, created detailed scripts and materials, walked us through a dry run, and coached us through the actual training. We successfully trained 19 people across 8 counties to “rate the roads.” Deb came back next year to help us update the materials and to bring on board three new trainers. This time we successfully trained 112 people across 65 counties.

In both years, we went into the training with confidence in our presentation and effectiveness, and rightly so. That second year, despite the fact that it was a mandatory training – and many of the participants were at best reluctant to be there – 86% of raters agreed after rating the roads that “training adequately prepared me to consistently rate the roads.” 90% gave positive reviews to the trainers.

Colleagues who took Deb’s train-the-trainer and training design classes completed anonymous evaluations at the end of the class. In these, they applauded her classes: “Extremely well organized with an invigorating mix of doing & listening (and laughing).” “DOT got more than their money’s worth.”

They applauded their own learning: “Wide variety of tools to engage listeners, and insights into how we learn.” “This will be useful in many aspects of life.”

And they praised Deb: “Outstanding, upfront and open.” “Extremely able, adaptable, quick witted, and delightful.” “Excellent!!!” “Relaxed & casual, helped us learn easier.” “Very knowledgeable and humorous. Interacts well with people and involves everyone a lot in the training.” “Flexible to our needs. Good sense of humor.” “Provided many examples outstanding examples, had fun.” “Did a good job of answering concerns.” “Fantastic.”

I have known and worked with Deb Laurel for over thirty years. She first taught for the Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when I was the director. I was so impressed with Deb that when I was putting together an advanced 5 day Train the Trainer for an Open Society program in Croatia I asked her to do the program. The students not only learned solid pedagogy but also accelerated learning curriculum design. She was invited to return to JJ Strossmeyer University in Osijek, Croatia to help them develop the first student-centered MBA in Entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe. She trained the faculty how to use participatory training methods instead of traditional lecture. Since that time, Deb has been my go-to trainer for the CUNA Management School, the Government Financial Officers Association, and the Walker Broadcasters Management Institute. I highly recommend her for curriculum design, facilitating training, and train the trainer programs.

Deb is a “Summa Cum Laude” trainer and facilitator who is grounded in current educational research. I contracted with her to teach workshops at the Wisconsin Union, and co-facilitated the 6-day “Professional Trainer Certification Program” through the University of Wisconsin-Madison Continuing Studies Program with her three times, the last time in May 2019. I wish every beginning trainer could take an “Intro” class from Deb, even those who have a degree in Education. Her unique blend of theory and research, practical step-by-step advice, with time for practice with evaluation provides participants with the confidence to design and deliver training that will be applied rather than forgotten in 48 hours.

She is uniquely qualified to bring the Peer Learning program to your workplace as this has been her philosophy and practice throughout her career. She will ensure that your staff will continue the principles of this program and coach new staff after she ends her formal contract with your organization.

These comments are quoted from the evaluations of the May 2019 “Professional Training Certificate Program”:

• Deb is indeed a “master”, such significant knowledge, experience, and wisdom. Knows that learning is ongoing, even humbling at times. Fabulous and experiences in the field and artistry of facilitation. You’ve taught me so much! Thank you.

• The training really stretched my thoughts about what it means to provide effective trainings, to always make it a focus on the learner and not myself

• Engage the learner! My role isn’t to teach or instruct, or to be “the guy with the answers”; it’s to facilitate an environment and a process whereby learners achieve for themselves.

 I have learned more from your 1-week course than from any other communication training I could remember. And the tools you have shared will come so handy… excellent! Thank you so much! 

Deb was a pleasure to work with as we piloted Peer Learning Groups with some of our leaders. The tools, resources, tips and materials have been beneficial to our leaders as they navigated together in this learning journey.

We were fortunate enough to hire Deb to help us create a training -- and do a train-the-trainer workshop -- for the rollout of a critical performance measurement program at our organization. Deb took a pile of hodge-podge material, and a group of colleagues from four different organizations who were new to training and new to each other -- and transformed us into an effective, collaborative training powerhouse! She worked with us to understand what mattered and what didn't, how best to communicate with our specific audience, and how to ensure our training stuck. The training itself was delightful and effective -- participants learned what they needed to learn and had fun doing it! The training received consistently high ratings -- and a QA of the process we trained them on demonstrated a high rate of consistency in application. Most impressively, Deb taught us to be comfortable and confident up in front of the group, to work together in ways that would ensure our participants learned and stayed engaged, and to take good care of each other and our team. The lessons I learned from Deb continue to be applicable both in person and online.

I worked with Deborah on implementing the Peer Learning program with managers and future managers. Deborah helped identify our needs and the best topics to focus on first. I appreciated her insights and guidance. The program was easy to implement and provided an opportunity for managers to build relationships with other managers while also learning and growing. Deborah is responsive, caring, and knowledgeable about management training. I have enjoyed working with her.

I can't say enough good about Deb Laurel! She is absolutely one of the finest master trainers -- and teacher of trainers -- that I have ever had the good fortune to work with and watch in action. I worked with Deb to create a Train-the-Trainer certificate program that I directed at the University of Wisconsin- Madison Division of Continuing Studies. This experience was one of the highlights of my career. This program received extremely high marks from participants from all types of organizations. I witnessed participants in this program give her standing ovations! Deb brought high energy, creativity, humor, caring (dare I say love?), and the highest level of professional dedication towards teaching and modeling active learning for adult training. I know this changed participants' lives in terms of practical skill development in designing and offering adult learning programs. I highly recommend Deb Laurel!

Deborah has been offering corporate support, workforce training enhancing interpersonal dynamics with organizations for over 35 years. Need a program to support your management and leadership challenges. Look no further!

When you want an interactive training guide which will dramatically boost your training effectiveness, hire Deborah Laurel. She is the expert behind the experts and turning technical training into an interactive process.

If you're trying to put together a great, interactive training course, Deb is the person you need on your team. I first hired Deb 16 years ago to help me develop the Fan system Assessment training for the US DOE. Since then I've worked with Deb to develop numerous courses, and I can say without hesitation that she's one of the best at helping me develop a curriculum from my technical content.

Thanks for the promised materials – your class is going to be SO helpful in making our training classes more fun and productive. We have 4 PowerPoint presentations that we give one after the other and I have had the hardest time doing these presentations because I have found them so boring. Now I am breaking them up with Jeopardy and worksheets and brainstorming in hope of keeping the class as well as myself awake. Your class will make a big difference in how we present our information.

Thanks so much for all the valuable information and inspiration you have provided me and the other students at Parker Drilling's 3-day TCP training session. I have just completed delivering 3 "revised" training sessions in New Mexico using many of the theories and techniques I picked up in your class...and let me tell you, the difference is like night and day. The participants are so much more involved and everybody is having fun learning...its like magic!

Your curriculum design and master training skills have helped the Energy Center of Wisconsin win the 1998 and 2002 Awards of Excellence in Education from the American Institute of Architects, as well as the 2000 Exemplar Award from the International Association of Continuing Education and Training. Your use of accelerated learning principles and focus on the learner has helped us use public funds more efficiently and produce higher-quality results.

I have recently worked with Laurel & Associates, Ltd on the development and implementation of a full day, eight hour training course. As Technical Director for the Wisconsin ENERGY STAR Homes program, I am involved in the development of several training events.