This Tip looks at a variety of ways to make training preparation easy, beginning with a checklist of materials to bring.
In response to last week’s Tip, “Make Learning Sweet,” Joyce Doakes Smith, CPM,
Quality Oklahoma and Productivity Enhancement Programs Coordinator, Office of Personnel Management had this wonderful idea to add:
“I do much of what you have listed (no kites on the wall, but I have seen yours). Additionally, I have created two long slide shows (over 200 slides each) that run before class, during breaks, and over the lunch period. One is trivia information (strange laws and interesting facts) and the other is all pictures (from optical illusions to sand and ice sculptures). Other than being careful of the copyrights and credits it’s easy to do and the participants love it. It helps makes learning sweet!”
Thank you so much, Joyce!
Different Ways to Make Training Preparation Easy
There are lots of ways to make training preparation easier on ourselves. Here are three I’ve learned:
1. Have a checklist of materials I typically bring for training programs:
fragrant markers, pipe cleaners, Koosh balls, kites, post-it notes, index cards, bowls and candy, prizes, agenda map, masking or gaffer’s tape, poster putty, straight pins, bell chime, annotated table of contents, printout of PowerPoint slides, clean copy of participant masters, digital camera, etc. I just check off what I need. It doesn’t matter how often I train, if I don’t have an item written down, I can easily overlook it.
2. Make flip charts ahead of time.
Danny Papakalos showed me that it is very easy to create a colorful border on the page by holding two different colored markers in the same hand.
3. Copy text and formatting when creating PowerPoint slides.
Caroline Chen showed me how to do this rather than starting from scratch each time.
What are your tricks for making your training preparation easier?
May your learning be sweet
Deborah
