Despite the continued growth of eLearning, classroom training is still alive and well. That said, not all ILT is created equal. In our last article, we touched on how instructors can be made better with the right materials. So in this article, we’re going to dive a bit deeper into those same materials (namely the…
Great Instructors Are Born, But They Can Also Be Made
Sometimes it seems that great presentation skills are a personality trait…some people have them and some don’t. Certain people have infectious personalities and dynamic speaking abilities made to stand up and conduct classroom training. And then there’s the rest of us. Fear not! While it isn’t realistic to think you can transform your instructors into…
10 Awesome Training Engagement Techniques from the Last Year
Wow! As we mentioned yesterday, it’s been a LONG time since we blogged, so it feels good to stretch our typing fingers and re-enter the interweb once again. We may have taken a hiatus from blogging, but everything else has been full steam ahead here at ThinkingKap. So, to jump start our return, we thought…
Software Training Using Storytelling
Let’s get this out of the way up front; most software training sucks. No wait…it REALLY SUCKS! Having spent a significant part of my training career at various software companies, I certainly saw more than my share of software training approaches. Some were good, but most of them – not so much. So let’s talk…
Medium is the Message in Retail Training
It is widely accepted that technology advances in recent years are shaping the future of retail. Retailers no longer have one brick and mortar connection point with customers. Rather retailers (large and small) are using both physical and multiple digital channels to stay engaged with customers. The Medium is the Message in Retail Training…
Show, Tell, Watch, Coach, Repeat: Retail Sales Floor Training
On-the-job training is not restricted to use on the retail floor. The principles described in this article are applicable to any industry or work environment to ensure consistent results from the use of on-the-job training. The Right Approach I sometimes refer to on-the-job training approaches as “Sit with Sam,” “Follow Fred,” or “Watch Wanda.” The…
Smile, Take a Bath, and Tuck in Your Shirt: Retail Training Essentials?
I heard a conference speaker once say that their biggest training challenge was getting their theme park employees to tuck in their shirts and pull up their sagging pants. The host of the quirky Been My Pleasure YouTube channel (for food service professionals) recently shared with me his frustration in getting some servers to understand…
Retail Training: Why Bother?
I was recently having lunch with a former client contact and reminiscing about the project we had worked on together. In the course of the conversation, I asked how training is viewed at the retailer for whom he currently works who happens to have a rather large training department. You might imagine my surprise when…