Chapter 7:

Preparing and presenting training

and development
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

• prepare for training and development, based on training needs

• make and follow a training plan long before the actual training and development
• determine whether appropriate training is face to face, electronic, or a blended approach
• select an appropriate presentation format from the available options
• state learning outcomes using verbs (action words)
• create conditions for effective delivery or presentation of training and development
• utilise specific techniques to encourage participation during presentations
• gain insight into coaching practices that will support you as a client, if you intend enlisting the
services of a coach
• develop and practise skills of mentoring others to upgrade the competence of the workforce, to
achieve
• organisational goals, and to enable your organisation to become globally competitive
• access and direct others to learning technologies, mindful of the advantages and disadvantages
of e-learning.
 DESIGNING THE TRAINING PROGRAMME
Needs analysis/assessment
Training interventions should be directly relevant to trainees’ learning needs or the organisation’s needs, in line
with the strategic direction the organisation is taking.
• Guidelines for assessing training needs from the trainee’s perspective are:
• training goal
• learning objectives
• learning methods and evidence of learning
• evaluation.
Context analysis
• Includes the organisation as well as the societal and historical context.
The trainer must understand the:
• organisational mission,
• resources,
• priorities,
• trends and constraints.
 DESIGNING THE TRAINING PROGRAMME (cont.)
The trainer should also:
Analyse the biographical particulars of students who will attend the training,
such as gender, educational qualifications, computer literacy, work experience,
religion, marital status, courses completed, job title, age, race, culture and
ethnic affiliations, and aspects such as attitude, prior level of knowledge and
skills in the field.
Setting learning outcomes
Learning outcomes are stated in terms of actions the students will be able to demonstrate
at the end of a programme. Learning outcomes may be classified as classical learned
capabilities and dispositions, such as:
• Verbal information
• Intellectual skills
• Cognitive strategies
• Attitudes
• Motor skills.
 DESIGNING THE TRAINING PROGRAMME (cont.)
Planning the structure of the training
• The trainer must establish the time needed for completion of the training the activities and
topics, and for the division of the training into theory and practical (or knowledge and skills) if
applicable.
• Instructional strategy
• Selecting and booking a training facility
• Checking the condition of the venue and instructional media before the training day
• Notifying participants of the training
• Preparing yourself.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)
Effective presentation skills
• Focus on students
• Expertise in subject matter
• Making the learning content interesting
• Personality
• Interpersonal and human relations skills
• Instructional design
• Learning transaction skills.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)

Effective presentation skills (cont.)

Trainer competencies are:
• knowledge of and facilitation skills in group processes and group dynamics
• knowledge of the different ways in which people learn
• listening skills
• communication skills
• questioning skills
• feedback
• patience
• flexibility
• time management.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)
Conditions for effective facilitation of learning
• Motivation
• Chunking
• Build on previous knowledge and experiences
• Reinforcement (positive & negative)
• Context
• Transference (association; similarity; degree of original learning; critical attribute element; multiple
contexts and well-chosen contrasting cases).
Presentation format
• A trainer should therefore consider
• the type of learning content
• the level, abilities, and potential of the group of students
• the learning objectives of the training intervention.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)
The presentation of lectures
A lecture is defined as an educational talk to an audience, especially
of students in a university or a long serious speech.

• Useful guidelines to prepare and present effective lectures

• Begin with a bang
• Address the ‘so what’ question
• Offer a roadmap and signposts
• Maintain eye contact
• Be animated
• Involve participants during a lecture
• Use concrete examples and simple syntax.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)

Alternative methods to lecturing

• Demonstration and simulation
• Audio and visual media
• Case study
• Guided teaching
• Group inquiry
• Reading & discussion
• Information search
• Flipped classroom.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)
Experiential learning methods
• The experiential learning approach is based on the premise that experience precedes learning, and
that the meaning
• which is to be derived from any experience comes from the student.
• Encouraging participation during the presentation:
• Arrange the room for interaction
• Set ground rules for interaction
• Use an ice-breaker
• You should ask questions that can be answered by a show of hands.
• Listen
• Elicit a response from everyone present in the room
• Accommodate the various personality types.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)
• Encouraging participation during the presentation (continued):
• Use buzz groups
• Prepare a workbook or handouts with learning activities
• Provide an initial self-scoring assessment or survey to establish information about the students
• Count to ten
• Allow thinking time
• Ask what, not if?
• Use a variety of activities and approaches.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)
Coaching
• Coaches provide support to the individual, focusing on the specific situation of the individual. This is
done through observation, listening, talking, questioning, and reflecting back to the individual

Situations that benefit from coaching include:

• a newly-promoted manager
• someone who is being groomed for a managerial or another senior position
• someone with relationship issues that are creating problems in the organisation
• aligning management tasks with core values
• motivating demotivated staff.
Mentoring
• Mentoring is defined as a teaching and learning process in a one-to-one career development
relationship between two individuals, where one serves as the teacher and counsellor, on the basis of
his or her experience, professional status, and credentials, and having gone through a similar
experience.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)
Electronic training (E-learning)
• the delivery and administration of learning opportunities and support via computer, network, and web-
based technology, to help individual performance and development.
Six levels of e-learning training have been proposed
1. communications
2. online referencing
3. testing assessment
4. delivery of computer-based training and multimedia
5. blended learning
6. electronic performance support systems.
PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)

• Advantages of e-learning • Disadvantages of e-learning

• Flexibility • Technology dependant
• Convenience • E-learning is sometimes incompatible with
other systems
• Variety of learning experience
• Unsuitable for some types of training
• Up to date and consistent
• Unsuitable for some types of students
• Anonymity and therefore risk-free
• Less interactive than it is claimed to be
• E-classes are asynchronous
• Expensive to set up
• Cost benefits
• Still dependant on human support
• Learning environment
• Disabilities
• Spot evaluation
• Inflexible.
• Empowering.
 PRESENTING TRAINING (cont.)
Organisational approach to e-learning
• Old and new: Most organisations are working on ways of blending e-learning with traditional
classroom approaches to training.
• Outsourcing or not outsourcing
• Support
• Role of the trainer
• Evaluation
• Getting it right
 ASSESSING AND EVALUATING TRAINING

It is important to evaluate the impact or effectiveness

of training.
The trainer may build this evaluation into the training,
or apply it afterwards