Attitudes and Personalities - A Key to Training Success

Copyright (c) 2010 The College Of Public Speaking

One of the great clichéd words of advice given to any performer or communicator is: 'Just be yourself'.

Charlie Jones produced an infamous answer - that's the last thing you want to be, if you really are just yourself, you'll end up without a friend in the world!

As always the real answer is in the middle somewhere and could probably be best expressed in the phrase 'Be the best that You that you can be'.

In teaching (and life in general!) it is very easy to look across at another 'successful' practitioner doing something or saying something that seems to work brilliantly. Then you try to adopt it and somehow it does not have the same effect. This is why as a communicator we always need to look at the fundamentals of the communication process, not individual techniques.

I remember it becoming very clear to me when I first went into sales. Being by nature a fairly quiet, vague and timid soul, I found that I needed to assert myself in my attitude and dress to come across with any level of credibility to a potential client, whereas naturally more assertive and out-going colleagues of mine tended to dress down and try to soften their edges when they met their clients, for fear of being too overpowering.

The fundamental in each case was that each was to create a relaxed professional environment where the salesperson still had a natural sense of control and credibility. The 'process' of how that becomes possible is different between varying types of individual.

So Charlie Jones' observation would suggest that if I go in with my natural easy-going, wishy-washy style, I would neither be able to assert myself in the sales conversation, nor would I be able to lead the prospect to a satisfactory outcome.

On the other hand if my more aggressive colleagues did not soften their edges they would overpower and potentially intimidate the prospect, maybe even succeed in bullying then into a buying decision which they would then cancel as soon as the salesperson had left the room.

So, similarly, the trainer needs to sit down before he or she even starts to plan the training, and decide what sort of atmosphere he or she wishes to establish. Clearly that is going to depend on the material being taught and the expectation of the participants.

If you are delivering health and safety training which can save lives and avoid serious injury, it's best to adopt a positive and serious tone, whereas if you're teaching creative skills, it's better perhaps to adopt a lighter demeanour.

That is the easy bit!

More challenging, as a leader, is to have the honesty and perspective to work out how you need to adapt your style to create the ideal environment.

Clearly if you are naturally informal and easy going then 'being yourself' may not be the ideal approach to issues of health and safety and important procedures. If you are too dominating and in control, that may not help create an atmosphere where everyone shares as equals.

So one key ingredient to a successful training outcome is to be able to refine your natural personality to suit the type of training you are leading.

About The Author The College of Public Speaking offers a BTEC level 4 accredited by Edexcel. This course is in great demand and provides candidates with a benchmark industry qualification, ideal for the beginning of a career in training. Workshops are run regularly in London and the South-East and welcome enquiries from around the country and abroad. For more details, please follow the following link: Training Qualification Train the Trainer