Guila Muir

Developing trainers, presenters and facilitators to make a difference

Articles Tagged ‘Classroom management’

“Difficult People” Versus Difficult Dynamics

Presenters wanting to learn to respond to ruckus-causing participants discover an industry dedicated to techniques, programs and articles, but especially labels. Experts in the “difficult people” business love labels. Here are several labels for different kinds of “difficult people”: The Know-It-All The Show-Off The Rambler But Guess What? We Are All “Difficult People” To be …
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3 Ways to Involve Participants from the “Get-Go”!

What’s the best way to assure your training participants to “turn off” the first second you open your mouth? Just follow conventional wisdom and open your session by introducing yourself and providing your credentials. Instead, generate curiosity, interest and motivation from the outset. Use a “Hook” before introducing yourself. Three Ideas for Engaging Hooks Quickie …
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Focus on the Uncommitted in Your Audience

Presenters, do you fear waves of animosity coming from your audience? Or have you ever believed your audience to be friendly and accepting, only to receive a terrible shock? One of the best “Presenter Tricks” I know is to present as if everyone in your audience is “uncommitted”. Doing so allows you to effectively deal …
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How To Build “Home-Grown” Trainers

Have you ever wished you could reduce your organization’s dependence on outside trainers? How about developing your own workshops? Join the ranks of organizations that have benefited from developing their internal resources, saved money, and improved the relevance and quality of their training! What’s Not Working Over the last few years, I’ve worked with dozens …
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Electronic Devices in the Classroom

by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com I stood over the two participants, saying loudly, “No! No! No!” At first, they were so immersed in their screens that they didn’t even know I was there. As they returned to the present world, their faces changed from screen-fascination to shock. What was I doing, looming above them, looking so …
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Wild Classroom: How to Prevent the Chaos

by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com Have you ever worried about your participants going wild, tuning out, or exhibiting other potentially disruptive behaviors? The concept of “classroom management” will help. Good classroom management is the ability to run your training sessions smoothly. Research shows that good classroom management enables students to learn and retain more. Surprisingly, research …
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3 Tips to Deal With Audiences from Hell

by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com Resis­tant dynam­ics can be found in any audi­ence. Here are three essen­tial tech­niques to stay sane as a presenter. 1. Check Your­self. Ask your­self: What am I feel­ing about this audi­ence? Why? What’s the worst that could hap­pen? Pre­pare your­self emo­tion­ally and phys­i­cally. Make sure you’ve had enough to eat, and …
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Avoid Audience Overload: Less is More

by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com Pic­ture it: You’re a stu­dent in a class­room. The instruc­tor is throw­ing out fact after fact. At first, you lis­ten intently, try­ing to grasp every­thing that’s going on. After about 15 min­utes, your atten­tion drifts.  After try­ing to focus a few more times, you feel so over­whelmed (and pos­si­bly irri­tated and …
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What Separates Great Trainers From the Merely “OK?”

Many training participants would respond, “Great trainers make the learning easy and fun.” If probed further, they might mention the use of engaging training activities, or the trainer’s personal style. But most won’t be able to identify an important action that differentiates expert trainers. This action is subtle and powerful. It helps lubricate the session …
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A “Train the Trainer” Tip: Start Your Sessions With a Bang

by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com What’s the best way to assure your training participants groan inwardly and “turn off” when you first open your mouth? Simply by doing what you’ve always been told: By introducing yourself and providing your credentials. Why not generate your audience’s curiosity, interest, and investment from the outset? Use a “Hook” before …
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When Leaders Train: How to Avoid the Pitfalls

by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com Why don’t all leaders make great trainers? Perhaps it’s because they believe that training falls outside their (already large) job descriptions. As a result, leaders often strive to “cover the material” in order to get on with business. Yet the ability to facilitate learning, not just to cover the material, is …
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