Does your training environment sometimes feel dull (or even dead) as you deliver content? Does the environment itself feel uninspired? Wouldn’t it be great to have a magic wand you could use to inject your training with energy! Such a “magic wand” exists. Called Pair and Share, it is arguably the easiest and most effective …
Read the full article »
Blog Posts to Boost Your Skills
Transform Your Training with This Easy Tool
What’s To Love About Training? A Selfish List for Trainers
Training is expensive and energy-intensive. In Robert Mager’s words, training should be considered an “intervention of last resort” to fix a problem. And as more and more organizations adopt a Human Performance Technology (HPT) orientation, training can play a progressively diminished role. So, trainers, let’s be selfish for a minute. Even in the larger HPT …
Read the full article »
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 …
Read the full article »
Dive In!
Presenting and Open Water Swimming
I am an “adult onset” swimmer. Learning to swim at age 46, I trembled with the same anxieties as many of my Presentation Skills clients. I even heard myself describe my experience using the same words. Swimming was unnatural, awkward, unnerving, and out of my comfort zone. Twelve years after my first lesson, I continue …
Read the full article »
How Do You Know They Know? Evaluating Adult Learning
by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com I continue to be surprised at the use of “Happy Sheets” as evaluation tools in training. Beyond letting the trainer know if he or she was loved and if the room was too cold, what else do they tell us? In 1959, Donald Kirkpatrick developed his famous model of training evaluation. …
Read the full article »
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 …
Read the full article »
The Curse of Knowledge
by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com Think of a skill you have, (such as driving, swimming, writing, reading…) Would you say you are unconsciously competent with this skill? That is, Can you do it without thinking about it? Is it part of you, like an instinct? Would you have a hard time explaining the steps of this …
Read the full article »
Presenting from the Seat of Your Pants
Here’s how to present with confidence and authority while sitting:
Place your feet parallel to each other, flat on the floor, facing forward. Your knees should be bent at a 90 degree angle. No crossing your legs!
Feel your sitz bones, (the bones at the very bottom ends of each side of your pelvis) sitting squarely on the chair. These form your anchor.
Roll your shoulders down your back, opening your chest.
Practice gesturing in the camera. Make sure your hands are visible, but don’t move them TOO close to your face. Gesturing makes you appear much more dynamic, and helps bring your own energy up.
Your Biggest Gift as a Speaker
Why is it easier for many of us to present in front of a few people than to a larger audience? Why do many of us believe that some people just “have what it takes” to present effectively, and the rest of us don’t? The truth is that everyone has the innate gifts to speak in public.
How a Hook Can Save Your Presentation
by Guila Muir info@guilamuir.com I have discovered that my clients all love a good hook, and are always looking for new ones. Let’s review what a Hook is and isn’t. Then I’ll provide two dynamic Hooks for you to use in your next presentation or training session. What a Hook ISN’T: Fluff. Never make the …
Read the full article »