At a meeting yesterday, I was again struck by just how crucial it is to build a rapport with your training participants. Without that personal connection, a training session will often fall flat, no matter how high the level of expertise is on the part of the trainer, no matter how compelling the material.
Although most of my trainings are short, from a couple of hours to a day or two, one of my main objectives is to quickly build a personal connection with the people I train. How do I accomplish this so fast? One thing I do is to introduce myself on a first name basis as folks trickle in to the session. I also make myself a seating chart so I can connect a name and face easily (thank you, Dale Carnegie training). Third, I smile frequently and share some of my own foibles when working with the same subject matter we are currently learning.
I am asked at least once during a training how I am so good at remembering names and my answer is “its magic”. Then, since I am a trainer and teacher, I share my secrets.
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