By Shannon Terry
Does this describe you? You are a gifted healer who sincerely wants to share your passion and skills to serve as many people as possible. Maybe you do energy work, massage therapy, reflexology, spiritual healing techniques, or any of the myriad other modalities that help people resolve issues that keep them from living their best lives.
You’ve had the idea that if you could do a group workshop, then even more people could receive the healing benefits of your work. Maybe you’ve been wanting to offer a training class or certification course to teach others some basic “DIY” (do-it-yourself) techniques of your practice, or to become practitioners themselves. Or, perhaps an “introductory” workshop would offer a “taster/sampler” of your effectiveness for newcomers that would convince and excite them to become individual clients or purchase other packaged deals. But…that’s where it stops because you just feel overwhelmed, intimidated, and/or just puzzled about how to create an actual training class or workshop.
How in the world can you put all of your knowledge into a clear, concise teaching format that others can understand? Curriculums? Outlines? Activities? Oh MY! How can you even begin to pick a specific topic and stay focused on it? Decide what to talk about in these classes and what to leave out? Know if what you say will be effective? Interesting? Well received?
Never fear! Here are a few simple teacher/trainer tips guaranteed to help your class or presentation to be informative, interesting and easy to understand.
1) First, know your audience—who are you teaching? What is their current knowledge level on the topic you selected? This may mean you need to start with basic foundational principles and facts. Or, if you know your participants have some prior knowledge/experience, then provide a simple review of the needed background information. Avoid talking over their heads, talking down to them or wasting their time with novice-level facts, depending on the group’s current familiarity of your topic. Never ask “Who doesn’t know ____?” No one wants to appear stupid or uninformed. Instead, offer “a quick review of the basics to jog your memories and fill any gaps in the groups understanding so we’re all on the same page.”
2) Tell stories to illustrate your key learning points. Your own experience along your path to now being the teacher can provide evidence that you can relate to where participants are in the learning process and make you more approachable. Relevant stories about the topic that demonstrate your knowledge not only prove your “expert” status as teacher, they also are just more interesting than a purely old-school lecture mode.
3) Incorporate all the basic learning styles. This ensures that everyone understands, and each way reinforces everyone’s comprehension. Include auditory components for learners who need to listen, to HEAR IT to GET IT (for example: verbal presentations and instructions, audio recordings of others doing the same, and the participants talking about the topics, practicing, etc.). Use visuals of many kinds for those who need to SEE IT to GET IT (For instance: handouts, PowerPoints, charts, outlines, pictures, and video clips to show the steps or people engaged in doing what you’re teaching, etc.).
Also make sure to include an interactive (kinesthetic) piece to it—get the group to DO the learning to make sure they GET IT (for example: role playing, practice exercises, small group discussions, hands-on demonstrations/try-outs, create your own and present it to us projects, etc.) Getting participants engaged also keeps them interested, too.
Being recognized as someone who “knows your stuff” is a great career accomplishment. Being known as the person that can effectively teach important topics to others PROVES you are THE go-to professional in your specialty healing area. This can lead to even further recognition and career opportunities, from notable increases in the number of clients you serve, to outside teaching/speaking offers, all of which are also great all bio/website/resume and career builders.Offering group classes is also an effective and efficient time and money investment for the teacher and participants, providing a wonderful way to grow your business while serving more in need, too. Win-win!
So get out there and teach! With an effective approach, your future students will thank you.
Shannon Terry is a former corporate trainer and instructor on topics ranging from on-the-job customer service, sales and software skills to environmental education, team building activities, and life skills for teens. She also has been a Resume Writer and Coach for more than 10 years. She loves developing fun, clear, attention-keeping presentations and workshops for her job search clients. She will be offering her own “Train the Trainer” workshops at the Atman Center for Transformation. You can read some feedback from her past workshop participants at: www.resumeconfidence.com. Contact Shannon at shannon@resumeconfidence.com or 727-348-9802.