Training as a Battlefield

Training as a Battlefield
We've talked about the strategic side of training. Let's go to the more tactical side: have you ever sat in your own class? I mean before you run the class, go in and have a seat where your learners are going to be?

Let me tell you why you should. I was reading a book about the Civil War the other day. In it they described how, if there was time, a commander would go out into the area ahead of his defenses. He would look back at them from the point of view of the enemy. That way he could see where the weak points of his line were from the enemy’s perspective. Now our learners are hardly the enemy but I believe that there is something to be learned from this practice.

Before your next class try this: go out into the seats and have a sit down. Look at where the board is hard to see. Is the A/C really noisy at this seat? Will the learner have a problem hearing you? Is there a blind spot where the participant won't be able to see things written on the board? You may know where the best place to stand is based on being in front of the class, but how that place looks from the various seats will surprise you. Remember, when you're sitting down you're about half regular height. You'll need to adjust for that when you're presenting by putting things up higher on the board, and such.

It's interesting how, by just sitting down, you can learn so much.