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5 Gifts for that Trainer in Your Life

In the United States, the holiday shopping season kicks off with “Black Friday” at the end of this week. If you’re looking for gift ideas for that special trainer in your life, here are five suggestions at various price points:

  1. Table Toys

Putting a koosh ball or a stress ball or some other type of toy on the tables helps break the ice as learners enter the room, sets a more playful tone for the day and gives kinesthetic learners something to do with their hands as they process the information you share with them. Click here to browse a selection of table toys available through The Trainers Warehouse.

  1. Mr. Sketch Markers

Want a set of flipchart markers that last a long time, have a broad enough tip for everyone in the room to see what you’ve written, that don’t bleed through the paper and that have fun (and non-toxic) odors? Mr. Sketch is your marker. I appreciate these markers so much that I’ve written a poem about them! Order a 12 pack for $5!

  1. How To Be A Presentation God: Build, Design & Deliver Presentations that Dominate

Whether you’re looking for a gift for a novice trainer or an experienced presenter, Scott Schwertly has a book that offers value to facilitators at every level of skill and experience. Click here to take a look at a more in-depth write-up on Amazon.com.

  1. Snagit

If you want clean, clear screen captures for elearning, PowerPoint presentations or technical manuals, Snaggit is a $50 piece of software that will offer a much more crisp image that simply hitting “Print Screen” or using the snipping tool that’s pre-loaded on many Windows-baded operating systems. Click here to learn more about Snagit.

  1. Articulate Storyline

If your pockets are a little deeper and you’re looking for a gift for a serious learning and development professional, you might want to look in to giving the gift of elearning.  I’ve used other rapid authoring tools to develop elearning modules, but Articulate Storyline is by far the most intuitive, easy-to-use tool I’ve found. And perhaps the best thing about Articulate Storyline is the Articulate online community made up of Articulate staff and hundreds (perhaps thousands) of passionate and experienced Articulate users who pride themselves on being able to quickly post an answer to any question you can dream up when it comes to using this tool. Learn more about Articulate Storyline here.

Want someone to buy one of these gifts for you? Pass this post along!

If you want access to a steady stream of articles to help improve your presentation skills then you should probably follow this blog.

Instructor-Led Training Resources

These are some of our favorite resources to support everyone involved with instructor-led training.

Training Delivery and Facilitation Competency Rubric

A rubric is a way to assess performance with a standard set of evaluation criteria. The next time you need to assess the performance of someone delivering training (even if that someone is you), you may find this rubric helpful.

The Role of Co-facilitators

Co-facilitators play an important role in a training workshop. The most obvious benefit is that when you co-facilitate, you get a break from leading the

18 Instructor-led Training Activities

Engaging, intentional, face-to-face and virtual instructor-led training activities can make the difference between a session that helps learners to apply new skills or knowledge and one that falls flat.

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