Table of Contents

Training Tips: Avoiding the “Plop”

It’s early on in the training session and it’s time to get some thoughts from the audience.  You pose a question and you wait for the answers to come streaming out.  But nobody raises their hand.  There’s silence.  Like an auctioneer, you scan the audience for any possible movement.  And you continue to find nothing but lonely, uncomfortable silence.  Your question simply plopped.

Should you call on someone?  Should you just give the answer?

I don’t like either of those options.  I like to ask people to turn to the person next to them and discuss their thoughts on the question.  Once they do this and the ice is broken and there is some energy in the room and people have obviously come up with some thoughts and answers to my question, then I’ll bring it back to the large group and ask for someone to respond.

The “plop” is never fun, but it happens.  In a large room, it’s easy to not volunteer an answer, it’s easy to hide among the rest of the participants.  When participants are asked to pair off, it’s much more difficult to remain silent.  And once the silence is broken, it’s much easier to find answers when you come back to the large group.

The Train Like A Champion blog is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  These brief “Training Tip” posts are a series of quick reference tips that are published while your beloved Train Like A Champion blogger is currently enjoying a little vacation.  The more in-depth posts will resume again in August.

Articles Similar to Training Tips: Avoiding the “Plop”

Better PowerPoint
PowerPoint
Erin Clarke

Creating Better PowerPoint Slide Decks, Faster

PowerPoint can be a very powerful visual aid and important tool for training… if it’s done well. Creating a better PowerPoint Slide Deck is about organizing your thoughts before you even open PowerPoint on your computer.

Brian Washburn

Is this the world’s most effective role play?

When it comes to your training participants, two of the dirtiest, or perhaps scariest, words you can say during a session may be: role play. In today’s podcast, John Crook, Head of Learning at Intersol Global, offers some thoughts on how to make role plays more authentic and robust.

Hybrid Learning: When to use it

Recently I had an opportunity to talk with the folks at Mimeo about hybrid learning and when to use it. In today’s post, I share a link to that podcast, which is one in a series of podcasts they did with industry leaders on hybrid learning strategies.

Does training actually change behavior?

Does training actually change behavior? It’s a question we should be able to answer honestly. (And the answer is: No, not 100%… and yes, but seriously, not 100%)

Subscribe to Get Updates from Endurance Learning

Brian Washburn, Author

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll send you the latest updates from our blog. Thanks for following!

Download the Facilitator Evaluation Rubric

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the rubric to help you assess the skills of someone delivering training.

activities cookbook

Download the Training Activity Cookbook

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the Endurance Learning Activity Cookbook.

Let's Talk Training!

Brian Washburn

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll get back to you soon.

Download the Feedback Lesson Plan

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the lesson plan as a PDF.

feedback lesson plan
MS Word Job Aid Template

Download the Microsoft Word Job Aid Template

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the Word version of this template.

Download the Free Lesson Plan Template!

Enter your email below and we’ll send you a Word document that you can start using today!

training materials checklist

Download the Training Materials Checklist

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the Training Materials Checklist.

Subscribe to Endurance Learning for updates

Get regular updates from the Endurance Learning team.