‘Always do something with a question, other than answering it.’
I looked at the trainer, glassy-eyed… I thought I had nailed it. Answered every question with precision. So why was I getting this feedback? It was early days in my career, and I had just delivered part of a training session in a Train the Trainer course. The theory I had explained was quite difficult and all of the questions from the group I had answered, and answered well. I felt pretty sure every participant understood what I had tried to convey, so I didn’t see the problem.
Not one to give up easily, I challenged: ‘but everyone understands it right?’ I even looked at the group to get some back up and to my delight got some nodding. I proudly looked back to the trainer, who smiled at me. ‘Yes, you did a pretty good job in explaining the theory. There are however other factors that are important if you want to deliver a stellar training, apart from getting people to understand. Would you be interested to find out how you did in these?’ I nodded yes.
The trainer then asked the group: ‘By a show of fingers, rate how engaged you felt during this segment, 1 being not at all, 10 being totally.’ I received a 3, a couple of 4’s, a 5 and a 7. The trainer continued: ‘And now rate how interested you were in what Rosanne was conveying’. Now my numbers ranged from 2 to 6. Ooof, for someone that always aims for high marks, these ratings were like a punch to the gut. I got the point. I had focused so intently on nailing the theory that I had completely lost track of engagement. Yet, as a trainer, that is crucial.
Ever since that moment, I’ve been honing the skill of delivering interactive, engaging sessions. At this point in time high levels of interaction are even one of my USP’s as a trainer. This should give you hope, since it’s clearly a trainable skill. Let me share what I’ve learned with you.
Mindset
Oftentimes it is our beliefs that hold us back from attaining a certain goal. Many trainers (myself included) hold the following belief when they start out:
If someone asks a question, I need to answer it.
Are you too getting a pang of recognition here? This is exactly the kind of belief that will hinder you to create an engaging learning session. By giving the answers, you are doing the hard work and are not inviting the participants to think for themselves and learn something. You are only displaying your knowledge instead of helping them build some. This creates passive groups with little interaction. So our first order of business is changing our belief to:.
If someone asks a question, I use it to activate the group to learn.
Totally different ballgame, right? If you are bought into this belief, yet unclear on how you do this, read on.
How you deal with a question is influenced by the energy that is driving the question. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples, and how you deal with them.
Someone doesn’t understand it.
‘So, let’s say someone keeps interrupting me. If I then give feedback and I say ‘I felt you were being rude’, is that an observation or an interpretation?’
How you could deal with it:
Use the group
‘Who has an answer to this question?’
An important note—sometimes, you may not get the answer you’re looking for right away. If that’s the case, keep prompting with questions like ‘Does everyone feel the same?’ or ‘Does anyone have a different view?’. When the right answer is mentioned, but there are also different viewpoints that came from the group, your role as a trainer is to highlight the right answer. You can do this by saying: ‘Exactly!’ or ‘That is indeed also what the theory suggests’ or ‘and this is also how I look at it/my experience.’ In this way, you strengthen your role as an expert and you set the participants at ease because now it’s clear which answer is the ‘correct’ one.
Uncover why they don’t understand it, and coach them to the right answer. Think of this as a mini-coaching moment. Instead of spoon-feeding the answer, you’re nudging them to see it themselves.
‘Do you remember the main difference between an observation and an interpretation?
[Answer: ‘Yes, an observation is a fact, and an interpretation is the meaning you assign to that fact’]
‘Exactly! And is it a fact that interrupting people is rude? In other words, would everyone see it the exact same way?’
[Answer: ‘Well I think most people would, but maybe not all…’]
‘So does that make that statement an interpretation or an interpretation?
[Answer: ‘An interpretation!’]
‘Right!’
Someone asks a question to verify an answer they already have in their head.
‘So, is it a good idea then to prepare your feedback in advance?’
How you could deal with it:
Turn it around
‘What do you think?’
‘From the way you ask the question, it sounds like you already have an idea around this, am I right?
Someone asks a question because they are skeptical or not convinced of what you’re saying.
‘So when someone gets emotional I should allow space for the emotion?’
How you could deal with it:
Address the thing that is not being said and invite them to elaborate
‘It sounds like you have some doubt around this, how so?’
Reward them for speaking up and ask them a question to invite them to think for themselves
‘Good question! What might be the use of doing that, do you think?’
I’m excited for you to start test-driving these approaches to handling questions! Plus, there’s a great bonus here: energy preservation. You’re now inviting participants to do the heavy lifting, which leaves you feeling way more energized—both during and after the session. You’re welcome!
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book on how to deliver awesome trainings. It comes from the chapter Interaction. This theory is also covered in my Train-the-Trainer programme: Inspire to Develop.