Training from the BACK of the Room! (TBR)

Group management strategies (what works; what doesn’t) was a topic of conversation among Certified Trainers for “Training from the BACK of the Room” this week. So I’m reposting these five excellent strategies – find the one that works for you!  

Lately, I have been receiving a number of emails from trainers inquiring about the 2-day “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) class that I am facilitating on April 12th – 13th 2018 in Minneapolis, MN. Here is some information about the TBR class for anyone interested in learning more about it.

Because I’ve been asked about ways to ease lecture-based instructors into more brain-based ways of teaching/training others, I’m reposting this “Got a Minute?” blog entry here. It describes five ways to use 60-second activities to engage learners during the lecture segment of a class or training. 

In previous posts, I’ve shared a number of excellent ASAP Science videos having to do with how the human brain functions and learns. This is their newest video about the brain: “How to Learn Faster.”    

  In my Internet wanderings, I’ve gathered some interesting brain videos – refreshers of what you may already know about the human brain or some new facts that you weren’t aware of. If you have some spare time, treat yourself to one or more of the videos in this blog post. Enjoy! 🙂  

Sometimes it’s good to remind ourselves that we aren’t really totally rational beings, especially when it comes to learning new information or new ideas. And it’s good to remember this whenever we’re teaching or training others. THEY aren’t always rational, either!

I’m Jean-Paul Bayley, one of the Certified Trainers for “Training from the BACK of the Room!” Over the years, I have attended a lot of training courses. In recent times, I have been the trainer rather than the training participant, and I have noticed a repetitive number of “anti-patterns” of training delivery.

To benefit your brain: dust off your old guitar, tinker with the family piano, or better yet, buy a used anything – keyboard, ukulele, drum, banjo, tamborine – and play it (well or poorly, it doesn’t matter)!

I’m reposting this short slide presentation because, even though it’s primarily for parents of school-age children, I believe the 5 tips are great for us adults, as well. I would add a 6th tip to the list: get moving! 🙂

You may be a corporate trainer giving crucial information to a group of employees. You may be teacher lecturing a class full of students. You might be telling a co-worker or friend something you consider really important. Or you may be a parent, hoping that your children will remember and heed what you tell them.  

I’ve been asked again about topic-related, learner-centered “Connections” (aka: openers) and “Conclusions” (aka: closers) for training programs. So I’m reposting four strategies that can be used with any topic and any group of learners. These activities will energize learners while actively engaging them in making connections and drawing conclusions.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you already know about “Warm-Ups.” And you already know about TBR (“Training from the BACK of the Room!”). But if you’re not familiar with either, or if you’re a participant in the TBR class next week that will be held in Gilbert, Arizona, read on.

Want a five-minute training game that takes no preparation beforehand? Want a high-energy game that engages all learners and that reviews training content in a fun and memorable way? Introducing: “Grab That Spoon!”

You’ve got a long summer of class instruction ahead of you. You know how difficult it is for your learners (and for you!) to stay indoors while sunshine, blue sky, and fresh air beckon just a window or door away. So why not insert a “Walkabout” into your content-delivery?

Two years ago I posted a blog entry titled “How Technology Rewires the Brain.” Since then, I’ve been asked many times about the use of technology in formal learning environments, namely, face-to-face classrooms (as opposed to virtual classrooms where technology IS the delivery system). Love it or hate it, technology is here to stay.

About a year ago I wrote a blog post titled: “PowerPoint 3.0 (and a Free Give-Away).” I’m reposting that blog here because I’ve gotten email questions regarding the use of slides. Be sure to check out the resources at the end of this post and pick up the free give-away, if you haven’t already.

Tiffany Shlain is a professional filmmaker who has created numerous short, high-energy, image-rich videos about how the human brain functions, learns, and creates. In this video, Tiffany gives us 10 powerful steps to follow for creating ANYTHING.

The San Diego “Training from the BACK of the Room” class held this month has been completed and now the “real work” begins – with “Follow-Ups,” of course!

I’m writing this blog post for the San Diego 2017 Scrum Alliance Gathering participants (although I’m sure you’ll find this post to be a useful refresher of some brain science principles, regardless of whether you’ve attended the Gathering or not). This post reinforces concepts from my keynote titled: “Know Thy Brain!”

Because the San Diego “Training from the BACK of the Room” classes –  and the 2017 San Diego Scrum Gathering – are right around the corner,  I was really lucky to find this great slide presentation about active reflection and successful long-term learning.

Perhaps you’re planning to attend a class, training, or webinar. Or maybe you’ve signed up for a conference. Or you might be going to a “meet-up,” where people who are interested in the same hobby as you meet and share information. And now you’re asking yourself … 

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you already know about “Warm-Ups.” And you already know about TBR (“Training from the BACK of the Room!”). And you may already be planning to attend the TBR class on April 6th – 7th 2017, in San Diego, California.

(NOTE: I posted this the day before the actual webinar, Feb. 23th 2017, so that participants can access it immediately once the webinar ends). You attended my webinar “Brain-Based Presenting: Getting the Brain to Pay Attention” and now you’re ready to do some of the “Follow-Ups” – spaced practice activities that will help move what you learned into your long-term memory.

  If you haven’t already participated in my webinar titled “Brain-Based Presenting,”   consider joining me on Thursday, February 23rd 2017, for an hour of exciting, brain-based learning. The webinar is sponsored by IACET, the International Association for Continuing Education and Training.

To my blog readers: You already know that “Follow-Ups” are optional activities that help participants revisit what they’ve learned from a class or training. So here are the Follow-Ups for the P01 Certificate Program held in San Diego at the Training 2017 Conference & Expo last week. Even if you didn’t attend the conference, you will find the Follow-Ups interesting and informative.

If you’ve attended one of my training programs, or if you’ve read previous blog posts about “Priming,” you already know that I send out “Warm-Ups” before every training class. Here are the “Warm-Ups” for the upcoming Training 2017 Conference & Expo Certificate Program in San Diego this month.

Sometimes all it takes is a gentle reminder – and some small chunks of time, spaced over a few days/weeks – to change a teaching, training, or learning habit (or, for that matter, to change ANY habit!).

Dear Reader: Because I want you to know how much I have appreciated your interest in my blog posts, I’ve created a little gift for you so that you can end 2016 and begin 2017 with health and well-being. I call the gift “Pocket Cards: 10 Super-Easy Health Tips for 2017.”

In these first two decades of the 21st century, there has been an explosion of information about how the human brain takes in, stores, and retrieves information, i.e. learns. Here are a few outdated ideas that we need to let go of.

Gifted filmmaker Tiffany Shlain has done it again with “The Adaptable Mind,” an elegant, informative, and inspiring 11-minute video about five skills that make the human brain uniquely … well, human! 

Through my Internet search for interesting videos about the human brain, I discovered this informative and innovative 10-minute film that covers everything from how the human brain develops to how we are reshaping our own brain every minute of our lives.

This short, animated video is the best visual description I’ve come across about the concept of “neuroplasticity” – the ability we all possess to rewire our brain.

In my last post, I introduced you to the website “Hello Brain” – a collection of short, informative videos and blog posts about the human brain and how it works. In this post, I am introducing you to another excellent video and more blog posts about attention and memory by Hello Brain.

Every now and then I go on a YouTube search for new brain science videos. Sometimes I come across ones that I simply must post in this blog because of their usefulness in understanding how the human brain works. The following two short videos on the human brain’s capacity for memory-making are definitely in the “must-post-here-now” category!

To my blog readers: You already know that “Follow-Ups” are optional activities that help participants revisit what they’ve learned from a class or training. So I always post the Follow-Ups for the “Training from the BACK of the Room!” (TBR) classes I have facilitated, in this case, the Nashville, Tennessee classes that were held this week.

It doesn’t matter if you’re instructing small groups (under a dozen people), medium-size groups (1-3 dozen people), or large groups (three dozen or more). Nor does it matter if you’re presenting in a lecture hall or to an auditorium-size audience. And it really doesn’t matter what your topic is. You still need some quick, easy, and effective group management strategies.

Are you part of an Agile community of coaches and trainers? Do you want to improve your audience’s engagement, information retention, and overall learning outcomes, no matter what the topic or the duration of your presentation? Do you know what is hot these days among Agile aficionados?

If you attended my webinar on August 31st,  “Brain-Based Presenting: Getting the Brain to Pay Attention,” I’ve created another useful give-away for you. If you weren’t able to attend the webinar, read on for information about how you can access it for free.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you already know about “Warm-Ups.” And you already know about TBR (“Training from the BACK of the Room!”). And you may already be planning to attend the TBR class on October 3rd – 4th 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee.

You’ve attended my webinar “Brain-Based Presenting: Getting the Brain to Pay Attention” and now you’re ready to do some of the “Follow-Ups” – spaced practice activities that will help move what you learned into your long-term memory.

If you haven’t already signed up for my free “Brain-Based Presenting” webinar, sponsored by HRDQ, consider joining me, and an enthusiastic group of global trainers, on August 31st 2016 for an hour of exciting, brain-based learning.

I’ve had a number of inquiries about the “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) Trainer Certification Course coming up on October 5th 2016, and held in Nashville, Tennessee. So I’m reposting this information if you (or any of your training colleagues) are interested in becoming a TBR Certified Trainer.

I am always surprised and delighted with the practical and helpful training aids created by many of the “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) Certified Trainers. This “4Cs Design Checklist” – created by Christine Brautigam – is a training design jewel!

Carole Carter-Cleaver and Otsuka America have done it again! Along with the hugely popular “Six Trumps™ Guide,” Carole and team have created a free “Six Trumps™ Bookmark” for anyone who wishes to use these six brain science principles to teach and train.

Ed Buhain here (Sharon invited me to author this blog post): Have you ever attended a presentation on the hottest bleeding-edge technology and the presentation turned out to be less exciting than watching the paint grow (or the grass dry)? So why do so many technical talks consist of reading slides or pasting code blocks, and that’s it?

I am often asked, “What do you do about company-created slide decks that you have to use for a mandatory company training?” And, of course, many company slide decks are still text-heavy, template-bound, with lots of bulleted points and no images to break up the monotony.

Awhile back, I posted a popular guide based on the Six Trumps™ from my book “Using Brain Science to Make Training Stick.”  Here is the “Six Trumps™ Card Set” to go with the Six Trumps™ Guide.

My blog readers already know that “Follow-Ups” are optional activities that help participants revisit what they’ve learned from a class or training. Here are the Follow-Ups for the London “Training from the BACK of the Room!” (TBR) classes held this past month of May 2016.

According to Agile Coach Luca Minudel, “SmHarter” is the fusion of two words: “Smart” (working and improving with intelligence and mastery), and “Heart” (using collaboration, purpose, passion, and creativity to delight customers and learners).

A “Very-Cool-Thing” happened at the “Training from the BACK of the Room!” (TBR) class in Orlando, Florida, April 14th – 15th 2016. Participant Vic Bonacci hosted a podcast with eight other trainers there. Here’s what happened …

“Follow-Ups” are optional activities that help you revisit, remember, and use what you’ve learned from a class or workshop. Brain scientists call this “spaced practice.” Follow-Ups help you move content into long-term memory and help you master concepts and use them in practical ways.

You just finished a customer service training for a small group of your company’s employees. They listened attentively the whole time your were talking. Now you stop and ask, “Do you understand?” They nod their heads. You continue, “Do you have any questions?” They shake their heads. “Good,” you think. “They’ve got it.”

Actively engaging an audience during an F2F (face-to-face) presentation, speech, or training is not as difficult as you might think. All that matters is your commitment to do three simple things.

If you attended the Training 2016 Conference P01 Certificate Program (held in Orlando February 12th – 14th 2016), these quick and easy follow-up activities will help you remember and apply what you learned. If you didn’t attend this training program, the activities will still help you improve your own instructional skills.

Want an instructional design and delivery model that is easy to use? That is applicable to all the topics you teach? That is based on current brain science about how humans learn best? Here it is: the 4Cs Map.

Brain scientists call it “priming” – getting your brain ready to learn. I call them “Warm-Ups” – short, quick, optional activities that will introduce you to some of the concepts covered in the 3-day Pre-Conference P01 Certificate Program at the Training 2016 Conference & Expo being held in Orlando, Florida in February 2016.

If you would like to become a Certified Trainer and present “Training from the BACK of the Room!” in your own countries and for your own clients and customers, extra Certification Course days have been added to the Orlando FL and London UK classes this spring. Read on for more information about these dynamic, practical, and useful train-the-trainer programs.  

If you want to create meaningful conversations about topic-related issues, in a face-to-face learning environment, veteran law enforcement officer and trainer Nick Zingo has just the thing for you: “Café Conversations.”

In my book, “Using Brain Science to Make Training Stick,” I gave my friend and professional colleague, Beverly Woolery, credit for helping to create “The Six Trumps™ Workshop” that is a value-added part of the book. Beverly took the workshop to a more advanced level and created her own longer variation of it. Then she generously sent it my way – for you!

Sharon here, letting you know that, after the New Year holiday, I will begin a 2016 series of posts with lots of practical and useful information about brain-based training, teaching, and learning. Meanwhile, with the New Year just around the corner, I decided to post this article which I paraphrased from “The Guardian“ with 10 tips that are simple and delightfully easy to do.