Training Environment

Using your Training Environment

Tips for survival

Your training environment is the most essential and important element of your presentation. It is the difference between a good presentation and one that will keep the participants asking for more.

The five most important features of your training environment will be:

1. White Board

2. Flipchart

3. Projector

4. Space

5. Body Language

A good presenter uses his training environment in the most effective and coordinative way possible. Here are a few tips that will help you use your training environment in a more effective manner, while giving presentations.

White Board

The white board is your medium of writing and projecting the presentation. In the modern world, white boards have revolutionarized and have added features in built such as a play, pause and stop button for you presentations and images. They can be connected to your projector to run your presentation more effectively and easily.

But as much as technology may change, the basics of the white board will stay the same, and they are:

* Leave margins on the corners of the board. Do not fill up the board too much especially around the corners. Keep a spacing of 5 inches from the left/right and top/bottom corners of the board.

* Always use a non-permanent marker on the white board. This ensures easy reusability of the board at various levels.

* The color of the markers should be bright and solid. Do not use faint markers as they are not clearly visible. The purpose is easy visibility, not the formality of writing.

* The letters should be at least Ð... " high and should be in capital letters. Caps case is easier to read.

* Use a variety of color markers for highlighting and adding variety to what is written on the board.

* When using the white board as the projection screen make sure is cleaned and has no patches of ink. If you have written over the projection on the board then ensure that you wipe it before proceeding to the next slide.

* Do not stand in front of the board if there is something written on it.

Flip Chart

The flip chart is your medium of that extra unit of writing and displaying your points. It is often termed as the trainers "companion". The flip chart is mostly used as a tool for writing or illustrating points that are a part of the presentation, but may or may not be a part of the power point slides.

Some key tips for using the flip chart are:

* Always use a new flip chart for a different presentation. Do not overwrite on old flip charts.

* Flip charts with lines are better to write on and view than the one's that are boxed.

* Preserve and store flip charts that are specific to certain presentations and the points can be used over and over again.

* While writing on the flip chart stand next to it with one arm around it, and the other writing on it. Stand next to it slightly perpendicular. The need for being slightly perpendicular is so that you can write on the chart with out hiding it.

* While writing on the flip chart, ensure that the letters are 1 inch high and you are using a bright inked marker.

* If you have already prepared your notes on the chart, reveal (flip) the pages one by one and make sure that they are in sync with the topic that you are presenting.

* If the pages have finished, then you may turn the flip chart around and write on the back side of the pages. But use this technique in a chronological order. For e.g. If the pages have finished, then when starting to write on the back side of the charts pages, start from the last page.

The purpose of this would be that, while re-capping or revising the pages in the end, you will start from the beginning of the chart with the first page(front side), and continue on from the last page(back side) in reverse order to reach the beginning of the chart again.

Projector

The projector is one of your most powerful tools in the training environment, without which it would be impossible to use your multimedia presentations, and run PowerPoint. The projectors of today have amazing technical features and are available in various sizes and shapes. But nonetheless, the conventional usage of these gizmos will remain the same.

Here are some tips on using the projector;

* The projection image should be displayed on a projection screen or a flat clear surface.

* The projector image should be in the area that is meant for the projection image, whether in a screen or on the white board. The image should not over-ride the corners or borders of the screen.

* The image should not be too bright or dull, nor too colorful. The image should be soothing to the eyes and should not be too sharp as that hurts the eyes. The adjustments have to be made prior to the beginning of the presentation.

* The "MUTE" option should be used when the focus has shifted away from the projection image and on to something else, or a discussion is alive. This is very important as if the image is on, it acts as a distraction.

But do not switch off the projector every time you want to shift focus or highlight something else. It takes too long for the bulb to warm up again and again. This results