Elephants in the training room - Adults don't like to be schooled...again...by you

In the training field, we always have at least two elephants in the room; 'Why do I need to get trained, again?" and 'Who are you to teach me?'. Training takes away from time your participants would have spent on other important/urgent matters. Your adult learners may have been in many similar trainings. They would also ask themselves, why should they listen to you. These are important things to consider if we are aiming towards the best trainers we can be.

Remember your role as trainer and understand the adult learner:

When organizations hire us as trainers, they have a problem to solve or an opportunity they hope to exploit through the trainings we conduct. If your training doesn't result in a change in outcomes, then one would say you are an unsuccessful trainer, and rightfully so. Today, my work is mostly with university graduates entering Sierra Leone's workforce; the dynamic remains the same; 'Why do I need to be schooled again?' and 'Why should I listen to you in the first place?'. This is perfectly understandable since your adult learners already have had at least 18+ years of experience at life and have a well developed sense of self added to the tried and tested experiences they have gathered as professionals.

Nobody wants to be schooled, again, by you:

Very early on I realized nobody, especially adults want to be schooled again (it's not like children want to be schooled either;). There are things I have learned from the best Trainers I have worked with (most of whom have been women) and from my own experience making mistakes and learning in the field. The answer to the questions above (I found) was simple, don't try to teach anybody, but rather to create an atmosphere of trust where learners can let their guards down and willingly bring their experiences to the forefront. Your job then as the trainer is to bring these out and channel them towards the outcomes of  the training. With this approach, I found even the students and adult learners will be more than excited to give you the opportunity to help them improve their work.

Create an atmosphere of vulnerability and trust:

Today, I always emphasize (even if subtly) that I am not there to 'teach' and that the purpose of the training is for us all to bring out experiences and strengths and figure out how we can support each other to improve our current successes. I have found this to be extremely useful as it tackles head-on the defensiveness that most adult learners would otherwise approach trainings with. 

Refrain from coming across as being judgemental:

I say 'coming across' because most times we don't even realize it. The moment you come across as being judgemental, your participants won't feel comfortable to share their honest thoughts about issues in the training. One thing I have observed from the best trainers I have been trained by or have worked with is that they make sure they remain non-judgmental, and that's way more difficult that it sounds. You have your own biases - culture, religion, family experiences, school experiences, your experiences as an adult and as a professional. These can make you defensive against certain views or make you validate certain contributions more than others. You can do two things; first recognize your biases and give a disclaimer on them (again even if subtly) and notice it whenever a bias of yours is about to influence a response you are about to give. Surprisingly, apart from creating the atmosphere of trust I mentioned, this will also keep your biases in good check. 

Intellectual honesty is a superpower:

Intellectual honesty is a key trait I've seen in 'successful' trainers. Let's be clear, you don't have to have the answers to everything or need to have more expertise/experience than your trainees. Chances are very high your trainees know things you simply don't or may have had experiences more relevant to the issue of discourse than you. Be humble enough to see this as a good thing and in fact walk on the opposite side and bring out their experiences and utilize them to achieve the learning objectives. You have to know what you are talking about of course, but more important (I have found) you have to bring out their own experiences and expertise and use it to drive the aims of the training.

Develop Active Listening skills:

Finally (for now), you have to develop active listening skills. No one wants to listen to you go on and on. This is something I learned the hard way because I tended to be on the more extreme end of verbose - I would go on and on, and people would get tired listening. There are many online video and written resources to improve your active listening skills. Here is one short but very effective one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzsVh8YwZEQ.  

Hope you found this useful. These are just some random thought that came to mind reflecting on my own experience and what I have observed from people I have enjoyed being trained by or with whom I have worked, so definitely not comprehensive:).