You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello, and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin, and I'll be your host for this episode about delivering training.
Delivering training requires you to lead and control a group.
This is no easy task, as you'll know if you've ever done something similar, such as delivering a presentation.
You need to engage people, need to make the topic interesting or relevant to them and you need to make sure they participate.
In the end, you want them to learn something.
If their ears or minds are closed, they won't do that.
So how can you get them to listen, to respond, and to learn?
Well, you can try some of the language and techniques we'll look at in today's lesson.
In our last episode, we heard some useful language for introducing a training session.
Today, we'll hear about eliciting input, encouraging participation, and giving feedback.
We'll also look at connecting to personal experiences and checking understanding.
These are all important ways to make sure you are an effective trainer or presenter.
We're going to rejoin Zach as he delivers a workshop on customer service.
You'll also hear Ian and Nicole, two of the participants.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
1.
Why is it a good idea to use a customer's name when talking to them?
2.
What does Ian suggest when talking to customers?
3.
According to Zach, what should we do more than we speak?
Right, so I've been talking about treating customers as individuals.
I mean not just as one faceless customer among many, but as a person with needs, feelings and desires.
Okay?
And can anyone tell us some simple ways we can do this?
Yes, Nicole?
How about using the person's name when we talk to them?
Exactly.
Using a person's name individualizes the encounter and helps to build trust.
Anything else?
I haven't heard much from this side of the room today.
Can someone help us out?
Ian, any ideas?
Well, isn't it important to give our own name too?
I mean, I've found that when I do that, then the same customer will often call back and ask for me.
Fantastic.
That's exactly what we're after.
I mean, I think your experience really demonstrates what I said about customer service not just being information exchange or problem solving.
Those things are important, but it's bigger than that.
Customer service is relationship building.
And when a person is asking for you by name, you know you're doing that.
Sure, that makes sense.
Great.
Now, let's try a little practice here.
We're going to do some role plays.
So first up, I need everyone to find a partner.
All right.
If I could have your attention again.
I've been hearing people trying hard to make a personal connection right from the get-go.
But please don't forget to listen more than you speak.
We've talked a lot about listening and how it's one of the Ten Commandments of customer service.
Let's remember that.
Yeah, it's easy to assume you know what's going on.
I mean, we see the same problems over and over again, right?
Uh-huh.
And we'll talk about not jumping to conclusions in our next session.
But for now, does everyone get the idea of individualized customer service?
Are we all on the same page?
Okay.
Well then, maybe someone could summarize the main ideas for us.
Ian?
Now let's go through that dialogue again and look at the language Zach is using.
Right.
So I've been talking about treating customers as individuals.
I mean not just as one faceless customer among many, but as a person with needs, feelings and desires.
Okay?
And can anyone tell us some simple ways we can do this?
Yes, Nicole?
We join the training session, as Zach is talking about treating customers as individuals or as real people.
He wants to discuss how to do this.
And to open this discussion, he asks the group for ideas, saying can anyone tell us some simple ways we can do this?
Zach is eliciting input.
In other words, he is asking the group for ideas, which is often better than just giving the group all the answers.
Let's practice some other ways we can elicit input during training.
Now I need someone to tell us why this is important.
Anyone?
Who can give me an example of a common mistake?
What do you think?
What exactly can you say in this situation?
Okay, what's the goal in all this?
Someone in the back row.
Next, Nicole responds to Zach's question.
How about using the person's name when we talk to them?
Exactly.
Using a person's name individualizes the encounter and helps to build trust.
Anything else?
I haven't heard much from this side of the room today.
Can someone help us out?
Ian, any ideas?
Nicole's idea is to use a customer's name in conversation.
Zach praises this idea, explaining its positive effects.
But he wants more.
He says, anything else?
Then he asks a specific part of the room to help out or contribute to the discussion.
Zach even calls on one person by name, saying, Ian, any ideas?
Zach wants people to participate.
He is encouraging a quiet group to speak out, and when nobody does, he picks a particular person.
Encouraging participation is necessary in any kind of interactive training or presentation.
In the following examples, listen how this is done by trying to make people feel more comfortable.
Stuart, we'd love to hear your perspective on this problem.
Don't be shy.
Let's hear your thoughts.
Just blurt it out.
Alright, folks.
Speak up.
I can't do all the talking here.
Don't worry.
There are no wrong answers.
Someone from this side of the room?
Now, back to the dialogue.
Well, isn't it important to give our own name too?
I mean, I found that when I do that, then the same customer will often call back and ask for me.
Fantastic.
That's exactly what we're after.
I mean, I think your experience really demonstrates what I said about customer service not just being information exchange or problem solving.
Those things are important, but it's bigger than that.
Customer service is relationship building.
And when a person is asking for you by name, you know you're doing that.
Ian suggests that giving your name to the customer is also important.
He says that he has found or learned that it can help.
Zach thinks this is a great idea and he takes that personal experience and connects it with a bigger idea.
Zach tells Ian that his experience demonstrates the idea that customer service is relationship building.
In this way, Ian and the rest of the group can more easily understand the training concepts.
Zach shows them how the ideas relate to them personally.
What are some other ways we can connect ideas to people's personal experience?
That's interesting, Ted.
That's exactly what we've been talking about.
You see, that problem is why we're here in the first place.
I'm glad you mentioned that, because I'm going to help all of you avoid just that.
Yes, and it's not just you, Janice.
Your experience illustrates a really important point.
What happens next?
Sure, that makes sense.
Great.
Now, let's try a little practice here.
We're going to do some role plays.
So, first up, I need everyone to find a partner.
Ian thinks Zach's point makes sense, which means he understands it.
And now that Zach has made his point clearly, he wants to practice customer service through role-playing or acting out some possible situations.
Now let's hear what happens after that practice session.
All right.
If I could have your attention again.
I've been hearing people trying hard to make a personal connection right from the get-go.
But please don't forget to listen more than you speak.
We've talked a lot about listening and how it's one of the Ten Commandments of customer service.
Let's remember that.
In the practice, Zach has heard people trying to make a personal connect right from the get-go.
This is another way of saying from the beginning.
That's a positive thing, which Zach follows with some constructive criticism.
He says, but please don't forget to introduce his reminder to the group that they should listen more than they speak.
When giving feedback, Zach is careful not to give just negative comments.
Positive feedback is important too.
Listen to the following examples of giving feedback.
You'll notice that every one of them contains something positive.
Great job, folks.
But there are a couple of things we need to work on.
Okay.
There are two things you did well and two things you need to improve.
Super.
You found the right information and you related it to your partner.
That was a good try, but now I need you to do it with more confidence.
Now let's hear how the training finishes.
Yeah, it's easy to assume you know what's going on.
I mean, we see the same problems over and over again, right?
Uh-huh.
And we'll talk about not jumping to conclusions in our next session.
But for now, does everyone get the idea of individualized customer service?
Are we all on the same page?
Okay.
Well then, maybe someone could summarize the main ideas for us.
Ian?
Nicole agrees with what Zach is saying.
She mentions that they see the same problems over and over again, which just means again and again or repeatedly.
Nicole feels this creates the risk of assuming we know what is happening.
Zach takes this idea and connects it with the topic of the next session.
But before anything else, Zach wants to check understanding.
Firstly, he asks very simply whether everyone gets the ideas he's been explaining.
He follows that with another simple question.
Are we all on the same page?
In this case, being on the same page means understanding and agreeing.
Of course, simple questions like this often don't really tell us whether people understand, so Zach asks if someone can summarize or explain briefly the main ideas.
It's good to use a variety of different ways of checking understanding.
Zach used a couple, and you can hear a few more in these examples.
Does this make sense?
Does anyone not understand?
Before we move on, I want to make sure this is perfectly clear.
Okay.
Are we ready for the next section, or are there any questions?
Is everyone clear on all this?
Now, let's practice some of the language we've learned for eliciting input.
In a moment, you'll hear a prompt outlining what you can say to elicit input.
Use the words in the prompt to make a question you can use to ask your audience for ideas or comments.
For example, if you hear, Can give example.
You can say, Can anyone give us an example?
We'll play an example answer after each practice.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
What everyone think this situation?
Answer.
What does everyone think of this situation?
How we approach problem Answer How can we approach this problem?
Can Explain Why?
Important.
Answer.
Can anyone explain why this is important?
Who?
No.
Answer.
Question 2.
Answer.
Who knows the answer to question two?
Now, let's practice useful vocabulary and idioms.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, saying the missing word.
For example, if you hear, Can anyone help us with this problem?
You can say, Can anyone help us out with this problem?
We'll play the correct answer after each question.
Let's begin.
Okay, everyone.
First, let's talk about hardware.
Answer.
Okay, everyone.
First up, let's talk about hardware.
I want to make sure this makes... to everyone.
Answer.
I want to make sure this makes sense to everyone.
You need to understand this right from the... Answer.
You need to understand this right from the get-go.
This is one of the ten of good report writing.
Answer This is one of the ten commandments of good report writing.
We've reached the end of this episode, the second in our two-part series about delivering training.
We've looked at eliciting input, giving feedback, and encouraging participation.
You've also learned how to check understanding and connect ideas to personal experience.
These are all very useful skills that can come in handy not just when delivering training, but also when doing presentations and pitches.
For more practice, premium members can access the online quizzes and study notes for this and other episodes in the new Learning Center.
Not a member yet?
Then head over to wwwbusinessenglishpodcom and sign up for a free trial to preview some of the extra resources available to members.
Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.
