If you want to be a good trainer, put more emphasis on strengthening your content.
Many trainers tend to think that if they improve on their delivery, their training sessions would automatically become better and participants will like them even more. And as a result of that, they get more jobs and get to make more money.
Although I believe that a trainer must have the basic ability to deliver training – by understanding the audience, have a firm grip on factors that contribute to effective communication and comprehends the difference between presenting and educating through presentation – there is no denying the fact that a great presentation cannot and will never cover up mediocre content.
So, how can a training content be strengthen?
- Breadth
Widen your comprehension of the subject matter. Equip yourself with the knowledge that is related to your subject matter and opposing perspectives that people may have. The more ready you are with components (both positive and negative side) that you master within the subject matter domain, the stronger your content will be.
- Depth
Go to the deepest core of the subject matter. Dig the specific area of knowledge further. Go to the roots, break it down into the lowest common denominators, look up every single definition. The more you master the depth of what you teach, the stronger your content becomes.
How can one gain more breadth and depth?
Most certainly by reading and attending events (training, seminars, etc.) that allows you to talk, discuss, engage and connect to ideas of people within the domain of the particular subject matter. The main idea here is to learn more about your focused subject matter – unless of course the subject matter that you want to focus in is “training delivery” itself. But that’s a story we shall explore and reserve for another day.