Effective Training
A product of The T3 Group
Turn your experts into trainers
Module 1:
Effective Communication

Module 1: Introduction
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Welcome/ “Flight Attendant Duties”
Your Goals?
Overview
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Lesson 1: Using Your Body
Lesson 2: Using Your Voice
Lesson 3: Active Listening

Lesson 1:
Using Your Body
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Non-Verbal communication skills
You will learn about:
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Posture
Eye contact
Gestures
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“P.E.G.”

Posture
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The S.O.L.E.R. Posture
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Square to the student
Open Arms & Legs
Lean towards the student
Eye Contact: Look at the student
Relaxed body and face
 http://www.alcohol.vt.edu/Students/speakUp/commSkills.htm

Posture
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Possible mixed signals
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Hands on hips
Feet “too wide”
Standing in “comfort zone”
Palms out
 http://changingminds.org/techniques/body/open_body.htm

Posture
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Closed Posture
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Arms & Legs crossed
Looking away from the student
Frowning
 http://changingminds.org/techniques/body/open_body.htm

Practice!
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Form a group of three or four
Describe “a perfect breakfast”
Use a good SOLER posture
Rate the presenter
Switch!

Eye Contact
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Your main tool for building rapport
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Also your best tool for building credibility
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Talk directly to your students!

Eye Contact
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Bad Eye Contact:
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Darting eyes avoiding everyone
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Looking at the back wall
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Talking to the board or podium
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Good Eye Contact:
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Lock your eyes on someone before speaking
Look at your students, not over them
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Turn, look, and make your point

Eye Contact
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While Presenting:
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Look - speak to one student at a time
Hold - give that student 3-5 seconds
Move- finish your point, then move on
Repeat - evenly distribute your time between all students

Eye Contact
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“EYE FIVE”
Divide the room into 5 sections
Make eye contact, make a point
Scan in order 1, 3, 5, 4, 2

Eye Contact
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Receiving
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Lean in - Leaning forward keeps you looking in their direction.
“Listen with your eyes” – Pretend your eyes are hearing every word spoken by the student. If you look away, you’ll miss something. Try to read their lips.
“Watch for the question mark” - Maintain eye contact until the student reaches the question mark of their statement.

Eye Contact
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If you don’t like looking directly into other people’s eyes, you’re not alone.
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Build your confidence by faking it:
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Look at the forehead instead of the eyes.
Your students will think you have great eye contact!
Slowly look lower on the face, such as the eyebrows, then the bridge of the nose.

Practice!
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Form a (different) group of three or four
Tell them about your last vacation
Maintain good eye contact, for both presenting and receiving
Switch!

Gestures
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Body Movement
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Remember, all movement must have a purpose.
Students will know if your gestures are rehearsed. Be genuine!

Gestures
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Things to do:
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Use your space – movement maintains attention
Move closer to emphasize points and field questions
Anticipate your next topic (example: move slowly towards the whiteboard if you’ll be using in next)

Gestures
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Things to avoid:
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Don’t get “rooted” to a spot
If you lean on something it means you’re bored

Gestures
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Hand Gestures
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Things to do:
• Punctuate your spoken points with your hands
• Invite comments with “palms up”
Things to avoid:
• Rehearsed gestures communicate lack of sincerity
(Chris Farley clip from Wayne’s World)
• Use “counting on fingers” sparingly - only if you’re counting 3 or more.
• Don’t use a pointer to call on someone

Gestures
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Consider
• “Draw” trend lines and time lines from right to left (your students will see the gesture from left to right)
• Keep your movements slow and methodical: Don’t give your class whiplash
• (This applies to pointing with the mouse on the screen, or scrolling on a page - your students will get dizzy if you make them follow too quickly)

Gestures REVIEW
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Body Movement - must have a purpose.
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Use your space to emphasize points
Anticipate what’s next
Hand Gestures - don’t rehearse
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Open, inclusive hands
Finger count sparingly
Advanced
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“mirror technique”
No more whiplash!

Practice!
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Form a (different) group of 3 or 4
Show them how to make a peanut butter sandwich, without talking…
Rate the presenter
Switch!

Lesson REVIEW:
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Posture: SOLER
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Square, Open, Leaning in, Eye contact, Relaxed
Eye contact techniques
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Speaking: Look, hold, move, repeat
Listen with your eyes
Look at foreheads
“Eye Five” the room
Gestures
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Move with a purpose
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Don’t get rooted to a spot
Don’t give your class whiplash

Break!

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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You will learn about:
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Volume, Articulation,
Tone & Speed (VATS)
Vocabulary
How to avoid “UM”

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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Use VATS for your Voice:
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Volume
Articulation
Tone
Speed

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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Volume
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Volume comes from the chest
Speak to the back of the room
Listen for a subtle echo
Don’t shout - get closer or use a mic
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Emphasize a point by speaking louder or softer.

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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Articulation
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Articulation comes from the mouth
“E-Nun-Ci-Ate”
Be sure to end a sentence with a verbal period.
Watch for spittle
Consider non-native speakers

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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Tone
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Tone comes from the throat
Natural speech goes up and down
Avoid
• a m o n o t o n e d e l i v e r y . . .
• “singsong” - can sound childish or patronizing
Exaggerate - they’ll never know!

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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Speed
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Speed comes from the material
There is such a thing as “too fast”
If you’re rushing, so is your audience
• Nervousness can speed you up
• Force pauses by asking questions
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Measured pace at notetaking speed
Vary your speed
• within a topic - stretch out key points
• Use dramatic pauses
There is such a thing as “too slow”

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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Vocabulary
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Spell out all acronyms (probably the most important point)
A high school kid or your Grandparents should understand every word. Speak in basic terms unless the material demands it.
Define new words, and repeat them in context
Offer a glossary if you have a lot of technical terms

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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Avoiding “UM”
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Other fillers
• “You know”
• “OK?”
• “Like”, or “Like I said”
• “To be perfectly honest”
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Know your material!
• Practice once or twice before the lesson
• Work on not being nervous

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice
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Avoiding “UM”
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Transparent behavior - turn it opaque
• Video tape a presentation, self critique
• Buddy up - have them keep a tally for you
• Assign someone to ring a bell every time you say the targeted word
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Fill the space with something else
• Dramatic pause
• Deep breath
• Ask a question
• Repeat a point

Exercise
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Practice in Groups

Lesson 2:
Using Your Voice REVIEW
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Use a V.A.T.S. Voice:
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Volume to reach the back row
Articulate for understanding
Tone that varies with material
Speed appropriate for the students
Vocabulary
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Spell out acronyms
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Use smaller words
Avoid filler sounds
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Videotape yourself
Make transparent behavior opaque

Break!

Lesson 3:
Active Listening
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You will learn about:
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P.E.G. (review)
Paraphrasing
Summarizing
Empathy

Lesson 3:
Active Listening
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P.E.G. Review
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Use a good SOLER posture while listening
• Square & Open, Lean in, good Eye contact, Relaxed & friendly
Eyes - use eyebrow raises
Gestures
• Hands: keep to a minimum: don’t distract the talker
• Nod, short vocal agreement

Lesson 3:
Active Listening
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Paraphrasing is repeating in your own words.
Communicates how well you’re listening
Leading comments:
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“It sounds like you’re saying…”
“If I heard your correctly…”
“To me, you have a question about…”
“That’s a good point…”
“Let me see if I understand…”

Lesson 3:
Active Listening
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Summarizing is making what they said shorter
Different from paraphrasing: building shortened comments
Leading statements:
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“So, in a nutshell, you said…”
“Just to simplify, you said…”
“Basically, what you want to know is…”
“To summarize, your point seems to be…”

Lesson 3:
Active Listening
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Empathy - “feeling” for the listener
Reflect the emotion of the student
Leading statements:
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“I get the feeling that you…”
“Kind of (________), right?”
• (scary, fun, strange, interesting, unexpected)
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“It seems you feel a certain way about this material…”
“To me, it looks like you’re really passionate about…”

Practice!
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Pick a partner
Speaker: Discuss your plans for the weekend
Listener: time for 90 seconds
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0-30: Sit passively
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30-60: Listen actively
60-90: Ignore completely
Discuss
Switch!

Lesson 3:
Active Listening REVIEW
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Use good posture, eye contact, and encouraging gestures
Paraphrase short comments
Summarize long comments
Empathize by reflecting student emotion
• http://www.taft.cc.ca.us/lrc/class/assignments/actlis ten.html

Module Review
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Using your body (non-verbals)
Using your voice (verbals)
Active Listening
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Student Guide as job-aid

Module Critique

Effective Training
A product of The T3 Group
Turn your experts into trainers
Module 1:
Effective Communication