Training From the Back of the Room!

Sharon L. Bowman has been a professional speaker, author, teacher, and trainer for over thirty years. She is the author of six popular books on training including The Ten-Minute Trainer from Pfeiffer, and is a regular speaker at many national conferences.

Foreword xvii

Need-to-know Information From the Front of the Book 1

Warm-Ups for Training from the BACK of the Room! 3

The 4 Cs Reference Guide 5

What’s In It For You? An Introduction to Training from the BACK of the Room! 7

Imagine That 8

Do You Want Them to Hear It or Learn It? 9

Who’s Doing the Talking? 10

The Power of the Paradigm 11

This Book Will Get You There 13

How This Book Is Organized 14

Using the Thing to Teach the Thing 16

Brain-Friendly Training: Learning About Learning 27

Imagine That 28

From Boring to Beneficial 30

Brain-Friendly Learning and Training 31

Positive Emotional Experiences: From Emotions to Attention to Learning 33

Multi-Sensory Stimulation and Novelty: Timing and Movement 35

Instructional Variety and Choices: Reaching Most of the Learners Most of the Time 37

Active Participation and Collaboration: Stepping Aside While Letting Them Learn 39

Informal Learning Environments: “Do Not Touch” Versus “Make Yourself at Home” 42

The 4 Cs: A Quick and Remarkably Effective Instructional Design Process 51

Imagine That 52

The 4 Cs and Accelerated Learning 55

Design and Delivery Reminders 57
Part One: Connections 71

What You Need to Know About Connections 73

Imagine That 74

Connecting Learners to Learners 76

Connecting Learners to Topic 77

Connecting Learners to Personal Goals 78

Connecting Learners to Outcomes 79

The Primacy-Recency Principle 80

Connections, Not Icebreakers 82

Connections: Warm-Up Activities 89

What Is a Warm-Up? 89

What Does a Warm-Up Do? 89

Getting Ready 90

Five Warm-Up Activities 90

Your Turn 94

Connections: Fast Pass Activities 97

What Is a Fast Pass? 97

What Does a Fast Pass Do? 97

Getting Ready 97

Five Fast Pass Activities 98

Your Turn 101

Connections: Start-Up Activities 103

What Is a Start-Up? 103

What Does a Start-Up Do? 103

Getting Ready 104

Five Start-Up Activities 104

Your Turn 108

Part Two: Concepts 109

What You Need to Know About Concepts 111

Imagine That 112

Teach Only the Need-to-Know Information 114

Provide Graphic Organizers 115

Apply the Ten-Minute Rule 117

Use Interactive Lecture Strategies 117

Include One-Minute Reviews 118

Concepts: Concept Maps 123

What Is a Concept Map? 123

What Does a Concept Map Do? 124

Getting Ready 125

Five Concept Maps 125

Your Turn 132

Concepts: Interactive Lecture Strategies 133

What Is an Interactive Lecture? 133

What Does an Interactive Lecture Do? 134

Getting Ready 134

Five Interactive Lecture Strategies 134

Your Turn 140

Concepts: Jigsaw Activities 141

What Is a Jigsaw? 141

What Does a Jigsaw Do? 142

Getting Ready 142

Five Jigsaw Activities 143

Your Turn 148

Concepts: Concept Centers 149

What Is a Concept Center? 149

What Does a Concept Center Do? 150

Getting Ready 150

Five Concept Center Activities 151

Your Turn 157

Table Center Examples 158


Part Three: Concrete Practice 161

What You Need to Know About Concrete Practice 163

Imagine That 165

What Concrete Practice Is Not 166

Mistakes Are Allowed 167

Elements of Effective Practice 168

Concrete Practice: Teach-Back Activities 177

What Is a Teach-Back? 177

What Does a Teach-Back Do? 177

Getting Ready 178

Five Teach-Back Activities 178

Your Turn 181

Concrete Practice: Skills-Based Activities 183

What Is a Skills-Based Activity? 183

What Does a Skills-Based Activity Do? 183

Getting Ready 184

Five Skills-Based Activities 184

Your Turn 187

Concrete Practice: Learner-Created Games 189

What Is a Learner-Created Game? 189

What Does a Learner-Created Game Do? 191

Getting Ready 191

Five Learner-Created Games 192

Your Turn 198

Part Four: Conclusions 199

What You Need to Know About Conclusions 201

Imagine That 202

Learner-Led Summaries 203

Learner-Focused Evaluations 204

Learner-Created Action Plans 205

Learner-Led Celebrations 206

Conclusions: Learner-Led Summaries 213

What Is a Learner-Led Summary 213

What Does a Learner-Led Summary Do? 213

Getting Ready 213

Five Learner-Led Summaries 214

Your Turn 218

Conclusions: Evaluation Strategies 219

What Is an Evaluation? 219

What Does an Evaluation Do? 220

Getting Ready 220

Five Evaluation Strategies 221

Your Turn 226

Conclusions: Celebrations 227

What Is a Celebration? 227

What Does a Celebration Do? 227

Getting Ready 228

Five Celebration Activities 228

Your Turn 235

Nice-to-know Information From the Back of the Book 237

The Secret of Adult Learning Theory: It’s NOT About Age! 239

Once Upon a Time 240

Pedagogy Versus Andragogy 241

Adults Versus Children 241

From Adult Learning to Human Learning 242

Bringing It Home to What You Do 244

Begin with the End: A Fresh Approach to Learning Outcomes 247

What You See Is What They Learned 248

What They Need to Know 250

Use the Formula, Baby 252

Real Outcomes for Real Training 255

Back to the Beginning 256

The World Cafe: An Innovative Process with Conversations That Matter 259

Welcome to The World Cafe 259

What Is TWC? 261

Origins of TWC 262

Cafe Design Principles 263

Where to Begin 266

Final Reminders 268

Wake ‘Em Up! Ten Tips for Interactive e-Learning 271

1. Send Out Warm-Ups with Built-In Accountability 272

2. Create an Interesting Graphic Organizer 273

3. Begin with a Fast Pass 274

4. Follow the Ten-Minute Rule 275

5. Build in Body Breaks 276

6. Become Familiar with Interactive Features—And Use Them 277

7. Lengthen the Learning with Follow-Up Action Plans 277

8. Follow Up with Blogs or Wikis 278

9. Give Them Changes and Choices 278

10. Go with the Flow 279

Putting the Tips to Work 279

The Author’s Epilogue 281

The Orange Juice Cure 281

Be the Change You Seek 282

Teaching Is Learning, Learning Is Teaching 282

Great Resources 285

Author’s Note 285

Need-to-Know Books: The Author’s Top Five 286

Resources Cited in Training from the BACK of the Room! (Most from the 2000s) 287

Other Resources (from the 1990s–2000s) 290

Extra Resources 293

A Word of Thanks 297

About the Author 299