Training from the BACK of the Room! (TBR)

As trainers and teachers, it’s always a good thing to remind ourselves now and then about the power of images to help the human brain learn and remember important information. Here are some excellent resources to explore that do just that.

You just finished a customer service training for a small group of your company’s employees. They listened attentively the whole time your were talking. Now you stop and ask, “Do you understand?” They nod their heads. You continue, “Do you have any questions?” They shake their heads. “Good,” you think. “They’ve got it.” Or do they?

I’ve been asked to repost this blog entry because a number of “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) Practitioner Classes are scheduled during September 2019. Even if you’ve never experienced a TBR Practitioner Class, you’ll find a lot of useful training give-aways in this post.  

I wrote this blog post in 2017 for the Scrum Alliance Gathering in San Diego that year. If you haven’t read the post yet, or if you just want a recent refresher of some brain science principles as they relate to human learning, this post will do the trick – enjoy the learning!

Khurram Bhatti is a Certified Trainer for “Training from the BACK of the Room.” Khurram attended the Trainer Certification Course (TCC) this past spring and then created this blog post for his own blog. I think you will enjoy his personal story about TBR and brain-based instruction.

In this post there are a number of links to free give-aways with content and strategies from the “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) book and classes by the same name. Regardless of whether you’ve attended a class or read the book, you can find lots of practical information here that you can put to immediate use.  

For a topic-related discussion activity that includes lots of movement and that can be used with any content and any group of learners, experiment with “Take-a-Stand” the next time you teach or train.  

Want a five-minute training game that takes no preparation beforehand? Want a high-energy game that engages all learners and that reviews training content in a fun and memorable way? Introducing: “Grab That Spoon!”

TBR Certified Trainer Nick Zingo says: “Yup, folks, it’s ‘Socrative’ not ‘Socrates!’” He explains: “If you’re looking for another great instructional tool for your teacher’s/trainer’s toolbox, you may want to consider Socrative – a great digital tool that ensures collaboration and that reinforces learning!”

Many of you will be familiar with these 7 tips for turning listeners into learners. But sometimes it’s good to get a quick “refresher” of brain-based strategies that make learners more successful. While these strategies help learners stay attentive and engaged throughout a class or training, they will also help you become a more effective trainer or teacher.

In exploring YouTube and the videos on human learning, I discovered this excellent one, created in a quick-draw, white-board animation style.

You’ve just attended a train-the-trainer class with lots of great information to use and new instructional strategies to experiment with. So how do you keep from falling back into traditional, lecture-based methods of instruction?

In this post there are a number of links to free give-aways with content and strategies from the “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) book and classes by the same name. Regardless of whether you’ve attended a class or read the book, you can find lots of practical information here that you can put to immediate use.  

Most of the time, learners’ questions are easy enough to answer on-the-spot during a class or training. Once in awhile, though, the questions might post a bit of a challenge. So it’s often helpful to have a few other options “in your back pocket,” so to speak, to address difficult questions.

A number of webinar participants from the two free webinars I presented in March 2019 asked interesting questions that are relevant to our jobs as trainers, teachers, instructors, and learning facilitators. I’ve posted the questions (with some slight editing) in this blog, along with my responses.

Here is the “Pop Quiz Homework” for my March 20th 2019 webinar, “Brain-Based Presenting: Getting the Brain to Pay Attention,” sponsored by HRDQ, a globally-recognized developer of research-based instructional materials.  

My deepest thanks to those of you who attended my March 19th 2019 webinar “Six Brain-Science Principles that Trump Traditional Training, Teaching, and Presenting.” Here, I’m reposting the free infographics that I referred to during the webinar, as well as other free resources to explore, download, and share.

To My Dear Readers: Many of you have sent me emails inquiring about how to become a Certified Trainer for “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) because you want to be able to present the official 2-day TBR class. I’m excited to announce that a 1-day “Trainer Certification Course” (TCC) will take place in Europe in 2019!

Because this topic has been one of the most popular blog posts on my website, I’ve created a free infographic that you can download and print. The infographic describes five 60-second activities that help learners move information into long-term memory.

If you’re one of my regular blog readers, or if you’ve attended a “Training from the BACK of the Room” class, then you’re already familiar with the six brain-science principles that trump traditional training, teaching, and presenting. On March 19th 2019, sponsoring company InSyncTraining invites you to a free webinar where you’ll experience these principles in action.

Back by popular demand, my free “Brain-Based Presenting” webinar will be offered again by HRDQ on March 20th 2019. Consider joining me and an enthusiastic group of global trainers for an hour of exciting, brain-based learning.

As trainers and teachers, it’s always a good thing to remind ourselves now and then about the power of images to help the human brain learn and remember important information. Here are some excellent resources to explore that do just that.

Sometimes, as trainers and teachers, we get so caught up in covering our content that we forget that we need to have procedures in place for managing time, space, and the learners in our care. Group management, or the lack of it, can make or break a class or training. Fortunately, effective group management can be simple to do.

Here are six interesting and informative resources that I wrote a blog about last year. All contain concepts about the human brain and successful learning. You can read or just skim them and still find something to use in your own personal or professional life. Happy New Year!

As a New Year’s treat for my blog readers, I’ve compiled some great resources with helpful suggestions for learning anything better, faster, and with longer retention. Use these suggestions for your own learning, or pass them on to family members, friends, and the folks you teach, train, and instruct. Happy 2019!  

With holidays and the New Year just around the corner, I decided to repost this article which I paraphrased from “The Guardian“ with 10 tips that are delightfully easy to do. Add a bit of health to your daily holiday activities with these simple tips.

Dear Reader: These little Pocket Cards have been so popular every year that I’m reposting them again to give you a gift of health and well-being for the upcoming holidays and New Year. Enjoy! 🙂

Before you continue reading this blog post, let’s start off with a simple exercise. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and jot down the names or descriptions of a few interactive e-learning strategies you have used or have seen used in the past. I’ll pause here while you write 😉 When you’ve finished writing, download the 7 free tips

I receive many emails each month inquiring about the globally-acclaimed, 2-day “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) Practitioner Class. If you’re thinking about attending a TBR Practitioner Class, or just want to know more about it, here is a summary of five great “take-aways” from the class.

If you’re one of my regular blog readers, you know that I’ve been creating a number of colorful “infographics” that you can download, use, and share with other interested colleagues. Here is my latest free infographic for you.

It doesn’t matter if you’re instructing small groups (under a dozen people), medium-size groups (1-3 dozen people), or large groups (three dozen or more). Nor does it matter if you’re presenting in a lecture hall or to an auditorium-size audience. And it really doesn’t matter what your topic is. You still need some quick, easy, and effective group management strategies.

Here is another free infographic with content from “The Ten-Minute Trainer” and from a previous blog post. Be sure to download the infographic and feel free to share it with interested colleagues. Enjoy the learning! 🙂

Do you need a new, high-energy opening activity to begin a class or training? “Postcard Partners” will connect learners-to-learners and learners-to-content in an interactive, fun, and memorable way.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a formal environment like a classroom or an informal one like your own home, whenever you explain something to someone else you hope that they’ll be able to remember what you’ve said. So here are four simple ways to make your message stick.  

“Infographics” are bite-sized bits of information in colorful, easy-to-read formats, with icons to accompany the content. There are many websites that offer free or affordable infographic templates. Feel free to share the two infographics below with interested colleagues and friends.

“InSync Training” is the globally-acclaimed virtual learning organization that sponsored my webinar “Brain-Based Presenting: Getting the Brain to Pay Attention” two days ago. The company offers a complimentary collection of “Virtually There” webinars for the public, including a recording of “Brain-Based Presenting.”

This is the “Pop Quiz Homework” for my webinar, “Brain-Based Presenting: Getting the Brain to Pay Attention,” sponsored by “InSync Training,” a globally-recognized, virtual-learning organization.  

I’ve been asked many times about applying the concepts learned from the face-to-face class “Training from the BACK of the Room” to either synchronous (live, virtual learning) or asynchronous (independent, self-study learning) via webinars and any other form of online learning. Here are some resources to help you create more interactive, brain-based  elearning experiences.      

If you haven’t had the chance to participate in my free webinar titled “Brain-Based Presenting: Getting the Brain to Pay Attention,”  please join me on Tuesday, July 24th 2018, for an hour of practical  brain-based learning. The webinar is sponsored by InSync Training, one of the foremost leaders in the virtual training design and delivery world.

(Sharon’s note: My thanks to TBR Certified Trainer Jean-Paul Bayley for contributing this post.) Following my previous “Anti-Patterns of Training” post, here are more mistakes (“anti-patterns”) trainers often make. When viewed through the lens of “Training from the BACK of the Room” we see that these go against how brain science tells us we learn best.

If you haven’t yet attended one of the “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) classes being offered globally for 2018, this blog post will list five benefits you’ll receive from doing so. Also, this post will introduce you to three outstanding TBR Certified Trainers who have contributed to my blog and who are offering TBR classes this August/September. 

Amir Peled is a Certified Trainer for “Training from the BACK of the Room.” In this post, he relates his discouragement with traditional methods of instruction and his enthusiastic embrace of brain-based, learner-centered teaching. “For years I hated learning. It always reminded me how the education system gladly ejected me from high school at the age of 16, after being

Dear Readers: For the past four years, the Braintrust Consulting Group has sponsored numerous public 2-day “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) classes as well as the “Trainer Certification Course” (TCC) days that I’ve facilitated annually. For 2019, changes are in the air!

PowerPoint : noun 1. An overused lecture tool that is a teacher’s or trainer’s joy and a learner’s nightmare; 2. A slide creation program that is as good, or as bad, as its human user; 4. A computer application that can either aid – or destroy – learning.

You’ve just completed a train-the-trainer class with lots of great information to use and new instructional strategies to experiment with. So how do you keep from falling back into traditional, lecture-based methods of instruction?