Trainer principles

I often encourage highly-skilled friends who are into consulting to consider using training as a means to attract new clients. But then, not all skillful persons can teach and vice versa. What may appear to be easy for you, may not be so for other people. To always keep my feet on the ground, the following principles are adhered to:

• Make it easy
  When teaching technology or process related matters, use the commonly accessible tool as possible to keep things simple for your participants. For example, when teaching people how to blog, I find Blogger to be the friendliest tool around to demonstrate quick blog creation, blog customization, to blog monetization.
  
  
• Show it is possible
  You can't teach a person to do/use something if you don't do/use it yourself. Show that it is possible, that it can be done. In the end, it is all about credibility. Like, how can I teach you to sell stuff online, by having an e-commerce enabled website or blogging, if I don't do it myself right?
  
  
• Share lessons learned
  We all make mistakes and had our share of wrong moves. Acknowledging and reflecting on them can save your students a lot of time and take the necessary steps to do better than what you've done.
  
  
• Give them a take-out
  I find students always fond of templates, forms, samples, guide, among others. Focus on giving stuff that they can immediately use when they get back to their respective lives.
  
  
• Help them succeed
  A trainer succeeds if their students can do well in their endeavors and achieve their goals. This includes referrals to people who can help them to project exposure.
  
  
  This success can also lead to a never-ending cycle of repeat business and new opportunities later on.
  
  
• Be open to learning
  There is always something to learn from every person that we meet if we only open our minds. The moment that motivation to learn disappears, we also lose our effectiveness to teach others.
  
  
• Improve your thinking process
  We all can improve in how we do things if we are always willing to challenge the way we think. The sharper you get, the more your students will benefit too.
  

Of course, each trainer has their own principle or code that they believe in. If you are a trainer, I hope you can share yours too.