Stand out as an outstanding Trainer online!

About TPS World Learning

Since 2009, TPS World Learning (your Total Learning Partner) is providing Training solutions in the Gulf and in India, comprising over 300 course titles delivered by more than 100 capable trainers from across the region. For full details of the company please visit our web site and follow our LinkedIn. The group was the result of my having spent over 30 years in the corporate at leadership positions. 

The Best Trainers from all over!

Every year TPS adds more trainers to its global team of experts from the very best in the world. We empanel reputed, experienced trainers as advisers in an engagement or facilitators to deliver our training programs to our clients throughout the world.

On our list, we have a combination of business, management and technical experts, with years of experience from UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the list is increasing.

This brings world’s best practices & knowledge together. Should you like to be empaneled as a Trainer with TPS, please register here.

What has changed in 2020?

Let’s face it – the days of “On the Ground Training” are limited if not over already! The world is fast switching to Online or Virtual Training. With that the Training methodology must also undergo a change. While the Content or the message is the same, there are a number of areas in which today’s trainer must re-engineer the content delivery mechanism.  Based on my experience as a ground trainer converted almost a 100% into a virtual trainer, I am happy to share some useful tips on that part of Content delivery which all trainers use and that is your Presentation Slides. As you read through, you will find these tips helpful for both, the seasoned trainers as well as the aspiring ones.

Presentation Slides – Your Communication Tool.

Slides are the key component of your online training. These serve as the visual aids to assist the participants in their learning journey. Unfortunately, most of the slides that trainers use, are what I call ‘Death by Power Point.”

While this was always important, but in past you could redeem some damage, done by a bad slide, through your personal physical presence and impact. Now that you are only a screen in front of the participant, the slide plays a significant role in keeping your audience away from distractions.

At the same time do keep in mind that that the slides are not the main focus of your session design. The focus should be on Content, the participant and their learning pace. Slides should, at best, assist you in making a point through a visual illustration and a context for a learning point.

Here are some pointers to avoid making your slides boring.

Online Needs More Slides

A significant thing to remember is that, for many reasons, the number of slides needed in an online class will probably be double the number used in a traditional in-person training session

Don’t paste a Newspaper!

Make the slide visually stimulating rather than what is called ‘pasting a newspaper on the screen’ Do not put too many ideas on one slide. It is no rocket science that too much text is impossible for them to read and thus they will just worry about the coffee spilled on the WFH table 😊

I usually follow the “one idea per slide” rule and it helps me a lot to focus on the participant. If you must share a lot of text with the participants, share a document file.

Lost them in between?

In an Online session, participants are easily distracted and therefor frequently changing slides onscreen will help maintain interest.

In a virtual session you may not be able to show animations – the best solution is to create one slide per animation.

The Bullets are outdated

The days of bullet points and text-laden slides are nearly over. Nowadays you have so many ways to display content. Replace these with graphical displays and images

Know your participants screen

We all like using visuals but make sure your visuals are BIG enough to be easily seen by participants. Unlike in a class room where all people see the same screen, in online training, different participants could be using different screes including a cell phone. So, the visuals on your slides may show much smaller on their screen.

Give me a Breathing Space

The blank space around text and visuals helps participants see both. Remember the rule – less is more. With less content and more free space – the participant is able focus on the content. That’s what I call the breathing space.

Cut The Crap

Minimize use of irrelevant stuff like logos, copyright and other disclaimers, and slide numbers. These have no use for the participant. Send a document in advance enlisting all this. 

Change lanes.

Use color to indicate a change of subject or idea. A different color background when you want to change a subject is the smartest way to make it seem-less. This lane change quickly indicates to your participant that you’re bringing a new subject or activity.

Before we Close

Remember in the preparation of a training course, (your training design) the slides are not the purpose – they are a tool. The purpose is Learning. The focus should be the content, the learning point you want the participant to imbibe.

I wish you many fantastic training sessions and look forward to having you on the panel of trainers at TPS World Learning!