Dear Scott, COVID-19 work from home conditions have thrown my routines into chaos. I feel like I am constantly trying to keep up and the more I try, the more overwhelmed I feel. How can I get myself back on track? Sincerely, Overwhelmed Dear Overwhelmed, Frustrating. Confusing. Challenging. Unprecedented. Restricting. […]
Category: Trainer Q&A
The Six “Rights” of Virtual Learning
April 3, 2020by Melanie Parsons Gao NPR Moth Story Slam Champion, TEDx Fellow, Passionate Developer of People My laptop was on the kitchen counter, the oven was pre-heating and I was just starting to crack the eggs for my muffins when suddenly I heard my name. The teacher was calling on me! […]
Create an Accountability Culture in Six Steps
March 6, 2020I am a trainer in a non-profit organization. Because we are a close staff, we tend to avoid accountability discussions around inefficient patterns rather than discussing solutions for improved performance. People arrive late for meetings, fail to complete time-sensitive tasks and spend a lot of time talking. I do have […]
Five Questions with The Power of Habit Author Charles Duhigg
February 7, 2020We sat down with journalist Charles Duhigg, author of Smarter Faster Better and The Power of Habit, to talk about chocolate chip cookies, the science of habit formation, and what he’s learned from both. Why did you decide to research and write about habits? I was good at a lot […]
Is “Love” Too Grand a Word?
January 2, 2020“How would you describe the kind of manager you most like to work for?” asked Steve. He was interviewing applicants for an administrative assistant role on our team. The role reported directly to me. Steve and I had worked together for many years at this point and he had a […]
Motive of Gratitude
November 1, 2019I found myself in an interesting conversation a few months ago with a fellow trainer. They shared with me that while they love what they do, they have good and bad days just like anyone else—and that sometimes, on the not-so-good-days, showing up the way we want to or feel […]
Master Your Stories Before They Master You
October 4, 2019The introduction to the facilitator manual for Master My Stories suggests that facilitators should not feel bad “if participants don’t give up all their stories by the end of the session. Your goal should be to help people question their assumptions. You want them to assault their stories with questions. […]
Music You Can Dance to, and Other Hidden Training Tips
August 4, 2016Music is a big part of my training experiences. Anytime I’m laying out the flow for a training design, or stepping in front of an audience, I have a song playing in my head. Setting the tone, driving the pace, bringing everything together. I’ve used music as a pre-session and […]