Giving a Training page

Learn how to prepare and give a training.

Overview

It’s difficult to give a training!

Trainings are intense. They usually are performed contiguously, forcing trainees to continually learn in a very rapid manner.

Trainees have a variety of experience. It’s hard to make trainings interesting and informative for everyone. Experienced people might find it boring and inexperienced people might find it too difficult.

This course will try to solve these problems so you can have a successful training.

In the weeks before the training

  • Confirm the date, time and location of the meeting space.
  • Get email of attendees.
  • Look on bitovi/univerisy for issues to fix.
  • Share the training outline with the team.
  • Make sure there is a projector and screen.
  • Send an email to trainees, reminding them:
    • When to be there
    • Where it is
    • What to bring
    • What we will do for food

Before you leave for the training

  • Bring swag, snacks, or candy.
  • Print out cheat sheets
  • Bring the projector or screen if necessary.

Introduction

  1. Introduce yourself and the plan for the week.

    • Share a link to the training material.
    • Get people in slack.
    • Get people installing anything they need.
  2. Let people know that the training will be hard and that they should ask questions.

    This week will be hard. There’s a lot to learn about X, Y, Z. Some of you might find it very challenging, others might find it boring. To those who find it boring, this can be a great time to spread knowledge around, share your knowledge. Help other people. And even learn how we give this training so you can use it to teach others. (All this material is available online.)

    The most important thing is to ask questions. There are no stupid questions. In fact, I think my strength as a developer is entirely built around being unafraid to get help and ask questions. I’ll happily repeat myself in different ways to explain something better.

  3. Get introductions from the trainees.

    Go around and ask trainees name, what they want to learn, where they are from, and something fun about them. Write down their names.

While Training

  • Bring the energy! Training can be long and tiresome. We need to keep it exciting. Lame jokes are better than boring.
  • Repeatedly ask "Does anyone need help?"
  • Set a timer for exercises.
    • Pass out cups, have people flip them over when they complete an exercise.
  • Create issues when mistakes or improvements can be made.
  • Take pictures

Finishing the training

  • Ask people to provide feedback contact@bitovi.com or issues.
  • Ask people if there are other trainings they would like.
  • Ask people for testimonials.
  • Ask people to recommend these trainings to other colleges if they enjoyed the training.