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Safety training boring? How could anyone say such heresy? The reality is that most people are turned off by someone reading off PowerPoint slides that literally contain a government regulation. The difference between an effective course and the hundreds of boring safety courses employees must endure is simple: A strong course is effectively designed, expertly delivered, and follows some basic rules.
Table 1. Action verbs denote a person doing something, which is important when trying to provide skills training because when you train someone, you really want them to DO something. When writing an objective, it’s crucial that an action verb is used to describe what the participants are actually supposed to be able to do.
The best training objectives establish measurable, observable behaviors. For example, if a course in “Right to Know” hazard communications wants its participants to be able to understand their specific legal rights, the objective might be “The participant will be able to list the seven legal rights pertaining to their right to be informed of the hazards to which they might be exposed while in the workplace, in ten minutes with 90 percent accuracy.”
Estimates of the average attention span of an adult American range between 10-15 minutes. This means a good safety course should keep the learners engaged by employing some simple instructional methods. Hands-on training is always the best.
Housekeeping
Housekeeping is a catch-all phrase for basic information that doesn’t really fit neatly into any other category. It’s important that you model the behaviors that you expect from the participants, so you should always start a safety course with safety information such as emergency evacuation procedures or similar information. When sharing the housekeeping information, don’t take it for granted that people will know where the restrooms are, how long the course is, and if breaks will be provided. Be sure to get the participants to sign the sign-in sheet, and in many workplaces housekeeping may include a pre-evaluation of some sort.
WIIFM
I’ve already mentioned how important it is for adults to understand the “What’s In It For Me?”, but it’s important enough to briefly revisit. To be truly effective, a training course must provide irrefutable value to the participants. The participants are asked to sacrifice their time and attention and they need to know up front what benefits they will derive from this sacrifice. If the participants don’t find the WIIFM particularly compelling, they are likely to leave the session . . . if not physically, then mentally.
Establishing Expertise
Almost as important as the WIIFM is the speaker’s credibility. Subconsciously (if not consciously) the participants in your class are wondering why they should listen to you. Specifically, what makes you such a darned expert? Until you establish your credibility on the topic you are presenting, many in the audience will check out and stop listening. You needn’t go to extremes to demonstrate your expertise, but a short explanation of your background and familiarity with the topic will go a long way to getting people to listen to what you have to say. You should keep your explanation of your background short, but be clear and specific – as hard to believe as this may seem, not everyone in the world knows what a CSP is or what being one has to do with lock out!
Establishing Expectations
A good introduction will quickly and definitively establish the participants’ expectations of the course. The simplest way to establish expectations is to cover the objectives. Many instructors will read the objectives to the participants quickly and without comment; this is a mistake. In addition to being the blueprint for your course design, the course objectives are a important part of establishing expectations, both by what they say and in how they are presented. Instructors who rush through, dance around, or skip over the objectives nonverbally convey that the objectives really aren’t all that important. So instead of seeing the slide with objectives as a necessary evil, take some quality time and explain not only the objective, but why it’s an objective as well.
Icebreaker
I have a love-hate relationship with icebreakers. An icebreaker is intended to relax the participants, help to further establish expectations, and transition from the introduction to the main body of your course. A good icebreaker can prove a point so strongly that the participants will take it with them and retain it for years. A good icebreaker can also provide a shared experience that can become the foundation of the course and a useful reference point.
Poor icebreakers (and man, have I seen plenty of them!) waste time, come off as cutsie and dumb, and turn off the participants. The difference between good and bad icebreakers is in the course design. To design a good icebreaker, take a look at your course goal (which is really the common theme of your objectives) and work backward. What short, attention getting, and impactful activity can you use to drive home the point of your course.
Years ago I learned to juggle and have used juggling as an icebreaker. In fact, truth be told, I’ve probably over used juggling. Why use juggling? Well, first of all, it’s not because I can, nor is because I made an impulse-buy years ago and spent $10 on three bean-bag juggling toucans, although you have to admit those are pretty compelling reasons. No, I like to use juggling because it: is a highly active activity, is a highly visible activity, is entertaining for the participants to watch, builds tension and anticipation, and it’s a metaphor for many of the skills that I brought, from time management to importance of training.
You can use a wide range of activities as icebreakers, but unless you debrief the icebreaker completely and demonstrate a credible point, people will see it as a waste of time, irrespective of how enjoyable it was. Whenever I selected juggling as an icebreaker, I started with a point I wanted to make and found that juggling made that point particularly well. I never started with the idea of juggling and tried to force fit a point or metaphor.
Closing your presentation with a summary is also important. A summary ties the course together and give you with one last chance to drive home those important points. There are four elements to an effective summary:
1) Review
2) Call to Action
3) Conclusion
4) Post Evaluation
Review
A review is a quick overview that reminds the participants what has been covered in the course. A review is useful in establishing parity between the topics and lets the participants know that each topic was equally important. A review also transitions the participants’ attention toward the course conclusion. Without an effective review, the course feels truncated and the participants feel as if the instructor ran out of time and didn’t adequately cover the material (even if the participant thoroughly covered each point.)
Call To Action
Throughout the course you’ve been reinforcing the importance of the topics presented and the how they will be used. Now, using a call to action, you need to sum up in a sentence or two (max!) what you want them to do with the skills you have taught them. A call to action could be as simple as, “I want you to get out there and work safely.”
Conclusion
A conclusion is different from a review, in that the conclusion is a subtle announcement that the course is winding down and that the participants will soon be free to leave. Keep your conclusions short, but while concluding your course, be sure to thank the participants for their time and attention.
Post Evaluation
Most of us work in places where at least some form of course evaluation is required, so be sure you have your participants complete all the necessary forms – post-tests, course evaluation sheets, and the sign in sheet – before they bolt out of your classroom like a prison break.
RULE 8: EVALUATE YOUR EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPROVE
Safety is a dynamic topic and, fortunately for us, it is typically revisited yearly. Always evaluate the effectiveness of your course (ideally through formal pre-and post-tests, but if that isn’t an option then use informal, observational evaluations) and the effectiveness of your presentation. Evaluate the content at least once a year to ensure that it is still current and complete.
Most people will probably never look forward to safety training. But by following these eight rules, you can ensure that people won’t dread coming to your course. And who knows? As word gets around that your training courses are focused on skills building, are entertaining and interesting, keep the participants’ attention, and provide at least some useful information, you might just find that people show up on time, turn off their cell phones, participate, and make your time together more worthwhile.
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Phil la Duke is the director of performance improvement at OE Learning, Inc., 2125 Butterfield, Suite 300N, Troy, MI 48084, 248-816-4400, www.oe.com.
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