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Are These 10 Consulting Myths Undermining The Effectiveness Of Your Training?

Following are some of the consulting myths which have crept into our profession consultants, trainers, presenters, and coaches. If you "buy in" to these myths they are guaranteed to seriously inhibit the learning you want in any consulting, coaching, or training you provide.

Following each "Myth" I've presented the "Reality" of what we know today about the adult learner and how to maximize their learning potential.

As you read this article I suggest you keep a checklist of which of these you consciously or unconsciously believe to be true.

CONSULTING MYTH #1: If the trainer is well-prepared and thorough, participants will understand the material.

REALITY: Well prepared material presented in only one way will reach less than ten percent of your participants. While there is no substitute for knowing your material inside out, HOW it is presented is as important. Research shows that material presented in a wide variety of ways reaches everyone.

CONSULTING MYTH #2: The more times the information is repeated the more participants will remember it.

REALITY: There is no direct correlation between frequently repeated information and memory. The ways we remember are highly individualized and specific to our over-all intelligence profile. It is probably more accurate to say the more different ways we learn information, the better we'll remember it.

CONSULTING MYTH #3: The trainer is the expert.

REALITY: Participants are the experts where the rubber hits the road! While it is true that the trainer has hopefully mastered the material to be covered in a training session, the real expertise lies in facilitating participants making meaningful connections with the material and seeing how to apply it.

CONSULTING MYTH #4: If participants really pay attention they'll get it.

REALITY: Participants' active involvement with the training material is how they'll really get it. The direct instruction approach to training (a.k.a. "stand and deliver") is effective with the adult learner for less than fifteen minutes. Participants must have an opportunity to make the material their own.

CONSULTING MYTH #5: Human beings basically all learn the same way.

REALITY: Each human being has at least eight different ways they learn, acquire knowledge, process information, and understand. In a nutshell, they possess at least eight intelligences! In each person certain of these "intelligences" are more highly developed than others. The key to an effective training is presenting the material in ways which take into account these differences.

CONSULTING MYTH #6: A trainer's main job is to cover the material.

REALITY: A trainer's main job is uncover the material! In Webster's dictionary the meaning of the verb "to cover" is "to hide from view". The trainer's job is facilitate the learning process in participants, that is to get them excited and involved with the material. Racing through a specified amount of material wastes time and money because little real learning will occur.

CONSULTING MYTH #7: Adult participants can be expected to understand the content being presented in a training session.

REALITY: Just because a great job of presenting was done does not mean understanding happened. Participants' capacity for grasping information in any training is directly related to how it is presented. To reach everyone, presentations must minimally take into account participants' prior knowledge and life experience, their intelligence profiles, their ages, gender, and their educational, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

CONSULTING MYTH #8: Some groups are smarter than others.

REALITY: Some groups learn differently than others. The key to every group is to find out what will help them learn. It is then the responsibility of the trainer to do whatever it takes to reach them. It's not a matter of how smart a group is. The question is rather HOW are they smart?

CONSULTING MYTH #9: When presenting new information in a training, the direct instruction method (a.k.a. lecturing) works best.

REALITY: Research has shown that the adult brain can productively handle only about 15 minutes of direct instruction! The key to teaching new material is to first assess participants' prior knowledge and then to build on what they already know or think they know about the content. Even when learning brand new information, participants' interaction and involvement with the information is more effective than lecturing at them.

CONSULTING MYTH #10: If you really want to learn you'll learn.

REALITY: If you really want to learn, maybe you'll learn, depending on the learning situation. A learning environment in which participants do not feel respected, where their input is not valued, where they are "talked down to", and they are expected to simply "sit and git" the information will destroy the desire to learn for even highly motivated learners.

About the author:

David Lazear is a mentor, coach, and consultant for mentors, coaches, consultants, and trainers. He is an associate of Mike Klingler and Ann Sieg at the Renegade University and Renegade Professional. David has written some 15 books and created numerous resources for home business entrepreneurs, coaches, and consultants.

Contact David Here!
Phone: 773-525-6650

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