by Najaf Dostaliyev Club Leads Chair
View the Speaker to Trainer Workshop here – 12/9/23
Have you ever considered the challenges of training others, facilitating online meetings, and managing difficult personalities in a virtual setting? We’ve all encountered challenging individuals, whether in virtual or face-to-face interactions. What’s your approach in such situations? Do you disengage, confront the person, or listen without knowing how to respond?
I’ve navigated these challenges since I began teaching TLI sessions in 2020. Often, I had to strictly adhere to the given TLI materials, guiding participants through slides without much formal training in TLI methodology and I would wonder if there was a better way.
Imagine my excitement when District 25’s TLI committee announced the “Speaker to Trainer –Winter Session” on Saturday, December 9th. The session was designed to train future TLI instructors on effective teaching and leadership skills, understanding an audience, preparation for delivering training material, and managing a wide variety of participant personalities. As I joined the meeting, I felt a palpable energy and enthusiasm.
The session was organized by the magnificent District 25 leadership team, District Director – Emily Murray, PQD – Jesse Ford, and CGD – Phylliss Christian-Daniels, and led by TLI chairs, Kelsey Dean and Brandi Wesley. Kelsey and Brandi, as always delivered the material with enthusiasm and expertise. Despite Kelsey’s temporary loss of voice, Brandi adeptly supported her and led the discussion, while Kelsey managed the chat and addressed questions both in chat and in real time. This team is clearly talented; they can multitask and switch roles between them seamlessly.
The session was highly interactive, fielding questions from the chat, and encouraging member participation. The pauses for silence were particularly engaging, as they prompted members to step in and contribute. The dynamic chat was a great resource for notes, especially on how to handle difficult audience members with techniques like acknowledging contributions, remaining calm, finding common ground, and setting boundaries.
The highlight was a practical exercise where Emily Murray and Samantha Watt acted as TLI participants, with Jim Chappel and Phylliss Christian-Daniels as TLI instructors. Creative role-playing demonstrated professionalism and creativity, showcasing how to handle various situations.
Throughout the session, participants actively contributed, offered support, and gave valuable feedback. Overall, Speaker to Trainer offered essential learning objectives. It included detailed descriptions of four challenging behaviors and provided insights on how to effectively manage these behaviors. This guidance is particularly beneficial for future TLI instructors, enabling them to concentrate on their learning and training goals.
