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Being Prepared
In order to be ready to welcome participants to your training, you must be
prepared. Try to get a good night’s sleep before hand, and leave yourself plenty of
time so that you arrive at the training site early.
If your presentation is technology heavy, arrive 45-60 minutes before your class
starts in order to set up, test, and work out any problems before your participants
arrive. If you are walking into training where the technology is already set up, or you are not using a
laptop/presentation style approach, arrive 30 minutes early.
Other things you will want to do:
Set up your materials
Make sure the room is prepared properly
Locate the washrooms
Locate emergency exits
If your training runs for more than one day and everything is in working order, you can arrive 15 minutes
early for day two onward, but be sure to calculate traffic and other factors (such as weather) properly. It
is important that you arrive before your participants do, and that you are ready and able to welcome
them.
Your welcome should include the following:
Make sure that the room is welcoming and ready before participants arrive
Greet participants individually as they arrive and invite them into the training room
Ask them to sign in and make themselves a name tag or tent card if you are using them
Invite them to help themselves to a refreshment if they are available
As you get things underway, introduce yourself (or have another trainer/host introduce you) to
break the ice and establish your credibility
Have the trainees introduce themselves
Review the agenda for the day so that people know what to expect
Asked participants about their expectations and personal learning objectives
When you ask participants about their expectations, be prepared for them to have thought of things
that you may not have, but don’t worry. If there are things that people were looking for that you can
incorporate in some way, then it is recommended that you do so. If you are not able to incorporate
them, assure the participants that you can provide them with information that they need, and be sure to
follow up.