Should inspiration play a part in Human Performance Training?

While developing training a lot of Human Performance Practitioners try to keep people motivated and engaged by using humor and supporting video clips. Is it worthwhile to include inspiration (instead of or coupled with humor) in your presentations, and how would you possibly pull it off? I have some suggestions designed to be helpful in this area. Most people want to be inspired, but not everyone wants to be inspired while training - use with caution - your presentation must be professional, and if your choice of inspiration comes across as a distraction without being supportive of the overall mission, avoid it completely.

1. Break-times

   I have played videos from YouTube called "People are Awesome" during break times. To my delight people hurried back from break to watch the inspiring (and somewhat wild) things people do. The best tip I can give you here is that if the video is 7 minutes long, than start it 3 minutes into a 10-minute break.  This way when the video ends, it's time to start back up and people had a little jolt of exciting entertainment that will help keep them engaged in your presentation.

2. Affective messages

   If you know the training side of me, than you know I've been passionate about Affective learning since I first heard of it in Dr.Plessman's Foundations of Workforce Education class in Spring 2010 (at SIU in Groton, CT). Without going into too much detail, recognize that getting to the heart of your students and what they value matters often-times even more than the Knowledge and Skill of the topic. People will do what they care about, and if you give them a legitimate reason to care, the lesson you're providing will be remembered. More posts will be coming in the future on Affective messages and objectives, but for now keep in mind personal stories of inspiration related to the topic you are presenting will help make your message authentic and memorable.

3. Branding

   Are you paying attention to how your training products are viewed outside the classroom?  Maybe you can create a campaign that helps students take an interest. Emails, posters, and engaging classroom materials will draw students in more, making them value what they are learning. You may not have control over the objectives, but you can control the delivery. What the heck does this have to do with inspiration? From the moment your first class wraps up, the word of mouth starts to travel as to whether or not this class was beneficial or a waste of time. If you found a way to inspire students at some point in the duration of your lesson, the relationship to your training product's brand will be enhanced and the buzz around your product begins. It's worth paying attention to.

Click to link to some of my ideas:

• Rescue

• Amazing

• Lucky

• Fooled You

• High Power LIne Work