At the time of writing this blog, I am currently preparing for my upcoming ‘Learn what the Data School learns’ session. ‘Learn what the Data School learns’ is an opportunity for myself and my colleagues to help others use Tableau and Alteryx, teaching some of the skills we have recently learned in training. So, I thought it might be useful for others to highlight what makes a good training session.
If I were to ask you to think of a time when you had a great teacher, lecturer or trainer and think about why they were so good, I’m sure that most of the time the same reasons would come to mind. The common factors of a memorable lesson often include the teacher's personality, some kind of actions or soft skills and strong technical knowledge of the subject they are teaching. Here at the Data School, we think about how we can design a teaching strategy that captures these qualities, making teaching both engaging and insightful.
A very simple structure to follow from the trainer's perspective is as follows:
1) I DO
2) WE DO
3) THEY DO
1) I DO: The first few minutes of any presentation or training session are vital. It is essential that you engage with your audience in order to capture their attention. One way of doing this is to enthusiastically introduce the topic with a relatable example, thinking about why and how in practice might your audience want to apply the knowledge you are trying to teach. As Alteryx and Tableau are both interactive tools, live demos can be a great way to initially engage your audience. Then expand on any necessary theory or caveats.
2) WE DO:
Run through a practice example with the teaching group, showing them how to apply the techniques you just demonstrated. It is important to go at a steady pace so that everyone in the group can follow or ask questions if needed.
3) THEY DO:
Allow plenty of time for the group to work on practice exercises independently. It is important to create questions that accommodate all ranges of abilities so that everyone can work at their own pace. Be sure to have prepared more questions than you think will be necessary just in case any members of the group are more advanced than anticipated. Alteryx Weekly Challenges, Preppin' Data and Workout Wednesday are all great resources.
Practice & Plan
Finally, it is vital that you practice in order to improve both the content of the training session but also your time management skills. Grab a colleague, friend, whoever - as it is great to receive feedback.