Creating a custom training program is a great way to make your course relatable. When your course is relatable, there is a higher rate of retention among your trainees. When there is a higher rate of retention, they become more than likely to implement what you taught them in the course. It makes your training more effective and thus more successful.
There are many ways for you to make your course relatable. One of them is by incorporating personal experiences into your content. Regardless if it is the instructor’s own experience or someone else, it should be an experience that they can identify with. If you are the instructor and the creator of the custom training program, your course will benefit from including your experience because of the following reasons.
- It increases credibility. Would you want to learn how to cook from someone who does not do their own cooking? Of course not. If you notice, most cooking shows are filled with inserted anecdotes about the chef’s experience with cooking. It makes them come out as experts because of their wealth of experience. The same is true for your training program. If you are able to insert relevant experiences to highlight concepts and ideas in your course, it assures learners that you know what you are talking about because of your experience. It puts you in a better position to teach.
- It is a tool that connects the learners to the instructor. There is no better way to connect to someone than stories. Experiences define the essence of a person because there is an emotional factor involved. In a custom training program, it can help bridge the similarities that the instructors have with their trainees. If not for similar experiences, you are be assured that the emotions in those experiences can be shared and thus make it relatable. Not only that, you can also use your personal experiences to engage your learners and ignite their interest.
- It can serve as a future reference. As you discuss concepts and ideas, elaborating through your personal experiences will provide learners with a future reference that they can go back to. Stories are easier to remember because oftentimes, the emotions involved are easier to recollect. The personal experiences included in the custom training can serve as the learner’s future reference. While implementing the concepts taught in the course, they can simply remember what you did when faced in the similar situation and act accordingly.
Take note that you do not have to use your own personal experience. You can tap into the experiences of a famous person who is known in the industry or profession that you are teaching. Ideally, this person has to be someone that the learners can identify with. But if not, just make sure that it will be someone who is relevant to the course.
Also, it does not always have to be a positive experience. You can cite examples of a negative experience. This means citing what happened in the past that was a result of the non-implementation of the concepts in the course. Highlight the rewards and the consequences that implementation (or otherwise) will bring to the learner.
Incorporating personal experiences in your custom training will allow you to create a course that is not only relevant to the learner, but also engaging, and emotionally stimulating. If anything, these three will help heighten the retention of the course in your learners.
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