Article by Aena Williams

Many coaches say that whenever they go to deliver a lecture they always go well prepared. They explain everything very well but after a while they notice that the audience is not with them. This problem is faced in majority of the lecture sessions, especially in the session of executive coaching where the audience is not a naïve. The reason for this problem is that even a well prepared material and well delivered lecture delivered in one way reaches less than ten percent of participants.In order to reach maximum audience the material should be presented in different ways. The more different ways the material is presented the more audience is reached by the trainer. Coaches and trainers are mistaken that as they are presenting the material to adults, and adults can understand the material much better. The reality is much different, if a coach wants to reach every participant of the executive coaching program they have to keep the prior knowledge, experience, gender, age, culture, education and socioeconomic background in mind and then present the material.It is said that the more information is repeated the more participants will remember that information but it is valid where a person has to remember tables’ e.g. periodic table. There is no direct relation between information memorized and the information repeated. In class, there is a group of people who understand things much better or quickly than other group of people who do not understand things better or quickly. Why does a group of people understand better than the other group of people who are presented the very same material, in a very same? The answer is the “eight intelligence”. That is why trainers and coaches are advised to present the material in different ways rather than one way, as human has different ways of understanding and processing information. This is called the eight intelligences. In every person some of these intelligences are more developed then the other ones, that is why, with the material presented in different ways, it is better memorized by more people rather than the material presented in one way and memorized by few.Whenever there is a lecture session for example of telecom training or executive coaching, coaches are heard say “pay attention” again and again. It is not that the coach or trainer who wants his or her audience’ attention to feel important but actually they know that in adults the material presented to the audience has effect on them only for less than fifteen minutes. In these fifteen minutes the participants also have to make their own material in order to confirm the effect of the presented material for longer time period.In different executive coaching and telecom programs what the trainers and coaches do is they cover the material. The word cover means to hide anything from being seen or hide anything from view but the job of a coach or trainer is to show or expose what is hidden or what is unknown to the audience. A coach job is to make the audience involved in the thought presented to them instead of going through the material.In executive coaching sessions like telecom training, a person stands and gives lectures, research shows that adult brain can handle only fifteen minutes of direct lecture. Due to this problem it is advised that during sessions information should be presented to the audience in a way that they should interact and involved during the whole process. Such type of presenting material is more effective than just directly lecturing the participants. Environment plays a big role during the sessions, as well. If the participants of the program are not respected, their point of view is not valued, they are discouraged to talk and still they are expected to sit and get the knowledge, it is will not work.These are a few points, which should be kept in mind by a coach or trainer in order to get maximum result. Otherwise these telecom training programs and executive coaching session are of no use to the participants.

About the Author

The Madinah Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship (MILE) brings senior executives and high potential leaders from all over the world for executive education to discover new dimensions in Leadership Development, Good Governance, Telecom Training , HR Performance and various other management practices to help them grow in their business careers.

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.