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Part 1 of a four part series by Kim Clausen & Jonathan Tessier
Making Workshops Work for You
Part I - Four Essential Tips to Remember Workshops are a powerful tool for growing a coaching business. Used effectively, workshops can generate substantial additional income, establish you as a creditable expert in your market, attract more prospects into your business, and convert participants to clients. And with workshops you get all these benefits and the satisfaction of providing a valuable service that impacts the lives of those you serve. But some coaches struggle with how to incorporate workshops into their business model because they lack assurance in the creation, the marketing, or the delivery of their workshops. Some coaches don't use workshops as part of their business offerings because they do not have the time or the expertise to create a workshop that they can deliver with confidence. Others have difficulty because they do not have an effective marketing strategy to fill their workshops. And there are those who are not secure in their ability to facilitate a workshop with certainty and ease. In this four part series, we will give you some powerful tips that you can use to create, market and facilitate workshops that make a powerful impact on those you serve, and on your bottom line. So here goes. Essential Tip #1 - Designing More Compelling Workshops The idea of learning should never be regarded as something that's boring, agonizing, or tedious. Instead, what makes learning a turn off for so many is the overuse of ineffective instructional strategies. For learning to be effective, workshop participants need to be actively engaged in the learning process. Here are three essential components that together create a simple, yet complete framework on which to design any workshop. By developing your workshop around these three pillars, you will go a long way in determining the success of your workshop long before even the first participant sets foot in the classroom. Component #1 - Prepare Participants for Learning The first section of any workshop must be designed to stimulate participants to be receptive to learning. Preparing participants means that you establish positive feelings, generate interest, and otherwise gets them primed for the learning that's about to take place. People often come to training either in a passive state or with an array of internal barriers that must be dealt with. If these barriers are not removed, full learning will not take place. Some of the biggest 'mental blocks' that workshop participants will likely have are:
Component #2 - Present New Content and Let Participants Use It The second part of the workshop is where participants will first encounter new information. Learning is not passive; it's not an act of consumption. Instead, it requires active involvement. So consider creative ways to present new information to participants during this part of the workshop. Only as a last resort should you choose lecturing as the sole method for delivering content. Instead, help learners encounter new information in ways that are interesting, enjoyable, relevant, and multisensory. Once new information has been presented, let participants then practice and experiment with the content. Give them the opportunity to reflect on, discuss, and actively experience what they are gaining. As a general rule, 30% of the workshop should be dedicated to the presentation of content, and 70% of the workshop should be spent allowing participants to practice working with that content. Component #3 - Allow Participants to Apply Their New Knowledge Participants need some time to reflect on their experiences from the workshop and bring closure to their learning. Reviewing what has been learned is critical for long-term retention. This portion of the workshop is also meant to assist participants in applying their new knowledge to their own worlds. Unless what is learned is applied, there is no real learning. It is here that participants decide on what they will specifically do with the new knowledge they have acquired. What will they decide to follow through on? What actions will they take? By determining how they will apply their new knowledge, participants make a commitment to making what's been learned relevant and useful.
About our experts: Kim Clausen is the President of Ready2Go Marketing Solutions and is a professionally trained coach who has more than 20 years of marketing and business development experience. Jonathan Tessier is a successful training manager, professional coach, and award-winning instructional designer who has more than 10 years of experience developing and delivering quality training programs. Ready2Go Marketing Solutions, Inc. creates completely developed, readymade and ready to implement, workshops, teleseminars, speeches and more that you brand as your own to grow your business. Our team has more than 45 years of development and marketing experience, which ensures you quality products that will make growing your business much easier. Register for our FREE telecall - Facilitate Your Workshops with Confidence and Ease, Thursday, February 5th @ 4:00 pm ET. Can't come? Register anyway and get the audio replay. www.FacilitateWithConfidenceAndEase.com Be sure to download our FREE Special Report on How To Fill Your Workshops With Qualified, Ready to Buy Participants! Go to www.MarketWithConfidenceAndEase.com CONTACT US: For more information, check us out at www.Ready2GoMarketingSolutions.com, or call us at 303-465-0454. Feedback is welcome at ExpertSeries@choice-online.com Visit choice, the magazine of professional coaching Website
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