Lets say youve been selected to teach a class at the local university or to run a session at a chapter of a trade association. First, consider yourself lucky. Youre getting a chance to serve, and its good for you to feel youre making a contribution, which Im sure youll do. But there is a great responsibility that comes with leadership of this sort. It is your job to make sure as many participants as possible feel good about the experience. I could, and who knows at this pace I just may, articulate hundreds if not thousands of details that make a difference in creating the right climate for learning. But in this article, Im just going to mention one. It is essential you GREET EVERYONE! How do you do this? As people are filing in, simply make a point to say Hi or Hello or Welcome! Yes, this is exactly what airlines (at least used to) do when you board. The flight attendant is there to break the ice and point you to the right aisle. Your warm greeting does several things: (1) It says to the attendee that he or she made a wise decision in signing up for your session. It is being conducted by a real human being and not by a robot or an egomaniac. (2) It makes the learner feel known, and when this happens, we relax and were more likely to participate in the session to come by asking questions and making comments. (3) It gives you a chance to connect, and this relaxes YOU. Instead of receiving cold stares back when you begin, youll be addressing warmed-up people. (4) It gives you an early heads-up about anyone that could be a problem. If you get wacko nonverbal back, it just gives you the impetus to work a little harder to bring that person into the fold. (5) It reminds you that these folks are customers, we serve them. Cut out this step and I assure you that your seminars will be unduly challenging. Think of it this way. Jay Leno and David Lettermen, two multi-millionaire famous guys, ALWAYS warm-up their audiences, and while they cant shake hands with everybody, they often greet the people in the front rows. Theyre pros, and they know what theyre doing. Simply copy their success! |
