True confessions of a talkaholic - part two

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In the last article, True confessions of a talkaholic - part one, we introduced the tendency of trainers, teachers, and speakers to talk so much they become talkaholics. In this continuation of the series, we will examine the primary reasons for talkaholic behavior and offer some coping strategies for each reason.

Reason – Eagerness
Learning professionals often become learning professionals because of a passion for sharing what they know. They can’t resist the urge to offer every nugget of wisdom. The unfortunate learner is grateful for this knowledge but unable to identify the specific critical items to absorb. Consequentially, especially when a test or check out is required, they try to absorb everything. The result is multiple dead ends of interesting but irrelevant trivia.

Strategy – Timeliness
Stop. Think. Get inside your learners’ heads. Offer nothing until the thought begins forming in the learner’s mind. Know what they are likely to wonder at any given moment and offer it then. Forget when it is convenient to you to share that information. Share it when they want it.

Reason – Ego
Many learning professionals love the spot light. The chance to be center stage is one of the reasons people become trainers, educators, and speakers. It’s a platform to stand on: an audience to applaud.

Strategy – Humility
You are not the center of attention. Your learner is. Be there for them, not yourself. Become your message. Your learners should be in awe of your message, not you. If you can’t resist the temptation to push your learners out of the spotlight, get a job where people do want to listen to you.

Reason – Control
Many learning professionals like to be in control of their class or training. The simplest way to maintain that control is to keep talking. The teacher can easily control what comes out of his or her mouth. It is much more difficult to control what the learners say. And, who knows where a learner comment will lead the class? Surrendering control is scary. It means venturing into unexpected territory. The trainer might even have to – gasp – learn too!

Strategy – Surrender
Few trainers, teachers, and speakers are willing to wait for the trainees to make up their own minds. When you say it you own it. When they say it, they own it. Surrender control. Give it away. You will get more back. Most learners will appreciate not being too tightly controlled while being simultaneously grateful for not being left alone. Give them enough space to be who they are and make the learning connections they need. They will give you more respect. Control will be the result.

Reason – Time
Many learning programs are, unfortunately, written with an over abundance of information and an under allocation of time. This requires the trainer, teacher, or speaker to charge ahead with information dumping without focusing on the absorption of that information. Then the instructor can claim, “I said it, so it was covered.”

Strategy – Edit
Dumped is not learned. Talk nothing but the relevant information and cover it when it’s relevant to the learner. If you introduce it too early, you will crowd out the time for other, timelier, information. Also, realize that your checklist is not as important as their absorption. Resist the urge to throw interaction in an effort to get the content all in. The biggest favor you can do the learners, your boss, your organization and yourself is to refuse to cram in more than can be absorbed. If you still cannot get it all in, there is a problem with the design.

In the next article of this series, we will examine four more primary reasons for talkaholic behavior and offer some coping strategies for each reason.