Put a Value on Personality and Attitude in Training

Copyright (c) 2010 The College Of Public Speaking

We always aspire or model ourselves to be the best that we can be. But what if we don't like who we are? Will 'Just be yourself' be enough?

Charlie Jones produced an infamous answer - that's the last thing you want to be, if you really are just yourself, you'll end up without a friend in the world!

As always the real answer is in the middle somewhere and could probably be best expressed in the phrase 'Be the best that You that you can be'.

In training (and music and business and life!) it is very easy to look across at another 'successful' practitioner doing something or saying something that seems to work brilliantly. When you attempt the same thing, it just doesn't come out the same. This is why as a communicator we always need to look at the fundamentals of the communication process, not individual techniques.

When I first started in sales I remember it hitting home. Being by nature a fairly quiet, vague and timid soul, I found that I needed to assert myself in my attitude and dress to come across with any level of credibility to a potential client, whereas naturally more assertive and out-going colleagues of mine tended to dress down and try to soften their edges when they met their clients, for fear of being too overpowering.

The overriding assumption was to create a positive environment where the salesperson could demonstrate control and integrity. The 'technique' of how to achieve that varies between types of people.

So Charlie Jones' observation would suggest that if I go in with my natural easy-going, wishy-washy style, I would neither be able to assert myself in the sales conversation, nor would I be able to lead the prospect to a satisfactory outcome.

On the other hand if my more aggressive colleagues did not soften their edges they would overpower and potentially intimidate the prospect, maybe even succeed in bullying then into a buying decision which they would then cancel as soon as the salesperson had left the room.

Establishing a creative and postive classroom atmosphere is an integral to the successful outcome. Clearly that is going to depend on the material being taught and the expectation of the participants.

If you are delivering health and safety training which can save lives and avoid serious injury, it's best to adopt a positive and serious tone, whereas if you're teaching creative skills, it's better perhaps to adopt a lighter demeanour.

That is the easy bit!

More challenging, as a leader, is to have the honesty and perspective to work out how you need to adapt your style to create the ideal environment.

Clearly if you are naturally informal and easy going then 'being yourself' may not be the ideal approach to issues of health and safety and important procedures. If you are too dominating and in control, that may not help create an atmosphere where everyone shares as equals.

A key consideration to a successful training result is the ability to adapt your personality to the type of training and subject matter that you are delivering.


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