Time management and preparing presentations as a Soft skills Trainer

All of us have 24 hrs in a day. Its all upon us how we manage them wisely. A working professional who does something other than his hard core job has to take judicious decisions to make things work for him . Time which is not properly managed will never come back. It is very correctly said “when money is lost nothing is lost but when time is lost everything is lost “. A person who is not a full time trainer and manages his business and job has to do a lot of planning to be successful in both spheres. As a trainer a person needs to make power point presentations, plan the whole speech, choose examples and other icebreaking and role play activities. It really demands a lot of time. Its not a joke. A successful trainer is one who has planned things earlier. If you take things lightly you will not get desired results. We have to surf the net for all stuffs and really do a lot of reading to be ahead of the rest of the masses. While surfing the net for reading or making presentations make it a point to first check all the mails. When you have finished checking and replying all mails. Go through the schedule which you have prepared for training so that you have an idea of how to prioritize things.

Do not chat with anyone while making your power point presentations as it distracts you. If it is really necessary talk to the concerned person and get back to work. Receive only important calls. When you are making your presentation follow a proper symmetry so that things don't fall out of place. Following a symmetry means knowing which slide should come next. There should be a particular order. Slides should not be placed haphazardly as this shows lack of professionalism. If its a 3hrs training don't make more than 20 to 25 slides as they are more than enough. You really don't need to make 40 slides for 3 hrs training program. You have to plan activities and role play too, so 20 - 25 slides are much more than enough. Don't make lengthy points, keep them short and simple and add appropriate pictures to validate your point further. Once done check your presentation and add custom animation. Keep the custom animation a little professional by choosing the appropriate ones. Once done start revising your presentation and prepare a body by writing down all important points and examples to be discussed during the actual training program. When surfing the net you will find lots and lots of data, don't get lost in the ocean but find a shore and take what you need and leave the rest. Read what is needed and leave the rest. Don't waste your time pondering over unnecessary stuffs that will only be wastage of time.

Now your skeleton and body of training program is ready. If you are planning role plays, plan something relevant to the topic. Please avoid deviating from the main topic. Write down all the points which you have decided for role play. Note down all activities which needs to be taken on the training day. Once done you can revise them again and again. Now more than half of your work is done for the training program. Please prepare things in advance don't wait for the final day to come closer and then start panicking and doing a mess of everything. All training programs we take reflects our professionalism and commitment to our work. Don't send wrong signals by delivering a messy training program. Remember people will not forget, their memory is sharp and they will never call you again.

We sometimes run short of words. This will not happen if we devote a considerable amount of time reading newspaper and magazines. When ever you get free time make it a habit of catching hold of a magazine and reading through it. Read something. For becoming a successful trainer you should be a voracious reader. Forget who are successful and why. You need to walk your own path and carve a niche in your own sphere. People should remember you and your training program such should be the impact. If you are planning to use video in your presentation choose them wisely. Please don't cut paste anything. Video should be relevant and thought provoking.

If you want to be recognized try new activities. Don't repeat things because a person who has attended something before, he is aware of it. You should have new content to enrich every person in the audience. Do not use the same presentation again and again. Either change the pictures or few points so that it looks absolutely new. Impart differently and see the magic happening.